Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority - Air Force ...

WAR AGAINST JAPAN
that day but claimed to have shot down twelve USN carrier planes.
According to Japanese sources, the 343d Air Group had also sortied over
the Bungo Strait the day before and had brought down twelve enemy carrier
aircraft at a cost of six IJAAF interceptors. These air battles, say the
Japanese, represented the last successes by their fighter planes in the
defense of the
U.S. records indicate that Task Force 38 launched 1,747 sorties on July
24 and 25, but that bad weather halted the round- the-clock strikes at midday
on the 25th. The clash of Major Kobayashi’s unit with USN fighters
must have involved VF-31, which noted the rare experience of being
jumped by a superior number of Japanese interceptors while its Hellcats
were strafing an airfield near Nagoya on July 25. A twenty-four-year-old
American officer, Lt. Comdr. Cornelius Nooy, saved an F6F from an enemy
fighter. Thereupon Nooy climbed to draw off other Japanese aircraft,
rejoined his flight, shot down two more enemy planes, and claimed one
probable kill.
As for Major Kobayashi, that IJAAF group commander had been
promptly ordered to report to 11th Air Division Headquarters in Osaka,
where he was reprimanded for disobeying his instructions forbidding
fighter sorties and was warned that his action ran counter to the command’s
intention to conserve the remaining Japanese air strength. It was intimated
to Kobayashi by his superiors that not only might he be demoted for his
breach of military discipline but that he also faced court-martial proceedings.
The major returned to Yokkaichi in a rage, drank a defiant toast to
“victory,” and was heard to say, “It’s all O.K. with me.” That very night,
an official telegram of commendation arrived from Imperial General
Headquarters, dissipating any thought of punishing Kobayashi. Nevertheless,
the 11th Air Division sent a staff officer to the 244th Air Group
with instructions to keep a watchful eye on the unit. The staff officer
“stuck to Major Kobayashi like a leech,” allowing him no chance for further
arbitrariness.lt2
Allied Victory in the Pacific
By June 1945, the Seventh Air Force possessed a total of 1,492 planes,
of which 1,006 were fighters. Most of its tactical units had reached Okinawa
by July. VII Bomber Command was based at Yontan, Kadena, and Machinato.
VII Fighter Command had the 4 groups of its principal force, the
301st Fighter Wing, based on Ie Shima, offshore from Okinawa itself. On
July 14, the Seventh Air Force, under its new commander, Maj. Gen.
Thomas D. White, was officially transferred from the Navy Tactical Air
Force, Ryukyus, to the Far East Air Forces (FEAF). Having worked for
years under the control of USN and USMC commanders, the Seventh Air
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