World War II Database

1.  Bill says:
10 Nov 2011 08:08:25 PM

A5M4 Claude assigned to 12th Kokutai, China 1938. First combat action in China was in September 1937.

THE LITTLE FIGHTER THAT COULD:

During the first months of the Pacific War the A5Ms were supporting landings in the Philippines, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.
By 1942 the A5M was withdrawn from front-line
service, and assigned to second-line units as a fighter trainer. To meet the demands of pilot training about one hundred were rebuilt
as two-seat trainers.

The last combat action of the Claude was during the Battle of the Coal Sea two A5Ms and four A6M2s fought against US Navy fighters and torpedo bombers their home carrier Shoho was sunk during that battle.

During the final months of the Pacific War
the surviving Claude's were pressed into service as Kamikaze aircraft. The only known
Claude to exist today, is in the cargo hold of a Japanese ship, that was sunk during an attack by US Navy aircraft in Truk Lagoon in 1944.

2.  Bill says:
17 Nov 2011 01:16:13 PM

Biplane aircraft in background are Yokosuka
B4Y Type 96 Carrier-Attack Bombers. Code name(Jean)by the Allies the B4Y served in China 205 were built for the Imperial Navy, Jean was in service fron 1936 to 1943. In 1940 the B4Y Jean was replaced with the Nakajima B5N Kate.

During the Battle of the Coral Sea, May 1942
the Japanese Carrier Shoho was sunk taking with her the B4Y Jeans aboard.
The B4Y Jean, also saw action during the Battle of Midway June 1942, eight served aboard the carrier Hosho along with the A5M Claude. The B4Y Jean continued service as an advanced trainer aboard the carriers Hosho and Unyo until 1943.

The B4Y was withdrawn from front-line service
and used for training, target tug and other
duties.
B4Y was a three-seat, single-engine, biplane
w/fixed undercarrage able to carry 1x800kg/
1,764lb torpedo, or 500kg/1,012lbs of bomb
1x7.7mm machine gun.
Before Pearl Harbor, US Navy Intelligence believed the B4Y Jean and the A5M Claude were front-line combat aircraft, with the Imperial Navy, reports of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero were dismissed.
In the 1930s Japanese aircraft designs, were believed to be outdated copies of western aircraft.

DID YOU KNOW:

The Yokosuka B4Y Jean, were involved in the Dec. 12, 1937 attack on the US Navy gunboat Panay, while at anchor in the Yangtze river, China. Nakajima A4N Fighters also took part in the attack.