Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

After all the effort to occupy Wake and fortify Tarawa...what Japanese units actually used the airstrips?

I have never read of how many sorties were required to neutralize Tarawa's air defenses prior to the bombardment?

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

You can try the book "Bloody Tarawa: The 2d Marine Division, November 20-23, 1943" by Eric Hammel. Chapter 6 describes the American air attacks on Tarawa.

Quick summary:
26 January 1943: 3 B-24s
24 April 1943: 12 B-24s
18-19 September 1943: joint attacks by B-24s (total 38 sorties) and carrier aircraft (no number): after this attack, all Japanese aircraft left Tarawa airfield.
Pre-invasion bombardment started on 13 November 1943, and intensified when carrier aircraft started attacking on the 18th.

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

according to pacific wrecks:

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfiel...awa/index.html

Japanese Units based at Tarawa
204th Kokutai (A6M Zero) February 1943
281st Kokutai (A6M Zero)

Henry

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

Chitose Kōkūtai
Mar - Aug 42: the fighter complement in the Marshalls was redistributed during March with 14 based on Wake Is. and 14 at Roi, and the A5M CLAUDEs were gradually replaced with Mitsubishi A6M Type 0 carrier fighters (ZEKE). Responsible for air defense over Wake and Roi, both contingents trained new pilots who were later reassigned to other groups in the Solomons.
1 Dec 42: still there but as 201 Kōkūtai after this date.

This is the only unit that based aircraft on Wake. But it was occasionally used by a few other units as a fuel and brief rest stop.

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

No twin engine aircraft stationed at either?

Correct to state there was no aerial reconnaissance at Tarawa/Betio regarding the incoming invasion in late 1943?

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

Here is a web site that may help and that I recommend highly:


http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php





Ed

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

Wake units were not reinforced by transport surface ships after January 1, 1944. In Dec 24, 1943 the auxiliary cruiser Akagi Maru departs Ujia carrying 940 soldiers of the Fifth Independent Mixed Regiment, 220 soldiers of the 16th Tank Regiment and 18 Type 95 light tanks. The Akagi Maru was escorted by two DD of the DesDiv 61’s, Hatsusuki and Suzutsuki. The Akagi arrived at Wake, Jan 1 1944, disembarks the troops, tanks and also six 75mm guns. Akagi Maru was the last surface ship to arrive at Wake during the war.

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

^^^Thanks.

I was asking as I do not ever read of two engine a/c being operated for reconnaissance duties from either Betio or Wake. Thought to ask.

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

I second Ed's recommendation. There are some very knowledgeable guys over there on JNAF unit dispostions, and all things JNAF & JAAF in general.

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

Yep, Rich Dunn and Jim Lansdale at J-Aircraft.com can answer any questions. But there's also a Tarawa web site.............

The "Tarawa" story from the Japanese perspective is detailed at this link:

http://www.tarawaontheweb.org/stanjersy1.htm

It was 755 Ko with G4M Type 1 land attack bombers (BETTY) that was based at Betio airstrip on Tarawa. It did fly maritime patrols, it did attack the U.S. B-24 bases on the islands to the east, it did spot the Marine landing force while it was still 100 miles east of Tarawa and it did attack the U.S. carrier strike force on the 19th of November. It's all there and quite interesting, too.

Larry

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

According to Alexander 'Utmost Savagery' Betio Island was no longer used as a permanent base in the last weeks before the US attack. The bombers that few attack and reconissance missions from Betio were using it as a fuel and service stop. Alexander does not indicate how many ground crew still based on Betio, or if they were all withdrawn and the aircraft crew were performing all the refuel & service tasks. He does make it clear the last reconissance aircraft departed the morning before the assault and none were on the island when the USn arrived in sight.

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

The web site

http://www.tarawaontheweb.org/stanjersy1.htm

..has some contradictions with the USN/USMC post battle documents, and Alexander's research. One example from the site text would be:

"At noon, on D-day, the batteries of the USS Maryland BB 46 and the USS Santa Fe CL 60 scored a direct hit on the block house command center shelter and killed Admiral Shibasaki and most of his staff reportedly containing about 300 sea-infantrymen. Although the command center was destroyed and effective command liaison ceased, the morale of the garrison showed no decline."

Post battle reports by the Marines describe the command block house still in action until the 21st, when it's defenders were finally killed by Marines directly assulating it with satchel charges. Destruction by direct assualt is substantiated by the citations and supporting documents for awards given to the leaders of the assualt on the command blockhouse. Other support for this is from the post battle evaluation of the naval gun fire. That report describes no substantial penetration of the blockhouse by the naval guns of any caliber. Interrogation of the 14 surviving Japanese naval garrison (the surviving Korean laborers do not seem to have been questioned), specifically of the Petty Officer & the Warrant officer suggested that the Garrison commander & his command group were killed by one or more 5" projectiles from a destroyer, while they were moving out side the command bunker to better organize a counter attack.

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

Carl -



There will always be contradictions when comparing reports of the same events written by the two opposing sides. "Felix" was only interested in determining whether or not JNAF patrol aircraft operating from Tarawa had spotted the incoming landing force while still some distance from the atoll. The Japanese account taken from the official 102 volume postwar history, Senshi Sosho, probably Vol. 62 published in 1973, has been proven consistently reliable by historians since the sources are all primary (yes, nearly all of the higher level Japanese WWII records survived the war).

As for 755 Ko, it did withdraw its detachment from Betio two months prior to the landings and there after used it as an "Absprunghafen" (advanced landing ground) for staging missions, refueling and light servicing work. Nevertheless, the Japanese account covers this and shows that only a tiny handful of 755 personnel were at Betio at the time of the landings.


755 Kōkūtai

(FPO Designation: U-133)


Formed 1 November 1942 at Kisarazu NAS/23.5 mi SE of Tōkyō on Tōkyō Bay in Chiba Prefecture/E Honshū by renaming the Genzan Kōkūtai. Initially equipped with both Mitsubishi G3M Type 96 land attack bombers (NELL) and Mitsubishi G4M Type 1 land attack bombers (BETTY). The group’s authorized personnel allowance dated 1 September 1943 specified 237 officers and warrant officers, and 2,068 petty officers and men. Assigned to 22d Air Flotilla/11th Air Fleet.[1]

30 Dec 42: transferred from Kisarazu to Roi on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.[2]
7/8 Sep 43: operating from Tarawa, bombed the just-completed 5,000-foot airstrip on Nonomea Atoll in the Ellice Islands with 10 G4Ms causing 12 casualties and damaging some facilities.[3]
18-19 Sep 43: had a detachment with 18 land attack bombers and 330 personnel based on Betio Is./Tarawa Atoll in the Gilberts - hit by U.S. 7th AAF B-24s from Canton Is./Phoenix Islands and Funafuti Atoll/Ellice Islands and U.S. carrier strikes for two days and 9 bombers destroyed. All remaining planes and personnel withdrew to bases in the Marshalls over the next week or two.[4]
Mid-Sep 43 - Oct 43: completed full conversion to the G4M BETTY.[5]
Oct 43: the group finally completed its slow conversion to the Type 1 BETTY in October, the last air group in the JNAF to do so.[6]
1 Nov 43: at Roi/Kwajalein Atoll (25 planes), Taroa/Maloelap Atoll (9 planes) and Nauru Is. (6 planes) assigned to 22d Air Flotilla.[7]
19 Nov 43: reported a total of 40 G4M land attack bombers serviceable.[8]
21 Nov 43: with the U.S. invasion of Tarawa this date, the group together with 752 Kōkūtai began night torpedo attacks on fleet units operating in the Gilberts and may have shared credit for a single hit on the carrier USS Independence.[9]
2 Dec 43: ordered to transferred to Tinian in the Marianas to rest and refit, but before departing the group lost 6 destroyed and 3 damaged during a U.S. carrier strike on Kwajalein and Wotje Atoll on 4 December. The surviving planes and crews finally left for Tinian on 7 December.[10]

[1] JM#116; JICPOA Bulletin 16-45; Thorpe-JNAF; Sekigawa:136; JICPOA JNAF OB (Microfiche F-2076):175.

[2] JM#116.

[3] Cressman-Official Chronology; Hammel-Air War.

[4] Crowl-Gilberts/Marshalls:67-68.

[5] Osamu TAGAYA-j-aircraft.com Board posting, 9 Feb 2001.

[6] Tagaya-Betty Units:81 and 101.

[7] USSBS Interrogation/Translation #73.

[8] R.Dunn-j-aircraft.com Board posting 20 Jul 01.

[9] Tagaya-op cit:81.

[10] JM#173.

L.

Re: Japanese air units at Tarawa and Wake?
 

I saw a documentary TV program of a Navy landing craft boatman that returned to Tarawa some years back. In the narration portion they stated that Admiral Shibasaki and his staff were killed in the open going to another vantage point from the bunker.