South Pac
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* T# ?% h; N$ K7 U7 O ?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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My planes attacked first. f* y8 k$ Q* K1 E
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! j) X: b7 t1 S
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. $ D" z$ {5 m2 U$ ?7 ^$ T
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... " A# _0 j7 ]! g( [% a4 M
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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.
& K! a* v4 O1 b8 v9 s2 u0 z23 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. 3 r6 u; c i0 }" h0 e7 v$ m: a
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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' a. k6 q) n# ?- q; l" A9 iThe 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. ; V, D" s8 Y6 E! x( q$ Q! h7 }
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. ! b4 Y7 V* U* @& v% @ Z" {
+ T4 o: j) v; KThere 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. 0 u7 T) I5 t" m& t' X
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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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8 x% r$ [, U+ N. J! `- X! YThe 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.
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3 a1 C: _! t# n0 U3 d! U, xThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
* W0 j1 r7 u$ }* N8 @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. % v+ p, {/ g( R" J; ^' K3 B$ k
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 1 p/ z7 ~* i. ]9 e ]2 R/ K8 V
4 x# c, Z: S7 y$ m20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. ) @7 c( _% e3 S L% r8 \+ j
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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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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; b5 o# L8 t6 R ]( v0 x( EAll this happened in the morning!! C2 w3 Y, s, Z4 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. # `/ J! t/ {+ h* W5 h+ D! u
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. ; [( f2 [1 W# c0 _
: P3 E! ]% T& N: i% HThen, 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. Z0 G9 f. F' `, j1 i7 i+ V
. Q7 a5 u3 m' i8 |/ l( r( h' m44 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. * ~: e, Z" H+ _! x
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. - {. ]5 j7 I, V/ }+ _4 F
|, R! M$ G; A0 _/ A' jBefore 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. 7 W/ N6 P( G# C2 }5 |
b9 t1 A% \# G N8 j, ODuring this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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( u) i7 j; U+ e4 g0 s+ N89 Kate
& Z. J' p& D" ~: y60 Val
T9 v ]: N9 j' ^- r39 Zero
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188 a/c , j4 G* H1 g- [. l
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126 SBD 0 O- ^- r9 |2 n$ C0 w& d
61 TBD 4 Q& u. J1 I; }
19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar
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19 F4F-3
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 : Q5 d/ o. d$ V' U7 P+ W
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 : _, t. s/ X% f1 b; x3 `
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 ( r+ s5 `% Z. f, |1 \
BC Repulse 25/14/10
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# B5 d1 A+ s) C: R8 b/ uCV Hornet 58/89/49
( H- B$ v9 I! H" d; [DD Lamson 64/19/25
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2 b1 ^, w5 `8 C6 X; A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。
: V* m$ K8 q9 [6 w6 j X: Y/ L2 x5 ]6 A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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