Catfight Over Chiba

by Koji Takaki and Henry Sakaida

The big day had arrived--16 February 1945. As the Hellcat pilots slept fitfully in their bunks, maintenance crews labored to prepare the aircraft for the day's mission. Task Force 58, 16 carriers strong, made its way toward Tokyo under the command of VADM Marc A. Mitscher. This would be the first carrier strike against the Japanese mainland since the Doolittle Raid in April 1942, nearly three years previous. For one Japanese pilot, it would be his lucky day.

The movement of Task Force 58 was being monitored by the enemy. Two days prior to the strike, a warning was issued to various units of the Japanese Navy and Army Air Forces: "U.S. task force approaching Boso Peninsula. Be prepared!" The young pilot trainees and instructors of the Japanese Army's 39th Educational Flight Regiment (Kyoiku Hiko Tai (FRK)), full of samurai fighting spirit, were determined to fight head to head with the audacious American invaders.

The Last Big Battle Looms

The 39th FRK was an Army training unit organized in April 1944 under the command of the 52nd Educational Flight Division. Young cadets and noncommissioned officers trained with biplanes for the last big battle. Plans included using these fliers as kamikaze pilots against enemy fleets along the coastline of Chiba Prefecture.

One hundred and twenty five miles from Tokyo, the carrier USS Lexington (CV-16) began launching its Hellcats at 0645. The weather was miserable; rain and a low ceiling from 800 to 1,500 feet hampered visibility. Twenty Lexington Grummans under VF-9's LCDR Herb Houck joined with a dozen VF-80 'Cats from Hancock (CV-19) and eight others of VF-45 from San Jacinto (CVL-30) for the slow crawl toward the target area.

At Yokoshiba Airfield, the alarm sounded at 0730 and the "scramble" flag was hoisted over the commander's tent. "Enemy aircraft approaching! All pilots man your planes!" The black shape of Grumman Hellcats loomed toward them like a swarm of wasps; black smoke billowed upward from nearby Katori Airfield. Sixteen men bounded into their Manchurian-built Ki-79 Army Type 2 advanced trainers. These fixed-landing gear relics closely resembled the Ki-27 Army Type 97 fighter (code name Nate) from the China War of 1937-'41. A single 7.7mm machine gun provided its only firepower.

MAJ Tetsuo Watabe recalls the fateful first stages of the encounter: "We sighted a pack of more than 30 enemy planes coming from the sea and they started dive bombing the Navy airfield at Yokaichiba (Katori). I ordered all the pilots to sortie for interception and I myself took off first."

Anything But a Fair Fight

LCDR Houck and his men had just finished strafing Katori Airfield, as his primary target, Kisarazu Airfield, was closed in by dense clouds. They were heading toward Mobara Airfield when they spotted enemy aircraft, which they identified as Nates. What followed could hardly be called a fair fight. One by one, the outclassed training aircraft fell from the sky as the Hellcat pilots tore into them.

Watabe recalls, "When we reached about 1,000 meters over the western area of Yokoshiba Airfield, I sighted about nine American planes advancing westward in a tight formation at an altitude of 700-800 meters. I opened fire with about 100 bullets, aiming at the leader plane head-on from above and sideways. I felt some response, but could not confirm the result of my first burst because we were soon involved in a big melee at about 1,000-1,500 meters."

Master Sergeant Iwao Tabata, flying as "Tail End Charlie" in the second division, flew into the maelstrom with his wingman, CPL Kazuo Nakamura. Tabata was a former Ki-61 Tony pilot with the 68th Air Group at Wewak, New Guinea, and was shot down by a P-38 on 22 December 1943. He returned to his unit after a four-day struggle through the jungle. Now facing the Hellcats, he realized his chances of survival were slim.

Tabata looked over at his wingman and was perturbed. "Soon Nakamura sank his head into the cockpit, seemingly to check on some abnormalities," recalls Tabata. "Might it be a mishap to his gun? By and by we lagged behind the leader's formation. I had utterly no means to let him know of my will, as he did not show his face. "A large pack of enemy aircraft was approaching over us moment by moment," continues Tabata. "I hastily wished I could make Nakamura become aware of the imminent situation if we had radio [contact]. I could not abandon him as his leader to pursue the main body of the squadron. I was irritated [that] he would not raise his head. It was the last time I saw him."

ENS Stephen Cushing of VF-9 made a head-on attack against a Ki-79 and observed hits in the fuselage and right wing root. A large orange flame erupted and the wing exploded. Soon afterward, LT Leslie DeCew latched onto a Ki-79 as it stalked a Hellcat. The VF-9 pilot rolled over the Japanese and snapped off a head-on, no-deflection shot. SGT Yoshitaka Nagasoe bailed out of his stricken trainer and parachuted to safety. The victory over Yoshitaka made DeCew an ace, and he would score his sixth victory minutes later.

LTJG Henry Champion of VF-9 fired on eight Ki-79s with his wingman, LTJG Carroll Story, protecting him. Then Zekes from Mobara Airfield jumped into the fray. Champion claimed one Zeke destroyed in addition to two probables, and damaged a pair of Nates and Zekes (he would end the war as an ace).

Desperate Measures

CPL Kimiyuki Moriwaki was determined to ram into a Hellcat, as he knew he would never survive the onslaught. He had lost sight of his leader, 2LT Daisaburo Oishi, when the latter's aircraft sustained hits and was forced to leave combat. Moriwaki quickly executed the "Anabuki Run." Rolling his fighter on its back, he quickly lunged toward a Hellcat. The Ki-79 dived vertically and opened fire from 300 feet.

Ed. Note: The Anabuki Run was developed by MSGT Satoshi Anabuki, and became an effective means of attack used by the Japanese.

Pilots of the 39th KFR, from left: MSGT Iwao Tabata, CPLs Takeshi Akiike, Akutsu and Hasegawa.

Moriwaki tells this story: "In a near ramming position, I pulled the trigger and my bullets hit the right wing of one F6F flying behind its leader. My shots hit! I saw gasoline erupt out of the enemy plane." A later examination of the downed Hellcat showed more than ten 7.7mm holes from the upper part of the engine to the cockpit.

LCDR Houck wasn't having much luck. After smoking an enemy aircraft, it seemed that only one of his guns was working. He made attacks on four or five more enemy aircraft before he received hits in the right fuel tank, aileron and guns. The engine started to cut out intermittently. Not wishing to land on Japanese soil before war's end, Houck wisely disengaged, proceeded to the rendezvous point and returned to base. He would become an ace the next day with his fifth and sixth victories.

WO Masatoshi Masuzawa would make a name for himself this day. The seasoned ace seemed to live a charmed life and had cheated death time and again. He had scored his first victory against the Soviets over the Manchurian-Mongolian border in June 1939. By the end of hostilities there three months later, he had claimed a dozen enemy fighters.

Masuzawa's tactics were simple and effective--charge boldly into the enemy formation, scatter them and pick them off in turn. True to form, Masuzawa wasted no time in tackling the Grummans. He disappeared into the maze of twisting and burning planes. No one ever expected him to return alive.

However, WO Masatoshi Masuzawa did return, though his fighter was full of .50 cal. holes. He recalls being challenged by four Hellcats above him. He simply waited until they had expended their ammunition in the ensuing attack, then blew the last plane in the formation from the sky. His parachute harness had absorbed the impact from a .50-cal. slug or shrapnel. Upon landing and without taking off his flight suit, he ordered CPL Takeshi Akiike to pour a bottle of mercurochrome down the back of his neck. He also ordered a glass of sake for his injured psyche, which he downed in one gulp, then climbed back into his fighter and roared off to do battle. If there was a guardian angel, Masuzawa had one; he would return alive again and survive the war.

As VF-9 was culling the Japanese relics from the skies, VF-45 entered the competition. The battle became a giant free-for-all in which eager Hellcat pilots scrambled to score the magic five victories. Zekes from the 131 Air Group at Katori also joined the fray, having sortied before the raid on their airfield.

Many Versus Many

1LT Yoshitoyo Onuki, leading the second squadron of the 39th FRK, met his death immediately upon contact with the Hellcats. According to the VF-45 mission report: "CDR [Gordon] Schecter and his wingman ENS [Robert L.] Taylor saw a Claude [the Nate and Claude, similar in appearance, were often confused] climbing near them dead ahead and they moved over in section formation to him, with Taylor about 300 feet behind his leader. The Claude started to turn to port, exposing the top of his wings and fuselage in perfect plan view to the oncoming Hellcats. Schecter opened fire at a range of about 400 feet, the full-deflection shot hitting the cockpit and fuselage section. Taylor opened up almost immediately afterwards from the same range with 30 degrees deflection, and his burst splattered into the cockpit and engine accessory section. The Claude exploded into flames as Taylor passed under him. The enemy pilot was observed to have the canopy open, apparently planning to bail out before he could be burned to a cinder by his flaming plane."

Instead, Onuki was blown clear of his aircraft. He descended with his parachute and flight suit in flames, and his body landed in a bamboo grove of a private residence.

CPL Takeshi Akiike, who had just lost his squadron leader, was aware of Hellcats above and below him. Rather than challenging the enemy above, he dived to meet the Hellcats climbing upward "I fired, running in full throttle in a loose diving stance," Akiike remembers. "Several fire arrows of tracers flew straight at me. The moment [the enemy pilot] and I passed each other, I felt a big shock on my aircraft and the speed of my plane suddenly decreased." Surrounded by Americans, the young corporal extracted himself from the battle by spinning downward. It worked--the Hellcats were last seen heading away for fresh game.

CPL Hideichi Kaiho, flying in the first squadron, was the last pilot to take off. He lost sight of his three comrades as he climbed for altitude. Coming out of the clouds at about 6,000 feet, he observed the fierce combat up ahead. Suddenly, a group of nine TBMs crossed his path and the corporal fired his 7.7mm popgun at them from about 2,500 feet. The Avengers, apparently unconcerned, continued westward. Kaiho flew down through the clouds and saw the coastline; he also spotted VF-45's LT James E. Perry and his division circling under the clouds. Believing surprise to be on his side, the Japanese pilot screwed up his nerves and decided to strike. The gutsy Kaiho commenced a dive and aimed at two Hellcats.

Like Hungry Lions

LT Perry and his three comrades were not caught off guard. As he stated in his mission report: " ... a Claude came over in their direction like an inquisitive kid." The Americans scattered. Perry banked sharply and descended after Kaiho, giving his opponent a short burst that missed. The four Grummans quickly regrouped and raced like hungry lions after the lone prey. Perry, adjusting his lead, connected this time-the Ki-79's engine belched black greasy smoke and stopped.

Survival was on Kaiho's mind. Quickly, he unbuckled his safety belt as he dived straight down. With Hellcats nipping at his heels and luminous streaks of tracers whizzing past him, Kaiho intended to parachute at 3,600 feet. He changed his mind, and instead raced toward an airfield.

LT Perry wanted Kaiho very badly, as he had yet to score his first victory. Another burst hit the Ki-79 to produce even more smoke. Kaiho by now was about three-quarters of a mile from the airfield and too high for a landing. As the Japanese pilot pondered his options, ENS George Bywater of VF-45, the Tail End Charlie, fired his .50s into the smoking wreck.

CPL Kaiho thought he had only seconds to live. He decided to glide his burning aircraft into a controlled crash at the edge of the airfield. Moments later, the plane mowed down some small trees and came to a stop at the stone gate of a small shrine. The pilot was thrown out of the cockpit, breaking four teeth in the process.

An old woman caretaker of the shrine ran toward the dazed pilot with a rake in her hands. If he was an American, she would kill him. Kaiho stood up and spoke with blood flowing from his mouth. Suddenly, they heard the sounds of aircraft diving on them. Both ran for cover as a Hellcat strafed them.

The old woman took the injured pilot to her home. Hideichi Kaiho learned that he had landed in the Kaiho Shrine and that the old woman's name was also Kaiho (no relation). When he entered the house, he met her 18-year-old daughter, Momoho, who was cooking rice. With no formal introduction, each stole glances at one another and bowed slightly. Though unable to eat the cooked rice offered by Mrs.. Kaiho, the pilot swallowed a few morsels of soft rice cake.

LT Perry and ENS Bywater shared the credit for Kaiho's Ki-79, listed in war records as a Claude. Bywater would bag two Zeros two months later and end the war with 2.5 victories.

Downed Pilot Meets His Destiny

The one-sided combat between the Japanese and the F6Fs was not without American casualties. The 39th FRK claimed the destruction of two Hellcats, with another probable. VF-9 suffered the loss of LTJG Robert L. Parker on this mission. VF-45 came through without a scratch.

The 39th FRK was badly mauled. Of 16 pilots, five were killed and two survived by parachuting or crash landing. They lost six Ki-79 trainers. SGT Kazuhiro Izumi landed at Yokoshiba Airfield, but died in the cockpit from profuse bleeding from wounds suffered in the air battle. His aircraft was surprisingly free from damage.

After the Japanese surrender, the bodies of two Hellcat pilots who had fallen during the day's action were recovered by the U.S. Occupation Force. The Japanese had buried them with honor at the crash site near Yokoshiba.

Former Hellcat pilots remember that day as a "turkey shoot," while their opponents of the 39th FRK continue to marvel at their survival and pray for their fallen comrades. And for one survivor, Hideichi Kaiho, now an aviation artist, it was his lucky day. He visited the Kaiho family whenever possible, bringing scarce rations with him. In January 1946, despite difficult economic times, he married the young woman he met cooking rice in the house near the shrine where he crashed. There was good fortune in a potentially tragic event-he found himself a great wife. "Thanks," he says, "to the F6F and God!"

Ed. Note: The Navy claimed 270 kills in a day that ranks among the three most productive days for carrier Naval Aviation. The incident describing the actions of Japanese pilots against Naval fliers is but a small segment of a major event.

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