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. 3 ^1 ? U2 e. G4 R$ r
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My planes attacked first.
6 W4 M. {4 ~. \5 _* d* ?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! ! x4 t9 X* {$ Y( y9 I# d
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
4 T+ h' m9 c! x/ N/ FAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 9 C" e4 {, W! C. j# L
' F' t( w4 b. \7 q% G/ m) lThe 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.
6 E z. b; o" C# j7 d" ^, B0 y o23 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. 3 ]7 m) N Q$ b7 T3 n6 u
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ! }! p* C1 n; F, z( m! | q/ r
+ }, ]) n7 ?+ @/ C+ ]" aThe 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. $ a8 m. J0 k8 F
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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5 n" G8 W8 I( E, jThere 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 w, ~! r2 c) ~& M% D2 G B1 y& C
- Z5 q" U; D6 y! ~! F% KIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. & S/ \& b# \' X8 Q
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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. ( z' N) P# K/ S
% B8 L5 ^+ |& x3 f3 g! u6 b; x' W) zThe 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. * b& m# P, {! ~# ?' ^1 c, ]
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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. 3 P N0 L: ]2 C# P9 t4 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. . t0 y4 J6 Q2 _& l7 \7 d
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. - }* o5 w1 ?' P
2 A: p, G+ V; H20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. , z6 v, R9 j: o
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ( X( n. W' K3 b+ V# S8 g6 X0 S
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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. ( w& @6 g" f4 p2 f
( Z/ W5 V3 h0 d1 C- F( \4 H& }All this happened in the morning!!
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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.
! N+ r8 O# t0 G; r* y: ?* _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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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 Y% s4 l' T% o0 M! G44 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 ?% `8 u0 Z7 z5 _
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+ h7 _" N* p. \/ |& m
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate
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39 Zero : q% d) r' W8 ?. h; l
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188 a/c ' T2 A7 u7 ^' w: V: m9 ~
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126 SBD ) q% ?7 K5 ^1 g4 t9 h# C+ x' ?
61 TBD 3 d+ a, Z$ y* Z+ s* L
19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar
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. I! C% Y! b* z6 l' J19 F4F-3 : x2 v- T3 M: q, T) d9 X
24 F4F-4
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5 v: I& H- I# _. b) w* {+ ~The damages for my ships are the following: - |) q2 |# r6 p- y, f! `
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 ' x; [3 h7 J- l6 f
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
^2 p2 u, J/ |9 H! b8 b* l: ABB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
3 M% Z4 D2 Z: nBC Repulse 25/14/10
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3 x# J& s2 I" t3 PCV Hornet 58/89/49 4 i0 e0 v/ K0 a# r \- v
DD Lamson 64/19/25 0 m3 H! y! X4 f3 v6 j+ M( f
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, t M# h* A- `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。; |+ Y5 ^- @5 M, `# D
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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