South Pac . Y# [" ~4 ~; V6 A* F: U2 v
. [: Z4 C4 L* s$ m
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. " D. @$ n7 j/ |' y0 m* \& P
- }8 Q: p2 r# ~" [& O7 w. C
My planes attacked first. # e' C) @2 m- n) [+ W
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! o# K' G; G" C( _7 e
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 7 M" D9 A* L0 a; h
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 4 w9 { }. `$ W8 h
: L* V' v1 k. J5 K
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.
~- ]6 f! D& m2 @- P23 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.
1 w& i7 q0 z0 Z2 UCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
% W0 V/ F! M! `( z, `
- G1 i% ]1 A- z5 R8 `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.
9 O: b, N3 Z' }9 y* r& G+ `CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
' @. i9 A8 p' m4 z5 V7 B2 d3 p
4 G0 _" u5 B, |+ R$ }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.
; ~+ L+ s2 }% Z' i# g
! i O& ]- U- U0 L3 s+ bIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
% y( B) D6 b4 j; v* C$ c& M3 L
% p2 |' T4 b1 G4 s* V! IThen 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.
. W5 `6 j# ~( @) N2 R, e# w- E9 M) D! X1 r0 }) Q+ S- z
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.
" r- [6 X5 r0 k5 R" T
5 w8 K9 |5 Y$ |! }: |The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 3 x7 C; S6 f' G% N2 S6 b$ }
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.
) E* m. z4 B5 w( L) O6 R) tI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. % B {* x/ C; ]8 X
1 ?! q* ?3 Q8 `4 U% H
20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
% H( E, @4 g! U7 L7 ?3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 2 m5 ]7 V2 G1 `4 _- R, ^2 j( X! e
1 L7 u, r6 Q! U, f' [( c
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.
* p$ S# l% N1 R* C% }/ \
( a+ L- a$ @ tAll this happened in the morning!!
# Y: K! T! p$ m2 \& p( y
$ E6 ~7 h2 w/ ?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. 4 E" E: M6 K' V
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost.
4 S. t, o& A; _7 J ? }) q' g q5 _. K! D7 o% |- ?+ [
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. ' l" S9 @+ w. S; h" b3 m
4 n i+ _1 |# h& \' d# n44 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.
$ G* @0 j' [& p+ Q5 U9 o4 GCV 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 Y- f2 M: w$ F' e; s: E% t5 n- h6 ~- G( D
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. Z1 N7 N/ s( x5 Y7 _, ^: A: @* p
" v( ^1 J2 n; W! K& g
During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
3 E" @' K! Y E+ P' {$ p
0 J1 N2 m/ s; f% s/ H ?89 Kate & W# I* _. } a) X. Q* L$ l
60 Val
( J! I" d' p( e39 Zero
( w; d* M, q7 M( y
4 N* d6 u6 v8 V1 w7 t9 J188 a/c
- u4 P3 C# R9 E' ]0 E
4 D* g- t: R) ~3 w: M; g& B
- n5 m" j0 ?# `* u126 SBD
# t0 d7 d Y! `; j- m9 K61 TBD ' t# }; A2 U# u
19 Albacore
0 {0 U9 F/ p4 u2 S5 Sea Hurricane
& d, H2 O, c+ u+ s21 Fulmar
5 \ b+ \3 d$ R- o6 p" @2 _14 F2A ! |5 s1 c8 V: l5 p) R1 O
19 F4F-3
, v& ~( X1 w; T: O) @) ?24 F4F-4 ' y. T) e' A$ _& V4 Y7 V4 Z
, B1 [: u# z9 x, w- i1 S/ ]$ d
The damages for my ships are the following: / |2 |3 e/ s5 }& E% D. a% @; T/ B
7 k+ y& A( u/ M& k1 ~
CV Formidable 50/69/38 + A; i J5 D+ k5 f- b
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 2 ^! E' l, A) U( Q2 `3 k
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
2 ~1 V9 {/ B) ZBC Repulse 25/14/10 4 M, W1 |6 d2 w2 z& V
* M1 g" n: j- s7 b9 L4 @
CV Hornet 58/89/49 ; `, z) U( {7 U* K7 a
DD Lamson 64/19/25 ( I8 E- ?1 i; a4 @, Z
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ E; l; U( g) }9 _' |4 Q1 Y
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。
0 w6 t" t# p- `3 H @- 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
| 