Saburo Sakai

[knusel]

Good morning,

were Saburo Sakai's 2 Mitsubishi A5M kills his only success not scored in the Zero ?

Cheers,

Michael

[focusfocus]

yes

his 62 (very debatable) other claims with a zero

his last supposedly B-32 damaged the 17/8/45 ( 2 days after the surrender)Sakai himself could not recall if he was flying a Zero or a Shinden-Kai!

[mars]

Saburo Sakai never claim he scored 62 kills

[focusfocus]

64 kills ( 4 in china) generally admitted but according to his log book 78

regards

[Leo Etgen]

Hi guys

Interesting thread about the total number of claims recorded by this ace. It is my impression that due to a host of factors arriving at a specific number of victories for Japanese aces is often quite difficult. In the case of Saburo Sakai the most common number given is 64 but nearly all sources agree that this number was basically invented by Martin Caidin when he wrote Samurai! According to Japanese Naval Fighter Aces by Hata, Izawa and Shores, official records show that Sakai had claimed 28 victories by the time he was wounded in action on 7 August 1942. I hope this helps and any comments or corrections will be appreciated.

Horrido!

Leo

[focusfocus]

hi

your feeling Leo is probably right because it's impossible to know certainty the score of Sakai
even the authors do not agree between them:Hata and Izawa WITHOUT Shores in their book of 1989 gives 64 kills( only 2 in china!) and now with Shores creditent Sakai with 28!!

one example:

in the Tainan Kokutai Kodochosho : 6/4/42 to 7/8/42 = 40 kills for Sakai alone or in collaboration and still it is necessary to forget to compare with the RAF and US real losses( I made the comparaison,and we are far from 28 even by including the kills before 6/4/42

regards

[Stig Jarlevik]

Sakai was an interesting and a bit controversial character.

There is an interview with him here
http://www.warbirdforum.com/sakai.htm

Beside his feelings for Genda (which are interesting), can anyone say why he was so upset about the Kawanishi N1K1-J? Perhaps not an absolute world beater in 1945 but most pilots at least seems to have considered it to be better than the 'Zero'

Cheers
Stig

[mars]

Originally Posted by focusfocus

64 kills ( 4 in china) generally admitted but according to his log book 78

regards

According to Japanese source, his final scores were around a dozen, he only fought about 8 months in the pacific war, after recovering from his wound, he flew few combat missions

[knusel]

Dear Gentlemen,

these are the known kills of Sakai according to Sakai who attributes him with 60+ kills and according to Hata/Izawa/Shores who attribute him with 64 kills:
05.10.38 I-16 A5M 12 AG Hankow
03.10.39 DB-3 A5M 12 AG Hankow
08.12.41 ground kill B-17 A6M2 Tainan Philippines Clark Field
08.12.41 ground kill B-17 A6M2 Tainan Philippines - Clark Field
08.12.41 P-40 A6M2 Tainan Philippines - Clark Field
10.12.41 B-17 14 BS A6M2 Tainan Philippines [not credited]
Feb 1942 damaged B-17 A6M2 Balikpapan
28.02.42 F2A A6M2 [kill #13]
22.07.42 Hudson Sq 32 A6M2 Tainan Buna
07.08.42 F4F VF 5 A6M2 Tainan Guadalcanal
07.08.42 SBD VS 71 A6M2 Tainan Guadalcanal
07.08.42 EA A6M2 (3 kills on that date)
Shores attributes at least 4 kills over Guadalcanal to Sakai
his total reached in summer 1942 is variously given as 28 or 58 or 61
24.06.44 F6F USN A6M5 Yokosuka Iwo Jima
24.06.44 F6F USN A6M5 Yokosuka Iwo Jima
24.06.44 F6F USN A6M5 Yokosuka Iwo Jima
05.07.44 F6F USN A6M5 Yokosuka Iwo Jima
17.08.45 "B-32" ??? = "B-29" on the last day of war ??? (Shores)

Cheers,

Michael

[DavidIsby]

I believe that the Netherlands East Indies naval biplane Sakai claimed has been related to a specific loss (though it is not on the above list).