South Pac
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b; ]9 C9 w6 u+ m0 u9 I4 K+ P8 tEarly 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. : }' X6 K% M; W1 Z9 N
4 f. s6 R' d- f6 T3 r) J' ^8 MMy planes attacked first.
0 [: C p# q8 M9 `: \6 d0 Z3 nFirst 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!
7 L) u' g, f- l9 x3 b. uAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. & a8 K4 B! `: z) C+ K7 e& n: f
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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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. " f( G/ Q# K% h2 E/ r) v2 E
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.
6 M. K2 p, x/ wCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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) Y6 L l. w( _9 \$ r! L0 eThe 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.
; @" X/ y& l: D) t0 jCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
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1 [7 v1 ]2 Y! s7 {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. # ~) ?! ?9 \2 x9 k/ Z8 c; Y
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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 3 `+ ]/ ~. e9 e! o: b8 B' o
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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.
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3 Q g6 M( s4 s' r5 V2 ZThe 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.
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The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
- ~7 K8 N3 `0 k( l. DCV 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.
& H$ `' A3 P7 _5 J, t5 {0 U' `3 WI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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% M8 `$ K0 X& o+ D9 o, ]( q8 a- i1 [20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
& }$ d5 \+ D' d3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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7 P( y3 n( X. r9 k, {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. $ e" |+ B$ V+ ?4 r$ b2 |3 V% e( e9 R
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All this happened in the morning!!
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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. ( l% S5 U" J) ?6 }# L( D$ X+ p! ^
9 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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& ]& @/ H( u4 c- h M& R+ AThen, 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.
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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.
0 L+ V# {. X3 M" Q7 S* ?& ]% UCV 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. 3 M# w! s/ x0 o) L* {( O. G
8 b1 w. c) K: j- w" jBefore 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. 7 e9 _0 Y/ L1 e
5 B5 t2 M+ z2 u; u E# E0 U: c9 y0 ~4 QDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 0 E0 U/ b5 J7 P8 I5 R
0 a' F$ x6 A$ A$ b1 ^/ C, y89 Kate
( G/ I% r ]8 z8 k& }60 Val
d% x/ N4 X' a2 W/ ?5 A% H: H39 Zero 9 h. _" Z( m# k9 X7 d; w/ H& z
' e1 E- L9 U) o% W0 h, a8 z188 a/c # y4 W8 B5 p% R: q+ u7 a
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126 SBD
" _# M* d, s: | f. G* ~* s61 TBD
6 K4 R" Q' J; X, C+ y3 C19 Albacore / @2 b7 T5 H% x0 g1 {
5 Sea Hurricane
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14 F2A
6 Y8 u$ A9 X1 t( l' J& F3 e* ^* g$ d1 ?19 F4F-3
% |3 _, @' P6 L( q1 d, s24 F4F-4
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% ]' i- W; _1 |/ N6 `' SThe damages for my ships are the following:
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7 ]$ f3 A8 y' b B+ gCV Formidable 50/69/38
5 A% |; ~" b' r/ w* o% `# \& y+ YCV Indomitable 35/34/42
2 f) C4 u/ N' d) G( b" ]BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
4 u; e; k) j9 c) \9 M" v5 b, U' T) G! IBC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
, E0 ~6 [. A% f; Z d& JDD Lamson 64/19/25
5 F- a K" S* G' m; f－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
2 t% {7 B' @7 K* Q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。
{- ~. k/ P( B, C2 t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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