South Pac , [8 N! l1 x; Y% Q' i# h' M8 b
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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. * v( [8 J( `7 v9 f
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My planes attacked first.
' W4 _$ q; l0 }' j CFirst 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! 9 ^) E. c. M( A6 K- U# W
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. * f* Q& c8 _4 c" L
Ah, 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.
' U h3 l" q' h3 j/ Y+ k4 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.
5 N) D! V1 l W8 TCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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% M# `/ O8 v' p7 I: _# f: \" b% MThe 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.
# V2 e! f |" x \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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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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! m# T7 V' }: \! O8 AIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. . L' D0 G; v; W
% x% g" A; _! V+ X8 B! aThen 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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3 J( A* t9 t- w+ }8 YThe 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. 9 ^1 w1 D+ R; B0 E
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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.
; L+ i4 _* M' b. r1 v5 sCV 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.
7 T- B/ C* R+ w) AI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. ( e# n9 X0 N" E% @; _3 B9 I% \
% ^% K, J5 R# e- f; A4 N20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
7 R1 L* ^# R; \* C0 o; S7 h! M# Z3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 3 D7 L ]( x% F
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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!!
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! N; l5 ]* f) S# `2 }' ^/ P4 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. ; i3 e H5 D/ D- W7 [5 |8 s8 h) k
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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$ z8 t% l' ^, i" BThen, 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 d n: c% W: ]1 E44 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. . Q( E" G- s8 i3 d& N+ G
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.
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. / p% a' g# Z$ J
; K& L$ c+ e `1 g# {) ~89 Kate , b. l. N9 m* [' C- U' V
60 Val
2 i( V" J$ N' C6 B7 Y" R39 Zero
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188 a/c
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4 z; w* X1 M1 ~+ O! p, G7 N126 SBD
# U! G* W& w- e/ d& g61 TBD
4 A! J6 G% l2 S, T0 }19 Albacore
. s2 n/ W ~) r$ ^8 R7 T5 Sea Hurricane
4 s3 T" R3 v9 v% s' F e; A21 Fulmar
) _4 ?. x/ ?7 z& @( I14 F2A
7 v0 N3 o; \# P- F f. o19 F4F-3
2 |2 `7 U# C( k/ z9 G+ I24 F4F-4 1 ^8 Z" `( A# v4 e
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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9 d% i+ \8 F$ f, [- pCV Formidable 50/69/38 " w# i" C9 }) H& `4 [
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
9 h* Z6 a- X/ j: s3 `BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
5 z B+ Q/ |5 |BC Repulse 25/14/10
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0 f. W$ s9 \) c# l& J# d2 E fCV Hornet 58/89/49 3 R9 a& n+ C" h) B0 H% A
DD Lamson 64/19/25 & x* T G0 s6 Z2 P# O
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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。1 x5 U" w3 D- F5 b1 U. {
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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