South Pac
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) T* x2 H3 A* V9 K$ ?: i' o( k. G7 eEarly 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. 0 ?& W: ^/ Q3 u( ~2 g: p
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! : K8 R T* ]/ v8 S
Another 1000 lbs-bomb hit CV Soryu and exploded beneath the deck. ( [- p' f, z. d7 [( G# r7 `
Ah, by the way...No Zero shot down... % U7 v& j3 F! i* E' c% W& X) n2 I
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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.
) W9 D4 ]( ?$ H: N& ^: y23 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. : c+ t0 Y, i! G d
CV 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.
" s! f1 g% \6 f) c0 jCV 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.
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4 Y$ Y& k9 Q! ?; B! |It’s obvious that Chuck divided KB in at least 2 TFs. This decision saved the death star. f7 {1 E& m% H" O$ F# P
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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. + j$ F8 n+ S5 i1 V
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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. ! p7 k4 H! H) [
: P& m2 h( C- O1 tThe third massive wave, composed by 61 Val, 78 Kate and 37 Zero, easily escaped from my 81 fighters on CAP.
7 C; p9 E8 v6 [" @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. . a( v& T0 }: f7 I( Z7 G. |& c+ W
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.
8 O8 X* U' {( V9 i! [) j$ e3 Kate and 6 of my fighters shot down. CV Enterprise took 2 more torps.
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- b6 H8 k0 B( |0 u/ }$ L& n" wFifth 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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: x; y: U$ J/ I. MAll this happened in the morning!! ( `" e, [8 X- k3 ]5 r7 ]
; C+ A6 x: r4 BIn 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.
. P" `0 F# b* H% E2 ]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. 0 @8 [# R$ b7 O" [, N
' M+ X! y& b- f9 P44 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: d6 \2 f9 ?% l" W! Q* w8 g; qCV 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. ; d3 J/ f5 W6 E. | d: C& p
) q7 M5 O1 D! N2 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. , D8 ?8 z* b- m9 Q
2 u5 _% K6 s* x( l6 oDuring this terrible day, this are the air losses. 0 q7 y+ c: e& h1 j: j$ D
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89 Kate
' m3 h( m' w) o+ a' O60 Val % z% t4 b3 V5 [/ x3 m1 M
39 Zero
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126 SBD
. K& h" ~+ O+ r* F61 TBD
* V) ? M9 r" G$ O& f [- D19 Albacore : P1 s! l7 `! d' g( [# B* P' ]9 C& ?
5 Sea Hurricane ! Y/ L. w% Q7 B7 _% R' E i
21 Fulmar % [! z: Z$ J! I& |! a* o+ D
14 F2A
7 C. G+ B8 P( u( C& A8 h) Q( b, s19 F4F-3 & f8 \4 M( J3 Z4 T1 j
24 F4F-4
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% A4 x2 x% X, t7 t% t6 cThe damages for my ships are the following: 7 [( Z# ^8 h1 s% w6 V$ k# N% E6 i
/ G' v* ~: A9 pCV Formidable 50/69/38 ( G, ^9 d6 \' |; d4 Z
CV Indomitable 35/34/42
$ c, j. @: b4 S) YBB Prince of Wales 35/6/14
n9 M0 d6 m' y; P& B& JBC Repulse 25/14/10
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CV Hornet 58/89/49
" b l. I$ h3 g8 t7 UDD Lamson 64/19/25 ) p/ A/ s5 G8 s {7 h1 A, N
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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。
4 H3 p7 c2 ~/ 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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