South Pac ' }$ B1 ]0 \0 N0 W' e+ @! @
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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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My planes attacked first. % `$ z; C7 H! c8 m
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!
$ G; |' o6 D1 C9 H# r. ?/ JAnother 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck.
: o. }7 U, z( U9 X2 S7 _6 qAh, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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. a. }3 U/ x0 v. Z, mThe 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. * m% v% A6 s. _3 ^" T, v
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. , _' k/ R4 m& f" x+ x A" F
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. % x2 t3 i0 { \- A j
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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. + t% {7 ?7 N# I4 I2 {# i
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. % w! P8 N- @, R( c$ w" Q1 o
/ t$ B* J: r7 O1 X2 p6 QIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. * R7 O$ L1 Y- ]! ~1 S" Z
4 K/ k1 @' X% Y: QThen 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. + j$ P! V0 w8 J& p5 z
6 r& r, M8 E7 o$ x# B3 l( w+ c, ^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.
, _7 W9 X, W$ X7 zCV 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 n: e% X; s: e% y, \
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. 6 w! s1 ]& R' W
I& o& F3 K1 \5 u, {" m8 D20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
" F+ P4 T+ G# c! G- ]6 v3 N3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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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.
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All this happened in the morning!! 5 r- I# {) S w( R; ]
+ g# a0 g/ m! W* jIn 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.
& C+ b5 X" Z$ e: X# E$ 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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; A* y _& n) d u( M2 W uThen, 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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7 j0 B, E; b4 G5 I44 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. 4 y8 P* c6 H7 V
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. 3 M. T! C* o. A! j8 k: Y" B
- `' B# y! F( t! w M' nBefore 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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7 `4 L$ A7 O/ |89 Kate
. w' `7 m9 ?. K7 m7 D60 Val
M5 Q1 @+ r$ ~$ Y/ o. w; B39 Zero 5 W; _; B; M. x, L( u1 Z) x, T! s
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188 a/c + a E% w. O5 \+ C& l- {% y
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126 SBD
& x5 p0 m5 g- H# R3 d- p61 TBD
Q5 O- ~) ^7 v$ v" s19 Albacore / h! n" H" k( M
5 Sea Hurricane
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- ?, D/ Z. }( Z9 X( w, \+ K. D19 F4F-3
, g4 N1 x( o; ^24 F4F-4 9 [+ I7 C# Q4 L0 |* N8 H6 W
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The damages for my ships are the following: 0 {1 R1 F# N* D6 p
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CV Formidable 50/69/38 & b& ^$ D9 A" F* J p6 L
CV Indomitable 35/34/42 : h3 J, r9 p2 K U. [) u, L
BB Prince of Wales 35/6/14 % S; X2 e) Z& Y8 K
BC Repulse 25/14/10 1 j/ y" S& i2 i# d; Q, S; \
9 O( C2 y; v& {# f4 jCV Hornet 58/89/49 & s/ p1 C: h! e! |. L
DD Lamson 64/19/25 5 I. r2 _' S5 U' ^3 O; f8 @, a
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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。5 x, l4 w/ O. b5 N
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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