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| IJN Ryūjō   USN July 1942  July 1942 Gayla Burns  July 1942  USN circa 1942    circa 1942 |
Pilot P.O. Tadayoshi Koga (KIA) Crashed June 4, 1942 Aircraft History Built by Mitsubishi on February 19, 1942 at Nagoya. At the factory painted overall gray with a black cowling. Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as Type 0 Carrier Fighter / A6M2 Model 21 Zero manufacture number 4593. Wartime History Assigned to Ryūjō Air Group. Tail code D1-108. Mission History On June 4, 1942 took off from Ryūjō piloted by P.O. Tadayoshi Koga on a mission against Dutch Harbor as part of a diversionary raid prior to the Battle of Midway. Over the target, hit by ground fire over and damaged. Returning, his Zero attempted to make a force landing with the landing down on Akutan Island. When the plane touched the soft marshy ground, the Zero flipped upside down killing the pilot on impact in the cockpit. Wreckage This Zero crash landed upside down in a bog on Akutan Island. On July 10, 1942 a PBY Catalina piloted by Lt. Williams "Bill" Thies from VP-41 returning from a patrol first spotted the upside down Zero on Akutan Island and circled for several minutes to accurately noted the location and reported the discovery to his squadron. This Zero became know to Americans as the "Aleutian Zero" or "Alaska Zero". On July 11, 1942 the same flying boat piloted by Lt. Williams "Bill" Thies returned and landed with a salvage team including photographer Arthur W. Bauman and Machinist Mate Albert Knack,. At the Zero, Knack crawled inside the cockpit and recovered the pilot's body but cutting his harness with a knife. After searching the body for any intelligence material, he buried near the crash site. On July 12, 1942 a salvage party from VP 41 led by Lt. Robert Kirmse aboard district patrol vessel YP-151 arrived at Akutan Island and began to salvage the Zero. The drop tank was found nearby, indicating it was not released prior to the crash. Their initial efforts reveal more work will be required and the team lacked heavy equipment. The body of the pilot was buried with a simple cross near the crash on Akutan Island. The inscription read "Japanese flyer killed in action" and a USAAF chaplain performed the burial ceremony. On July 15, 1942 another recovery team arrived with heavy equipment to recover the Zero to a barge and transported to Dutch Harbor where it was turned right side up and cleaned. Later, embarked aboard USS St. Mihiel and shipped to Seattle arriving August 1, 1942 then by barge to NAS North Island. At NAS North Island the Zero was repaird tio fix the canopy, tail, stabilizers, rudder and flaps without any technical documentation. The landing gear legs required extensive repairs. The propeller was replaced with an American Hamilton-Standard propeller. By October 1942 this Zero was repaired, painted with U.S. star insigia and assigned number TAIC 1. for flight evaluation over San Diego. During testing, the Zero was flown against American fighter aircraft including P-38F Lightning, P-39D-1 Airacobra, P-40F Warhawk, P-51 Mustang, and an F4U-1 Corsair Later, operated from Langley Field for additional flight performance test. Afterwards it was sent to the Pax River Naval Air Flight Test Center in Maryland. Fate The ultimate fate of this Zero is unknown. Postwar it was likely scrapped or otherwise disappeared. References Production figures of the Mitsubishi/Nakajima A6M Zero by Jim Long YouTube "Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter (1943)" Setting Suns page 80 Thanks to Robert Rocker, Jim Lansdale, Jim Long and Richard Dunn for additional information Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated August 15, 2026 |
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