42 FLYPAST 42 FLYPAST May 2018May 2018
WINGS OVER THE EAST JAPANESE OPERATIONS
Moths to a flame
The first aerial fighting in the South
Pacific unfolded in an unlikely
location: the atoll of Kapingamarangi,
the southernmost territory in the
Mandates, about midway between
Truk and Rabaul. Given that it
was the only Japanese territory that
Hudsons could reach while carrying
a bomb load from Rabaul, the RAAF
was drawn to it like moths to a flame.
Kapingamarangi held limited
strategic value as a flying boat base, as
from there the Yokohama Ku Mavises
could range deep into New Guinea
and the Solomon Islands. Accordingly,
on December 2 an aircraft transport
vessel, the Gosyu Maru, had delivered
four Aichi E13A1 Jake floatplanes
to Kapingamarangi, operated by the
otherwise obscure 17th Kokutai.On the 15th, a Hudson
reconnaissance sortie over the atoll
detected the new floatplane base
and, subsequently, regular Hudson
bombing missions targeted the site.
The first aerial combat in the South
Pacific took place on December 18
between a Jake and a Hudson, without
loss to either side. In due course
the Hudsons would inflict modest
damage, destroying two Jakes and a
fuel dump – with two naval ratings
killed and 17 injured.
At this time the Chitose Ku also
operated a number of Mitsubishi
A5M4 Claude fighters at Truk. It
was one of a handful of frontline
fighter units yet to convert to the
Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeke – more
commonly referred to as the ‘Zero’.
Even if there had been an airstrip on
Kapingamarangi, the Claudes lacked
the range to deploy there.
The Fourth Fleet’s only other air
defence option was the seaplane tender
Kiyokawa Maru. Its air component
consisted of several Nakajima
E8N2 Dave and Kawanishi E7K Alf
floatplanes which had participated in
the Guam and Wake campaigns.
Towards the end of December, the
Kiyokawa Maru embarked a number
of Mitsubishi F1M2 Pete floatplanes,
designated by the IJN as Type O
observation seaplanes. The Peteswere used in many roles, including
air defence, and became known to
the Allies as ‘Float Zeros’ (as would
the A6M2-N, the Type 0 fighter
seaplane).
As the seaplane tender sailed south
for Kapingamarangi, a number of her
pilots went ashore at Truk for fighter
training with the Chitose Ku Claudes.
They were flown to the atoll in a
Mavis on January 8, 1942 where they
joined the five Petes and Daves, newly
delivered by the Kiyokawa Maru.
The pilots found a nervous
atmosphere on the island because of
the Hudson raids. Warrant Officer
Nemoto Kumesako registered
another concern. The recently
departed 17th Ku commander had
carved two dolls from coconut palms
to bring good luck to his flyers and
had placed them at the top of a
floatplane slipway.
He believed that the dolls were
attracting enemy bombs rather than
good luck, and wrote in his diary
that he was secretly pleased when
they were destroyed in a raid soon
afterwards.
The Pete pilots began dawn-to-dusk
patrols over Kapingamarangi and,
despite the equatorial conditions,
found their open cockpits were
bitterly cold at altitudes over 6,000ft
(1,828m).
On January 17 two Hudsons
made a low-level bombing attack
on a merchant ship, the Koei Maru,
anchored in the lagoon. Nemoto took
off in a Pete without cap or gloves and
chased the intruders into cloud.
The next day the same aircraft
he had been flying – Pete ‘R-16’ –
burned and sank in the lagoon after
a Hudson raid. However, due to
events further south, this was the
last RAAF mission over the island,
which would soon lose all strategic
significance.Moths to a flame
Right
A photo taken by a
Japanese offi cer shortly
after the capture of
Rabaul showing 24
Squadron Wirraway
A24-128 abandoned at
Vunakanau.Above
The Vickers machine gun
crew that shot down
A6M2 ‘F-112’ on February
28, 1942.Below
Hudson A16-39 of 24
Squadron at Vunakanau in
early December 1941.