South Pac
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* ~& Z1 v' Y8 a: L# J1 _7 O( YEarly 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. 0 F5 |0 U/ B4 _: K/ d
3 l( l W8 t1 J% h. DMy planes attacked first.
' G v* ^8 F# v* d2 J2 w/ k1 a$ FFirst 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! 3 W8 @% p* C5 U$ [( n! W7 y
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. " N& H1 t! m4 L1 v4 m; V/ y w- ~7 E
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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T: C% S/ x9 }' vThe 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. ( {. Z8 d! [ ~' Y- y
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.
! R9 N0 o$ N3 N! @4 {3 yCV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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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. 6 U: M! d; c9 k2 a+ z
CV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. : m" g; \4 H% v- J/ w/ K$ j& d( ?
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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. ' a0 J& C* e3 C
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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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" g2 X. c' h( oThen 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. 2 _9 m" j h, X h4 [4 ?$ U, g
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.
" _+ _7 U& H* s% q- w9 LI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates.
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. - o, D+ \( {) l- L5 ?# D- n# X/ R* q
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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! ?4 i3 C, f2 @3 O; y1 GFifth 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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) x0 H# _% f( C, s$ QAll 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.
, u# ~4 _* p+ ]# N8 H9 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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3 s3 }7 K6 `- e1 \' W! `7 Z7 K% vThen, 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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- P1 Y1 o" i# A; n) R; F- {5 J/ W44 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.
' u5 j* f* ?1 ?& O# g6 }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.
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) q1 \' k6 O+ kBefore 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. & B' D- }$ {, h
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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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89 Kate b+ I' \; O( Z4 Q: v' W/ L
60 Val # l: G% m+ Y3 J* o8 F
39 Zero
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h4 ^& x* N2 u& k# r4 y4 O188 a/c
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2 g) e( H# V l) e: O' F: A126 SBD
2 e! [$ P* N7 J/ r& @61 TBD
; e! D# J9 B, g- B$ N19 Albacore
6 y9 Z) y# @! d" ^( J5 Sea Hurricane
1 B' k5 b) `" T; o; c, p1 ]0 Y5 O21 Fulmar 8 w. J1 a1 J: b+ m6 ^- h
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19 F4F-3 9 G# _- `+ _! j2 X' a
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3 d7 Z$ x5 y- I" jThe damages for my ships are the following:
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 - J# S* {4 @% B9 l7 Z
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 8 y* j% a# q0 c- k8 U
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
' Q2 O- t. }- ]% v# u7 _9 YBC Repulse 25/14/10 4 x% L$ R! ~) T3 b) e' `+ G/ @" e
' u. Q. R z( }/ ]' n4 H& w! WCV Hornet 58/89/49 4 v6 T8 k; Q/ G/ Q: V" u
DD Lamson 64/19/25
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$ K: F* q5 o* [+ u! Q& b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。: N0 V# ~) `+ j# I! q, o
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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