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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. : p" ^$ w0 Y& C/ y6 l
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My planes attacked first. 1 y1 r) r; v( e5 M! TFirst 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! 5 u( n# x# x. W8 d9 q. `1 a; _
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. - g1 v% K) q% ^3 V" i2 O& U5 c
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... ) B& D* {: V2 k$ q' G
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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. 9 p! b' {) @) ]# i2 X8 x. u& q23 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. # H1 |' M. x9 l# \- z
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 2 n' S7 w5 J3 j; V5 X, b6 S# h; ?6 f' h& @0 r, Y
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. ; Z/ g% M! O3 Y/ _+ t: e7 m4 a* {6 w
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 4 a! S6 a n& p9 l7 ` V+ X9 Y
- t/ b4 R9 W* ZThere 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. G1 ~* ?' s+ ^' g7 w; H% z ~. N
) m4 n9 R4 U3 W& \' c! lIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. & N( W( l, Q1 f) ^+ B9 a! h1 v1 q3 U# Z
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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. / J" ^) r7 p9 V! N) y1 [- u3 L
% J- \7 U2 t' f N% fThe 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. ' c, [' i' V) b5 l 7 m5 U$ m- @/ E( C$ v' jThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. + {* h j/ V+ V0 \3 @ R
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 u8 J) k) j% l6 e% q# }I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 8 P# B* c. J l$ X4 q* I
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 3 V5 {# [1 p! z
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. " Y1 J9 g1 `8 U. G( t/ A9 G; Y. g7 s& L* N" F0 H* }
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. 1 R2 r$ J& X, i, U: d
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All this happened in the morning!! " M9 B' f" g4 [* Q 9 Q0 P" @ c# ~7 u; ?, iIn 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. $ a, m6 I0 s& h9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. $ O& l0 Y2 }8 \* ], P
* U9 C! p! B* j! E+ oThen, 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. ) b5 t+ @, B, [! p 9 D* r' ?) {+ Y4 s44 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. ' L+ r, n0 }# [" c2 W8 L6 c4 c
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. 7 {3 Z* U8 T( K6 O A5 o2 b4 p4 W+ i' Y4 j- d5 o: C
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. ( C. d8 M# \+ E% _, G
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. . m/ S6 f' A# y& W7 n, c2 ^4 D, Y8 Q, X! |( i( D1 {5 \& J& a" c( i5 S: B
89 Kate 5 }2 C5 e' v7 x' ~) z5 u60 Val ' W, j2 a( u( h0 Y! G5 n
39 Zero " k) O& Z1 O6 c2 V4 k) I. L. d9 ?: n- M4 H) O' ~; ]. \; i
188 a/c 5 V8 d* P1 Z3 Y7 E# D 8 r4 s5 F+ C# D0 d2 V; d$ i; E" l7 h5 r( O4 R0 c* G8 [, F
126 SBD & p0 L0 n& V6 C, x$ C61 TBD * M( Y% z; _# u, H
19 Albacore ' v2 Z, y; i/ t# ^0 ~: k! `
5 Sea Hurricane 0 ~ Y- T4 E! c! k( G
21 Fulmar : g ^# @; r# A& N+ Y14 F2A . t; g P* |% k' X3 F8 X4 a19 F4F-3 - A( g D+ A0 T A1 a
24 F4F-4 % y# X- Y8 ]: x2 {
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The damages for my ships are the following: , r1 ^) C% a; M2 z$ ~ w
% ~/ y5 |+ ^/ m/ L" t; KCV Formidable 50/69/38 4 W. H5 R% B" v3 s6 L F, \CV Indomitable 35/34/42 6 I3 _* X( B/ {5 ?/ K1 _
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 7 m, B$ T3 {0 k2 ?) r B
BC Repulse 25/14/10 + F/ P0 u* _8 k4 t) ?/ y/ K9 z
