South Pac ) D& e; G% S# A4 e8 P
& i4 q1 Z( }) N7 E6 b' 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.
+ M+ P3 I! m* @2 @2 G% Z% A% N7 w' ^7 X, B" B1 r0 ?6 t
My planes attacked first. . R5 C7 M6 ?- h$ _5 O7 N
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! - R3 r, V0 h4 D3 L
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
/ l1 ]" y8 b7 V1 KAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 7 @0 R0 f1 O0 l, I Y
: R# ]0 l; s, F5 i6 R" H; t, e P# x
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. . [$ Z7 m( J4 U4 j
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.
; J9 C$ Q8 ~' V" z4 l% ZCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ) Y# g9 @8 \5 K! a
" z" ^* A& k( _$ Z' x: y- z# `
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.
6 j( d+ S- C0 w( |7 \+ _CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 8 C2 L3 y; E4 G7 G6 l2 c
9 D" T% L6 O. k5 yThere 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. ) w7 A# u) y; I- ]
& Z! T5 y+ B1 W: W& @
It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
0 N; r l5 n% k3 {" j
* Z' M! a% |; _2 EThen 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.
, G1 L% h# W* a: y* u$ Z
) U# t4 H; d7 I+ _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. 0 X2 ^ f7 u; S, O+ |" l
O! C& ]- p5 J" S- C6 ~2 d2 d9 F% [: RThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 1 R0 M$ G' h9 E& g 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.
2 ^4 n3 j+ z. k: J6 \* l! AI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. , r# V" o3 D: \% s# t3 F% l+ t
8 \. @* v8 Q D& _5 Y! z20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 6 i: y5 @; d- m8 b- t. K
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. , A. _4 ?& }. ]/ W
: v9 T. [; A# i: A2 iFifth 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. - q! A/ Z; u Q) B! |! U: R
4 p% n# r6 N+ u+ t$ \9 E/ f0 {$ t3 ]All this happened in the morning!! : [. }: G* J5 A# o$ S7 J/ ?
$ H6 o( o6 u. j% n( O4 K! K! E
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. # {$ J) p0 k! K' r
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost.
( [; n/ ?+ N3 S- }. X+ E2 B8 m. W0 z
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.
" O( G6 I8 F0 Q; i) H; Y" n% N/ p" i' ?) O3 K5 G) |* ], @7 g( ^/ X, ], u' r
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.
, F7 P2 G( |8 V/ r+ ]' O$ K2 lCV 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. - W* j( b4 O" c. I" \9 Q: l- ~
& J2 g. Q+ U3 c8 ^1 C. y- 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.
0 L) }' }6 A! E8 b$ [; k
/ w7 u5 }, x) S: v4 I! ZDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. " ]9 b) |4 F6 r# S
4 n/ l& Y* j; n% c3 k0 a( s4 ]
89 Kate
9 i6 X4 Z( J, ?. |60 Val
) {/ I- r% N9 {' y9 u7 O39 Zero
" B6 W9 U- @- b
# F) g/ J$ H9 g188 a/c 8 n( N8 j+ y( U9 e
0 D) Z! k% l( I" F7 M. Z0 q
# @2 W1 Y) y% i7 x. `4 @
126 SBD
1 P! m8 x" X' l! n8 B. C. N61 TBD
$ F5 W8 H% x* s* }( t3 s1 h8 Y& [19 Albacore ( _+ X% a: c5 s% a* \2 B. H
5 Sea Hurricane 3 s4 y& R+ N& `6 C4 |* v
21 Fulmar
$ B. K3 r6 k- p3 G2 {* a14 F2A " _1 S% H, Y0 ^( z- o& v9 M
19 F4F-3 ) f/ }( @) t( u; U: L! a. z# v% I# ?
24 F4F-4
# s$ d2 }, ^% x* b8 ]% c% E
* I( P1 J Z, M! q! DThe damages for my ships are the following: ' a+ I6 ?! l- l7 E7 P+ v. G- d
m- {' X u" `2 R8 RCV Formidable 50/69/38
& d9 N# r+ i Z7 wCV Indomitable 35/34/42 - ]: N" m4 Y2 f+ z! \% _7 F. w2 a) d
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 1 Y. r+ a% Q9 L' ?; U8 i4 ?$ P
BC Repulse 25/14/10
- f+ V. Q8 W3 u' B7 d/ v
: k7 h0 F; |! |/ _. ICV Hornet 58/89/49 3 ^; K5 u+ m( D
DD Lamson 64/19/25 8 T' \- B4 D8 ~
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－2 u9 ` k' c& J+ 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。
/ L G5 o3 Q/ S- i1 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
| 
