Photo: Fold3

Photo: U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation

HISTORY

U.S. Marine Corps F4F-4 Wildcats of VMF-121 at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal

Lt. Murray “Jim” Shubin of the 339th FS poses in front of his P-38G-13 (43-2242) on

at the end of 1942. Note centerline drop tank on the first F4F and the P-38F Lightnings Guadalcanal. In all, he scored eleven certain victories and one probable victory. He

in the background.

was the only P-38 pilot to achieve five kills in a single combat flight in the Pacific.

His unit frequently encountered Rufe fighter seaplanes from Kōkūtai 802 and did

not always emerge victorious from the engagements, especially when engaged

in maneuver combat. Shubin achieved his first victory on February 2, 1943 over

Shortland in a dogfight with Rufe. In an attack from above, he shot down a machine

of a PO2c Kiyoshi Akizuki, who bailed out from the burning seaplane.

Wildcats on 30 October, when three Rufes from

the 14th Kōkūtai and one Rufe from the Kamikawa

Maru engaged US Marines with two SBDs

from VMO-251 and six Wildcats from VMF-212

in an early morning raid on the Japanese base

at Rekata. The Americans claimed three Float

Zeros and two Float Biplanes as shot down,

which was not far from the truth. In this combat

Capt. Jack E. Conger scored his 9th and 10th

victory. Two Pete machines from Sanyo Maru

and one from Chitose were destroyed. The

formation of four Rufes was led by 14. Kōkūtai´s

Lt. Hideo Goto, but his machine was hit on takeoff

and he managed to land later. The next Rufe to

take off was not so lucky, with Teruo Watanabe

Photo: ©Izawa

The fight for the Solomon Islands

In mid-October 1942, R-Butai was reinforced by

nine Rufes under the command of Lieutenant

Toshio Igarashi of the 14th Kōkūtai. Original unit

with this designation was armed with Zeros and

fought against the Chinese armed forces until

the fall of 1940. In April 1942, the 14th Kōkūtai

was newly created as seaplanes unit. From

Rabaul it soon moved to Shortland and later

even to Rekata.

The unit encountered B-17s on October 13 and

on following two days, losing one of its officers

in the process. It achieved its first victory on

October 17 when four Rufes downed a Dauntless

from VS-71. The unit had its first encounter with

F1M Pete aircraft from Kunikawa Maru and Rufe seaplanes at Poporang base in early 1943. Some Rufe aircraft had

already received a coat of dark green paint on the upper surfaces. To the far right is Yamazaki's NI-118, note that it

does not have the convex cover on the top of the main float that it apparently originally had.

18

INFO Eduard

of Kamikawa Maru perishing in the flames.

In early November 1942, the 14th Kōkūtai was

redesignated Kōkūtai 802 and its fighter Buntai

was led by Lt. Hideo Goto. This officer, with four

of his pilots, got into a large-scale fight on

November 7 when, together with four Petes from

Kamikawa Maru, they were tasked to provide

cover for destroyers enroute to Guadalcanal.

Dauntless crews were also headed toward these

vessels, escorted by Wildcats from VMF-121,

112 and Airacobras from the 347th FG. In this

engagement, Goto and his colleagues were

shot down and none of them survived. One Pete

also fell victim to the Americans, who lost one

Dauntless and three Wildcats, including the

machine piloted by the legendary Joe Foss,

brought down by the rear gunner of a Pete

biplane.

During December, the two remaining Rufe pilots

of Kōkūtai 802 were still conducting patrols

while preparations were underway in Japan to

completely rebuild this unit. During turn of the

year and the first half of February, their unit,

facing frequent raids on Bougainville, began

encountering Lightnings and Warhawks.

For instance,such a clash occurred on January

5, 1943, during the raid of five B-17 from the

26th BS escorted by six P-38 from the 339th

FS, 347th FG under the command of Maj. John

W. Mitchell. Their targets were Kahili airfield

on Bougainville and the port of Tonolei. They

were attacked by six Zeros from Kōkūtai 204,

two Rufe aircraft from Kōkūtai 802, and several

Pete biplanes.

At the controls of the floatplane fighters

were PO1c Eiji Matsuyama and his wingman

Superior Flyer Shinkichi Ôshima. Early in the

fight, Matsuyama, in cooperation with one

Pete seaplane crew, hit a P-38 piloted by 1st

June 2023