Debut of Zero-sen

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

Following article has been posted on War Thunder forums on September 13, 2014 however as plenty of time has passed since then and thread was buried deep (not to mention barely anyone here visits War Thunder forums) I have made a decision to bring it back from abyss. Article has been modified and expanded if compared to its original form as in the meantime I have obtained new documents and so I could add a little bit here and there.

 

       

 

During the Japanese conflict with China in late 1930’s, it became quickly apparent that currently used Mitusbishi A5M “Claude” fighter was no longer suited for its role as the backbone of the Japanese Naval Air Force. As a front-line fighter it lacked the range required to escort Japanese Navy bombers deep into enemy territory which was necessary to continue their harassing campaign of Chinese forces, and with the potential for future conflicts with other nations on the horizon, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) submitted  a requirement for the 12-Shi Carrier-borne Fighter in 1937^[1]. This new aircraft was to be an interceptor as well as an escort fighter with an overall combat performance greater than that of any other enemy interceptors of that time. The design called for a maximum speed of 500 km/h at 4,000 meters altitude and was supposed to be capable of flying for 1.2 to 1.5 hours on maximum continuous power settings and 6 to 8 hours at cruise power. The growing reality of America as an adversary in  the Pacific as a theater of war necessitated the requirement of extensive range owing to the vast expanses of water that would be encountered. However, the current battles in China provided clear examples for designers and military officials in Japan of the technical limitations of the A5M “Claude”, allowing for quick plans to be drafted by Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi set about tackling the IJN requirements with designer Jiro Horikashi heading their design team. The A6M was intended to be the modern day Samurai Warrior’s Katana – a lightweight and potent weapon.

 

                                                                                                              

Jiro Horikoshi (second from the left), his assistent Yohitoshi Sone (third from the left), and other engineers.

 

On 17^th March 1939, the first prototype was completed at Mitsubishi’s Nagoya factory and  before the first trial it was moved from the building to take part in a small ceremony involving officials from Mitsubishi. This included President Imada and Leading Director of Mitsubishi Industries, Mr. Naota Goto. Engineer Takenaka climbed into the cockpit of the newly built plane, started the engine, graduallly increased the revolutions, and explained how the flaps worked to the observers.

 

The first flight was planned from Kagamigahara airfield, about 50 kilometers away from the factory. Somewhat bizarrely, this required that prototype, which was at that time the pinnacle of technology be disassembled and moved to the airfield by two ox drawn carts. The residents of Nagoya were none the wiser that the aircraft, which would soon be spearheading their nation’s air arms for the foreseeable future, was passing through their streets and right past their doorways.

 

 

     
A6M1 prototype

 

For the maiden flight of the A6M on April 1^st, the time was scheduled for 4 P.M. Designer Jiro Horikashi watched as Mitsubishi’s Chief of Test Pilots, Katsuzo Shima, made an initial short hop down the runway with the A6M to test the control surfaces responses after the engine and taxi tests. These initial runs were followed by prolonged flight evaluations. Tests revealed that the control surfaces were effective; however, the plane had a tendency to veer off course and brakes were not very effective. It also demonstrated problems with high oil temperature due to inadequate cooling. After a short discussion, Katsuzo Shima once again sat in the cockpit and at 17:30 he made another flight. The overall opinion about the plane given by Imperial Japanese Commander Nishizawa was very favorable to the project, although some problems were detected and had to be solved.

 

For the next three days, Mitsubishi engineers modified the aircraft by tuning the propeller and engine. On the 5^th April, 1939 at 10:25 the plane was tested again in flight. This time the purpose was to test the plane’s responsiveness and behavior on take-off and landings. Tests were continued over the next few days by pilots Katsuzo Shima and Harumi Aratami.

 

Tests on 14^th April confirmed a major issue. After a 2.5 hour long flight, the vibration of the engine was apparent and possibility of it affecting the airframe could be potentially dangerous to both pilot and machine. The conclusion was that the issue was with the propeller. In the theoretical calculations the plane was equipped with a three bladed propeller, however, during the early tests only a two-bladed propeller was available. In this case, Horikoshi asked for help from engineer Matsudaira from the Technical Department of Imperial Japanese Navy Command, an expert in this area.

 

On 17^th April, after attaching the new propeller, the vibrations were almost eliminated, thus allowing full performance tests. 8 days later test pilot Katsuzo Shima reached the speed of 490 km/h at 3000 m altitude. It was below expectations, however the overall opinion about the plane remained very positive.

 

A6M on technial drawings

 

In a meeting with Jiro Horikoshi, Japanese Navy officials (Vice Admiral Misao Wada, Cdr Saba and Iwaya and Chief of Aircraft Constructions Osamu Sugimoto) advised to replace the current engine with the newly developed Nakajima Sakae 12 and to make adjustments to control surfaces. On 6^th July 1939 the first prototype was tested by Yokosuka Kokutai pilots; the first to sit in the cockpit was Cpt. Shigekazu Maki. After 30 minutes in the air he was replaced by Lieutenant Chujiro Nakano. A positive opinion about the machine was given, especially after comparison to an available nearby Heinkel He-112, Chance Vought V-143 and Seversky 2PA-B3.

 

A participant of this event was Lt. Mikami, who was assigned to Yokosuka Kokutai. From his memoirs we know that it was a rare privilege to be a test pilot, only for the best pilots who presented outstanding flying skills but also proved that they could think and judge under pressure in various situations. As he saw Zero-sen for the first time, he commented:
“As I met Zero for the first time, I was surprised and enchanted by its dignified appearance and the majestic figure. When I imagined that I will participate in experiment flight in future, I was extremely excited.  That was also a very good opportunity to prove myself, I thought.”

 

                                                                           

Lt. Mikami at Yokosuka Kokutai, second  from right of second line.

 

Foreign machines were compared to A6M prototype:

“Once I got into the cockpit of those foreign fighters I found their advantages and disadvantages when compared to Japanese machines. The easiest to spot was the size of cockpit and height of the seat, due to that Europeans are in general taller than we are I found it hard to sit comfortably and control the plane. I had to put a cushions between a seat and my back. After all I managed to start the plane and took-off. In particular, the American fighters had a lot of strong points and good features, like for example an excellent landing gear. On the other hand Zero prototype had many problems at the beginning, not only with landing gear but also with engine which from time to time had a tendency to stop when reaching 4000 m altitude. Another problems to eliminate was a drastic raise of the temperature of cylinders and leaks of lubricating oil from the top of the propeller.”

 

Perhaps the most astonishing and yet largely unknown feature of a new Japanese fighter was a concept of reduced stiffens of its elevator controls. During the flight tests in April one of the test pilots summarized the issue indicating that in pulling the stick in a normal way in a loop or turn the response was too sharp, stick was too heavy and the control feel was too stiff. In rapid stick movements aircraft tended to respond violently yet as the speed increased the heaviness of the stick and the stiffness of the control grew quickly. Overall pilot felt that the stick travel required to perform a precise maneuver of the same intensity level varied too much with the change of speed. Such features were undesirable in a fighter, particularly one expected to maneuver well. 

 

Thus, to solve such an issue, a modification to a control cables was proposed by Jiro Horikoshi and subsequently it was introduced in the flight testing of an aircraft. The finally reached stiffness ratio of 0.535 was so low as compared with 0.125 stipulated in IJN "Technical Standards for Airplane Design" that some deemed it inappropriate. But the later verification of this idea by test pilots fully confirmed the concept - the A6M prototype if compared to any Japanese or foreign machine that was tested, was found to be superior in maneuvering, stability and controlability. Because of good static stability and stalling characteristics, pilots were able to fly close to a maximum lift coefficient even in combat maneuvers.Test pilots reported that A6M longitudinal response characteristics to stick actuation from a high G maneuver to a fine corrective control were greatly superior and that it was the only fighter among tested that was controllable for a beginner pilot so smoothly, so precisely and so truly as pilot liked. 

 

Final tests occurred in August and September 1939. On 13^th September, the A6M prototype was tested, still equipped with the Zuisei 13 engine. It reached 509 km/h speed at 3600 m, finally fulfilling the requirement from the 12-Shi Program. Once testing was complete and the aircraft was deemed to have met the IJN requirements the prototype was officially accepted on 14 September 1939. It was given the military designation A6M1 Type 0 Carrier-borne Fighter, the Rei Shiki Sento Ki (Type Zero Fighter), or Rei-sen as it became better known, with the Allies codenaming it ‘Zeke’. The IJN’s testing of the type revealed both positives and negatives. Overall there were 119 test flights, taking place over 43 hours and 26 minutes. Engines were started 215 times and the overall operation exceeded 70 hours. Based on these tests and experiences, four prototypes of A6M2 were built. The first was tested on 28^th December 1939 and revealed a superior performance to the A6M1. In later tests and in competition event with Japanese Army new fighter designs, carried in January 1941, new fighter reached 530 km/h top speed. When overboosted, aircraft could reach for a short periods a top speed of about 550 km/h.

 

Eager to get their hands on the new fighter, a batch of 15 pre-production A6M2s were ordered by Kaigun Kōkū Hombu and soon were sent to the IJN’s 12th Kokutai at Hankow for testing in action against Chinese forces, despite some unresolved cooling problems being experienced with the Sakae engine. The engineers were confident that they could solve this issue and, true to their word, they produced a modification in the field which was then implemented on further production models. The first production A6M2 Model 11s were subsequently delivered in July 1940. Whilst the Zero really was now a fine aircraft mechanically and it was ready for its first combat action, the pilots were not so keen on it. Compared to the Claude it was actually less maneuverable, with the A5M being lighter than the A6M, and thus the older type won time and again in mock dogfights. The Zero was going to have to prove itself in combat.

 

At the outbreak of the China Incident, 12^th Kokutai was formed at Saeki Kokutai on 11^th July 1937,established with 12 Nakajima A4N fighters, 12 Aichi D1A dive bombers and 12 Yokosuka B3Y. It became a part of the 2^nd Combined Kokutai. On 7^th August it moved to Zhoshuizi airfield at Dairan, engaging in convoy patrols. Soon old machines were replaced with brand new A5M fighters and the unit joined operations over Nanking, Nanchang and Hankow. After the fall of Hankow the 12^th Kokutai was relocated there, but the majority of pilots returned to Japan and the unit was reduced in size. A5Ms lacked the range to be able to accompany the bombers all the way to the targets deep in Chinese territory,  so the decision was made to test the new A6M2 mod 11 fighters with pilots from the unit. On 21st July 1940, six A6M2s were led by Lt. Yokoyama to Hankow; more soon followed.

 

                            
12th Kokutai pilots in the summer of 1938

 

Lt. Mikami noted in his memoirs: “One day, unexpectedly I was transferred from Yokosuka Kokutai to 12^th Kokutai, later it became obvious that they needed  someone experienced with new machine. I was given 5 days to rest. It was quite amazing to have some free time, although it would be more exhausting to travel to my family home so I decided to stay at Oku Yugawara village located in Hakone valley. Soon my calm rest had to end and I moved to my new unit. Fortunately all pilots of 12^th Kokutai were veterans with a lot of experience, this unit was known for “producing” aces, yet they kept a lot of old traditions. It was the representative unit of Japan, I soon understood that because of our opponents.

Chinese feared and called 12^th Kokutai as “Regular force” while other units were regarded as mix of mob, so one could feel the difference between us and other units.

 

Soon it was decided to transfer whole unit from Japan to Hankow. First wave of 6 planes left on mid-July led by Lieutenant Yokoyama, second wave of 6 planes left on July 26 led by Lieutenant Shindo, and third wave of 7 planes left Japan on August 13^th, including me and was led by Lieutenant Shimokawa. The trip was long and dangerous, we had to fly over sea and than mainland for over 1000 km. 

We left at 9 in the morning  and arrived to Hankow at 6 in the evening. It was only 6 P.M. and yet sunset painted up on the horizon of continent to red and was about to hide, for all of us it was really a long way.”

 

             
Lt. Mikami  at test deputy of First Navy Ku-Syou.

Edited February 19, 2017 by =LD=Hiromachi

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

On 19^th August 1940 a first chance to meet the enemy appeared when twelve A6M2 Zeros led by Lieutenant Tamotsu Yokoyama took part in their attack on the Chungking, when they escorted 50 bombers, but did not meet any opposition in the air. A second chance appeared on 20^th August, when Zeros led by Lieutenant Saburo Shindo flew operationally, but they again did not meet any opposition. According to historians, Chinese Forces had the information about new fighter and were not eager to test their machines against it, so any time Japanese planes were attacking Chinese fighters retreated.

On September 12^th, a dozen Zeros escorting 27 bombers to Chungking found five Chinese fighters on the ground and destroyed them. Later it became clear that these were decoys. Japanese pilots became desperate to score their first air victory in the new fighters. This would finally happen the very next day.

 

                                                                             

13 pilots of the 12th Kokutai who participated in the first Zero-sen combat. 
From the left of the first line:
“Masayuki Mitsumashi”, “ Masaharu Hiramoto”,  “Hatsumasa Yamatani ”, ”Toshiyuki Sueda”, “Tutomu Iwai”, “ Yoshihira Fujiwara”.
From the left of the second line: “Lieutenant Tamotsu Yokoyama”, (One Unknown), “Yamashita  Kojiro”, “Yoshio Ooki”, “Saburo Kitahata”, “Lieutenant Sabro Shindo” , “Commander Kiiti Hasegawa, ”First Lieutenant Yoshio Shirane”, “Toriti Takazuka”, “Kazuki Mikami”,  “Lieutenant Commander Sakuma Minowa”, “Lieutenant Toahitaka Ito”.

 

At 8:30 A.M., thirteen A6M2 Zeros left Hankow, and formed up with 27 G3M2s at Fushu before proceeding to attack Chungkin  

       

12th Kokutai pilots right before take-off.

 

On 13 September, Chinese Major Yim-Qun was commander of the 28^th Pursuit Squadron, stationed at Wenchiang near Chengdu. During the day he took off with six I-15bis and refuelled at Suining ,150 km North West of Chungking. He joined a formation with 19 I-15bis and 9 I-16s commanded by Major Cheng Hsiao-Yu of the 4^th PG.

At 10:00, Liu Chi-Han, base commander of Suining received a report that Japanese planes were flying towards Chungking and ordered his aircraft to take off. The I-16s, commanded by squadron commander Captain Yang Meng-Ging of the 24^th PS, flew at 4500 meters and provided top cover for the I-15bis at 3500 meters. Chinese fighters tried to avoid Japanese fighters and so they were flying southeast, near Bei Shan, 40 km west of Chungking looking for enemy bombers.

 

Convinced that the enemy would try to avoid a fight the Japanese left  a recce aircraft that was scouting the area. After the bombers turned away from  their target, a Mitsubishi C5M1 recce aircraft radioed the Japanese fighters to report that Chinese fighters had been seen near Pi-sham. 

 

Lt. Mikami reported of this first combat:

 

“The performance of Reisen was outstanding and a big surprise even to us, it could reach very far territories of China which allowed us to escort bombers safely and left us some time to fight enemy fighters with no fear of lacking fuel.

On 13^th September Showa 15 the mission to cover G3M bombers appeared and that’s how my life in the field service began, those escort also gave me a lot of experience.

 

Especially the worst thought we had after returning was the fear of death. I knew that everyone was in the same situation and we all were risking life, but I couldn’t know their thoughts in the daily life so in this feeling I was left alone with myself.

 

In one of these days, I remembered one scene of a movie titled “Musashi Miyamoto" (宮本武蔵). It was the scene where Musashi accepted the duel against famous Yoshikawa clan, who had a Dojo in Kyoto. This time, he didn’t even had a prospects of victory. When he was on the way to field of honor at “Itijyo Kudarimatu" (一条下り松), a small pinewood, even called as Kensei (master swordsman) he was just a lone human at that very moment. He stood in front of the unknown shrine and put his hands together to pray, and suddenly he stopped, changing his mind.

 

"Gods can be respected, but shouldn't be relied on" – then he went to the place of duel and won against the most desperate situation. I strongly felt the uproar, and set my mind not to rely on anything but myself, and when I put away everything for self-defense, it felt like the invisible anxiety leaning gloomy on my heart has disappeared once and for all.

 

In that dogfight at 13^th September with the enemy I had self-confidence and feeling of calmness, I was not afraid anymore. Alone when engaging the opponent even without fear or worries, I had my mind very clear. This mental state was what I was looking for a long time. I trained in many aspects to get it, but couldn’t reach it.

 

But when I felt it for the first time, I’d never forget it. I believe this was the biggest reason for the victory on September 13's dogfight.

While in the fierce battle, I learned that this calmness is the secret of warrior.“

 

As Chinese fighters were flying and searching for the G3M2 bombers, they were bounced by Japanese. Captain Yang’s planes were hit by the Zeroes diving out of the sun and his machine went down in flames, soon followed by his deputy who was wounded. Many of the other I-15bis were hit as they tried to climb into the sun. Without radios they could not communicate with one another. They were out of formation and fought on their own. Cheng Hsiao-Yu led the entire 22^nd PS into battle, and in the encounter Captain Zhang Hong was killed. A group of nine I-15bis from the 28^th PS led by Louie Yim-Qun engaged the Zeros over Chungking. Two of the I-15bis were shot down. The Japanese Zeroes with their high speed, amazing climbing ability, agility and firepower, totally dominated the fight. After half an hour’s battle most of the surviving Chinese planes were low on fuel and had to break off from the action.

 

“When fierce battle reaching an end, I found one I-15 fighter and started an attack. White smoke appeared when the shots I fired reached my target, than I barely evaded crash because of coming too close to my opponent. Right after I dived under him and zoomed while shaking because of nearby enemy`s explosion.

 

Second shot worked as finishing blow, ending with a black smoke trailing from enemy machine, finally my opponent has been knocked out, trying to flee while diving. I chased him down till treetop level. The enemy plane was on final step, about to crash the surface. Unexpectedly, he slide his plane by banking left, and crashed the earth with his left wing. I turned around two or three times in treetop level, just confirming the air kill and left the place but it seems that enemy pilot didn’t get killed and somehow survived."

 

A Chinese fighter pilot who was shot down by Lt. Mikami. It was Lt. Jirang Chue who belong to the 23^rd  unit of the 4^th air group. He was followed by two enemy fighters, than was enforced to make a steep dive and his I-15bis with side number 2310 crashed. Japanese pilots saw this crashed fighter and thought pilot got killed and flew away. They did not think Lt. Jirang Chue escaped from his crashed fighter and took picture of it by his camera.

 

"Soon I found one allied plane when I returned to a rendezvous point. It was Iwai`s Zero.Unfortunately I had to leave him and head home alone because my plane was damaged and I was leaking fuel, so it was race with time. This unexpected situation was all my fault because of neglect. 

 

Here is the sequence of the situation that ended with my plane being damaged :

Enemy fighter was diving deeply to gain speed for more than 300 meters. In fact that was a fake dive to gain speed to attack me. And I felt his intention perfectly. He intended to attack me, a moment later he set up his aiming stance although I felt safe. The distance between my machine and his was around 300 meters, in normal situation it was too far to make a clear shot. That was a mistake from my side.

Suddenly both my wings were hit and I’ve heard a strange metallic clank.

 

He did hit. He hit my plane. 

 

2 hits for both left and right wing, and as obvious in wings Zero has fuel tanks. I regretted it and sorrowed it, but it was too late. Now it seemed I might not be able to reach the base. Now I realized deep to my marrow how big my carelessness was. It wasn`t like just as it was bound to. Just like as we say clench my fists and grind my teeth, but as I thought that I`m still alive, I took to heart that neglect is the biggest enemy of success, and neglect which brought me a sense of despair shouldn`t be there any time, any situation.

 

It was the greatest regret for me ever.

 

I flew over the mountains at about 3500 m altitude, every 5 minutes praying and regretting. When my plane started lacking fuel, I thought those are my last moments. In fact, this situation was harder than bearing the hard dog fight for me. But eventually, I saw the great plain instead of the mountains and there was one runway. It was a middle air-base. I shouted in cockpit with joy calling "Yes, I`m alive !".

That kind of joy cant be found again in my whole life, I was so motivated by that brilliant achievement, that I decided to perform a loop above the ground.

That wasn’t a smart move and till now I kept it as a secret, I should have never done it.

As I have found, the ground crew in base had no idea of what happened with the rest of my unit, more than 40 minutes have passed from the planned arrival time, there was a grave atmosphere in the base since I was the only one that reached the base and my plane was damaged. They predicted the worst.

The landing was at my limit of both mental and physical fatigue, I eventually turned off the engine at the position guided by ground crew and put my body to rest in the cockpit just like feeling the end. Personnel that was awaiting Zeros to return, felt something strange from the pilot, because they couldn’t know what was happening inside of the cockpit and inside of the pilot body.

Seems like 2 holes in my fighter wings made them feel something more had happened.

"Heeeey, what happened! Are you alright ?" they shouted loudly.

To avoid their worries, I jumped out of the cockpit.

"What happened to the others?" they kept asking me.

Before I finished talking "Its alright, they`ll be back soon", second and third planes returned back flying in formation. Soon all 13 Zeros came home and when last one landed, Banzai call was advocated by all air base members. One of the Zeros was hit in main gear, so it was damaged at landing, but the pilot wasn’t injured at all.

From 30 enemy planes participating we claimed majority of them being shot down, for us it was totally one-sided fight. This was how the debut of Reisen ended, it was a great action which symbolizes the new age. Lieutenant Shindo summarized the reports at Zaoyang (Yi-chang “宜昌”) base, and after a moment, around 5 P.M., he has returned back to Hankow with great confidence.

With triumph in hands the visiting Generals were filled with confidence in a new fighter and satisfaction, after an hour I returned back to the head quarter Hankow where we all were awaited.

We were welcomed with a great celebration. I couldn`t take it without an emotion.

3 famous Admirals who were present at our take-off  and awaited our return: Shigetaro-Shimada, Takijiro-Onishi and Tamon-Yamaguchi welcomed us!"

 

   
3 famous IJN commanders awaited for Zero's first dogfight at Air base of 12th Kokutai.

In the center of the picture is Vice Admiral Shigetaro Shimada "嶋田繁太郎".

On left side we can see Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi”山口多問”.

On the right side there is Rear Admiral Takijiro Onishi ”大西瀧次郎”.

"Just before the sun set, 12 pilots took off and made a big circle around the airbase, with the joy in our voices we shouted over the base. We all shared joy together. Such the delight will never come again in my life. My feeling at that time was greater than that of a hunter who got the big animal in his hard hunting.

And how Zero’s appearance was expected and how this was great even for the Nation ?

Our 13 pilots were the representatives, and it was an achievement of Reisen, greatly overtaking the rest of world`s competition, that we could fly for over 3000 km and battle the enemy.  

After the end of this epoch-making operation, the pilots took a flight to Chintao, a small and calm place for a rest, each of us chose the hotel they desired, with a good service, weather and without any relations with war.”

 

This battle was the debut of the Reisen fighter, and the Chinese Air Force suffered one of its worst defeats. Ten pilots were killed in action and eight were injured. Thirteen aircraft were destroyed and most of the aircraft that returned to base were badly damaged. Major Louie Yim-Qun was one of the individuals who was injured during the fight. He landed his badly shot up I-15bis at Suining and counted 48 bullet holes in it. At least two pilots from the 21^st Pursuit Squadron were killed and one more aircraft was hit, making a forced landing; the wounded pilot suffered from a leg shot off and later died from loss of blood. One of the pilots that survived being shot down, was Hsu Hwa-Jiang who later in the war continued to fly against the Japanese.

 

All 13 Zeroes returned safely (four were slightly damaged) to their Hankou Base claiming 27 victories (both I-16s and I-15bis). All 13 Japanese pilot made claims in this combat, and although their claims were over-exaggerated the outcome was obvious. From 8^th October to the end of the year the Japanese Zeros completed 22 missions, shooting down two aircraft and destroying a further 22 on the ground. The Japanese claimed that in 1940 the Zero completed more than 150 sorties, shooting down up to 60 aircraft, and destroying more than 100 on the ground. They admitted damage to only 13 Zeros and not one loss. If there is any exaggeration here, it is not substantial; the Chinese Air Force did not seem to have shot down any Zeros during this period.

 

In the words of the historians of the People’s Republic of China after the appearance of the Japanese Zero with its excellent flying characteristics, the situation of Chinese aviation became dramatic. The shrinking air forces continually suffered losses and by the end of 1940 only 65 aircraft remained. Adding to this problem, the Soviet volunteers were recalled and the Chinese Air Force was left isolated, with no resources remaining for combat flights. In order to reduce losses and to preserve combat power, the Chinese Air Force was forced to avoid air battles, completing very few combat sorties. A year later Imperial Japanese Naval units were withdrawn from China in preparations for the upcoming war with the United States; until then all units equipped with A6M2 Zeros shot down around 100 Chinese planes, with the loss of only two machines attributed to Anti-Aircraft fire. The legend of the Zero-sen was truly born in China.

 

                                                                                                         A6M2 mod 11 from 12th Kokutai in August 1941 with the members of the unit.

Author : Michał "Hiromachi" Czubak

 

Special thanks to Mark "Wafu_vasco" Barber and Clay "Fryingtiger" Remy for help in writing and correcting this article.

 

Bibliography :

 

 

a) 12th Kokutai combat reports from June 1940 till March 1941 - http://www.jacar.go.jp/

b)  Lt. Mikami's biography - chapters 第1章　横須賀　海軍航空隊　実験部 and 12空隊（戦地）ﾃｽﾄ飛行で学ぶ人生 - http://www.j-aircraft.com/

c) Imperial Japanese Navy Aces 1937–45 by Henry Sakaida

d) Eagles of Mitsubishi: The Story of the Zero Fighter by Jiro Horikoshi

e) Imperial Japanese Navy Fighter Group by Yasuho Izawa

f) Japanese Naval Fighter Aces: 1932-45 by Ikuhiko Hata and Yashuho Izawa

 

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2017 by =LD=Hiromachi

[-=PHX=-SuperEtendard]

Interesting read  +1!

 

 

It will be fun to have Zero vs I-16 fights in the future, although I think the Chinese used earlier less powerfull variants. Type 10s I suppose?

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

Chinese used various types actually, though one has to remember that Soviets send in form of aid both machines and pilots. During Khalkin Gol events VVS operated I-15bis, I-153s, I-16 type 10s and type 17s, including cannon armed variants, so its entirely possible that Chinese operated even most recent models. "History of Chinese Aviation - Encyclopedia of Aircraft and Aviation in China until 1949" by Lennart Anderson, indicates that in Soviet Union supplied in 1938-1941 period not only large numbers of I-15bis and small numbers of I-153s, but also almost 200 I-16s (with M-25B, M-25V and M-62 engines - so that would be Type 10, Type 17 and Type 18 respectively). 

[ZachariasX]

Great writing Hiro!

[Heliopause]

Nice reading material Hiro!

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

Thank's guys for kind words

 

Here is original post-combat report compiled by Lieutenant Shindo. As you can see date is 13 September of Showa 15 year. 13 Type 0 fighters and approximate number of enemies encountered (30) :

 

Reports like this were used for 1938-1945 period (or even earlier but I did not bother with researching earlier events). They are called Kodachosho (Japanese Army had its own version known as Sento shoho) and were usually made out of two cards, one like the above indicated date, time, event, participating aircraft, number of enemy aircraft spotted (mostly with an indication of their type) and often a number of claimed enemy aircraft. In later versions there was a bit more detailed section for own losses - split into aircraft and pilot as well as data of the spent ammo by the flight. Lower part later was moved to the second card and indicates names of the pilots and their number in formation (whether one was a leader or wingmen, which shotai he belonged to and so on). Overall those are extremely detailed sources and often they are so precise that its impossible to prove them wrong. Perfect for finding the exact losses of Japanese during any event. 

Edited February 19, 2017 by =LD=Hiromachi

[ZachariasX]

That's cool seeing one of these reports. Hiro, how would you compare their accuracy with combat reports made with other nations, e.g. British, German, American... I'm asking this because you consider these scources to be extremely detailed and impossible to prove wrong. Looking at German or allied reports, you can tell that they are mostly accurate describing the own flight, as for the enemy, there is often enough plenty "fog of war".

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

In terms of raw data they are very accurate. They are more precise than a lot of allied unit war diaries in my humble opinion. Those action reports are so precise as they indicate numbers of lost aircraft/pilots, level of damage sustained by the returning planes or pilot wounds. Furthermore, the difference was made between light damages and heavy damages as well as between slight wounds and severe wounds for aircrews (they even sometimes quote men who died later due to complications). Not to mention the exact events log, data on armament and ammunition used and spent and unit organization.

 

They are however incorrect often in regard to claims which is as true for Allied claims. That is of course natural as pilots simply overclaimed and were prone to error in such situations. Nothing wrong with this part and this is why we should compare the two.

 

For example if you have for the same combat (imaginary) :

1) Japanese action report which indicate: 12 Zeroes involved in an escort mission. 10 returned to base from which 1 was heavily damaged and belly landed and 2 other suffered slight damages. Returning pilots claimed 8 confirmed victories and 2 probables (Remember that in Japanese units it would be a total  of 10 victories generally credited to the unit and not to each pilot).

2) US action report or war diary which quotes: One division of 8 Wildcats intercepted a flight of enemy fighters. 1 plane with pilot missing in action, all others returned, 3 with light damage. 10 enemy aircraft were destroyed (Document generally gives the detailed claims for each pilot).

 

Simple verification of those tells you that actually Japanese lost 2 Zeros and further one crash landed while US lost a single Wildcat. Of course data about the enemy can vary, I've seen a very accurate estimation of the enemy including numbers and type of aircraft enemy has used (over New Guinea sometimes P-39 and P-40 were confused as all too often both of those were present) but then again, sometimes those estimations are very wrong. 

 

To give you perspective, Kodachosho were only in the last decade or so widely available as they were scanned and uploaded to JACAR. Sento shoho are available in Japan only (I think they plan on scanning them as well) which makes researching Army a lot harder. Only recently did authors start taking advantage of them as before western writers settled on "confirmed kills" from Allied reports which turned out to be inaccurate.  

[181st_Oz*]

Nice read dude

[ZachariasX]

Very, interessting Hiro. Thanks for your detailed reply!