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| IJN 4th Kōkūtai 3rd Chutai  USN February 20, 1942 |
Pilot WO Kenzo Watanabe (KIA) Co-Pilot PO3c Minoru ? (KIA) Observer Lt. Commander Takuzo Ito C. O. 4th Kōkūtai Hikotaicho (KIA) Observer Lt. Saburo ? (KIA) Radio PO ? Akiba (KIA) Radio PO1c ?-ichi Murata (KIA) Mechanic PO1c Sukenobu Ietani (KIA) Mechanic PO3c ? Hagio (KIA) Crashed February 20, 1942 at 5:12pm Aircraft History Built by Mitsubishi at Nagoya No. 3 Work. At the factory painted with dark green upper surfaces and gray lower surfaces. Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as Type 1 Attack Bomber Hamaki / G4M1 Model 11 Betty manufacture number unknown. Wartime History Assigned to the 4th Kōkūtai (4th Air Group), 3rd Chutai (3rd Company). Tail code F-348 with two horizontal white stripes across the tail. Between February 14, 1942 until February 17, 1942 Betty bombers from the 4th Kōkūtai (4th Air Group) arrived at Vunakanau Airfield and become the first Japanese land based bombers at Rabaul. Mission History On February 20, 1942 at approximately 11:20am took off from Vunakanau Airfield near Rabaul piloted by WO Kenzo Watanabe with aircraft commander Lt. Commander Takuzo Ito, Commanding Officer (C. O.) Hikotaicho of the 4th Kōkūtai armed with two 250kg bombs on a mission to bomb the U.S. Navy (USN) Task Force 11 (TF-11) northeast of Rabaul. Although this aircraft was assigned to the 3rd Chutai, it was leading the 1st Chutai of eight bombers leading the 1st Shotai (1st Flight). At 1:35pm, the 2nd Chutai spotted the enemy and began their attack. At 2:00pm the 1st Chutai found the enemy and began their attack but were intercepted by F4F Wildcats from VF-3 aboard USS Lexington (CV-2). This bomber was targeted by F4F Wildcat 4031 pilot Lt. Edward "Butch" O'Hare during his third firing pass and hit in the left engine that caused it to catch fire, explode and break off the mount and fell out of formation but managed to regain control at low altitude and salvoed their bombs. Fatally damaged, the pilot spontaneously decided to crash into USS Lexington (CV-2). As the damaged bomber approached, it was hit by anti-aircraft fire from the carrier and screening destroyers USS Bagley (DD-386) and USS Aylwin (DD-355). A sailor aboard the aircraft carrier recorded cine film of the bomber's final moments in the air. At 5:12pm, the Betty crashed into the sea roughly 1,400m ahead of USS Lexington (CV-2) and 200 yards off the starboard quarter of USS Bagley (DD-386). The entire crew was killed in the attack or impact. In total, eighteen Betty bombers were shot down and two more crash landed. The resulted in 88 Japanese airmen Missing In Action (MIA) or Killed In Action (KIA). Also lost was G4M1 pilot Ono (2 KIA, rescued) References Kodochosho, 4th Kōkūtai, February 20, 1942 translation by Minoru Kamada The First Team (1984) pages 118, 127, 129 Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko 'Betty' Units of World War 2 (2001) pages 36-37 Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated January 23, 2024 |
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