Aircraft of World War II

Nisizawa_Hiroyosi

johnbr — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:52:23 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Death The following day, his own Zero having been destroyed, Nishizawa and other pilots of the 201st Kokutai boarded a Nakajima Ki-49 Donryu ("Helen") transport plane and left Mabalacat on Cebu in the morning, to ferry replacement Zeros from Clark Field on Luzon. Over Calapan on Mindoro Island, the Ki-49 transport was attacked by two F6F Hellcats of VF-14 squadron from the fleet carrier USS Wasp and was shot down in flames. Nishizawa died as a passenger, probably the victim of Lt. j.g. Harold P. Newell, who was credited with a "Helen" northeast of Mindoro that morning. Upon learning of Nishizawa's death, the commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, honored Nishizawa with a mention in an all-units bulletin and posthumously promoted him to the rank of lieutenant junior-grade. Nishizawa was also given the posthumous name Bukai-in Kohan Giko Kyoshi, a Zen Buddhist phrase that translates: "In the ocean of the military, reflective of all distinguished pilots, an honored Buddhist person." Because of the confusion towards the end of the Pacific war, the bulletin's publication was delayed and funeral services were not held until December 2, 1947.

Saburo_Sakai_and_Hiroyoshi_Nishizawa

johnbr — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:41:26 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Saburo Sakai and Hiroyoshi Nishizawa in Rabaul island, together they destroyed more than 150 allied planes

Ikuta_air_pt

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:27:36 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) fighter pilots who, on 22 February 1932, scored the first aerial victory in the IJN's history. The shoot-down occurred over Shanghai during the Shanghai incident and the pilots were flying the Type 3 fighter aircraft. From left to right the pilots are: Nokiji Ikuta, Toshio Kuroiwa, and Kazuo Takeo. 日本語: 1932年2月22日、ロバート・ショートを撃墜し、上海公大基地に帰還直後の生田小隊。「加賀」飛行隊所属、左から生田大尉、黒岩3空曹、武雄1空。後は3式2号艦戦。 Date 22 February 1932

IJ-NAVY_at_Germany

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:25:39 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: 日本語: ドイツ・シュレジアにて海軍演習場を視察する遣独使ら。 Date 1945年1月～2月頃

253Air_group_pilots

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:20:23 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: 日本語: 253空操縦士。前列右:小町定上飛曹、後列左:岩本徹三飛曹長、中央:熊谷鉄太郎飛曹長。1944年2月撮影。 Date February 1944

Marshals_Kawamura_Inoue_Oku_and_T_g_

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:18:36 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: arshal Admiral of the Navy Heihachirō Tōgō (1848�1934), Marshal General of the Army Yasutaka Oku (1847�1930), Marshal Admiral of the Navy Yoshika Inoue (1845�1929), Marshal General of the Army Kageaki Kawamura (1850�1926), at the unveiling ceremony of bronze statue of Marshal General of the Army Iwao Ōyama. Date 大正六年 / 1917

Tamotsu_Ema

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:15:16 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Imperial Japanese Navy Lieutenant Tamotsu Ema, commander of aircraft carrier Zuikaku's dive bomber squadron, rests aboard the carrier in April 1942, shortly before participating in the Battle of the Coral Sea. In the battle, the dive bombers under Ema's command helped sink the US Navy destroyer Sims, fleet oiler Neosho, and damage the aircraft carrier Yorktown.

Yoshio_Fukui

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:12:34 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Imperial Japanese Navy fighter ace Yoshio Fukui. In service in the Sino-Japanese and Pacific wars, he was credited with destroying 11 enemy aircraft

Zuikaku_Pearl_Harbor_Zero_Pilots

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:11:47 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: A group photo of fighter pilots on the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Zuikaku the day before attacking Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Second row, third person from the right is fighter division officer Masao Sato. To his left, Masatoshi Makino, Yuzo Tsukamoto. Last person on right is Tetsuzo Iwamoto.

RabaulJapaneseEnlistedFighterPilots

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:06:01 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Enlisted pilots of the Tainan Kokutai pose at Lae in June 1942. Several of these aviators would be among the top Japanese aces, including Saburo Sakai (middle row, second from left), and Hiroyoshi Nishizawa (standing, first on left). These pilots fought against Allied fighter pilots during the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands campaign

Japanese_defenders_of_the_Solomons

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:03:21 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Japanese defenders of the Solomons, pictured at Buin in May 1943. Seated second from left is Admiral Ota, then General Sasaki, and in the center is Admiral Samejima. Immediately behind Sasaki is Major Kamiya. Others in the photograph are Eighth Fleet Staff and Base Force officers.

Akio_Matsuba_1_

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:59:59 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: imperial Japanese Navy fighter ace Akio Matsuba. In service in the Sino-Japanese and Pacific wars, he was credited with destroying 18 enemy aircraft. This picture was taken in 1943 while Matsuba was serving in the Atsugi Air Group.

12Air_group_pilot

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:55:10 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Japanese: September 13, 1940, the zero戦のinitial arrayをdecoratedってthe Hankouに帰したと12 empty cadres aboard member. The forefront of the left Yori light増Masayuki 1 empty Cao Ping this political 3 empty Cao, the Valley early political empty Cao, the end of the Tianli of 2 empty Cao, Iwai Mian empty Cao, Fujiwara hi level 2 empty Cao. After the column left yo ri Yokoyama security captain, flying long: when Yong seam of help in the junior, Yamashita small Shiro empty Cao long, large wood Fang Male 2 empty Cao, North Hata, Saburo empty Cao, Shindo Saburo captain, Commander: Hasegawa hi a Colonel, Bai Genfei husband Lieutenant high mound Yin 1 empty Cao the three on Jubilee 2 empty Cao, flight captain: the Minowa thirty-nine horse Koro, Jun Takashi Ito captain.

Zuikaku-dive-bomber-pilots

johnbr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:47:39 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Group portrait of pilots dive bomber aircraft carrier "Zuikaku" before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The names and the names of some of the pilots. In the first row, second from the left - Masataka Fukunaga, third from left - Reydzhiro Otsuka, fourth from left - Tamotsu Ema, fifth from left - Tohichi Azuma. In the second row, fourth from left - Kenji Hori

aircraft_ohka7

johnbr — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 02:14:18 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Japanese Navy aviators resting; note G4M2e Model 24 bomber with MXY7 Ohka Model 11 aircraft in background

Arakatsu_Kimura

johnbr — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 01:57:26 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Go Navy Project The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) decided to create it�s own Atomic bomb project in 1943. Known informally as the Kyoto Group, IJN funded a team around the maverick scientist Prof Arakatsu with 600,000 yen in March 1943. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) project to enrich Uranium 235 was led by rear Admiral Nitta Shigeru. Nitta worked closely during early stages of the project from 1942 to 1944 on isotope separation with Sakae Shimizu . Dr. Shimuzu developed F-Go�s gaseous Uranium centrifuges. IJN�s centrifuges were developed by a company specialised in precision ship gyros, Hokushine Electric Company with assistance from Tokyo Keiki Electric Co. These were built under contract by heavy engineering firm Sumitomo. Centrifuges were constructed from Rare earth metal alloys and spun at between 100,000 to 150,000 RPM. [9] This was an impressive speed since even today the best centrifuges only operate at about 50,000 RPM. The measure of efficiency for any centrifuge at enriching Uranium depends upon the speed at which the centrifuge spins. It has been claimed that these centrifuges were never built, but the revolution could not be known without testing of an actual prototype machine. The biggest hurdles for any centrifuge are in creating bearings and rotor drums able to withstand the enormous forces involved. the earliest rotors used aluminium rotors, Subsequently maraging steel construction allowed even higher speeds, but the Japanese used alloys with Rare Earth metals to create exceptionally strong rotor drums. The Nazis developed carbon fibre brushes and may have shared these concepts with Japan. Prof Arakatsu seated with Dr Kimura standing Leading nuclear theorists for the Naval A-bomb were Professor Arakatsu Bunsuku, Dr Sugimoto Asao, Dr. Yukawa and Dr. Kobayashi. Heavy water was harvested by two heavy water plants, one in Kyushu and another at Noguchi�s JNFC-Nitchitsu Fertiliser factory in Korea. Heavy water was harvested as a by-product of Amonia Production for explosives. Noguchi is now a company known by the name Shoji Kamata. Heavy water was used by F-Go in a nuclear reactor project about which there is little publicly available evidence, except post war claims by Prof. Arakatsu. [10] It is not known whether Japan�s reactor built at Kyoto worked successfully, or managed to breed any Plutonium. All wartime archives are now controlled by the Japanese Government which is under no obligation to disclose them. An interesting point emerges however that A.H Compton�s investigation report for the Manhattan Project notes that Japan made far more progress in the field of developing nuclear energy than Germany did. [11]Uranium Acquisition Most of the Navy�s Uranium-oxide at first was captured from the Chinese Navy�s stockpile at Shanghai and also from ceramics factories where it was used in glazes. Captured Ore was collected for Radio Chemists Dr. Sasaki Koji and Dr Okada Shinzo by Commander Iso Megumi, or his assistant Captain Mitsui Matao from naval ordinance at Kure. Uranium ore was then sent to Dr Okada. Naval liaison with scientists at Kyoto University was led by Lt. Cmdr. Kitagawa Tetsuzo. [12] From March to May 1944 Uranium procurement for F-Go was taken over by Lt. Cmdr. Ishiwatari Miroshi. Kyoto University geologist Takubo Jitsutaro was employed by Japan Nitrogen Fertilizer Company (JNFC, also called by its Japanese name, Nitchitsu) to survey Manchuria and Korea looking for Uranium Ores. The Imperial Japanese Navy found Uranium Ores in the hills above Konan, present day Hungnam. Ores were assayed under direction of Kyoto University�s Physicist Dr Kumura Kiichi. Commencing between 1915-1916 the Riken was set up by the Japanese Government to exploit private investment in public owned research facilities. Private companies were encouraged to back specific scientists to create specialist laboratories and in return could reap private rewards. [13] Before the war JNFC-Nitchitsu had created a major plant to export fertiliser to the Soviet Union. This plant also had the industrial capacity meet Japan�s need for nitrates used in wartime for explosives. JNFC-Nitchitsu therefore leveraged it�s huge supply of industrial hydroelectric power and ability to produce Heavy Water in it�s Hungnam fertiliser plant, by funding another vital wartime project. JNFC-Nitchitsu recruited massed labourers, both Japanese, Korean and Manchurian nationals to conduct mineral sample surveys. Japanese authorities lined up thousands of Korean workers to walk, side by side, over Korean hills in search for outcrops of mineral ores which might bear radioactive elements. Even the smallest deposits were dug out, by hand if necessary. Likely findings were spirited away to JNFC-Nitchitsu for analysis. Ten significant sites bearing Fergussonite were located producing in excess of 500,000 tons of radioactive ores. These ores were shipped to Wonsan in Korea for refining to oxide and then to Konan for reduction to metal.[14] The entire project was conducted on the same scale as Manhattan�s Oak Ridge facility. F-NZ Project In June 1944, 308,488 Yen in funding were released via the Army Aviation Bureau for development of a nuclear weapon for the purpose of aerial attack against USA. It was given the cover name for funding purposes Kokudoryoku Keikaku (Project Aeropower). This project appears to have been the founding of F-NZ. Later on 6 December 1944 a further one Million Yen were released for this project. It is this project which seems to have amalgamated with efforts by the Japanese Navy. F-NZ, or �ENNUZETTO,� was a secret joint services project led by Admiral Hasagawa Hideo. Captain Mitsui was also involved with the ultra secretive F-NZ laboratory at Konan. [15] F-NZ was said to be a joint forces amalgamation of efforts by the previous Nishina Project and the Kyoto project. It has also been associated with General Kawashima and the 8th Imperial Army Laboratory in Korea. The relationships between these organisations remains unclear. The history of F-NZ is less clear and only came to light from the escape from North Korea of Chemical Engineer Otogoro Natsume in October 1946. This forced US Army Intelligence to re-open investigation of the Japanese Atomic bomb project. Earlier in August 1945 the OSS had parachuted into Korea just one day after the formal signing of a peace agreement aboard USS Missouri. This had led to a clash with the Manhattan Committee which wanted to keep the Japanese Atomic bomb project secret. Part of this desire appears founded on a secret agreement with the Japanese for USA to acquire all research details from Unit 731 and from Japanese nuclear projects. This was highlighted in 2002 when documents about the Japanese A-bomb project were returned to the Japanese Government, which refuses to make them public. Immediately following Japan�s surrender the American military Government in Japan, SCAP exercised draconian powers of censorship to silence Japan�s scientists about their wartime activities. Konan was captured quite suddenly and unexpectedly by Soviet paratroop assault 24 August 1945. In October 1946 a chemical engineer Otogoro Natsume stole a fishing boat and escaped to reach American lines in South Korea where he was interrogated. Otogoro Natsume corroborated Snell�s account of a nuclear test blast and asserted that scientists working for F-NZ who were captured by the Soviets, included Oishi Takeo, Wakabayashi Tadashiro, Takahashi Rikizo, Sato Sei, Fukuda Koken and Tsuchida Meiro, none were physicists and all were under the command of Admiral Hasegawa Hideo.

yEGZN

johnbr — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 13:31:32 -0500

by: johnbr

Zuikaku_fighter_pilots_at_Buin_April_1943

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:41:28 -0500

by: johnbr

Mitsuo_Fuchida

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:36:55 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Mitsuo Fuchida, the pilot who will fly the lead plane in Japan's air attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941). Through representatives of the Pocket Testament League, Fuchida will be converted to Christianity in 1950. (Bradley)

eaa_172_

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:22:08 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: japanese navy pilots posing with a Nakajima J1N1 Gekko Fighter Aircraft full of kill markings (japan 1944)

ww2-wings-of-glory_Ich

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:13:58 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Tokyo, 1945: Captain Chuichi Ichikawa teaching how to destroy a B-29 bomber

Japanese_Navy_pilot_Lieutenant_Yoshimi_Minami_circa_1937-1944

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:11:47 -0500

by: johnbr

Takeo_Tanimizu

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:08:04 -0500

by: johnbr

other_kamikaze1

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:05:01 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Portrait of a Japanese pilot shortly before he embarked on a special attack mission, circa 1944-1945

WWII_JAPANESE_FIGHTER_PILOT

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:02:56 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: . Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance, Japanese Ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.

MIKEYUNGShotDownBoyington

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:59:04 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Pappy shown as CO of VMF-214. LLoyd Gailey provided a photo of Mikeyung, the Japanese pilot who him downed

J_Pilot

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:54:48 -0500

by: johnbr

w33_300

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:34:54 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: This photo provided by former Kamikaze pilot Toshio Yoshitake, shows Yoshitake, right, and his fellow pilots, from left, Tetsuya Ueno, Koshiro Hayashi, Naoki Okagami and Takao Oi, as they pose together in front of a Zero fighter plane before taking off from the Imperial Army airstrip in Choshi, just east of Tokyo, on November 8, 1944. None of the 17 other pilots and flight instructors who flew with Yoshitake on that day survived. Yoshitake only survived because an American warplane shot him out of the air, he crash-landed and was rescued by Japanese soldiers. (AP Photo) #

air_a5m5

johnbr — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:27:52 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Japanese pilots Masao Asai and Masao Sato aboard carrier Akagi, 1938-1939; note A5M fighter in background

26th_Air_student_1935

johnbr — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:31:26 -0500

by: johnbr

Mitsugu_Mori

johnbr — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:28:49 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: �Imperial Japanese Navy fighter ace Mitsugu Mori with a Mitsubishi Type 96 fighter; 1938,

wwii1379

johnbr — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:19:30 -0400

by: johnbr

Description: IPTC Caption Imperial Japanese Navy Captain Mitsuo Fuchida (December 3, 1902 - May 3, 1976) probably at the time of his interrogation by United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) on October 9, 1945. A Navy aviator since 1928, Fuchida led the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941; he broadcast the famous "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!) indicating complete surprise to the Combined Fleet. Incapacitated by an appendectomy just before the Battle of Midway in June 1942, he could only observe that battle. After recovering from broken ankles escaping from the carrier IJN Akagi as it sunk, he was on the staff of First Air Fleet and then Combined Fleet, planning the air operations during the Philippine Sea and Philippine defense. He was charged with air defense during IJN Yamato's sortie against the Okinawa invasion fleet in April 1945. On October 9 and 17, 1945, Fuchida answered many questions for American interrogators United States Navy Lieutenant Commander R. P. Aiken and Lieutenant Commander James A. Field, Jr. Field would later admit that the Japanese had better English skills than the Americans' Japanese interpreters, contributing to errors and misunderstandings. Fuchida later wrote Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan in 1955. Fuchida's book, along with the USSBS interrogations, became the major English resource for understanding Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway. In 2005, researchers Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully examined original Japanese documents and reconstructed Japanese aircraft carrier operations, showing that Fuchida's interview and book fabricated, misstated or ignored key details to move blame for the Midway debacle from himself and his air staff to overall commanders Admiral Cuichi Nagumo and Isoroku Yamamoto.

japanese-ship

johnbr — Wed, 30 May 2012 22:14:50 -0400

by: johnbr

Description: Priests in top left corner from top down: Fathers Leo Joseph Berard, CP, Linus Lombard, CP, and Denis Fogarty, CP. Seated left to right: Fathers Ernest Cunningham, CP and Timothy McDermott, CP. In the center are Prince and Princess Takamatsu who were returning from a world tour. They had been married in 1930. This photo was found in the Archives and the identification was a mystery. The name of the ship, Chichibu Maru was found on the life preserver as was Tokio, identifying it as a Japanese ship. In the left corner there are a few priests which we presumed might be Passionists and in the center of the photo are two dignitaries Br. Laurence Finn, C.P. gave us the clue we needed to begin identification with a link to some information on the ship: http://shiplover3.stormpages.com/Japan/ChichibuMaru.html. From this we learned that the photo must have been taken between 1930 when the ship was built and 1938 when the ship's name was changed. Using Sign Magazine we were able to find that 3 new priests went to China on this ship on May 28, 1931. They were Fathers Leo Joseph Berard, CP, Linus Lombard, CP, and Denis Fogarty, CP. Other documentation showed that 3 others who had been on leave returned to China with the new priests. They were Fathers Ernest Cunningham, CP, Timothy McDermott, CP, and Flavian Mullins, CP. We found letters written from the ship which indicated that the "Prince and Princess" were on board. A little research on the Web turned up a Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kikuko,_Princess_Takamatsu) which says that the couple returned to Japan after a world tour in June 1931. That indicates that these are indeed Prince and Princess Takamatsu. Notice that Fr. Flavian Mullins, CP is not in the picture. Two letters were found indicating that he got off the ship in Honolulu. One is from Timothy McDermott, CP on May 29th to his family saying that Fr. Flavian will leave them in Honolulu and the other is from Fr. Flavian on June 18th saying that his visit to Honolulu is over. Apparently the photo was taken after he left.

TakeichiMinoshima

johnbr — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:03:04 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: After the war it was learned that the pilot of the plane, (a Nakajima KI-43 fighter), was Takeichi Minoshima. The son of a Japanese farmer. He was found charred and mangled on the starboard side, wearing a complete parachute rigging, and was not elaborately dressed similar to other suicide pilots

w05_

johnbr — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:02:01 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: 5First pictures of the Japanese occupation of Peiping (Beijing) in China, on August 13, 1937. Under the banner of the rising sun, Japanese troops are shown passing from the Chinese City of Peiping into the Tartar City through Chen-men, the main gate leading onward to the palaces in the Forbidden City. Just a stone's throw away is the American Embassy, where American residents of Peiping flocked when Sino-Japanese hostilities were at their worst. (AP Photo) #

w04_3a35704u

johnbr — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:59:28 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: Japanese soldiers involved in street fighting in Shanghai, China in 1937. The battle of Shanghai lasted from August through November of 1937, eventually involving nearly one million troops. In the end, Shanghai fell to the Japanese, after over 150,000 casualties combined. (LOC) #

w02_3a35696u

johnbr — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:54:39 -0500

by: johnbr

Description: A Japanese soldier stands guard over part of the captured Great Wall of China in 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Empire of Japan and the Republic of China had been at war intermittently since 1931, but the conflict escalated in 1937. (LOC) #

w17_01217018

johnbr — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:40:31 -0400

by: johnbr

Description: Children of Japan, Germany, and Italy meet in Tokyo to celebrate the signing of the Tripartite Alliance between the three nations, on December 17, 1940. Japanese education minister Kunihiko Hashida, center, holding crossed flags, and Mayor Tomejiro Okubo of Tokyo were among the sponsors.

w07_20418042

johnbr — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:35:03 -0400

by: johnbr

Description: 7 Ryozo Asano, left, spokesman for a group of diversified Japanese family enterprises called the Zaibatsu, inspects the wreckage of his steel plant in Tokyo, after the first U.S. air raid on Japan's capital, April 18, 1942. He is accompanied by an unidentified aide. Thirteen targets were struck, including an oil tank farm, a steel mill, and an aircraft carrier under construction. Some 50 Japanese lost their lives.

w25_07210128

johnbr — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:49:22 -0400

by: johnbr

Description: 25 On the Mongolian border, Japanese tanks roll across the vast plains of the Mongolian-Manchurian steppe, near the Mongolian border, on July 21, 1939. Manchukuo troops were reinforced by the Japanese when the border warfare with Soviet forces flared up suddenly in this sector. (AP Photo) #

w24_90710060

johnbr — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:45:51 -0400

by: johnbr

Description: Earlier in 1939, Imperial Japanese army and naval units continued to attack and push forward into China and Mongolia. Here Japanese soldiers advance inland over the beach after landing at Swatow (Shantou), one of the remaining South China coast ports still under Chinese control at that time, on July 10, 1939. After a short engagement with the Chinese defenders the Japanese entered the city without encountering much further opposition. (AP

Jiro_HoriKoshi

johnbr — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:49:08 -0400

by: johnbr

Description: Creator of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. Jiro Horikoshi was born in 1903 in Fujioka, Grunma Prefecture, Japan. His interest in aircraft began in grade school while he was reading newspaper accounts of the air war in Europe.During his senior year in high school he was faced with the decision of what to study when he graduated. He decided on aeronautical engineering and in April 1923 began his studies in the newly formed Aeronautics Department at the University of Tokyo. In 1926, Jiro joined Mitsubishi as an engineer in the airframe design section. Jiro�s first major design project was the Prototype 7, a navy monoplane fighter. The project was part of a prototype competition that the Japanese used to select new aircraft. Both Prototype 7 aircraft built for the competition crashed during flight-testing. It was a rather inauspicious start for Jiro�but one that gained him a great deal of experience. Jiro�s next project was the Prototype 9 or Type 96 No. 1 carrier-based fighter. This aircraft, the A5M, was known to the Allies as �Claude,� a top performer during its time. It was very fast and had excellent handling characteristics, which pilots particularly favored. When the specifications for the Prototype 12 aircraft came to Mitsubishi in 1937, Jiro was once again called upon to lead the development. The Prototype 12 would become the Mitsubishi Type Zero carrier-based fighter, Model 11. The Zero would be the backbone of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. While Jiro completed work on the Zero he was also tasked to produce a new aircraft the Prototype 14, the J2M Raiden (�Jack� to the Allies). The Raiden was an interceptor, used with very limited success against U.S. B-29 raids.

jap-soldiers

johnbr — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 09:44:03 -0400

by: johnbr

wwii1342

johnbr — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:42 -0400

by: johnbr

Isoroku_Yamamoto

johnbr — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:58:12 -0400

by: johnbr

A6M5-M52-20

johnbr — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:33:11 -0400

by: johnbr

JAPON_CERO_3

johnbr — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:27:04 -0400

by: johnbr

c34

johnbr — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:19:16 -0400

by: johnbr

Japanese B5N torpedo bomber crews posing before a B5N aircraft aboard carri

johnbr — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:41:02 -0400

by: johnbr

Japanese_Special_Naval_Landing_Forces_on_the_deck_board_of_the_IJN_xxx_June

johnbr — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 03:41:34 -0400

by: johnbr