South Pac % E( z$ L. d9 k
3 n W0 j6 V( G5 `7 [ `/ @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. % H% O$ C5 \- u. A+ g' C* ^
- l' R1 f+ z( U9 {! JMy planes attacked first.
5 l& m8 O; Q. s# ^/ E# y( W& ^$ Q% LFirst 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! ( t" D+ P2 L0 `1 W
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. / {9 E8 _# c8 v' x
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down...
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+ C: d5 l5 {( H" jThe 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.
4 X0 ]; ]. m% W23 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. / o5 R* o! q, q
CV Shokaku received 11 bombs, while CV Zuikaku received 9 bombs and 1 torpedo. 3 c" P) c, ~1 O+ D, a2 P* \9 a
9 d/ o8 T+ O' G- E7 u/ L9 a' m8 B" FThe 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. : l7 O; K& t3 N% Q
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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: \' C0 q+ ^$ U$ P' J- z; m( _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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1 P2 Z( N" o) n" n! L/ J4 ?8 RIt’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star.
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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.
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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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9 H* U, M! N, e6 D: Q \) D3 q3 A9 qThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP. + ?# q! y3 a$ U
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. ) m- ~* m4 k, n* Q
I lost 15 fighters, while japs lost 10 Zeros, 6 Vals and 9 Kates. & z: S5 o" P: Q, p7 d2 K
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20 Kate and 6 Zero formed the fourth wave. 65 fighters were on CAP, but were unable to stop them.
1 c4 H7 N4 e$ q3 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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5 A) q; N, Q( ~: h5 a+ |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.
0 g/ M8 S L6 I3 [( x9 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. 9 S6 B1 F0 z' t, x1 W; o! z0 D
) r! p( Z3 A. S( G5 q44 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.
- C: c! a: H, q! gCV 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. - X. ]* ?+ a" ?* @4 x" G
8 `7 z* n. _8 Z4 T" zBefore 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. 2 J$ { I4 n, N- k3 y; w6 T
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89 Kate
' S% `, F5 H I9 R60 Val
$ q7 O3 B9 ?$ a3 U& z' [9 R- ?5 a39 Zero ! E7 p5 X' F$ C( `& s0 W; H! k- G
2 L! N. T4 e. I
188 a/c
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# @* B g$ l' m! ^ g C
5 Q' P1 V. \6 b2 a126 SBD
5 C' m+ T& Z3 F' B$ D61 TBD 3 X& H2 z( D& u P5 j
19 Albacore
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21 Fulmar & F, O2 b& t1 F% X8 E0 }, }
14 F2A
! s" L6 y7 I5 `8 c' a# b, x19 F4F-3
0 |6 c: {5 j4 d, A4 F& K24 F4F-4
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The damages for my ships are the following:
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+ C x- H+ v) L0 o; A, FCV Formidable 50/69/38
, v& p7 ]* r; G( q3 ]8 X, \CV Indomitable 35/34/42
% A# @" N" M, ^. P, p. xBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
7 y" e4 f: L% f, A j& n/ NBC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
/ ~, j9 U+ i' q# QDD Lamson 64/19/25 . w; _5 I: o9 F0 N1 k* N
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
3 S; e: `) d1 z3 T$ |) s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。
M$ P: H: q1 t7 w/ J+ y; ]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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