South Pac ~% w) `/ A* q4 r/ s) z4 `
) p, P7 t2 Q8 d: U) OEarly 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. % x4 s3 S3 m1 g" h9 j+ c
, o$ N1 n' c3 G6 g8 gMy planes attacked first.
" F& a" T1 x0 H3 ?3 M8 b6 ^( E; i9 \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! & H) f; I3 d, h" k
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 5 G( {0 k; O* ]3 \
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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% h2 ]6 M" A8 E8 z1 J6 F+ @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. - u4 t6 |* l% s! W- l
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. : [$ c+ t$ Q7 y- A, m# i8 P. p
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ) z4 Q7 f1 n" o( f
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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.
! {: E0 l9 y9 i* l* l4 l; pCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. p! X" \) ?& L: S
# r5 ]( k* y# B. R5 J; @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. # _1 m- H( @9 T6 r* ]% k
& |6 _ r7 e/ H& q7 j7 ?It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. ( O& r8 g2 T; U8 E
5 h$ n5 G4 L. v8 ^% \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. - F- D6 i7 |- `* F: e4 G
" o7 S5 t# v( ^5 W7 j- H( x, wThe 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. : }2 i+ [ M2 f! S& z
+ }8 W* G3 [2 Z! C/ T+ |The third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. # Y9 Y8 Z9 C7 f
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.
. i: h/ T2 Z m2 v# b/ }% h6 Z9 uI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
2 v2 v# A6 M5 ?5 u4 \* ?
9 v: R) v- p6 }; r1 h' W' a0 e4 a20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 8 H! r% j; s: J0 w
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. 0 e/ ?4 E3 F3 D# E$ l/ i9 c/ g8 t
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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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All this happened in the morning!! " X* j" i- X5 j$ H( a
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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.
, s. o& e" `2 g o7 x; k. P" `; A5 g9 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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1 j8 w( \! p( _& w1 I! 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.
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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. % m& v' H% p& \% a3 q, g4 `# B
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. ( Y8 ~# q6 a) h
; W: ~/ ^, d% h6 G H' @, eBefore 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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M C f) d6 `; v! S5 KDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. ! \: Z; P" r& U: I n# `, V1 s5 k
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89 Kate
, i, U, P3 A, ~" P; ?- Z60 Val ! V6 g; ~! N4 q4 j
39 Zero
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3 s& Q4 [7 B& ^. v* W# n5 L/ D& K188 a/c 2 k+ m `8 |. E3 M
0 R) j+ Z* p7 A7 S4 W1 v1 q2 L7 R- ^/ t
126 SBD
Z3 s% \$ y4 ^61 TBD 0 B7 _9 e6 D% i9 c
19 Albacore
2 q3 V3 y$ y- s) k' l5 Sea Hurricane
3 P+ [ ^9 \! P, `% h3 E' v5 t21 Fulmar & A3 H$ Q* K) ?8 p1 g
14 F2A
$ B% @& c7 G2 H- p& X19 F4F-3
/ B. O3 K% s; e24 F4F-4 9 L& K& @3 C: G0 j. h9 W% @
3 }5 C( _! r1 }+ ~$ z% a
The damages for my ships are the following: : q* u9 U/ B2 o
, O; Q$ T" e5 x9 |; V1 I4 c4 L; XCV Formidable 50/69/38 1 P5 _ o# U1 K, h
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
( o1 `4 z9 Z) L, A, T: HBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
7 L5 v0 n: { B6 ~% M& Y9 w' u/ uBC Repulse 25/14/10 3 O! n6 {7 G/ k0 g" _( B
8 v3 p$ P4 |! h6 z$ G$ Q7 `, |2 H
CV Hornet 58/89/49 + G0 i0 h0 b+ I8 i V6 b; u
DD Lamson 64/19/25
' S$ R6 I: ~/ t* u1 d+ i－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
8 T. R0 E' n) c# A/ h' F; F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。3 ^+ q) t, H' |$ E% t9 T0 v v
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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