Guadalcanal 72 Years On

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(Hornet) After 3 bomb hits and Seki's crash, Capt. Mason recovers and sees two torps headed for Hornet's right side. "Right Full Rudder!" Torpedo Hit! A tremendous explosion lifts Hornet!
A Val on fire (bombs already released) tries to crash on Hornet's flight deck.
Hornet's rudder is jammed full right.
The attack on Hornet is over. She is dead in the water and a flaming wreck. Of the 20 odd bombers to attack Hornet, only 2 got away. On Hornet: Horribly burned sailors are taken from the wrecked signal bridge to the Flag Bridge.
Hornet in flames - next to DD Russell
(Hornet) Major fires are burning out of control in 8 places!

est (time is unclear) Widhelm's strike spots J. ships. CAx2, DDx2 - they keep flying. The 2nd Hornet strike hears Widhelm's report (CAx2, DDx2) They take note of the position and hear that Widhelm is pushing on to find CVs.

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est 20 miles further on, Widhelm's strike spots bigger J. ships. BBx2, CAx2, DDx7. 9 Zeros intercept!
est F4Fs pick off a few Kates and Vals after their attack runs on Hornet. Wrenn jumps two Kates that are fleeing AA. He knocks them down. As Wrenn evades BB S. Dakota's AA he sees a Val skimming the surface. He unloads on it. 5 kills for Wrenn in about 20 minutes!
est Enterprise radar picks up the J. second strike! Frantic activity on Ent. - morning search planes landing, bombers returning and fighters being refueled and reloaded. ASW is overlooked...
est An SBD pilot, Widhelm strike: "There's no carriers in sight here, let's return." Widhelm keeps 'em flying West at 12,000 ft.
est 2nd Hornet strike hears the "no carriers in sight" message and doesn't realize that it is an observation, not an order! SBD leader Lynch assumes that if Widhelm can't find IJN CVs then they must be out of range. Lynch radios strike commander Rodee - says he'll attack the CA he's flying over now. He hears no reply from Rodee so he assumes it's ok. Rodee never heard him. Lynch leads SBDx9 to an attack on CA Chikuma!
The Imperial Japanese Navy Carrier Shokaku.
est Lynch dives on Chikuma... A HIT! Next SBD misses...

est A pilot with the Widhelm strike sees the IJN CVs!!
est Zeros move to intercept Widhelm's SBDs. Widhelm: "Close up."
est The Enterprise strike (SBDx3, TBFx4) hears Widhelm's position report and heads for it.

[kham]

est The Zeros are directly ahead of the SBDs. As planned, Widhelm aims at the closest Zero ...
est The Zeros reform and start picking away at the formation from the sides and rear.
est Widhelm's engine catches a lot of 7.7mm. It starts smoking. est Widhelm strike: 2 SBDs shot down - no survivors.
est The Enterprise strike sees BBx2 plus escort ships.

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Chikuma ROCKED by a secondary explosion!
est Widhelm's engine seizes up!
est During their attack run 3 SBDs are shot down, 1 turns back. 5 Zeros shot down. and the rest of the SBDs ... Attack Shokaku! 11 SBDs dive upon Shokaku At least 3 One Thousand Pound Bombs Hit!
est The last SBD, piloted by Lt. Auman, bombs Shokaku. The attack on Shokaku is the USN's only strong, coordinated attack of the day.

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Shokaku is out of action but in no danger of sinking.
est The 6 Hornet TBFs, flying at 800 ft, see nothing. They heard nothing on their radios. Eventually, they head back - looking for the ships they bypassed on the way out.
est (and next 5 minutes) Lt. Norton's TBF is badly damaged.
est The TBFx4 from the Ent strike find no CVs so they go after the nearby CA Chikuma. 4 misses. F4Fs strafe her, no noticeable damage
est. Sub I-21 has penetrated the TFs DD screen. She fires 3 torps. (this is disputed. wait 59 minutes for alternative explanation)
est BB S. Dakota opens fire on the "submarine"* with 5" guns from 5 miles away! *Norton's TBF DD Preston has to block S. Dakota's line of fire in order to rescue Norton and crew. (**WILL you retards kindly cease fire??)

est The TBFx6 from the Hornet's first strike find CA Suzuya. (Vanguard group).
All major fires on Hornet are under control.
Another TBF ditches - DD Preston moves to pick up its crew
There were 3 torps headed towards DD Preston. The center torp hits! Knocks out all power instantly.

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CA Northampton starts setting up her tow of Hornet.

A Val pops out of the clouds - ahead of Hornet! It attacks and misses.
The situation on Enterprise has continued to be chaotic.

It's time for Enterprise to unleash her SECRET WEAPON!!
Also on the S. Dakota, manning Quad 40mms, 12 year old Calvin Graham.
enlisted...

As the Vals approach, Capt. Hardison orders Ent. to begin an evasive manuver - a skidding right turn.

[kham]

Ent's AA fire control radar has locked onto the oncoming Val's.

Note the low clouds making dive bombing tricky. Also note LOTS AND LOTS of AA.
The 5" guns of Ent's escorts open fire.
est Hornet's 2nd strike TBFs fly past the Vanguard force - looking for CVs.
The first Val is diving right at Ent! Ent makes a sharp turn and the Val flies into the water. Pilot must have been killed by AA. Bomb hits Enterprise! A 250kg armor piercer hits the front of the flight deck and keeps going.
30 seconds later. Bomb #2 is an AP.
One of the Vals passes over DD Cushing after attacking Ent. The AA misses. The Val's tail gunner thumbs his nose at Cushing's gunners.

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Bomb #3 is a near-miss at the right-rear.
The Vals have finished their attack on Enterprise. The Kates are still out there. Lt. Takahashi is the squadron commander of the Vals in this attack. Badly shot up by F4Fs, he eventually has to ditch but is rescued by J. ships He is the only J. bomber sq. commander to survive today.

It will take many hours to get electrical power back on Hornet She's in no danger of sinking but is *very* vulnerable to further attack. Injured and non-essential personnel are being removed from Hornet.
A tow is being set up with CA Northampton - again.

est 12 Kates bore in on Enterprise!
est Hornet's 2nd strike TBFs find nothing. They head back for the Vanguard force.
Lt. Swede Vejtasa burns 4 Kates with his F4F in less than a minute!

est A Kate flies into the side of DD Smith.
est Perhaps 5 Kates get close enough to launch torps at Enterprise. 3 torpedoes incoming on Enterprise's right side! Capt. Hardison orders a hard right turn... the torps miss. Another Torp incoming on Ent's right side! Another hard right turn... A 100 ft. miss.
There are Kates behind Ent. They swing around to attack from the left. Enterprise turns away and those Kates miss. 3 torps hit CA Portland! All 3 are duds.

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Here's S. Dakota firing on a Kate after its attack run.

est On the way out 5 Kates are pursued by F4Fs.

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Swede Vejtasa is almost out of ammo. Almost. He uses whats left on a Kate... it catches fire! It flies for another five miles before crashing. Swede! (7 kills today)

Intense fire forces the evacuation of DD Smith's bridge. They're able to steer her from a secondary control room. They steer DD Smith so that splashes from BB S. Dakota help extinguish the fire! The warhead from the Kate's torpedo explodes on DD Smith! Fires are burning on DD Smith but they're not advancing.
DD Porter can't move and can't be repaired at sea.

est Hornet's 2nd strike TBFs try glide bombing CA Tone. (they're each carry 4 500 pound bombs instead of torps). All 6 miss. RIU reports a departing Kate radioed the position of both USN CVs

est Enterprise is making 31 mph with smoke billowing out of the holes in her flight deck.
BB S. Dakota's radar reports an incoming strike 45 miles NW! (from Junyo) Junyo strike sees the burning Hornet. They keep going - they want Enterprise! Junyo strike radios back to Junyo - says they can't find Enterprise and will attack a BB. Answer: NO! Keep looking. Junyo strike spots Enterprise! Enterprise flight deck is open for business! All available airborne F4Fs are sent to intercept the Junyo strike. That would be... zero. Enterprise can't direct fighters. Her radar antenna has been knocked around by all the bombing. Repairs are underway. Only 3 planes land on Enterprise before the rest are turned away.

Meanwhile, the Junyo strike is having weather problems. A low cloud layer between them and Enterprise is down to 500 ft. The Vals from Junyo won't be able to dive bomb. --- Enterprise is now under a rain squall.