South Pac
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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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0 n! G) n5 f+ |6 |" G$ n9 {My planes attacked first. - `) W7 y6 O6 V& Z$ l
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!
* [& {$ i* @; [7 A! UAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
. E3 z. h- g. NAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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& O q' `* ?/ t8 z EThe 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 a( g" R1 z, x; j1 z$ k/ a
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. - i* }+ m, ~5 }
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. a' j7 k* P9 ~
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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. % U: a `% f+ s' J c
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. # I& h7 l. E$ g% X, q# }0 y X4 l3 O6 Y2 E
& t4 [6 [6 e# B% \7 oThere 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. + u; _5 l/ t& w5 z
8 `! s! d% T5 T& M6 B5 G% DIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 3 X, b0 N$ W9 h
/ U* Z1 U; l0 `' Q3 r; ?. v' }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. & Y+ z% p# d. u% U& G% D, |
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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. 2 P- H3 \; ?; L9 y
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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.
" M7 z8 E$ }# R# {! q0 y" c' NCV 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. 8 W5 K6 V% C, F% @& C$ x) b: [9 `6 p& P0 ?
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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/ X# ]4 G0 } k* \' _20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. ; ^, M. d/ r" s* k( v% R- [
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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" r. [9 D3 z# a# A: L- A K* n) p8 wFifth 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!! 9 ~. F" v6 u0 v0 m% Q% R5 \5 H L4 C
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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. 4 w% ?. ~! I, ~% j! H$ F9 L+ a
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 2 {- ~, c7 r4 d4 M0 v# R. [
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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. + D2 B5 _0 z5 l. c. A) I
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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.
; B% J: h; q7 b9 u0 R4 NCV 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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" k$ U9 D+ p2 E$ d, [6 C% OBefore 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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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate & M) R, Q/ p6 G6 @7 {& d1 r
60 Val
: F7 [$ W% Z( s5 H, K4 N% L$ U39 Zero
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. [: P( y3 s) @1 U w% v1 X188 a/c
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: N: G2 T* I7 l+ `( d8 o8 N! [126 SBD ( f8 A8 n$ q6 G$ D$ N; Q W* g
61 TBD
) ^) }: p" r& B6 O19 Albacore % d% ^$ ~. n1 p: \
5 Sea Hurricane
4 i+ s- J( z& M21 Fulmar 9 x5 @! p4 C, e" O% E8 L
14 F2A
+ v7 K0 C3 h: A' V, x! P19 F4F-3 , b) ^1 p C& ^& z$ D
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: % J1 o3 [6 f% {8 C9 o; B7 r
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CV Formidable 50/69/38
$ v6 f5 U {9 m7 j4 \% fCV Indomitable 35/34/42
' Y; d4 r- s% _9 J! d3 lBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ' _- T* b6 n& U# E) u
BC Repulse 25/14/10 # ?3 X7 C) [: t$ v4 V
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CV Hornet 58/89/49 9 A; @, C! D+ G1 E# I; e1 {3 M# G
DD Lamson 64/19/25 + `0 R: d) ?7 ]
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" r+ {% z5 x5 _, u; J9 K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。) T0 }5 G" a% S. ?
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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