{"id":1588459,"date":"2022-04-11T16:00:31","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T14:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/?p=1588459"},"modified":"2024-07-04T10:36:11","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T08:36:11","slug":"ki-84-hayate-70051-cpt-hatanos-yellow-45-in-defence-of-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/en\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/ki-84-hayate-70051-cpt-hatanos-yellow-45-in-defence-of-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Ki-84 Hayate \u2013 Cpt. Hatano\u2019s \u201eyellow 45\u201d in defence of Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

47th<\/sup> Sentai (Air Group) went down in history as one of the best and most effective fighter units of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) in the Second World War. It acquired its fame mainly through its success in fighting off B-29 bombers during the Allied strategic offensive aimed against the heart of Japan. In fact, the unit came second on the list of the so-called \u201cB-29 Hunters\u201d, behind the famous 244th<\/sup> Sentai of Major Kobayashi and in front of 302nd<\/sup> Kokutai (Naval Aviation Group), led by the charismatic Commander Kozono. Interestingly, of these, only 244th<\/sup> Sentai was created in a standard manner, in accordance with the rules laid down for the formation of basic Japanese aerial tactical units which had been developed towards the end of the first half of the 1930s. 302nd<\/sup> Kokutai was a completely unusual unit, while the history behind the establishment of 47th<\/sup> Sentai was equally atypical.<\/p>\n

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Ki-84 Ko, 3 Chutai 47 Sentai commander\u2019s Cpt. Hatano airplane Japanese Home Defence Forces (Hondo Boei Butai), Narimasu, Japan, February 1945. Artwork by Zbyszek Malicki.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Beginnings \u2013 \u201cKingfisher Flight\u201d<\/h2>\n

In August 1940, the Japanese Army launched the prototype of a completely new fighter \u2013 the Ki-44 Shoki<\/em> (Tojo<\/em>). The aircraft marked a radical departure from the accepted canon. Unlike its predecessors, the Ki-27 and Ki-43, it was not intended to be a light, extremely manoeuvrable dogfighter. On the contrary, according to the contemporary Japanese classification it was a very fast, strongly armed, heavy single-seater interceptor. These features, although attractive in their own right, were in serious contradiction to the principles of usage of the IJAAF, and in particular to the pilot training doctrine of the time. Simply put, the issue had to be dealt with \u2013 somehow. This task was entrusted to a group of highly experienced pilots: veterans of the Sino-Japanese War and the fighting over Khalkhin Gol, test pilots, as well as outstanding air combat instructors. On 15 September 1941, the \u201cKingfisher Flight\u201d \u2013 Kawasemi Butai (Kawasemi-tai) \u2013 was established at Fuss airbase. It comprised no less than eight (out of ten) Shoki<\/em> prototypes, and later a few early-series Ki-44-Is. Experienced pilots needed about two months of training on the new fighters in order to gain complete familiarity. There remained, however, the question of developing appropriate combat tactics, totally different from that employed hitherto. In November, the Kingfishers were moved to Tachikawa airbase and officially renamed as 47th<\/sup> Dokuritsu Hiko Chutai (DHC; 47th<\/sup> Independent Fighter Squadron). The unit was transferred to Saigon in Indochina (present-day Vietnam) and entered combat in Malaya on 9 December 1941. It was commanded by Major Toshio Sakagawa from the IJAAF, who went on to become an ace with 15 officially recognized victories (according to some sources, he racked up a tally of nearly 50 kills). Many other pilots also gained ace status, among them Captain Yasuhiko Kuroe, who came out victorious from 51 aerial duels and years later, in the 1960s, was appointed commander of the 3rd<\/sup> Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JSDAF), which flew the F-86 Sabre. During the Malay campaign the pilots of 47th<\/sup> DHC did not achieve any stunning successes (mainly due to Shoki’s<\/em> teething problems), however this had not been their main goal. The operational methodology which they developed for the new fighter would soon be appreciated by their colleagues from 85th<\/sup> and 87th<\/sup> Sentais, who were currently being rearmed with the Ki-44-I. When the first phase of the blitzkrieg in the Asia-Pacific theatre drew to a close, 47th<\/sup> DHC was sent back to Japan.<\/p>\n

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Nakajima Ki-44-II Otsu, Clark Field 1945, Wikipedia.
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The Spring of 1942 \u2013 Change, Change, and Yet Again Change<\/h2>\n

The return of 47th<\/sup> Dokuritsu Hiko Chutai to the home country coincided with a series of events of fundamental importance. These events influenced not only the further fate of the unit, but also (or perhaps first and foremost) the entire structure of the IJAAF. The turning point occurred on 18 April 1942, when a group of sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers commanded by Colonel Doolittle attacked Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe and Osaka. Although official communiques mentioned \u201cmerely a pin stuck in the heart of the country\u201d, all hell broke loose in military circles. The raid had numerous repercussions, the best known of which was the development of the plan for the Battle for Midway, which anticipated, among others, trapping and annihilating the American aircraft carrier force. Things turned out differently, however Midway was a problem for the Navy. The Army itself was stunned by the fact that several hundred IJAAF planes stationed on the Japanese islands had failed to achieve anything at all on that dark day.<\/p>\n

Debiut F4F-4 Wildcat<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n