South Pac
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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. # O2 a$ ^& t' G' Z6 Z) S
* \3 _) o) ~% u0 X% L0 E0 Q8 jMy planes attacked first.
$ L5 i! Q( Z4 W- C" zFirst 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!
p& U; k$ n' o3 nAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. 8 T, O* n; N3 g( ]- o
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... 5 w8 e( O8 m" P+ m* y
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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.
# m8 O/ q* M$ u7 { n3 s23 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. * Z. ]! x% Q( H2 |* c* H
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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' p9 f6 y: D% o* u4 y; SThe 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.
5 [; x% Y0 ?% r" P" O/ e# aCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. # x3 Q* x+ b& x9 D6 `# T
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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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$ @0 l, ~; \$ z g# S/ C# uIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. 8 s. S: u! c& |' E
3 w+ ^1 J2 B7 J- |9 c% SThen 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. ) x8 G3 B j, x( K
" u& {' ]9 j/ i3 i, u3 @* d* cThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
9 l# {- m* i4 @; b* v" n1 OCV 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.
# l# _, d" i3 u) dI lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. , k1 K+ D8 q/ u1 k' _
$ U9 h: l( b) @% y6 L2 [) D20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them. 4 h) h5 g# H( |
3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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5 D. ^. I$ l, ]& mFifth 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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! ]: E1 n9 h* a( L) BAll this happened in the morning!!
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8 [( X! G( o: b; M9 s; i9 k8 b/ iIn 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.
( Q" Y1 Y* r- m' f$ q9 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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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.
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1 u8 q1 s' _5 j& h! ~1 v44 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. ( b" W- @: @# Z ]" N4 i5 W3 ~
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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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.
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2 C: y3 M; C+ g& `1 `( bDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. * h1 w/ a+ \* H; e) y$ G
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89 Kate 7 Q( }; G. S( u2 V( V5 ^' V
60 Val 1 k( d5 V9 V# e4 w8 x' _* f- ^
39 Zero / g5 J3 J- z3 W0 ^+ Y9 j
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188 a/c " y. e7 @1 j4 H$ Z( D2 [
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3 ]. O, J* }( L7 N2 z$ F3 P126 SBD : Q. p2 f1 E+ g: ~& Y
61 TBD ( U) `8 K5 X/ J* f6 M+ m) _4 u
19 Albacore ) S9 ~0 C) V* U" L2 h7 r
5 Sea Hurricane
/ R5 P! a, x4 m; g7 I/ O) D21 Fulmar
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19 F4F-3 ) {; b2 j' B4 g$ ?# x) \) m4 ^8 |8 b
24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following: . `" O% W: R3 O C9 o' D
( _! l9 ^% {; p' H `CV Formidable 50/69/38 8 A( G1 R. _' |. }* r) y
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
4 f+ a. ^5 h$ ^ S5 E6 N* XBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 6 t8 Y1 @$ R3 l
BC Repulse 25/14/10 1 g4 t& `3 t8 K% V5 E8 K( H
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
1 m7 Q* i9 i; ]/ y8 D0 {2 iDD Lamson 64/19/25
4 ?, D& }5 w& L% z# a1 K! ]－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
9 h' @8 e& X' q' D3 x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。
: V2 j0 l1 @4 x2 t5 P; D+ l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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