"Leave the ones that can't make it behind" -
into the fog after only one month's training
The Junyo and Ryujo of the
4th carrier division together with the heavy cruisers Maya and Takao
and assorted escorts left for the Aleutians on May 26, 1942. Up to that
date, the Navy had fought victoriously at Pearl Harbor, malaya and the
Indian Ocean and was now concentrating its power in the Pacific Ocean to
deal the US fleet a devastating blow. Vice Admiral Hosogaya's Northern
Strike Force was going to make a diversionary attack on the Aleutians and
also trying to land Army troops on the islands of Attu and Kiska. Our 4th
carrier division was to attack Dutch Harbor and guard the fleet against
enemy air attacks.
The Aleutians are located betwen Kamtchatka and Alaska,
and the main islands of this snow covwered chain were Attu, kiska, Umnak,
Addak and Unalaska. The main US base was in the north-eastern part of
Unalaska.
At that time I was a squadron leader on the new carrier
Junyo. I was transferred there in May 1942 from the carrier Akagi.
The Junyo
was part of the 4th carrier division which was part of the second Striking
force under Rear Admiral Kakuji Kakuta. I had taken part in the attack
on Pearl Harbor and in other battles but it was hard for me to believe
that the dark waves ahead of us belonged to the same ocean as the tropical
waters in which we had fought until now.
When I was transferred to the
Junyo shortly after my return from the Indian Ocean a new bombing squadron
was established with 18 bombers and 36 crewmen. We went to train at the
Saeki airbase in Kyushu but were pressed for time. Over half of the men
had just graduated from flight school and needed to practice not only
landin and taking off, but also bombing. As in the Navy song " Getsu
Getsu Ka Sui Moku Kin Kin" (translators note: This
means Monday, Monday, Tuesday, wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Friday
- an indication that there were no days off for the Navy) we drilled
without rest day and night to improve the airmen's performance.
The Junyo
was the first fleet carrier converted from a passenger liner so our crewmwn
had difficulties at first to get used to it, but in time they learned
how to deal with the ship.
I myself went to the staff officers to tell them
that we needed more time. Until now it was unheard of in the Navy to
send a new carrier and aircrewa into battle with only one month of training
but my superiors told me to literally leave the men who couldn't perfrom
properly behind. I was very surprised that we would be sent into battle
under such circumstances. Rear Admiral Kakuta told me that the schedule
could not be changed and that a decisive battle lay aheadf of
us. The Admiral was originally a Gunnery expert but well respected
in the Navy as an intelligent, model Naval officer. He was later promoted
to Vice Admiral and died in August 1944, comitting Seppuku [ritual
suicide].
