South Pac 9 { v' C/ k) W6 |3 m
$ X5 ?4 w* _; w7 F3 M' ]* a6 `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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My planes attacked first. $ D" S c8 S. L4 z: P
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!
# _5 ?9 w$ t+ QAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
% y2 N; g' S1 p, `3 |Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... % L" `3 E1 V3 W7 ^
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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.
7 U+ b2 {( A6 K, S% g* f23 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.
( b6 h, ]; I# A6 i/ U9 M: V0 pCV 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.
3 ?8 j, R" Q! e$ S( R! L9 @. rCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. # U" I+ J0 M( T+ I. x8 o
! O7 W' p2 h) v9 k$ A! ^3 h6 pThere 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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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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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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f- y2 S3 c: k6 W8 Y0 I" U3 ]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. 1 P4 E: G$ z9 Z9 `2 v
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. ! I% v0 u6 t' G$ H/ F$ d t
I 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. 3 n0 ]( m1 m. g* F* ^- i
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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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!! * n+ x: {* P0 N f9 L, A, I. E" E
4 B% b& n: F9 t/ J( oIn 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.
: W& @; \3 g3 d" R0 V4 m( ~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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& K' t% D1 _$ q7 Q2 e' nThen, 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. 8 x/ }3 v8 U+ G! g
1 u1 w: s' @ y* x44 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.
) V/ U+ E& ?/ Q7 ECV 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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% H0 t, v) e5 I; G: n1 J) @0 DBefore 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. " q7 u9 ^* d) W0 d7 L- P; {* Q
! ^8 t4 n' l4 ZDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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# X0 H& [, h9 @; n9 X! n+ T' y& o89 Kate , f/ T6 ]) Q# t- w: C1 v8 q s4 M
60 Val 6 i5 G& F7 R% P, b
39 Zero ) U1 m9 Q# o! E- l. u3 C, P. j
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188 a/c
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) l ~6 @# {4 I" e126 SBD ( s- `4 u b% s6 Y4 F8 }# t
61 TBD
0 C3 I5 L7 a6 ?8 n. }3 l19 Albacore
3 g: }1 {. D7 e4 h% {5 Sea Hurricane ; a0 l3 P7 d1 a% s- r0 O z
21 Fulmar
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19 F4F-3
/ z+ q$ x. I, C# ^% `24 F4F-4
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% _1 |; H& a4 |* e! XThe damages for my ships are the following: ' r7 @: y7 Z" x0 Q4 Z9 _& Q2 O3 P
( C3 b, {) w' c# t. ?) ]2 MCV Formidable 50/69/38 + M! S: S" z$ N* p
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
8 L" u! v$ x- V+ [6 @! aBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 8 z5 c7 M- ~! B! k% e% b& I
BC Repulse 25/14/10 ' E# {+ z" F) u) Q2 Y Z7 k
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 5 d* ~6 _, S1 l
DD Lamson 64/19/25 , t7 Q& X4 I& g
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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。
7 n) K( h/ I+ V0 ^$ m0 I: P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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