South Pac
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Early in the morning the recon of both parts, spotted the opposing force. The KB were NE of Funafuti. My carriers reacted and closed of 1 hex and the same have done the enemy CV.
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8 _+ Z( K7 P6 W9 ?& r+ I7 G8 a& kMy planes attacked first. ( j2 n' z% _; X0 g; W
First wave, composed by 34 SBD, 15 TBD and (only!) 6 F4F, arrived over KB. 92 Zeros were on CAP. Only 8 SBD and 6 TBD managed to pass through the screen. 1 1000 lbs-bomb hit Kongo: boink!
: ?7 P* Q- M E$ C; |6 vAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 4 {5 k( }3 P0 {8 V% H& `
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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6 T$ ~/ W4 l+ s7 z3 ]The second attack was more dramatic. 84 SBD, 30 TBD, 35 Albacore, escorted by a total of 30 fighters, arrived over KB, few minutes later the first wave. The same 92 Zeros were on CAP.
/ m; P$ O+ h3 e* Z" [' m5 {( r; g( p23 allied fighters have been shot down, in exchange of only 3 Zeros. Also 15 SBD, 6 TBD and 10 Albacore ended their flight in the water, but the rest of my armada attacked the Kido Butai. : C' L: |) Q/ y; K6 J
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 3 m) F# l3 o0 k, B
0 B' S% u$ V, ]$ I4 c* qThe third were were composed by 4 F4F (!), 34 SBD and 15 TBD. Again, 89 Zero were on CAP. I suppose that japanese pilots were tired, because only 1 SBD, 3 TBD and 1 F4F have been shot down, while 2 Zero have been shot down. : J' `1 A! d. C
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
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6 R) e# z) C$ u4 r( oThere was time also for the fourth wave, composed by 15 SBD (1 shot down) and 17 TBD (5 lost), (no Zero shot down). CV Zuikaku and CV Shokaku received 2 more bombs each.
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* k& T# }# W3 W: ~# k9 fIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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) {6 V1 v4 D1 D$ U' h+ F# IThen came the japanese attack. The first (small) wave, 23 Val and 6 Zero, was intercepted by 83 fighters. 15 Val and 6 Zero shot down and the others Val turned back. No losses for the allied.
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The second wave, composed by 22 Val, 25 Kate and 9 Zero, has been intercepted by the same 83 fighters. Only 1 F2F and 1 F4F lost, while my pilots shot down 6 Zero, 12 Val and 14 Kate have been shot down, and the survivors, again, turned back. ' g% z/ `+ L) \+ W, ?) N0 P% R
5 w! Y8 T5 G3 v2 ?! o( j' O! uThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
2 a9 n/ C4 r0 f6 FCV Hornet took 2 torpedoes and 5 small bombs, CV Enterprise 2 torpedoes, 3 – 250kg – bombs and 2 small bombs, CV Lexington 5 torps, 1 -250 kg bombs and 2 small bombs, CA Chicago 2 torps and DD Lamson 4 bombs and 1 torp.
, E% k2 J# ~. @" I4 d! T& l/ OI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
$ X: Q' o7 r+ t) ^$ h& @% a% }3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ( m$ J4 h6 D2 A9 _! r2 D9 d. t
* q( U8 g7 v+ W$ P6 X. N+ a( SFifth wave attacked the same TF (again!). 21 Kate, 17 Val and 13 Zero fought against 58 fighters, but managed 1 torpedo on Lexington and 3 bombs and 1 torpedo on Hornet. 2 Kate and 13 allied fighters lost. 7 b* V2 l6 D' Q7 q; }3 v4 ^
( `. {; D6 `8 k' T! @% DAll this happened in the morning!! ( N, B' y5 L' K u" d" j
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In the afternoon british TF closed one more hex and launched one small air attack. I lost 4 Albacores during an attempt to attack CV Akagi, without results.
* _; Z2 D. q; _* i8 B9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost.
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7 h3 u' _6 e( N; x( b! K; dThen, 18 Zero and 16 Kate, from another carrier TF, probably composed by light carriers due to the number of planes, attacked the british TF. Prince of Wales and Repulse received 1 torpedo each. Only 1 Kate shot down. / b7 x t& A3 ~) a2 d
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44 Val, 21 Kate and 29 Zero attacked again. Only 5 british fighters were on CAP. The closing of one hex towards the KB, leaved the british ships without US air cover. 3 Val and 1 Kate for the japs and 2 fighters for the british shot down. ! s4 Y. k% O. ]% r, W: T
CV Formidable resulted hit by 10 bombs and 4 torps, CV Indomitable by 4 bombs and 2 torps, BB Prince of Wales by 2 bombs and CA Canberra by 1 bomb.
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Before dusk, Lexington and Enterprise sunk. No reports of enemy sinking, but I suppose that Zuikaku and Shokaku are in a very bad conditions and they are between the Ellice and Suva. A long way home. ( ?' q' }7 P' Q9 s9 J
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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1 S! N+ I. j3 y. P+ [0 N% j89 Kate
+ {; W' Y$ u% s" I. g6 O# C60 Val # B7 X0 W4 m0 [* F$ R
39 Zero ) p I4 [& E* ?
& `5 M9 n% j" u& G' F188 a/c
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4 N. a) v& Q2 L! R126 SBD - }. i* ^3 A: l( A; o
61 TBD
) E! @- \1 W2 l' R# u" y, a19 Albacore " a: J$ E$ t/ t6 `" [- q& H
5 Sea Hurricane
, q+ a e+ N+ U21 Fulmar , p9 d, p+ h) n% \
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% j% V7 A: M% W+ _! \; p+ f19 F4F-3 ! A8 ~# N) O4 x' \; C* P
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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; [" N* k& K2 ?* ~0 T; q' [$ P( J* ?CV Formidable 50/69/38 4 R( @6 \" o- K5 N% e6 ^; l
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
& X# T2 r+ O5 d& CBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 9 J6 p- n7 F1 a# m4 K. k3 c
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 ; K! {' V1 _! b& n& _
DD Lamson 64/19/25 . s9 q9 n. v1 u
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8 O" h& U% {$ \, _$ ?盟军42年4月竟敢在fiji北主动出击，最后损失2：5，日军损失两鹤。: q- I4 B; w) {& N3 B# C
从战果上看，盟军的结果比我想象的好不少。而且还混编CV. |
发表于 2007-8-29 11:42
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