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. ' [9 W7 I& m' w; g! _" ~
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My planes attacked first. . W+ f8 _* ]" ]9 T
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!
0 `, H- M8 U8 eAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. & C* P" S/ S! l, \; T" W8 N+ @7 ], p
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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1 o8 [- {# N* u' [& @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. ' G0 q: y0 g% s1 b) `3 e% G5 w
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. & Z( ^7 c, R3 W% q
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 8 W. }" h) R3 D) x
& [, Y. ]& l; ^+ z# L% `3 V) ], EThe 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.
% |- a. i# u7 w! E/ \CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. $ Z* Z0 W' G: m
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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. 2 J& s. w, r4 [, c
2 O# ?4 F5 B8 M! |It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 4 H' n9 [' n) W7 Y& P8 c" P+ 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. 3 j& Y6 F" ^+ ?8 D: s6 {
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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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, q/ t! u5 \1 J& C8 t" `+ G' QThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 4 s4 P. b- P. n. Y# a9 q( W8 w
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.
( v) S" x% P. L- _1 f3 B& f5 ]I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. / y- m( [- g x2 W2 N* i0 O! J
3 h& w* n5 U" o$ U: k+ k% x20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
4 m( _1 q0 A/ Z+ o+ Q3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. : Y2 G- r% y( h2 X' v
~/ i9 U! W0 r: C" g! }2 ^) s2 d/ TFifth 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. 1 B: E3 ^" w9 }% o+ J/ F' h" D
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All this happened in the morning!! & I$ i7 d! Q7 O
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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. `7 J/ ^ u4 G/ Z$ i/ p- @
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. . p" r( y) {- L/ y* m# H, I/ a
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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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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.
: x( _: g: U4 I7 Z7 J+ SCV 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. 0 E7 C9 g7 d# e- b
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate
( M" G( N( L1 ]2 e1 H# ]60 Val
& N3 o) g! E0 Q* ~% E* O+ T/ F) g39 Zero
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188 a/c , I/ b5 }0 z" A$ T4 ^, M
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6 _7 i' c. L6 @( Y w; S126 SBD " |; ~0 A# H' z0 @# ^
61 TBD
* m% n$ b4 d8 V3 ~" {19 Albacore
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) y2 j) m g- W* H21 Fulmar
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! Y E; H) _1 j2 \: s* N19 F4F-3
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 3 V/ h8 I4 u, f' i$ n
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 9 m$ v2 x' f L5 c# I
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 / f/ T5 H3 f+ |5 p( R
BC Repulse 25/14/10 / A2 I) Z; `6 C. s6 S7 E% ^, p8 |4 U* I
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 ; m# @0 x8 z" q: K
DD Lamson 64/19/25 ' V' @" k/ {* x6 y9 h
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
?1 j" m) d# H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。# z: S1 a/ G+ l, N" |- n/ K1 B
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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