South Pac
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5 u1 r% i! U3 L2 I1 j2 qEarly 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. - U$ Z. v6 _2 P x3 d) g
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My planes attacked first.
3 B: d1 {8 J2 s4 n1 z1 |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!
1 s$ |9 f! v0 v. z0 d/ Q# r+ WAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
. P6 n* q* v9 j4 kAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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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. 3 \& W8 Z6 j& ^6 N! P5 j
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. 6 J% o# D4 O. Q1 N
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. , `6 v6 S0 r3 t* T8 m6 q
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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. * n7 |" I6 {( z* [7 n n1 u9 @5 s
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. @, D* o( E3 J; N, k
. Z4 Q% G a5 h# y8 l$ P- r" I5 BThere 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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0 @" v# L6 m+ J* t! cIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 3 W6 p9 K% D. t9 }, F5 {% h
' n# j! o& g. ^: H- h2 [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.
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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. 4 w V4 m& t' l6 t$ A( U9 x
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.
& z' c; G+ x* g- cI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. * f7 c0 Q' P' g- |" O+ f
6 ^8 ~# ]. G8 [1 d% p20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. # x! s' _' b& M* S/ U. `6 M- y% k( ~/ B
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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" J% e/ a/ Z4 s- @ OFifth 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 C0 L! N& x/ F+ r
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All this happened in the morning!! - F, m8 b* \- i C# L% E9 H
0 y5 Q0 Q) J2 i# c8 s* |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. " I: a$ m! ~" f& c. u: j& X5 Q
9 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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: Q6 f% k4 ~$ C' A! P5 eThen, 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.
( D: w& ]/ u7 ?$ ?6 b) \& hCV 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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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. ; ~6 }( O& p, J" g- ~! U
* J( o* C7 a. Y2 h0 lDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. ( O8 E4 v. S9 n7 D+ h
! e2 v% P9 I6 h" X* s0 T89 Kate
/ \) k( A" n) n8 i: f60 Val , {0 v7 |7 g% q9 r$ G( s
39 Zero
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188 a/c
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# |. v5 C& j4 `7 K: ?4 b126 SBD % S7 k( ~$ z. }7 K9 F
61 TBD 2 T& F4 [1 g- H u7 y& z2 w
19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar 6 R5 x5 N0 D0 X2 l6 s) r
14 F2A
( u( w6 b8 T3 r. I- P19 F4F-3 # C7 `5 e5 X o d
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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0 {; G- ~, t" s" b! gCV Formidable 50/69/38
/ f/ M+ G+ e! a9 ?CV Indomitable 35/34/42 / m/ s. V, l; u4 _5 K: P- ~
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
+ L9 D( q, T; i% O& P; c8 w0 sBC Repulse 25/14/10 # i8 p. G, A! n, [4 |
- L5 ~3 v4 e/ S, P1 \0 BCV Hornet 58/89/49
' M0 k r) P9 R# l+ JDD Lamson 64/19/25 " o5 B$ R2 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。
- K: E5 O: }1 U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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