The History Channel is taking recommendations for dogfight episodes for all you history geeks...me included of course. I added my input from 12 April 1945. I have way too much time on my hands obviously.
The Japanese were in total retreat by this stage of the war and the numbers of experienced combat pilots were small. A Japanese Navy Captain by the name of Minoru Genda came up with the idea to create a squadron with as many experienced combat veterans as possible. The average flight time for the younger aviators was 500 hours which was huge at that time in the war. Then of course there were the surving combat veterans with thousands of hours and multiple kills....Sakai, Muto, Minoru Honda, Siguta, Ichimura etc. They would fly the latest and greatest in the form of the Kawanishi N1K2-Ja Shiden-Kai, we called it the George.
This was the second version of this fighter, the first being the N1K1 which was a mid-wing design with engine and landing gear issues. Only about 550 of the Shiden-Kai were made and at low to medium altitudes, it was the equal of the Hellcat. Up high, it was sluggish and slow. It did not have armor but had self-sealing fuel tanks, a canopy with some armor protection and 4 heavy hitting 20 mm cannons.
So the 343rd Kokutai was created in saw its first combat on 12 April 1945. I think they had about 120 Georges so I don't think 120 vs 1000's of Allied aircraft whould have made a difference but they could possibly make a dent. On this date, the Japanese were expecting allied air assaults and had two flights of 40 Georges standing by, each section being lead by an experienced pilot. At least two large air battles took place that day. The allies were expecting an easy go of things and most squadrons had yet to meet any quality aircraft or pilots at this stage in the war. The Navy and MC were easily used to 10 or 20 to 1 kill ratios at this time
VMF-123 flying Corsairs and VBF-17 flying Hellcats bore the brunt of the fight against the 343rd. The end score that day was about parity with the Americans coming out of top but a kill ratio of around 1:1 was not what we were used to. In the end, 15 Georges were shot down vs 3 Corsairs shot down, another 4 so badly damgaed that they were dumped overboard; 6 F6F Hellcats were shot down (at least 1 ditching due to damage by Georges is part of this), 1 Hellcat dumped overboard due to combat damage and 1 lost in a mid-air with a George. So final score, 15 to 14 if all losses are counted.
The 343rd was on the losing end in a few more big battles. It won a few skirmishes but it was enough for the allies to put out notices to be aware that experienced and well trained pilots were flying in around certain areas.
The Japanese were in total retreat by this stage of the war and the numbers of experienced combat pilots were small. A Japanese Navy Captain by the name of Minoru Genda came up with the idea to create a squadron with as many experienced combat veterans as possible. The average flight time for the younger aviators was 500 hours which was huge at that time in the war. Then of course there were the surving combat veterans with thousands of hours and multiple kills....Sakai, Muto, Minoru Honda, Siguta, Ichimura etc. They would fly the latest and greatest in the form of the Kawanishi N1K2-Ja Shiden-Kai, we called it the George.
This was the second version of this fighter, the first being the N1K1 which was a mid-wing design with engine and landing gear issues. Only about 550 of the Shiden-Kai were made and at low to medium altitudes, it was the equal of the Hellcat. Up high, it was sluggish and slow. It did not have armor but had self-sealing fuel tanks, a canopy with some armor protection and 4 heavy hitting 20 mm cannons.
So the 343rd Kokutai was created in saw its first combat on 12 April 1945. I think they had about 120 Georges so I don't think 120 vs 1000's of Allied aircraft whould have made a difference but they could possibly make a dent. On this date, the Japanese were expecting allied air assaults and had two flights of 40 Georges standing by, each section being lead by an experienced pilot. At least two large air battles took place that day. The allies were expecting an easy go of things and most squadrons had yet to meet any quality aircraft or pilots at this stage in the war. The Navy and MC were easily used to 10 or 20 to 1 kill ratios at this time
VMF-123 flying Corsairs and VBF-17 flying Hellcats bore the brunt of the fight against the 343rd. The end score that day was about parity with the Americans coming out of top but a kill ratio of around 1:1 was not what we were used to. In the end, 15 Georges were shot down vs 3 Corsairs shot down, another 4 so badly damgaed that they were dumped overboard; 6 F6F Hellcats were shot down (at least 1 ditching due to damage by Georges is part of this), 1 Hellcat dumped overboard due to combat damage and 1 lost in a mid-air with a George. So final score, 15 to 14 if all losses are counted.
The 343rd was on the losing end in a few more big battles. It won a few skirmishes but it was enough for the allies to put out notices to be aware that experienced and well trained pilots were flying in around certain areas.
Love this story!