The 652nd was a carrier-based Kōkūtai that served under Japan during World War II. The 652nd was created on March 10, 1944 from former units of the 2nd Air Flotilla. The group was disbanded on July 10th that same year. During its short service, the Kōkūtai was intended to serve largely as a bombing group, though due to it being understrength, it had to use most of its Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen fighter escorts as fighter bombers and used whatever outdated Aichi D3A bombers it had available.[1]
Commanders[]
The only commander to have led the 652nd Kōkūtai during its short lived service was commander Sho-ichi Suzuki, serving all the way from March to July. In reality, Commander Gunji Kimura did in fact take Suzuki's place since after the disbandment of the 652nd, most of the air crews were sent into service with Kimura's 653rd Kōkūtai.
Structure[]
The 652nd Kōkūtai was supposed to have an intended strength of some 144 aircraft, consisting of 81 fighter aircraft, 27 torpedo bombers, and 36 dive-bombers. However, initial strength was less than half of that figure, with only 43 fighters and four dive-bombers being allocated to the Kōkūtai. However, by May of 1944, the Kōkūtai was finally raised up to near full strength, with a capable amount of 135 aircraft allocated. Like any other Imperial Japanese Kōkūtai, the 652nd had its forces divided into individual squadrons, also known as Hikotai.
Unit History[]
Following its formation in early March, 1944, the 652nd was put into immediate retraining for all its crews, lasting some two months. It wasn't until May that the group was finally dispatched to meet up with the remaining Japanese fleet at sea, though by this time its training was over, with no available time to go over its routines once more. The 652nd first took part in combat on the 19th of June, fighting in the Marianas during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Most of the combat experienced proved to be a disaster for the group, with many of its torpedo and dive-bombers being shot down by roaming American Hellcat fighters before finding their targets. However, the fighter aspect of the 652nd had better luck, downing several American fighters, losing relatively few 'Zeroes' in the process. However, the damage had been done and the Kōkūtai was disbanded.
References[]
- ↑ Hata, Ikuhiko and Izawa, Yasuho. Japanese Naval Air Force Fighter Units and their Aces:1932-1945. Grub Street Publishing (2011), Page 235-236