IJN Shoho photo #1
On 24 April 1942, IJN Shoho departs Yokosuka. Her Air Group is still incomplete due to shortages of both pilots and aircraft
and only consists of 12 fighters (8 Mitsubishi A6M2 “Zeke” and 4 Mitsubishi A5M4 “Claude”) and 6 Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” attack planes.
DII-101 was flown by LT. Kenjiro Notomi (buntaicho) of IJN Shoho. Lt. Kenjiro Notomi and two others Zero's pilots,
PO2c Takeo Banno and PO3c Shiro Ishikawa ditched their A6M2s at Deboyne lagoon on 7th May 1942 and were rescued.
DII-102 was flown by a wingman of carrier IJN Shoho.
INFO CREDIT: book JAPANESE NAVAL ACES AND FIGHTER UNITS IN WORLD WAR II, by Ikuhiko Hata and Yasuho Izawa, page 57.
DII-104 was flown by a wingman of carrier IJN Shoho.
INFO CREDIT: book MODEL ART #272 - camoufrage and markings of the imperial Japanese navy fighters in WWII, page 112.
DII-105 was flown by a wingman of carrier IJN Shoho.
INFO CREDIT: book SAMOURAI SUR PORTE-AVIONS, by Michel Ledet, page 227.
DII-300 was flown by a wingman of carrier IJN Shoho.
INFO CREDIT: book SAMOURAI SUR PORTE-AVIONS, by Michel Ledet, page 227.
DII-302 was flown by a wingman of carrier IJN Shoho.
COLOR PROFILE CREDIT: AirReview Magazine, November, 1965.
DII-308 was flown by a wingman of carrier IJN Shoho.
COLOR PROFILE CREDIT: book Mechanism of IJN Aircraft Carriers, volume #2, by publisher Kojinsha.
IJN Shoho photo #2
EI-302 was flown by a wingman of carrier IJN Shokaku. The crew was PO1c Akira Akao (pilot),
PO1c Tomie Ootake (observer) and PO1c Kazuo Sakashita (radioman/gunner). This plane was lost during a
search mission, ditching on Indispensable Reef . The crew was rescued by a Japanese destroyer.
INFO CREDIT: Aki via j-aircraft.com
EI-306 was flown by a shotaicho of carrier IJN Shokaku. The crew was PO1c Yoshio Saito (pilot),
WO Masanobu Shibata (observer and shotaicho) and PO3c Seisaku Domae (radioman/gunner). This plane was lost
during a search mission, ditching on Indispensable Reef . The crew was rescued by a Japanese destroyer.
INFO CREDIT: Aki via j-aircraft.com
On May 7, the Japanese striking force launched at 0600 twelve Nakajima B5N2 carrier attack plane to search in pairs a sector bearing 180 to 265 degrees, out 250 miles from the carrier force. At 0722, the radioman of one Shokaku’s B5N2 reported American ships: one carrier and one cruiser... He was wrong, because these ships were oiler USS Neosho and the destroyer USS Sims. These two planes, tail codes EI-306 and EI-302, made a search to find the American carriers in the area. At 1051 these Japanese crews were in troubles, no fuel to reach the Japanese carrier force. They flew for Indispensable Reef and ditched there. Japanese destroyer Ariake rescued the two crews on the next day.
INFO CREDIT: book The First Team, by John B. Lundstron.
EI-306 photo #1
EI-306 was flown by a shotaicho. This crashed Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" (tail marking "EI-306") is from Shokaku. This and a sister aircraft were ditched on a reef near Rennell Island during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Survivors burned the cockpits to foil recovery. Wrecked on Indispensable Reef, at the time it was inspected by a Patrol Squadron 71 crew, 9 June 1942. It went down during a Battle of the Coral Sea search mission a month earlier and has its cockpit area burned out. INFO CREDIT:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_B5NEI-306 photo #2
This aircraft had a white vertical stripe on the fuselage and horizontal strip on the tail. This is one of two Kates
that force landed at the middle reef of Indispensable Reef during the Battle of the Coral Sea search mission.
The crews survived and burned the cockpit area. Later, it was inspected by a PBY Catalina Patrol Squadron 71 crew spotted the wreck on June 7, 1942 and two days later, inspected the wreckage. These airframes were recovered by the USS Tangier.
INFO AND PHOTO CREDIT:
http://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b5n/indispensable.html Hasegawa model kit item # HAS 09717 - Scale: 1:48 - Category: WWII Japanese Bomber
Estimated number of parts: 109 - Markings: 1) I.J.N. carrier Shokaku Code: EI-306 May 1942 and
2) I.J.N. carrier Zuikaku Code: EII-323 May 1942.
INFO CREDIT:
http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/e-w EI-201 was flown by LT. Masao Yamaguchi (buntaicho) of IJN carrier Shokaku.
USS Neosho photo #1
The United States Navy fleet oiler USS Neosho (AO-23) is left burning and slowly sinking after an attack by
Imperial Japanese Navy dive bombers on 7 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea.
PHOTO CREDIT: book BEYOND PEARL HARBOR: The Untold Stories of Japan's Naval Airmen,
Schiffer Military History, Atglen, PA, 2008, p. 66, by Ron Werneth. This book states that
the photo is from the Japanese Defense Agency, War History Section.
EI-208 was flown by a wingman of IJN carrier Shokaku.
EI-208 photo #1
EI-208 was flown by a wingman of carrier Shokaku, Coral Sea battle, May, 1942.
Hasegawa box-art of EI-208
D3A1 photo #2
Japanese carrier dive bombers head towards the reported position of American carriers on 7 May.
These Aichi D3A1 Type 99 Kanbaku dive bombers is from the IJN Shokaku, 7 may 1942.
PHOTO CREDIT: book BEYOND PEARL HARBOR: The Untold Stories of Japan's Naval Airmen,
Schiffer Military History, Atglen, PA, 2008, p. 65, by Ron Werneth. This book states that
the photo is from the Japanese Defense Agency, War History Section.
Coral Sea battle photo #1
EI-324 was flown by a wingman of carrier Shokaku. This plane survived the battle. After Shokaku's return to Japan,
this plane was part of carrier Ryujo's B5N squadron on Aleutian raid.
Japanese B5N2 plane shot down by Anti-Aircraft fire during battle the Battle of Coral Sea
This plane goes down in a blur, trailing flames. PHOTO CREDIT: # 80-G-16638.
EII-235 was flown by a buntaicho of carrier IJN Zuikaku. Lt. Tamotsu Ema (pilot).
This plane was damaged on left aileron joint. After landed safely on Zuikaku’s deck, the crewmen discarded
this plane overboard to open space for others planes on process of recovery.
TAIL CODE and INFO CREDIT: book AICHI 99 KANBAKU 'VAL' UNITS 1937-42, by Osamu Tagaya, 2011, Osprey Publishing
Lt. Tamotsu Ema photo #1
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. Lt. Ema survived the Pacific war.
PHOTO and INFO CREDIT: book THAT GALLANT SHIP USS YORKTOWN (CV-5), by Robert Cressman (2004),
Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, p. 112.
EII-323 was flown by a wingman of carrier IJN Zuikaku.
A Japanese B5N2 plane passes over a U.S. destroyer during attacks on the U.S. aircraft carriers,
late in the morning of 8 May 1942. PHOTO CREDIT: #80-G-16639
USS Lexington (CV-2) under air attack on 8 May 1942, as photographed from a Japanese plane.
Heavy black smoke from her stack and white smoke from her bow indicate that the view was taken just
after those areas were hit by bombs. Destroyer in the lower left appears to be USS Phelps (DD-360).
The original print was from the illustration files for Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's
"History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II". PHOTO CREDIT: #NH 95579
EII-333 was flown by a wingman of carrier IJN Zuikaku.
EII-333 photo #1
EII-333 was flown by a wingman of carrier Zuikaku during 1942.
PHOTO CREDIT: video capture from youtube.com
EII-333 photo #2
EII-333 was flown by a wingman of carrier Zuikaku during 1942.
PHOTO CREDIT: video capture from youtube.com