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! Y; f1 ~" @8 l5 U* \1 uEarly 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. % T# }' Y/ p: U! f0 i
, ?$ j7 `" s# k9 yMy planes attacked first.
4 u8 E6 D* }3 f, `* JFirst 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!
2 X1 ^! _* U9 C7 |& ~, G5 lAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. / `3 b H0 q! h6 q
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... ' }( `+ Q7 E, v" o9 d
5 a6 _8 o& N9 K; V8 ?; Q8 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. 8 T9 t/ D; M5 I" B
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.
& _7 r0 H& D S3 z Q6 C9 o1 P- vCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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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. 5 d& d" q0 s% S$ Q) J2 H! O. l
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. * W1 F X1 a' M* t# B' f
- U, Z. b3 L4 \. G: ^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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It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 4 Z. t4 d0 v7 i+ H+ a; a
7 @4 _! H2 P8 Y2 Y5 j5 _8 z1 ?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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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. 8 \5 B: A1 P' J3 `1 W- s
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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. L- Y* G3 e% \3 Y, J
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.
) s7 f! a8 E' s6 z# dI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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: g, V# j5 t+ j/ _20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 3 W. b2 a' K/ @8 v, r
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. ! t9 K- u. U+ |0 J& f
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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. 6 S' _2 e; H. J" G$ s, j
+ x9 ?3 Y& g, [9 F: `All this happened in the morning!!
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9 x9 v* Q. f6 CIn 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.
" p/ t5 m) E8 L, v* |$ P9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ; u# Y5 T9 W' y: u2 ]( ^& c
* w; b! D) j/ {* TThen, 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. 4 A7 f# \; B$ Z- C) S
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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.
: ?- }1 A7 h3 S* B( i1 a& lCV 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.
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) Z" J- S) V5 t4 D: h% K' sBefore 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. % n& V& j+ }+ B! q
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses. . P8 o( G* u5 \( y4 @( n
4 e. `% @; S" m" Y" s! L6 @' ~- P89 Kate 2 M1 {$ a8 v" l' \. L) V: S
60 Val . w5 T; a# q5 k0 b; F
39 Zero 6 {1 N* E" {% i* U2 M X1 A1 w' U! N
2 R; S% z2 z( j% [* v
188 a/c 3 r1 j. W5 Q0 j; k
7 K. K3 Y# j/ a1 I! v, w- Q
% S0 G5 u6 \* {6 R126 SBD 1 @0 N' C+ F/ |& b9 f/ U) C N& ]
61 TBD 0 j+ Y8 Y5 x% g9 J
19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar / E* o* E# q1 r: E0 j- M
14 F2A & g% t% ^, A5 _+ c6 o
19 F4F-3
' F! F6 Q# |8 g7 z, Z3 C3 u ?24 F4F-4 & q* d# m0 t9 E! q
+ a. W. G* W( X' m8 R% LThe damages for my ships are the following: ( `& ~0 J Z7 T( B+ B$ d
5 S% Y3 ^+ S. ?& UCV Formidable 50/69/38 9 C* n8 h& s2 W: h- B; P+ {/ Y
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 ( A5 A' ?+ @% {
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 # J1 Y, H+ g! j! l2 f, ^; ?
BC Repulse 25/14/10 + y8 R9 J N& y d4 n
9 L! p0 i+ p5 c; y- vCV Hornet 58/89/49
0 F1 g ~3 X: f" M$ A' [# l* u% O5 EDD Lamson 64/19/25 ; W9 U+ R2 _3 u) ]' Z
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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。( h5 o: V; m+ [' |. `" a9 }8 z% `* c
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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