South Pac 7 s4 u. e9 h% c, o7 R) z, F5 L
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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. 8 I1 P. G1 K! Z6 [0 A, g5 ~6 X: `" R! g) Y7 v. L2 K+ E: {
My planes attacked first. $ W- O5 n; |2 C# z3 t 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! # D( `0 r' J3 T C2 }0 A/ J
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 3 T% D4 b' i: k# }9 y
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... & W9 c: |- U0 F5 b& ]1 ` ; a( U0 [: ^1 m, R/ u1 hThe 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. ' M3 G) z1 m: G1 g" N0 c: H9 F3 z
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. / |' Y1 x) O: e6 tCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 4 U. G( C7 k9 a+ e+ T3 h) @6 N; L8 }5 T. U) R# b, P6 n
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. ! B4 h9 L, E7 x+ F! q6 r; }CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. 5 G1 E$ Q2 I& b) L* m, J& y5 K! H6 m* Y
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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. + @, B7 k" j" x+ ?! |+ H5 j " K; X$ x- `5 o0 L6 H& Q; u: ^It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ( e8 @1 H, T# |6 n 0 d: N% n! @. @4 M# X* i+ |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. ' o; r/ Q# U" t2 {' f. }2 K
- w, ^1 V( [* m5 q" g/ l/ VThe 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. 1 n6 F0 c6 N1 w1 j5 ? : T" z5 }; }9 yThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. , V; A/ @# c1 O4 j. L {0 N- O
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. * o2 t, _0 H, E3 V: N5 }I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. # } Y- Z( L4 y( a b! O
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 9 Z" j5 q- P- j) l) v! a) T: g
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 7 Q) Q) i' n7 k; H9 ]4 u& N; S$ b8 i% q6 i4 n8 B) b
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. * o' \4 X: V5 f$ [
6 V# d& A1 F+ \3 ^3 M9 lAll this happened in the morning!! j; q q. w Z' ~$ v" V . T& \0 M; B; T$ BIn 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 s) Z+ O" m) m$ u9 L, I6 g9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. % N8 d# E5 h# M% R% X6 O ! q3 ^" G& ]7 U8 a- Z, b& \8 BThen, 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. # B) }% T, V5 y" b- u) ?8 Z5 b6 B5 K
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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. 6 U1 {+ n( v7 c3 ?" u% u
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. " A3 ]- L% \' d7 s$ j& E
* m% i* C, |% a0 j; M; w6 QBefore 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. 1 N# M: w6 J' U2 ^4 |& E$ I: O
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. % N C2 Z4 b( T4 N
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89 Kate 6 l0 {% {, p( p60 Val 9 ?& d% A" q( O, E" f
39 Zero * O/ W8 a6 U5 ~8 @8 U
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188 a/c , Z. J4 ^( z* ] Q1 Z. t2 s0 e% x( |+ `
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126 SBD 2 _9 e% S% n) b5 n0 K, Y% t I61 TBD & G$ j7 d8 l5 S9 s19 Albacore : V3 ~, a! o: q$ f( `: }8 I5 ?" a5 Sea Hurricane # M* L1 \0 ^( T21 Fulmar * L" q7 B; j, ~9 a14 F2A " l3 K1 R1 e- |0 h2 P: v" w$ C
19 F4F-3 # ?+ a( y5 z' g& _
24 F4F-4 # b' @. c& T) o. T; B ( u1 r% X* L V/ M& c8 XThe damages for my ships are the following: * i6 a$ A9 g$ l4 O: |9 U( |- |+ B% Z" I
; H! y6 y1 N& G3 hCV Formidable 50/69/38 $ `( Z) k9 W4 E4 }7 f. L
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 - y& _% u; p" j0 E4 P1 t! F
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 * w y5 }3 s2 b" S& yBC Repulse 25/14/10 5 p2 D, |9 N- @+ h( B
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 - j. B0 b1 E1 V! _! U1 Y- dDD Lamson 64/19/25 * ]( M7 Y" b, [# L, h
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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。( \ f" p* B: R! e
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
