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| IJN 582 Kōkūtai or 552 Kōkūtai |
Aircraft History Built by Aichi. Uncoded serial number unknown (three digits). Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as Type 99 Carrier Bomber (Kanbaku) / D3A2 Model 22 manufacture number unknown. Wartime History Assigned to either 582 Kōkūtai (582 Air Group) or 552 Kōkūtai (552 Air Group). No known tail code. Mission History This Val crashed on Angap Island near Arawe. Likely shot down by anti-aircraft fire or American fighters and crashed between December 15-31, 1943 during Japanese air raids against the U.S. Army beachhead and U.S. Navy vessels supporting the American landing at Arawe (Cape Merkus). Wreckage During 2007, only scattered wreckage remained at the crash site. Mark Reichman adds: "It had been stripped of everything, wings, fuselage were totally gone leaving only the engine and struts. There were also 3 small oxygen tanks there the locals probably thought were bombs so didn't bother with. To our utter surprise, there was a machine gun laying there 30 feet from the engine. Of the 7 Vals we've now seen, this is the first one that had a gun still in the area. We still have 2 more rumors to check out in the Arawes and possibly come December I'll get back out there." References Kodochosho, 552nd Kōkūtai, December 17-31, 1942 Kodochosho, 582nd Kōkūtai, December 15-31, 1942 After The Battle Number 133 "Aichi D3A 'Val' Recovery Thanks to Mark Reichman for additional information Contribute
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