BUILT

Lt. Masao Satō, Zuikaku Fighter Squadron, first attack wave

The aircraft carrier Zuikaku sent in the first wave five Zeros under the command of Lt. Satō. He escorted the bombers in the raid on Kaneohe

Naval Air Station. As they met no resistance in the air, his fighter pilots destroyed over 32 aircraft on the ground. During the 2nd attack wave,

Zuikaku fighters patrolled the carriers. Satō was a veteran of 12th Kōkūtai in China and served on the board of Akagi. From September 1941

to January 1942, as the so-called Buntaichō, he commanded fighters aboard the Zuikaku, and in May he began serving in that capacity on the

aircraft carrier Kaga until her sinking at the Battle of Midway. From June 1942 he took over fighters as Hikōtaichō on the carrier Zuihō. He participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz, and in the 2nd phase Satō's formation shot down four aircraft. In April 1943, Zuihó participated in

Operation “I”-go in the New Guinea and Solomon Islands area. Satō was killed during Operation “Ro”-go on November 11, 1943 in aerial combat

over Bougainville.

INFO Eduard - December 2021

eduard

105