Translated excerpt from: Saigo no Hikotei (The Last Flying Boat) Lt. Hitsuji was commander of H6K Mavis Tail 36 from 851 Kokutai (851 Air Group) on November 21, 1942 when he encountered B-17E "Miss Fit" 41-2433 also on patrol.
November 21, 1942
"Enemy plane! Close! Starboard and to the rear!"
the tail gunner reported. "All men on air to air battle station!" I
yelled as I put the plane in a full speed dive to sea level.
It was 0700 November 21, 1942, 150 nautical miles south
of Guadalcanal. We were in midst of a very bloody battle, losing flying
boats almost every day to unidentified enemy activities. Our boats would
have just enough time to radio a consecutive "hi" signal (consecutive
signaling of the Japanese Morse code signal for the character "hi",
the initial for "hikoki" or airplane) before the shoot-out
followed by silence. Very few survived air combat. If a boat is able
to make detailed reports about the enemy, that boat was sure to make
it back.
Our commanding officer was in distress about the mounting
losses, and just a few days ago, I had assured him that this will not
go on for long. So far 16 of our boats were lost. I was not about to
be number 17. It wasn't a patrol plane's duty to engage in air battles,
but now I had no choice.
I figured that the fight must be decided quickly. The
B-17 positioned itself above and to the starboard rear of our plane
and followed us with ease. It must be radioing it's base about our position.
One of them was bad enough. If there were two or even fighter planes
we did not have a chance. I made a tight turn to the port and headed
towards the enemy. The only chance we had was the relatively small turning
radius of our slow plane compared to that of the fast B-17.
The enemy was obviously surprised at our sudden turn.
As we passed each other, our tail cannon fire hit the B-17 and its port
inside engine started smoking. The enemy fled, trailing a long streamer
of black smoke. The enemy was surprisingly inpersistent. We continued
our search mission, but I had a feeling that it wasn't over yet.
"Eat your breakfast now before they come back"
I ordered and went to the commander's seat to open my lunchbox. Pretty
soon the co-pilot silently pointed his finger forward and to the port.
I took a hard look, and there he was. Another big-tailed B-17 heading
straight toward us. The one we damaged must have called for help. We
were all ready to fight, and I stood up from my seat. I sealed the tank
chamber and pulled the fire extinguisher lever. This fills the tank
chamber with CO2. All gunners manned their stations. I could see the
front gunner grinning in his turret.
"Okay we're ready" someone said. At altitude 30 meters and speed 150 knots, we headed
towards squally skied in the direction of our base. The enemy didn't
start his attack immediately. It flew alongside us and passed us. I
figured that he was avoiding our tail cannon. It would probably be making
a frontal attack. The shoot-out was about to begin.
"Here it comes!" someone shouted, and at
the same time, the enemy's front guns and all four of our starboard
machine-guns started firing. As we passed each other, I could see the
enemy's tail gun fire, but tracers were way behind us. No hits on either
side. We didn't change our course and headed toward the squall.
The faster enemy caught up quickly and crisscrossed
our path, attacking as it passed us.
We were at very low altitude, and the sea behind us
whitened with machine-gun fire. As the shooting went on, this started
moving closer and closer. I could not hear anything other than the roar
of the machine-guns and the engine noise. I couldn't keep my eyes off
the enemy for a moment. The enemy made its fourth pass, and as it crossed
our path, a 50 caliber shell jumped into the cockpit.
I heard someone yell "Damn!" and smelled
smoke at the same time. I turned around and two men were down on the
floor. Our main radio man PO2 Watanabe's left arm was hanging limp from
his shoulder, and blood was shooting up to the ceiling. Flight engineer
Leading Mechanic Nakano was down on the floor, holding his left arm,
and shouting "Gasoline, gasoline!".
He was yelling to the radioman because the spark from
the telegram key could set the vaporized gasoline on fire. But the injured
radio man continued to send the message that we were combating an enemy
bomber. The enemy started making yet another pass.
I took off my muffler and threw it to Lt(jg) Ide
who was shooting away, and yelled "Stop his bleeding!" I could
see from the tank chamber window that gas was gushing out of a hit tank.
It was a miracle that it wasn't on fire. The floor was soon covered
with gas. I injected additional CO2 gas, and I could see the white gas
filling the tank chamber. The injured mechanic was still yelling "Gasoline!".
I could only yell back "It's okay! You worry about yourself!"
We were able to stop the radioman's bleeding, but the
enemy still kept attacking. Amid the exchange of machine gun roar, I
could hear bullets tearing into our plane. The plane shook under the
impact. All four engines were driving at full power.
On their sixth pass, the moment I saw their tail gun
fire, there was an enormous banging noise up front gunner PO1 Takahashi
pointed to the floor beneath the pilot's seat and I noted a big hole
about 30cm, on the keel of our bow. I could see waves from the hole.
By this time, I was sure that this enemy has shot down
more than one flying boat. "It wasn't fighters. It was this guy.
Another patrol plane! I'm going to get him. He is not going to have
anymore kill marks!" As I came to this realization, there was a
new determination in my mind. If we can't down him with our guns, we
will ram him. I drew and loaded my pistol.
"If worse comes to worst we'll ram him, okay?"
I patted the main pilot Ensign Kobayashi's sholder with my pistol. He
nodded lightly. "Okay, we're ready then". My mind was set.
I was going to shoot myself at the moment of the ramming so I would
die before the crew.
I noted that the side panel of the commander's seat
was burning hot. I was shocked to find the bullet that hit the crew
crewmen perched in the panel. Had I not been standing, this bullet would
have hit my back! (This bullet is still in my possession).
I noticed that the enemy's fire was getting considerably
weaker. Either some of their gunners were knocked out, or they were
out of ammo. I was getting the feeling that we may be able to make it
when the co-pilot suddenly put the plane in a dive. The sea was right
in front of us.
"Not yet!" I yelled, thinking that he was
about to ram the B-17, but soon realized that our co-pilot PO1 Kira
evaded a collision with the enemy who came in from the side. The enemy
passed about 30 meters behind us. The tail gunner poured an entire drum
of 20mm cannon shells into the B-17.
The shells all hit the enemy's fuselage. The enemy
passed us from the right, then banked left and started closing into
our plane. I could see the enemy pilot's face. I couldn't help but fire
my pistol at the enemy.
Maybe the enemy was trying to ram us too. I noticed
all his guns were pointing random directions. He must have been out
of ammo. He flew alongside us banking and yawing for a while, but eventually
disappeared into the rain towards Guadalcanal, trailing gasoline. "We
won!" we said to each other, but we could no longer fight.
Aftermath
Lt. Hitsuji's H6K made it back to Shortland Seaplane Base. As soon
as the nose touched the water on landing, water started gushing in from the hole in the
bow. Since they did not have material to close the big hole in the bow,
they stuffed their life jackets into the hole. This obviously wasn't
holding up, and six men piled up on the life jacket-stuffed hole to
stop the water. By the time they were beached, these men had their head
barely above water. Everyone was covered with water, oil, and blood.
Their plane #36 (could have tail code O-36 or 851-36
or 51-36) had ninety-three 50 caliber bullet holes.
Measures were immediately taken to improve the defensive
capability of the flying boats. The following conversions were made
in the field.
1) Fuel tank protection: All fuel tanks were covered
with rubber, and held together with wire net. (Hitsuji notes that American
self-sealing tanks with the rubber inside the tank was much more effective,
but that couldn't be done in the field.)
2) Improved defensive armament: Machine-guns on
H6Ks were increased from one 20mm and seven 7.7mm to three 20mm (tail
and waist) and five 7.7mm (front, dorsal, ventral, and fuselage sides).
3) Armor: 20mm armor plate behind the pilots' seat
and 20mm shield at gunners' positions. However, Hitsuji notes that the
armor behind the pilot was something of a mixed blessing. Since they
didn't have bullet-proof glass, if the bullet came in from the front
and hit the pilot , the bullet would not just pass through, but be deflected
by the armor plate and tear the pilot's body apart.
4) Increased air to air gunnery training.
These conversions amounted to 1.5 tons in additional
weight, but this did not affect speed and range performance.
