South Pac
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) e. r8 N5 q( A. D4 ?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. - Q9 ]- T- O: L1 _
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My planes attacked first. 1 i, a+ T6 |7 K
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!
, Y- a6 X( g5 G& jAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
6 s5 `( A# d% P/ k4 KAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 0 i, t9 }( F: Z |
. G& V! r" n1 z6 V- i/ dThe 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. 4 P e" y3 G( J; G' I
23 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. 1 i$ V- T$ d- m. }0 o! u$ H4 g
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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, [( c* i; ]4 i( JThe 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.
6 g% D. M! ~0 o$ N% @) ?& ~5 jCV 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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There 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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* ~) y* Z, X! r5 y! DIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 6 Y* B$ z5 _+ D' F
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Then 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.
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The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
' t% H, [' m3 g4 K2 q+ B/ BCV 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. 3 m% R/ [* J" O8 s
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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# p7 `* |9 q% m1 I" s- e1 |20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
0 A) l3 i4 m' @* u6 u7 U3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ! Z8 V0 g5 G- I+ \( p7 l$ Y( H
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Fifth 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.
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All this happened in the morning!! + ~8 T7 G. y4 U: s: {; ?. k2 X0 i
3 H; J9 ^5 C" @1 b6 bIn 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. " V1 }- e' r |
9 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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! {! L9 g3 y* T: A v; d7 hThen, 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.
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3 a: U1 a2 B _" A/ m' P44 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. 9 s% v' \, L, W3 E+ M+ g! b
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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+ X; }8 S1 L% d6 X: yBefore 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. ( v1 R8 D% F: S
* U3 M% V1 Q3 @0 W5 i( SDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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1 y. |5 R( u" e; Q89 Kate " s/ M9 X; n4 N# j4 Q1 B' t0 W
60 Val - t: F+ i: \2 Z, q& b
39 Zero
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188 a/c
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) ^0 j5 B9 L& @# n% S126 SBD
) R; ?7 G: @6 k, G+ {0 e& B: _' R61 TBD A, B. p( o" Q3 R
19 Albacore ) l1 z$ x$ b3 W' x& K5 i
5 Sea Hurricane
! X% x3 F) l* u9 J4 r21 Fulmar
5 v" p. u+ G& U* k14 F2A
! m; p1 x2 S% [9 P7 S, ^" H19 F4F-3
, V& U# m5 d5 {7 U" T- R24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 + y0 l6 X1 T- F B
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
0 Q0 p% p' @$ |, m5 pBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
3 a1 A, Z, r+ O6 f- a6 g/ \' ?BC Repulse 25/14/10 ) q& S: S5 x* E. U& D* S
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 8 Y8 A1 ~) C. \
DD Lamson 64/19/25
0 q- X( ~6 y6 q. p( l－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
$ E0 ]) Q. r( n8 F) e6 ^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。5 h+ S- y& N! t
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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