"Toraware no Nihonki" #5

This one is the last post, from the San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, with the aircraft being on board USS Barnes. I believe the following photos show them being unloaded, so the location should be Norfolk, Virginia.

photo #26

The Kawasaki Ki-102b (a/c number 14) getting unloaded.



photo #27

The Nakajima B6N "Tenzan" (a/c number 10) with the folded wings is next.

photo #28

The Kawasaki Ki-102b and one of the four Mitsubishi Ki-46-III "Dinah" are the last two planes in this series.

 

The best source I know of for these aircraft is the classic "Broken Wings of the Samurai" by Robert C. Mikesh, which should not be missing from your Japanese aviation library. There is extensive information in the book including the fate of these aircraft once in the US which I will not reproduce here out of respect to the author. For research purposes though and to answer your questions I will include only two pieces.

 

1. p.115 "Three aircraft carriers were involved with this post-war move of Japanese aircraft to America. The first boat-load to leave was on the USS Barnes (CVE-20), which departed Yokosuka on 16 November 1945, followed that same month by the USS Core (CVE-13). The last of these carriers for this collected assortment was the USS Bogue (CVE-9), which left the day after Christmas, arriving at Alameda Naval Base on 8 January 1946. Most, if not all, of the Bogue's deck cargo of Japanese aircraft continued with the ship through the Panama Canal to its destination at Newark, New Jersey on the east coast. Among the aircraft unloaded there was Japan's only surviving four-engined land-based bomber, the Nakajima G8N1 "Rita"."

 

2. pages 116~117 include the only inventory that has been located in the US of the aircraft aboard these aircraft carriers. It is the inventory of Japanese aircraft aboard USS Barnes reported November 3, 1945. The list includes the serial numbers and the fate of some of these aircraft which I will not include (get the book!). So here's a list of what Barnes carried as reported in the book and in color the aircraft we have identified in the photos so far:

• Ki-44 Tojo           X 2 3
• Ki-45kai Nick      X 1 17
• Ki-46 Mod. III     X 4 15, 23, 25, 30
• Ki-48 Lily             X 1 18
• Ki-84 Frank          X 2
• Ki-102b                 X 1 14
• A6M7 Zeke 63      X 1 9
• B6N1 Jill 12          X 2 10?
• B6N2 Jill 13          X 1
• B7A Grace 11        X 2
• C6N1 Myrt 11        X 4 5, 12, 20, 21
• D4Y3 Judy 11        X 1 11?
• D4Y3 Judy 12        X 1 13?
• D4Y4 Judy 33        X 2 27, 28
• D4Y4 Judy 43        X 4
• J1N1-S Irving         X 1 22
• J5N1 Tenrai            X 2 1, 29?
• J8H1 Shusui            X 3
• M6A1-K Nanzan     X 1 2
• N1K1-J George       X 2 4, 6, 8, 19
• N1K2-J George       X 4
• P1Y Francis             X 1 24
• Q1W1 Lorna            X 2 16, 26
• Total                           45     

Our good friend Devlin Chouinard created the illustration below to help us all identify and visualise the aircraft as placed on the deck of the carrier.

Here are the photos once again identifying the aircraft.

1. Nakajima J5N "Tenrai"

2. Aichi M6A1-K "Nanzan"

3. Nakajima Ki-44 "Shoki"

4. Kawanishi N1K-J "Shiden"

5. Nakajima C6N "Saiun"

6. Kawanishi N1K2-J "Shiden-kai"

7. (probably) Yokosuka D4Y3 "Suisei" model 33/43

8. Kawanishi N1K2-J "Shiden"

9. Mitsubishi A6M7 "Zero"

10. Nakajima B6N "Tenzan"

11. Yokosuka D4Y1 "Suisei"

12. Nakajima C6N "Saiun"

13. Yokosuka D4Y1 "Suisei"

14. Kawasaki Ki-102b "Randy"

15. Mitsubishi Ki-46-III "Dinah"

16. Kyushu Q1W "Tokai"

17. Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu"

18. Kawasaki Ki-48 "Lily"

19. Kawanishi N1K2-J "Shiden-kai"

20. Nakajima C6N "Saiun"

21. Nakajima C6N "Saiun"

22. Nakajima J1N1 "Gekko"

23. Mitsubishi Ki-46-III "Dinah"

24. Yokosuka P1Y2-S "Ginga" night fighter

25. Mitsubishi Ki-46-III "Dinah"
26. Kyushu Q1W "Tokai"
27. Yokosuka D4Y "Suisei"
28. Yokosuka D4Y1 "Suisei"

30. Mitsubishi Ki-46-III "Dinah"
29. Nakajima J5N "Tenrai"

Once again, thank you all for your help to identify the aircraft. If you have spotted any mistakes or have any different suggestions please let us know.