Thanks for the game Maj
,
well we managed to fit in mission 10 of our SPAW campaign last night, after some discussion regarding the relocation of the 'Kieta' based 'Nicks' to 'Torokina' in the west after our successful visit to their previous base, and the nasty surprise they gave us when they turned up over the carriers. We decided to leave them for another day and we launched a torpedo attack on the japanese carrier Zuikaku. We flew TBF's from the USS Saratoga and were supported by F6's from the USS Enterprise. We were met south east of Bougainville Island by A5m2's from the CAP of both the IJN Zuikaku and IJN Shokaku but their attack was broken up by the F6's and the few that got through to us did relatively little damage although one of my wingmen was taken out by a kamikaze attack that saw both planes explode in a fireball. The flak defences were wide awake as we came in low, slow and flying in a straight line and we suffered accordingly. I had the frustration of successfully releasing my torpedo only to be shot down and crash landing on top of it moments later !
The attack saw a single torpedo hit on the Zuikaku and one of her Flak cruisers sunk for the loss of 8 TBF's with only 4 returning to the carrier. We shall see over the next few days whether our decision to attack the carriers and ignore the threat from the 'Nicks' based onshore at Torokina was a good one. We are now bracing ourselves for the inevitable Japanese counter attack.
Oh, and reconn tell us that the Zuikaku is undergoing field repairs to some buckled deck plates and will be back in commission pretty soon, so only a short respite for us to compensate for our losses.
cheers,
Pobs
Jel
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