KITS 12/2021

Lt. Tadashi Kaneko, Shōkaku Fighter Squadron, first attack wave

The Shōkaku sent in first wave five Zeros under command of Lt. Kaneko. They destroyed 35 aircraft at Kaneohe airfield and hit

three others at Bellows. During the 2nd attack wave, fighters from Shōkaku patrolled over the carriers. Kaneko had commanded

the fighter Shótai aboard the aircraft carrier Ryūjo since 1937. He became well known in the Japanese press after his successful

attack on the Chinese fighters near Shanghai on August 22, 1937. In the following years he served with the 15th and 12th Kōkūtai,

and later with the Ómura and Mihoro Kōkūtai. In September 1941 he became Buntaichō of the fighters on the Shōkaku. He shot

down three Hurricanes during the attack on Trincomalee on April 9, 1942. In May 1942 he was appointed Hikōtaichō of the 6th Kōkūtai, which was to be based at Midway Atoll. During the Battle of Midway, Kaneko and his men were aboard Akagi and engaged

in a battle on his own initiative, shootting down two torpedo planes. From October 1942 he fought over Guadalcanal as Hikōtaichō

of the aircraft carrier Hiyō's fighters. In early November he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During a patrol

on November 11, he shot down three F4Fs from VMF-121. In total he claimed at least eight victories. Kaneko was killed on November 14 in combat with SBDs from VB-10, his Zero was set on fire by gunner ACRM Gordon C. Gardner.

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

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