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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.
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+ r- F. d( o0 IMy planes attacked first. - \3 o, V$ O8 y6 h8 _0 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!
1 @& Y6 X9 g/ T) W. G1 vAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
1 K P1 F+ s+ B5 vAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... ; U, y4 R U' X( e$ [; U8 p
' `- U, P0 o& T5 WThe 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.
- U1 a, S% g3 I# F23 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.
: s& M; G$ I1 l# \8 \CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. , U7 D/ n' Y5 }9 N2 ~+ {: ]
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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.
, V) f* }6 z/ {2 {( C8 r) U, ZCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. , K8 n; n5 G. A' y: j- N$ y' N
& [, |2 {$ F5 W: 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. ' Y7 c; a: M0 y" E
' w) L$ q& P5 n$ hIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 9 a1 A/ o1 L, m) \
0 N2 V+ b7 K' Y) Z: r7 \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. ! }" E1 }$ U( U# @' c0 ~+ _0 f' ~
3 a3 @+ n* g. W. e$ ~The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. $ ?% X/ f% |& R5 s) m* S3 G
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. ( E% x6 |& D4 k+ Q, {( l4 c. K
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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" c1 W4 ^- h" Z1 e20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
2 W! ]3 d, r) X9 n3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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& |; l1 n9 z+ UFifth 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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- E. K) a3 k6 E) h' R; U; x* sAll this happened in the morning!! 3 \9 i `: f3 T/ l* ~
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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.
# D; \4 e. ]! K; |8 Y) O- B5 e9 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. ; r( x# Y9 [# b0 }! E2 |" N6 ?! E
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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. / O1 k) y7 {5 n8 v
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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) {, h, V/ P" ^* ?/ V( GBefore 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. 9 a+ u6 I' |* ~
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. 3 i4 P% P) s2 `( U; k
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89 Kate
, b. }- d5 m' L. w) v1 d+ ^+ m60 Val
+ O2 s& @4 Y/ H: A! Y7 r' Y9 Q5 I( j7 A39 Zero : }" B3 `2 z3 y0 B1 Y2 R
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188 a/c
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126 SBD
+ `9 M# y& w) p- Y1 T7 M. d61 TBD 1 N% L1 A9 C. s& i. z
19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar
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19 F4F-3 . x7 K5 a+ K* m% Y# f2 ^/ A4 g
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: # ]) G, j: Z6 e* n6 A$ {& T( |7 S
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
5 v7 k3 I2 j2 HCV Indomitable 35/34/42 . A: x- ]8 P; [& q+ F% l
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 - u# V' p" d, y, B& C: ~$ @
BC Repulse 25/14/10 / b& ?9 P7 d2 O6 n! U) a
& ~8 |# ]9 g$ t5 F E/ qCV Hornet 58/89/49 * x0 g, \0 c j+ c
DD Lamson 64/19/25 : c" T* m2 \/ [; P
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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。! V6 D; r! e$ Y" @$ [0 a8 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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