Strana 93
Aviation unit of seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru, Shortland, September 1942
Kōkūtai 802, Faisi-Poporang base, Shortland Islands, February 1943
This plane was an early production Rufe with
folding wingtips. The Kamikawa Maru was
completed in 1936 as an ocean liner but was
converted to a seaplane tender a year later and
was combat deployed in the aggression against
China until the spring of 1941. At the start of the
fighting in the Pacific, her air unit was equipped
with E13A1 Jake and F1M2 Pete seaplanes, then
by September 1942, she was deployed in the
Solomon Islands area with eleven A6M2-Ns
and two F1M2s. The main tasks of her airmen
were base protection, convoy escorts and
also attacks on ground troops on Guadalcanal.
In addition to engagements with B-17s and
Cactus Air Force pilots, the Kamikawa Maru
airmen also got into combat with aircraft from
the USS Hornet (CV-8). On the box art, the
aircraft is depicted while engaged in an aerial
battle that took place over Guadalcanal on
September 13, 1942; by that time, it probably
already carried a yellow identification marking
on the leading edge of the wing.
This aircraft was among the new ones that
Kōkūtai 802 took over in Japan during early
1943. At the unit level, the aircraft received
a dark green paint and it probably had a late
production stencil on the fuselage. It sported
a horizontal red stripe on the vertical tail
surfaces, which was probably the unit’s
identifying marking. It is likely that this aircraft
took part in the aerial combat on February 13
and 14, during the defense of the Shortland
Islands and Buin, in which the American
units suffered fairly significant losses. After
relocation to the Marshall Islands area in
March 1943, Kōkūtai 802, under the command
of Lt.(jg) Yamazaki, was primarily engaged
in anti-submarine patrols and the pursuit of four-
engine bombers. Long-range reconnaissance
was carried out by another part of this unit,
which was armed with H8K Emily flying boats.
In October, fighter unit of Kōkūtai 802 was
integrated into Kōkūtai 902, and in November,
the fighter unit clashed with US Navy aircraft
during a raid on Truk.
KITS 12/2025
INFO Eduard
93
December 2025