South Pac
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5 {+ e! L% ?, a% m& U e: D( ]. uEarly 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. # C2 H$ D8 F% ]; l3 W! i
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My planes attacked first. 1 K, X/ Y- x+ O
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!
$ I" @. Z+ J/ n# xAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
! [ u* B9 H$ s/ iAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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% q, q9 ?0 G; c2 _5 S+ \2 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. / @7 V+ }$ L I$ }) q9 R
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. * a5 j |( ]( V; [8 O! j
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo.
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0 B# A0 [; ^; k8 H5 ~. C( Z, ] GThe 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.
3 c; a; r/ T* a+ r& aCV Shokaku received 4 more bombs, CV Zuikaku 2 bombs, while CA Aoba and Kinugasa have been hit by 1 bomb each. - G/ ]1 G% B& Z7 n$ m+ P$ J# Z& f
' C& [/ V7 w0 w% w1 @$ DThere 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. 7 a. c* P6 ^" |" [
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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. % i0 F1 c3 ]$ c$ x) k% b
+ U3 y6 b0 m6 t& YThe 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. % F6 `; c& z) J9 ~
- R& W' `9 H; E' r( N6 A0 QThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. 7 n( e! S/ [& Y |
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. 3 D. [, w, U+ P A5 o) p$ M( ^
I 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.
% k( L. r- J, ]; D$ }; h3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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8 d# [, E4 Y d, y7 F' \5 I5 ^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.
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3 O0 ^0 G4 Q# y6 z- e! LAll this happened in the morning!! / @1 N* r% |' A( R$ p
. b# c; h: V* C( Q. e% f! l7 XIn 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. % x$ [$ V/ y# x& ]& k3 j* n
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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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. : Y% k' V! D! H9 _
$ t, D: C8 Z! ]5 O, [1 ^/ `, r44 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.
: i1 r3 Q- U2 N: E' 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. 8 c8 s7 }+ I! w
" z8 n% o, O8 S( f3 j3 p- jBefore 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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During this terrible day, this are the air losses.
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& g" C/ g( |+ q: {: Y89 Kate % s* x+ \6 f n7 Y( F, E
60 Val + e9 ^- L/ n# ]
39 Zero
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126 SBD 4 V* U* D# j" l+ g$ ^, M8 O0 _
61 TBD
[9 C! p$ f4 L19 Albacore
& h4 x: s, ^0 x) Y; g/ ~& f5 Sea Hurricane 9 o. c. r$ _+ S9 y7 J, n
21 Fulmar 5 V3 @% e0 a5 o* N0 n1 g8 I; G3 t2 X! M2 a
14 F2A
, u3 `7 m: P* [3 v6 ]) ]5 C7 H$ ~! \. N19 F4F-3 8 S0 R; R- i8 m* x( v; |3 d+ x5 @7 A
24 F4F-4 - _5 `% w( L, r" }
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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% X- |) z- b1 d' c Q* a: @CV Formidable 50/69/38 * p+ L3 w. T8 `+ W5 A; {* C. y. t
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 . ]6 ]- S& L) h7 Q/ M
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 . D, ~1 L Z5 K' M! c s
BC Repulse 25/14/10 1 }+ [4 J+ m7 r4 {! L8 B6 r" @' O
; N- e+ }5 T/ n3 {CV Hornet 58/89/49 ) y# w5 i! S) X7 h
DD Lamson 64/19/25 4 g: |6 ]* G2 v3 L r. _. J
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( g! H8 F' ]1 v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。 u: U' ~4 |# J2 T( D
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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