Formosa 1942 Need Info

[Carl Schwamberger]

I've run across several second hand descriptions of the Japanese air forces on Formosa 8th Dec 1941. It appears the principle units were the IJN 11th Air Fleet & the IJA 5th Air Group, 400 aircraft is given as the nominal air strength.

The primary strike force was to have launched before dawn & struck the US airfields on Luzon shortly after dawn (06:00 - 07:00). A ground fog covered most or all of the airfields on Fomosa, & prevents the aircraft from taking off both for the air strike & for defense patrols against US bombers.

One Japanese strike group was able to take off shortly after dawn & attacked the small satellite airfields at Baguio & Tuguegaro with 32 bombers shortly after 09:00.

The remaining Japanese planes, including 192 aircraft of the 11th Air Fleet departed the Formosa airfields at approx 09:00 & reached the Manilia area at 12:00

Are there any experts here who can confirm or correct these items, and recommend some releiable sources for the Japanese airstrike? I am particulary curious about the weather condition that prevented the attack from departing on time. Information on the exact composition of the Japanese airforces on Formosa would be very welcome as well.

Thanks & Domo
Carl Schwamberger
Forum Staff

[John Beaman]

Carl:

Have you checked December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor (Texas A&M University Military History Series, 87.) - by William H. Bartsch ? It is the definitive book on that day and while it naturally concentrates on the US side, I seem to recall there was a lot of data about the IJNAF and weather issues.

[Carl Schwamberger]

Thanks, its on the list. I'll mark it as recomended.

One of the many questions I have is how thick the fog was. I've seen ground fogs that completly blocked horizontal visibility but allowed vertical vision. That is on the ground you could not see the runway, but a aircraft overhead could see the outline of the ground features....

[Markus Becker]

From December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor

The IJA´s 5th Hikoshidan had 192 a/c but only the 8th Sentai(Ki-48?) and 14th Sentai(Ki-21?) participated in the attack on the two satellite fields you mentioned.

From the Takao air base 71 twin engines bombers(G4M) and 54(?) A6Mwere to take of pre dawn and attack Nichols and Clark. The latter was also to be attacked by 27 twin engine bombers(G3M) and 36 A6M based at Tainan air base.

Time of attack is 6:30 for the bombers from Tainan, take off time was 1:30 for the G3M and 2:30 for the faster G4M.

Dec.7th, around 11pm: Tainan base reports “thick fog” that prevents planes from take off. A staff officer send to that base said the visibility was “one meter”. At Takao the skies were clear. When the officer returned to the HQ the fog had also enveloped Tainan. At 1:30 the take off was delayed to 4:00.

At 7:50 the fog began to clear and the plane´s take off was set at 8:15 and 9:15, meaning they would arrive over their targets around 12:30. Theoretically the B-17´s could have been over the Japanese bases from 7:00 onwards.

The army base had a bit fog trouble too, the TO was delayed from 4:00 to 5:21.

[Carl Schwamberger]

Thanks for looking up that detail. Combine that with the other events on both sides that morning & it is a case study in command & luck in warfare.