Aircraft of the Aces 22 - Imperial Japanese Navy Aces 1937 - 45

Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #22

by Henry Sakaida

use like new condition, ships from ma.

Genres: Military Fiction

Paperback

First published August 28, 1998

Reviews

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1998, 'Imperial Japanese Navy Aces 1937-45' is number 22 in the long running and hugely successful 'Aircraft of the Aces' series of aviation history books from publishers Osprey.
This volume provides a very balanced account of the achievements of of the IJN pilots who achieved ace status in WW2. This is balanced against the fact that Japanese naval aviation does not seem to have officially recognised the concept of ace status, along with the facts that many unit records were destroyed and the claims themselves make it clear that significant over-claiming took place. The book is inclined to fill pages with potted biographies of individual pilots, with some excellent tracts in places devoted to the campaigns and tactical situations.

[Kenichi Fujiwara · Rating 3 out of 5]

As we know World War Two included a lot of aerial battles and aerial domination was very important. And to become a distinguished ace was quite a hard thing. In the book Imperial Japanese Navy Aces, the author Henry Sakaida clearly shows the brilliant Japanese aces in the navy. My personal favorite ace is Saburo Sakai who survived the war with just one eye. He had over 20 aerial victories in his career. This may not seem that amazing, but over 20 aerial victories was quite rare. Adding on to that Saburo Sakai was able to escape from more than 10 enemy fighters which outperformed his plane by a lot of measures. However, using skill and tactics he was able to make his way back to his base and to avoid getting injured. Toward the end of the war, he became an instructor for the 343rd air group. The 343rd air group was supplied with the most advanced and the best fighter in the Japanese navy and army. The n1k2 Shiden-Kai. Unfortunately, because Saburo Sakai was permanently blinded in one eye, he could not fight in the war anymore. Instead, he trained his pupils to become as good as he was. Most of his pupils ran on to become aces of the 343rd air group. Unfortunately, despite Japan's defense, the B-29, B-17, and B-24 bombers were coming too often and doing too much damage for Japan to do anything. One pilot from the 343rd air group stated that the reason why they lost the war was because they lost the sea. And the reason they lost the sea was because they lost in the air. So he felt a huge responsibility for Japan's fate. The Imperial Japanese Navy and the Army in the end, worked so hard to prevent failure of protecting the mainland, however, American forces had already been too powerful. If the N1k2 Shiden-Kai was developed a year earlier or even earlier, Japan may have lasted longer.