S3 Series

4th had six pilots based on F 45 to defend the field in case of early attack. Pappyb, bombr, dazed, nastys,dapain and omega
launched at T+0 into a barrage of ack and fire from red DDs in the harbor(which were'nt supposed to be there). Bombr and pappyb killed
the DDs, but were killed doing it. Jabo relented and let us relaunch.
We climbed SE to meet the 352nd covering the Raiders to tgt. As we passed Nagatokea Island, the 352nd went by above us, so we reversed to catch up. Reached target area at 26k just as the raiders were dropping ord and heard the 352nd engaged north of us, but never found the fight. Bingo fuel and we headed home to refuel. By now it was obvious they were going to try and sink our CV,
so we launched SE again to cover the returning Raiders. They were angling south of Russel Islands to avoid the conflict there.
Being so far south, we decided to run north and assist 352nd if needed. As we approached F 53 at 28k todzilla advised they were ok.
Shortly thereafter he called us down and we joined the party. Dapain got 2 kills and dazed 1 assist. we rtb for ammo and fuel,
then relaunched to head back to the tgt area with raiders. Found no enemy there, we turned back towards F 45 and heard the 352nd again involved near F 50 so we headed that way at altitude. Arrived on station at 28k and spotted a couple of higher bogeys, but
couldn't ID them. We lost omega to one of them, but could not catch him. We once again rtb and this time loaded with 100 lbers,
we headed to F38 to try and finish it. We dropped ord, but only scored a few trees, it looks like. By this time we were a four ship,
having lost omega and nastys had to leave for R/L crisis. We landed at F 45 and stood down.
BIG <S> to =weis= for stepping into the big chair once again. Was a good plan, I think.
Thanks to jabo and crew for more fun Sunday nights.

The 4thmen at CV will have to fill in their part, although AEs did it well.

Pappyb,
Tks for taking that mission from 45 as most said it would be a suicide one.
I do have one ? You said . Well being you both had a reset, I just wonder if it is right to keep the points for the DDs if you were also killed by them?

Good question.......I don't believe we should either, since they weren't supposed to be there anyway.

4th FG - 336th AAR

Report
The 336th were stationed on the CV along with AEs and a second 4th step (-Stonie flight-). With us tonight was robert (CO), icyplt (XO), grilem, pcalex, billpe, doobym.

1st sortie: was uneventful, we protected the CVs and landed to refuel.

2nd sortie: We launched to assist at F45, but incoming low Zeros made us abort the mission and engage the enemy instead. They ran west but due to alt advantage our F4Fs caught them. A short fight began and the AEs joined the fight. robert and icyplt were both awarded a kill each, no losses.

3rd sortie: The 336th were high CAP with AEs while the second 4th group was low CAP. Some 12+ Zeros were cruising around the CVs, flying above us several times without engaging. It wasn't until the CVs started firing ack that we discovered low buffs attacking our ships. We rushed in and while the AEs and -stonie flight- joined I decided for 336th to grab some alt in case of incoming zeros. At 6k the japanese fighters suddenly appeared at my 12 and flew overhead. I was just about to give the order to dive out when billpe called my six just as a zero made a fast slicing attack, getting a few rounds in. I exploded mid-air and billpe met the same fate three seconds later. Two PKs for the price of one.

In the ensuing battle the 4th and AEs were tangling hard with the enemies, both sides were taking heavy losses. We killed and got killed. After a short break in the fight several 4th men followed japanese cons N of the CVs, which was a mistake as more zeros came swarming in to kill the would be pursuers. The important fact this frame however, was that we kept both of the CVs alive, making enemy fighters and bombers to pay dearly for their bold attack. light and jedijc (stonie flight) downed 3 + 2 cons during the frame.

336th tally:
6 pilots
4 kills -2 assists
5 losses

Attending 336th:
grilem: 1 kill - 1 assist
icyplt: 2 kills - downed
robert: 1 kill - downed
pcalex: 1 assist - downed
billpe: downed
doobym: downed

Lessons learned:
* React immediately when cons come flying close overhead for an attack, linger a few seconds and you die.
* Enemies attacked our CVs with high zeros to keep our attention, while buffs sneak in low.
* Be careful of pursuing the enemy without adequate support.

End report