South Pac ' p. N/ F( \7 I( p 9 U; x* Z! T. T7 Z0 N: q9 LEarly 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. 1 {& A, M; Q. ~' p. e6 A5 n0 ^) |8 b; W
My planes attacked first. ; o1 T6 b- `+ uFirst 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! # r6 ?$ e9 _3 x, n2 G6 M3 w* o9 h. JAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ( _% c; g/ `/ y
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 2 N( U' R6 I) W' ^4 A: X3 w- l 1 ]5 x5 e6 S" f( \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. 9 X% a/ H/ J2 P% M9 H# 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. - m# F: F% d- JCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 0 f L$ m* K" i7 ?$ N7 ^
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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. % N: f9 z$ f3 ^9 ^
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ( M' B. @3 m$ F/ ?1 S- y. p5 y3 b8 _& i" d! W- b$ v) Q
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. & A% t) D% {. N5 x2 G2 R3 Q' U% }
' C! G& e( B5 t& AIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. , A+ Y7 l( L+ B$ i) V0 f+ G ' b) a$ b, D% H, s% [: ^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. % O7 V5 j, L0 U8 V v, E2 f0 n
" Z! i& m" \2 c2 p( R" NThe 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. . d |* v" G' S0 N' v - B( m! `0 n# e3 f9 {; ~: }The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. : Y( q8 L1 \( e" H% LCV 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. " D9 n8 c9 b* _7 ~I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. , ]9 U) j/ t) ]0 T$ ~1 V" \' D" h) h! P. n
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 8 K0 l5 V) |- O$ M. |1 O
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. " Q( \; A3 ^: ^0 }" \- K" V9 J6 J
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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. * u3 F6 l$ s' t1 W- y2 _* X8 \6 i9 h5 A
All this happened in the morning!! C+ q- x1 k4 n$ }- m
9 t2 @" C* T: l% }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. 7 E' W1 X! Y( O! }4 W. z
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ! J3 T! |5 D5 T0 q0 M& I
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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. ! Q: e% T# ^' G; w- W9 ?* A: h: C 4 R5 Q, Y* a- c9 o0 i6 f: 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. 2 y; \4 u9 v/ p( l' bCV 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. 8 i' P& b5 m; Y
" _. X; R* B6 N1 t5 _. nBefore 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. / a% c: O# J# e5 ?
6 ^# E+ S5 e5 t, k* m1 WDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 0 r5 K4 B- z8 t% h! L& f. p7 x0 W1 L
89 Kate : H: t n3 S* f* T( R& g4 J3 |, v8 W% { |
60 Val 8 r& |5 M2 w- d2 Q- q- z; I
39 Zero * I c, G; x6 r+ @4 d/ L! b6 |# g# S/ X9 `8 W8 \2 q# ^
188 a/c ]9 J: q) d' ~/ `& Q& Z: ^ - H' \' N! M5 V j5 z j. [4 B2 y# z; m4 e3 P7 ?126 SBD - F5 {& _" C. Q) G; E
61 TBD 7 T- |8 I% S: i0 M" G8 _8 u19 Albacore 1 r& u9 T" b3 \' b% p' ^3 i- `, S
5 Sea Hurricane ! p: L! u! Y" a& R7 @21 Fulmar E* f/ J& ^- |; t$ J% h) M, w! h
14 F2A 2 [+ X! ~, x; m, q
19 F4F-3 % z+ W0 Q1 H* s4 G& |, V7 b, J
24 F4F-4 # O2 e; y4 r( m+ [) j$ Y) @
2 y, o0 F, D& O* E
The damages for my ships are the following: 4 \$ q" _0 v) Q5 |: G* S3 O4 }% t
3 y; p) c* O1 [* ]# TCV Formidable 50/69/38 6 o) n+ n1 [; c% T; a. r
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 t1 f6 @7 a' g( {. @, U0 o4 `BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 * W/ q5 ~+ l \- a+ u) V
BC Repulse 25/14/10 4 O* S. ], `: V# A1 t1 g* x; l$ H' l4 {; n7 ~2 \* A
CV Hornet 58/89/49 7 G' Q" ?: K1 ^% O* F- X$ DDD Lamson 64/19/25 4 |0 b+ |) N y6 z
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ & Z* }" C0 C8 r1 n2 O2 N9 g8 K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。 * |# g X. t6 o$ c/ Q! h2 h从战果上看，盟军的结果比我想象的好不少。而且还混编CV.作者: harry 时间: 2007-8-29 12:04
