South Pac 4 _. m4 d% _+ w1 h3 }$ Y
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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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9 L5 O" }% L9 |7 i' R% ~4 h! tMy planes attacked first.
6 m6 C6 K( _- D; Y) t, eFirst 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 ~$ [% s2 z8 {/ v3 RAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. / M- f# m$ K7 [& \" ?
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... * R9 d) }, p2 R# p' E9 r% N2 ~: X
' o% u8 h v; ~' r) iThe 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% ^7 R/ |8 V0 b$ c23 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. 1 X! }# {4 @& C- N0 W
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. ) w$ R( Q5 Q0 S1 ]
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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.
: W. q$ ^) p. O2 ?% [CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. - S; |: x' K, O* p
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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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) \4 t) m2 C8 Z- h$ Y1 wIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. . `! n% U) w+ L3 \+ s9 w: P
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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. 3 }3 O: g1 G# T& b! k* L1 \
6 w& y- h9 ?: C. Z8 f0 H) UThe 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. ' i+ I( J r% `7 q- e9 d
% `2 s- `- ?: q* LThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. ' ?$ F, k. r! A# j g/ e2 `: T
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.
; s$ C1 a4 g& Q7 D+ ?I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 4 @( v" u0 o, b1 D
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
% J7 `2 r, C* b9 B$ ]3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps. & k5 ]) j% F; |% Q
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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. 0 j" o' ^8 U! x- A9 q& X
7 D- Q! u" ~/ y8 n8 ]/ }# {All 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. 4 p$ a& S* g3 j' H) Z5 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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1 V7 l b6 P( n- J$ H1 fThen, 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. 2 p3 h- Q5 Q( f! ]# s4 B* _( v
' b& k, r+ v+ K ~# d Q. U44 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. + T9 f/ V$ P& a( J- J1 U
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. & L. i) g, I" X7 n2 O( m
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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. ~' {! |" j# h6 P
# {4 t: H7 ^; H+ r+ r9 _+ X! LDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. ( _4 C4 K) h* [
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89 Kate
0 H% ?5 I# V! J! z60 Val
4 G& n% ]: `+ l+ W) X' U39 Zero
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188 a/c
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- C0 z8 ]- ?. l( V1 Z0 a4 I126 SBD
7 |- l4 {2 c/ @/ v2 z61 TBD 6 e7 U. o! x+ |. p) L% i+ L5 c. c7 M
19 Albacore 6 s& h7 V' f: \ q
5 Sea Hurricane
( g0 x( b- U9 T( l' a9 {( q+ d/ o/ ~21 Fulmar 8 M0 Z j# K4 A) g3 j& n# h
14 F2A / v$ o, N$ \7 ^$ I8 v3 C' u+ {; b
19 F4F-3
0 ^/ P- U3 T9 x7 z% h, @- E24 F4F-4
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- _9 T- G) A0 `+ gThe damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 4 D' k1 k. P: T
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 3 u/ e$ O5 V! x# n8 m4 W
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
$ I! I( {. A- B8 c) jBC Repulse 25/14/10
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/ T: S( n" h& _2 oCV Hornet 58/89/49 7 q, Q# H8 r4 Q& P5 _ m( T7 q
DD Lamson 64/19/25 . n4 A3 w, G5 E% Y+ v- L* f
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
! N% Q$ B' {! m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/ T2 i- b0 N/ R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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