South Pac 7 f$ {3 Z! v) e9 Y, l5 j
" w) V$ q3 _: p8 J7 Y x/ {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. 6 z+ R8 N3 D1 E2 b' c4 G, ?
7 O& f8 H3 W5 v9 V# W/ ?My planes attacked first.
; ~* X% k5 C- D5 b: s# N) ?8 ]% cFirst 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! * h6 w5 T+ i0 `* d, N
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
* W4 Y' f) [8 s, Y; NAh, by the way...No Zero shot down... 2 J k0 r1 [5 E. T5 F& F2 ~/ a- H" I
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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. ; X& C% j# m5 s t m
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. 9 U/ |0 r2 c5 G, f4 [+ R# F
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. / k R5 n2 U( C- w
. [5 I% v5 Z4 u( S9 CThe 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- Y4 @3 J& F+ t2 B5 l6 ]% x- k
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each.
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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.
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1 r: j8 I3 { }( eThen 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. ) B$ j4 n2 X0 I7 O: g
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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.
$ k. X6 G$ C) x. M s9 W6 ECV 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.
2 ^" o1 \! s$ L( ]I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. ; f+ K/ v6 ^* j3 X
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
0 B4 Z+ h0 o8 I0 T# W6 `6 P3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. . u# a/ M& y" o/ I+ [+ M( O: ~" J
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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. ) U8 x: @/ l4 d( \, g/ w( T/ _
, M9 }6 `3 W" ]. M/ q7 WAll this happened in the morning!!
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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. p7 }) x2 v9 s; l# h2 i$ X
9 SBD and 2 TBD tried the same, and a SBD scored 1 1000 lbs – bomb on Akagi. 2 SBD and 1 TBD lost. 5 x; P |' ]0 a0 Q0 P5 E
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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. ) C! i5 }; o5 H' C$ Z: k
. r$ l- l$ w( N% @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. 8 Y2 Z9 W W4 @5 x+ @0 i 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. , p. I; V4 n& w+ R" Y% E( \
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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. ( Z% k2 `5 k l) \
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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* {' U1 B- r# t8 @89 Kate
" }9 @* [4 Q0 D0 v60 Val
: b1 }0 n$ f3 i, R. q39 Zero f7 O) L4 ]3 G+ y; l1 H) g& I
& c7 E5 z+ _8 u, V# o2 _+ L188 a/c
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0 A+ n' [8 z6 S
1 e2 U. I4 e" b5 z. m+ a% f* j; o126 SBD
. f2 Z' @# [% K8 Y6 U6 Q7 v; s+ V61 TBD
- `0 G, U. _3 t/ f% i3 Y [- \& |19 Albacore
Y# o' R! n3 F1 K5 Sea Hurricane 1 H! }! b0 W$ G
21 Fulmar
1 _' j; }! k P5 R14 F2A , S S. b$ M( a5 q* K' d
19 F4F-3
: E, J; x5 R5 w! `0 o24 F4F-4 ! v) ?9 S. t/ j: ~3 c- t$ ^: W
1 J1 L( k- J) \ j( yThe damages for my ships are the following: 1 @1 d# Z4 O5 }+ w4 N# B/ \
' B( s# ~- N; h7 i7 P ~CV Formidable 50/69/38 6 k5 W7 M9 L( g& H: E' J" s+ c
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
3 D2 x! L$ v5 T; `) ~BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
$ G j p& w uBC Repulse 25/14/10 , f$ C1 @' X; H- N% _3 @$ @0 k8 w
! u" k) n" n% p1 f# ]( I# iCV Hornet 58/89/49 5 }, C3 B K% R1 c
DD Lamson 64/19/25 8 X8 ^% @. m T. I9 J
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
& o! f: g* D' k' a; h6 r( \( C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。$ s: A# h) P; @
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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