Aircrew 652 Kokutai 01

Fighter pilots of 652 Ku on Ryuho; 2nd row. 3rd from left, Moriyasu Hidaka: extreme right. Tetsuo Kikuchi.

Source: Japanese Naval Fighter Aces: 1932-45 by Ikuhiko Hata, Yashuho Izawa, Christopher Shore

Nakajima A6M5 Zero 652nd Kokutai White 320-85 attacked US fleet 19th June 1944

652nd Kokutai was formed on 10 March 1944 from the ex-2nd Air Flotilla flying units, and was attached to the new 2nd Air Flotilla (Junyo, Hiyo and Ryuho). As the units incorporated in the new kokutai had been exhausted in the Rabaul fighting, the remaining aircraft were left at Truk and the pilots returned to the homeland on 2 March.

Here as these men represented the last of the three carrier units, urgent training was undertaken during the period of two months following the end of March. The new unit was intended to have 81 fighters, 36 dive-bombers and 27 torpedo-bombers, but as at 1 April it held no more than 30 Zero 21s, 13 Zero 52s and four D3A dive-bombers. However, when it departed for Tawi Tawi in May it had been brought up to 135 aircraft, including 27 Zero 21s and 53 Zero 52s; Zero 21s were now to be used as fighter-bombers, fitted to carry 250 kg bombs. On 11 May the 2nd Air Flotilla departed Japan to reach Tawi Tawi on 16th, where rendezvous with other ships of the fleet took place. The area was alive with US submarines and there were no airfields available in the vicinity, so no further flying training could be undertaken, nor training of the fleet itself. On 15 June it moved to the west of the Marianas, on 19th and 20th taking part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. During the first wave of aircraft despatched to attack the US carriers on 19th were 15 fighters. 25 fighter-bombers and seven torpedo-bombers of 652 Ku. These failed to find the carriers, but were discovered themselves by F6Fs, losing two fighters, four fighter- bombers and one torpedo aircraft. The second wave found the carriers near Rota Island, but lost one of six Zeros and five of nine D4Y dive-bombers without being able to witness the results of their attack.

A second group of 20 Zeros, 27 D3As and two B6Ns also failed to find the carriers. However, just before landing on Guam, they were intercepted by about 30 F6Fs. Six of the latter were claimed shot down, but only one Zero, seven dive- bombers and a single B6N Tenzan managed to land safely. Next day the remaining dive- bombers and torpedo-bombers were ordered to fly to safety out of the battle zone, while all the remaining Zeros - 19 Type 52s and seven Type 21s - sought to intercept raids on their own carriers. The pilots claimed seven destroyed and four probables, but 11 Zeros were shot down and three more force-landed on the sea. On 10 July the 2nd Air Flotilla and 652 Ku were disbanded, many of the aircrew being absorbed into 653 Ku.

Commanding Officer:- Mar 44- Jul 44 Cdr Sho-ichi Suzuki

Source: Japanese Naval Fighter Aces: 1932-45 by Ikuhiko Hata, Yashuho Izawa, Christopher Shore

IL-2 Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover - COD/CLOD skins - No 3d model at this stage
 

Imperial Japanese Aircraft Carriers
Imperial Japanese Aircraft Carriers

    Bibliography:

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    Magazine References: +

  • Airfix Magazines (English) - http://www.airfix.com/
  • Avions (French) - http://www.aerostories.org/~aerobiblio/rubrique10.html
  • FlyPast (English) - http://www.flypast.com/
  • Flugzeug Publikations GmbH (German) - http://vdmedien.com/flugzeug-publikations-gmbh-hersteller_verlag-vdm-heinz-nickel-33.html
  • Flugzeug Classic (German) - http://www.flugzeugclassic.de/
  • Klassiker (German) - http://shop.flugrevue.de/abo/klassiker-der-luftfahrt
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://boutique.editions-lariviere.fr/site/abonnement-le-fana-de-l-aviation-626-4-6.html
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://www.pdfmagazines.org/tags/Le+Fana+De+L+Aviation/
  • Osprey (English) - http://www.ospreypublishing.com/
  • Revi Magazines (Czech) - http://www.revi.cz/

      Web References: +

  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air_groups_of_the_Imperial_Japanese_Navy
  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero
  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Japanese_Navy_Air_Service
  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero_operators
  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze
  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuz%C5%8D_Iwamoto
  • http://mitsubishi_zero.tripod.com/
  • http://ww2db.com/aircraft_spec.php?aircraft_model_id=3
  • http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijna/a6m.htm
  • http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijna/a6m-k.htm
  • http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijna/a6m-n.htm
  • http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/WarPrizes.htm

 

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This webpage was updated 23rd January 2017