Guadalcanal: War in the Air. P. two
- By Papa Duck
- First Duck Club
- 1 Replies
The main Japanese planes were the Mitsubishi Type One bomber, labeled by the US as the Betty. This was a two engine slightly bulbous plane, but even though large it was almost as fast as the F4F. It required a 7 man crew so that when one was lost the attrition in flight crews was large. It was used as a high level bomber and a torpedo plane. It was the main plane that sank the British Navy’s battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse. It had two 600 gallon fuel tanks but as with the Zeke they were not armored nor were self sealing so a well placed shot would explode them an kill the seven man crew. Officially called the “Type One bomber” the Japanese pilots called them the type one lighters. This weakness accounted for over half of the Betty’s lost at Guadalcanal.
The dive bombers were the Aichi 99, called the Vals by the Americans. They had a non-retractable landing gear. Early in the war they accounted for over 80 % hits on moving ships.
This changed as their heavy attrition of flight crew occurred.
The Mitsubishi Zero or Zeke was the Japanese premier fighter early in the war. At the time of the Guadalcanal air battles the Zeke could out run and out climb anything the allies had in the air. But, it paid for its superior maneuverability like the Betty. There was no armor for the pilot or fuel tanks and it was under gunned for a fighter plane. It needed belly fuel tanks to be able to make the round trip to Guadalcanal which added weight and they could not be dropped in combat. Once such maneuvers as the Thatch weave were developed and the US went to the two plane section the American kill numbers on the Zeke increased dramatically.
One profound advantage the Japanese had early in the war was their superb pilots who had the advantage of many years of combat before the US entered the war. Their training was rigorous and punitive. But, the Japanese made the mistake of keeping their finest pilots on frontline duty and as the war progressed attrition took most of them away. Whereas the US sent their best pilots to training commands and soon were graduating over 2500 new pilots per-month.
The Japanese had some other dis-advantages other than the long flight to Guadalcanal and the design weaknesses of their aircraft. Their air to air combat techniques did not evolve much past World One type dog fighting which the Americans soon over matched. But an even larger American advantage was The Australian coast Watchers who were stationed on all the islands between Rabaul and Guadalcanal. It was almost impossible for Japanese planes and ships to approach the island without being seen and reported. Without their timely warnings the Cactus Airforce would have been caught on the ground just once too often and the island could have been lost. These men were hunted continuously, once the Japanese even resorted dogs. They were protected by the Melanesians and their intimate knowledge of the islands. But, the major Japanese weakness was their inability to understand the need for quick construction of air bases in an island war. Their loss at Guadalcanal was due more to a shortage of bull dozers than planes or ships. They had no history of large construction projects whereas the Americans had every possible earth moving machine and thousands of skilled operators. This accounts for the ability of the Sea Bees to repair Henderson quickly after horrible damage caused by Japanese artillery, off shore bombardment and almost daily bombing. Henderson was rarely out for more than half a day. And along with this the Sea Bees built every facility necessary to support a major military facility (from power plants to hospital to concrete floor Quonsets which replaced the mud floored tents the early pilots had to live in).
The air war over Guadalcanal did not have any epic war ending battles like the ground and naval war did. The planes were in combat daily and the only really sustained action was in November 1942 and that was essentially for 5 days. But, the CAF fought daily for the 87 days between August 20 and November 15. The Japanese raids usually came between eleven am and one pm because of the flying time between Rabaul and the island. The pilots called this “Tojo Time”. They routinely had planes aloft at “Angels 12” ie, the good guys at altitude 12,000 feet to meet the Japanese forays of the day.
The Japanese losses directly to the CAF was 96 Zeke’s, 92 Betty’s, and 75 other planes such as patrol aircraft. The CAF lost 101 total aircraft. So, the CAF killed over twice as many as they lost. The Japanese pilot loses crippled their Naval air arm weakening them for the rest of the war. The CAF lost 84 pilots from all causes with 38 pilots lost in combat.
John Sidney McCain
Admiral McCain was ComAirSoPac and he was the right man at the right place. He realized early that Guadalcanal could become a bottomless pit of destruction for the Japanese air and naval forces and that Henderson Field was the key factor in the survival of the American efforts. McCain worked hard to supply the planes and supplies for Henderson and to re-assign carrier squadrons from sunk or disabled American carriers. He later became a fast carrier task force commander in the pacific alternating with Marc Mitscher. Worn out, he died the day he came home from the war.
Henderson Field today is Honaria International Airport serving the capital city of the Solomon Islands.
The dive bombers were the Aichi 99, called the Vals by the Americans. They had a non-retractable landing gear. Early in the war they accounted for over 80 % hits on moving ships.
This changed as their heavy attrition of flight crew occurred.
The Mitsubishi Zero or Zeke was the Japanese premier fighter early in the war. At the time of the Guadalcanal air battles the Zeke could out run and out climb anything the allies had in the air. But, it paid for its superior maneuverability like the Betty. There was no armor for the pilot or fuel tanks and it was under gunned for a fighter plane. It needed belly fuel tanks to be able to make the round trip to Guadalcanal which added weight and they could not be dropped in combat. Once such maneuvers as the Thatch weave were developed and the US went to the two plane section the American kill numbers on the Zeke increased dramatically.
One profound advantage the Japanese had early in the war was their superb pilots who had the advantage of many years of combat before the US entered the war. Their training was rigorous and punitive. But, the Japanese made the mistake of keeping their finest pilots on frontline duty and as the war progressed attrition took most of them away. Whereas the US sent their best pilots to training commands and soon were graduating over 2500 new pilots per-month.
The Japanese had some other dis-advantages other than the long flight to Guadalcanal and the design weaknesses of their aircraft. Their air to air combat techniques did not evolve much past World One type dog fighting which the Americans soon over matched. But an even larger American advantage was The Australian coast Watchers who were stationed on all the islands between Rabaul and Guadalcanal. It was almost impossible for Japanese planes and ships to approach the island without being seen and reported. Without their timely warnings the Cactus Airforce would have been caught on the ground just once too often and the island could have been lost. These men were hunted continuously, once the Japanese even resorted dogs. They were protected by the Melanesians and their intimate knowledge of the islands. But, the major Japanese weakness was their inability to understand the need for quick construction of air bases in an island war. Their loss at Guadalcanal was due more to a shortage of bull dozers than planes or ships. They had no history of large construction projects whereas the Americans had every possible earth moving machine and thousands of skilled operators. This accounts for the ability of the Sea Bees to repair Henderson quickly after horrible damage caused by Japanese artillery, off shore bombardment and almost daily bombing. Henderson was rarely out for more than half a day. And along with this the Sea Bees built every facility necessary to support a major military facility (from power plants to hospital to concrete floor Quonsets which replaced the mud floored tents the early pilots had to live in).
The air war over Guadalcanal did not have any epic war ending battles like the ground and naval war did. The planes were in combat daily and the only really sustained action was in November 1942 and that was essentially for 5 days. But, the CAF fought daily for the 87 days between August 20 and November 15. The Japanese raids usually came between eleven am and one pm because of the flying time between Rabaul and the island. The pilots called this “Tojo Time”. They routinely had planes aloft at “Angels 12” ie, the good guys at altitude 12,000 feet to meet the Japanese forays of the day.
The Japanese losses directly to the CAF was 96 Zeke’s, 92 Betty’s, and 75 other planes such as patrol aircraft. The CAF lost 101 total aircraft. So, the CAF killed over twice as many as they lost. The Japanese pilot loses crippled their Naval air arm weakening them for the rest of the war. The CAF lost 84 pilots from all causes with 38 pilots lost in combat.
John Sidney McCain
Admiral McCain was ComAirSoPac and he was the right man at the right place. He realized early that Guadalcanal could become a bottomless pit of destruction for the Japanese air and naval forces and that Henderson Field was the key factor in the survival of the American efforts. McCain worked hard to supply the planes and supplies for Henderson and to re-assign carrier squadrons from sunk or disabled American carriers. He later became a fast carrier task force commander in the pacific alternating with Marc Mitscher. Worn out, he died the day he came home from the war.
Henderson Field today is Honaria International Airport serving the capital city of the Solomon Islands.
