Air operations from the IJN carrier RYUJO, April 1942

[Malcolm12hl]

In the first two weeks of April 1942, Ryujo formed part of a task force commanded by Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo which operated against Allied merchant shipping in the northern Bay of Bengal while the main carrier strike force was attacking Ceylon and seeking out the British Eastern Fleet further south. Ozawa's force sank a total of 18 to 20 ships, most of them on 6 April. Aircraft from the Ryujo were directly responsible for several of the sinkings, but available British records are scanty due to the confusion reigning at the time. I would be very keen to hear from anybody who has information on RYUJO's air operations on and around 6 April 1942.

Malcolm

[Leendert]

Malcolm,

Perhaps this website is helpful: http://www.combinedfleet.com/ryujo.htm

It says that on 6 Apr 42 the carrier was involved in air operations against Cocanada and Vizagapatam, India.

See http://www.michael-reimer.com/CFS2/C...0RYUJO%5D.html as well.

An article about the raid here: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/m...2201240400.htm

Regards,

Leendert

[Malcolm12hl]

Leendert

Thank you for your helpful reply. I was aware of the Combined Fleet website, but not of the other two, and the details of the raids on Indian mainland harbours were completely new to me.

Many thanks

Malcolm

[Mark E Horan]

Malcolm;

Don't know how readable this will be - it comes from an excel spreadsheet. The source is the Ryujo Air records:

Date Mission Target TO Land Aloft VF VT Ordnance
42.04.04 Search - 08:00 11:00 03:00 0 4
42.04.04 Search - 14:54 18:23 03:29 0 3

Date Mission Target TO Land Aloft VF VT Ordnance
42.04.05 Search - 08:44 11:10 02:26 0 3
42.04.05 Armed Recon - 14:33 18:58 04:25 0 2 60 (4)
42.04.05 Armed Recon - 14:33 18:56 04:23 0 2
42.04.05 Armed Recon - 14:33 18:55 04:22 0 2 60 (4)
42.04.05 Armed Recon - 14:33 14:33 00:00 0 2
42.04.05 Armed Recon - 15:10 19:45 04:35 0 2 60 (2)

Date Mission Target TO Land Aloft VF VT Ordnance
42.04.06 Armed Recon - 09:00 13:40 04:40 0 2 250 (1), 60 (4)
42.04.06 Armed Recon - 09:00 13:00 04:00 0 2 60 (4)
42.04.06 Strike shipping 12:20 18:57 06:37 0 3 250 (1), 60 (4)
42.04.06 " " 12:20 18:57 06:37 0 2 Torpedo (1)
42.04.06 Armed Recon - 13:30 18:27 04:57 0 2
42.04.06 Strike Port 14:43 17:20 02:37 0 5 250 (1), 60 (4)
42.04.06 Strike Port 16:30 18:57 02:27 0 2 800 (1)
42.04.06 " " 16:30 18:57 02:27 0 3 250 (1), 60 (4)
42.04.06 Strike Port 19:55 21:30 01:35 0 5 250 (1), 60 (4)

Date Mission Target TO Land Aloft VF VT Ordnance
42.04.08 Search - 14:54 17:45 02:51 0 4

Additionally, the information on the website found at the second link above is incorrect in several matters. First, The Ryujo Fighter unit did NOT have A6M2s at any point in 1941-42 prior to her return to Japanese home waters for a refit AFTER operation C and prior to her inclusion in operation AF in the Aleutians in June. Rather, the unit was operating 12 A5M4 Claudes.

Second, by Operation C the Ryujo Attack Unit, like all other 18-plane Attack units with the exception of Kaga's 27-plane unit, was formed in three Chutais of six nominal aircraft, though bombing operations were actually based on 2-3 plane shotais and 5-plane chutais. Further, the unit which had 17 operational planes, had started the war composed primarily of B5N1 model attack planes, with but 2-3 newer B5N2 models which were NOT formed into a separate unit, but were interspersed in mixed Chutais with the B5N1s. Losses suffered in 1941 and early 1942, which were light, were replaced in part by some additional B5N2s, but the total number aboard in April was no more than 3-5.

Even in the June foray to the Aleutians after an influx of new pilots and planes while in Japan, the unit only was about 50% B5N2 models, with the chutais composed of mixed types. It would appear that the chutai leaders were given the -2s and later shotai leaders received them as well, though this was not a hard rule.

Hope this helps. If you have further questions, you can contact me at mhoran -at- snet -dot- net

Mark E. Horan

[Malcolm12hl]

Thanks Mark

This is really helpful - I will contact you via email to follow up.

Malcolm