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1 M6 |- \& z3 c; MEarly 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. % T I: g- C. C
( G) b" \! L% `* x3 s' }4 |2 o; `My planes attacked first. 3 W# k( X. U. f0 G% a
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!
. q0 p) i) ~! Z9 G8 E( mAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
) E1 s4 |' o# YAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 1 H, B6 L1 k2 |0 B& |6 z
% k) h6 z$ E* L- R$ N, q: 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. ! a! Q# }) X) B% M2 t# r# A
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. ) b' G |; j( J& Q
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. / P9 O7 t6 a# L
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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. # Z6 K9 M" ~$ g3 l1 I; L
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. ; W1 z9 j3 W2 j) s* x
! M/ x9 w% t( y8 Q3 M2 R) fIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ]/ ?" z% h3 G8 j6 x7 n) g
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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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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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* V! q8 ?9 A% }; D- Q1 N" JThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. Z: _# y6 U% p4 y; F2 j
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. 7 t9 x, @; B5 ^) v: B* \' j' i
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. " A: O, N; J& S, _# c; f/ q9 h* t9 C
* Y- i" e- o/ z( {20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
; O# f R z3 k) c/ y+ C* @3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. - ?$ L, F5 t# f- F
9 O6 p9 U0 b. ]# z# f& BFifth 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. 2 L* u4 I! k* y' Y# g( r' x* Z s
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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. , E% v% c8 F# n' C/ D; T2 Q
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. . W" e3 l5 t5 X5 e' x0 N
! @ t8 q8 w5 HThen, 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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/ n t6 G7 F; w5 D& 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.
7 I0 Y0 {: d$ Z+ @# G' GCV 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. 2 S% D, L- S1 m0 W
2 w3 N) U+ K- XDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate $ X) @& U: e. L6 Z" K3 l0 D( w
60 Val
3 h# [3 a) `3 W39 Zero
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188 a/c $ D6 |8 a) t$ C+ J% ~. b
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126 SBD % N: r: i. K7 a+ |+ g. @8 n- g
61 TBD
?* M9 a6 A1 S; X3 _* b5 u19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar ! K( _' V' j h' G
14 F2A - X6 C X6 n/ f6 l. w
19 F4F-3
+ ^0 H, E. V5 z# Y8 A& z24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 & _! a9 k6 u$ T) A
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 0 f! q/ r. r0 E/ l- T+ Y7 c
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
+ [) b0 ]) b) [( jBC Repulse 25/14/10
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4 |9 ?* } u, a; FCV Hornet 58/89/49 , Q7 Z6 o( j! F$ Y$ p. d+ u
DD Lamson 64/19/25
+ N- X% V3 y( h% W6 Y) _. w－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
9 ?& l/ U# \. Y) w# x) E4 p0 ?/ ^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。
! Y6 k6 @" @5 K, @7 {! @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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