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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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8 j0 H p( M- S7 N1 @My planes attacked first.
" C( o* U2 O" _6 m& rFirst 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!
- J' e) |: o- B$ Z8 _/ y% gAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
- ^! [9 i' p/ k8 G+ ~4 y2 OAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... ) }; O( ~* |. }/ \; Z/ k$ i
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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.
1 h5 y- v' {/ ~) }6 W23 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. 0 O, |* t# Z0 ?# X
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. : P! h( F @: h! [
! }5 w( r- l" F$ n) U hThe 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.
4 q+ l1 u2 p' i+ ZCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ( Q3 x6 D7 z6 ~) t+ u, [. L( t! f) T
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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.
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3 I( k* ^ q2 S5 ]It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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4 Y K C. `( U% a8 oThen 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. % V# D ~! K! G, i6 n* N/ ]
6 [- ?" E. W, k' bThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
# b# v# Q, v/ T/ u" XCV 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.
. a2 I+ f% E- Q5 _+ d. KI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. # L, F" D% O. m; m6 p
- z; v% p; p6 q' F5 g20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. $ o0 k- W# r5 S0 ^0 l
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 7 t# D* {0 C4 ~% R: g' [5 v
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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.
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+ h; Z* T+ Q" [7 }# U. ]5 C0 D; nAll 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.
' W- t1 V4 N+ b* N+ h1 H% v8 ]9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. % d1 t* w* k# V9 f: ]7 v
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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.
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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.
' d3 k& Z. q; T; h) VCV 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. - \6 c8 S) N5 V* V. e# l
7 {1 I- W. N8 k( z( @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.
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B2 Y; o5 k. QDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. # D" X) t: z: l8 V2 G3 h8 D! f
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89 Kate
) ^( n% }% S1 g1 Z0 t60 Val
. b8 a+ f& [$ g& k39 Zero , b) P/ U, q# P2 y
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188 a/c : M) J5 J4 c. o/ V2 c
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126 SBD . z- K8 A- b4 w3 q' t- t# }, P. Z
61 TBD
$ e; O2 V" O7 G1 d19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar " e. J7 T7 m& o2 v( ^+ [( D6 G
14 F2A
$ M" _, h! k0 U0 n ~19 F4F-3
% x( x$ Q) L" z8 a7 ]24 F4F-4 5 }, b. v' H$ |: W$ a! g0 e
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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: f5 K. N4 b, \CV Formidable 50/69/38 2 X- A" i# w& n+ I# Y$ g: _/ q
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 , l5 W2 G$ [. n9 p
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
7 U6 P6 D) I! UBC Repulse 25/14/10 . I/ z# [5 _; _( @" O8 u. C# H
8 E$ V o: k% r# F. HCV Hornet 58/89/49 $ e6 V Z) Y* l0 C
DD Lamson 64/19/25 - B# y) R% q& C% Y# _
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, d0 k; B. Z8 r* n9 a3 H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。/ x0 ~2 G& N4 [1 Y" _
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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