South Pac 6 u: s5 I0 l! e! c1 ]+ K" O& q1 @
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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 R. @/ ?; @9 F3 y+ M( p9 x, }* iMy planes attacked first.
; x. t; M* P& b! N: Y2 D0 r HFirst 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! ) {' ~1 X- n2 Y
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
3 c& |$ e* X8 M$ Y+ {. cAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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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.
+ \# E: `( G- L$ i3 N3 `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. 0 e, d3 l* z% `0 @) e
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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The 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.
( I0 K7 B- I" a% Z2 @2 kCV 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. 0 r$ ?. l$ I x6 y
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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- Q; q! C! P8 V5 O: y% V6 B, NThen 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. / m) }6 `9 K# Q( x) m! \! n
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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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4 v) l7 d ?0 y; MThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. ; a( R. t7 M. c( x
CV 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.
! `- _- X# a! n+ g5 P: {I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. I! S6 r' H5 E3 a0 a1 T$ `
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
# {" B3 P. x" L- ^/ R# a2 @: M3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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4 k. T6 \+ Q# X0 UFifth 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. # r* h# G) V* i% Q6 i5 |
4 a+ t7 u% W5 lAll this happened in the morning!!
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, [& y& l+ I5 W" TIn 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.
7 v/ O5 x8 p4 Y/ t* {9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 3 P9 ?8 e& {6 \' _
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Then, 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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2 N" R4 z4 O3 t3 e9 H44 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.
& L7 l# L1 W: K3 l; ?2 cCV 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. 8 \" u9 p: M1 y) B/ S3 W
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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. 6 ?, I3 l# ]2 d/ _& u5 y1 E
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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d; Z9 R* C( i! O8 [* E& d89 Kate
1 X5 N5 Z' Y. N' n* S8 X8 K60 Val 3 @4 J1 _! ?* }( m9 E U
39 Zero 4 @! R8 K; J+ L" L5 N8 V
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188 a/c 2 T5 Z; a# m W9 Q+ D c
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$ o/ r6 ] e1 j) V+ X126 SBD
5 t9 N$ i: N- K61 TBD
; N% L0 \0 x9 g3 K9 L6 n6 I$ t1 d19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar # _5 J& Y4 V3 K& V5 H
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19 F4F-3
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3 o7 l& Z6 P- qThe damages for my ships are the following:
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0 E7 a. n! Z0 ]: b, UCV Formidable 50/69/38
$ E8 }) o* C# {4 uCV Indomitable 35/34/42
. T+ l$ Y& B# ^: \/ a6 i% mBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 / [* F. [4 X: ]6 e/ c
BC Repulse 25/14/10 " W. T2 l. q' n! {3 P3 m
, L; A) n+ t0 t0 Z3 Q+ c4 P0 Y/ ACV Hornet 58/89/49
4 I5 f1 Q% ~/ Y9 W+ mDD Lamson 64/19/25
$ n/ y: a/ c7 E& R, `－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
3 {. y3 a3 q9 ^+ R2 U5 f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。
6 S/ c$ h0 l4 F- }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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