Today's set of photos feature a Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" (Nick) found by US forces at Cape Gloucester Airfield (Tuluvu) belonging to the 13th Sentai. Some of the photos were contributed by our friend Patrice Fresnel, others are from NARA and the net.
Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" (Nick) flown by the 13 Sentai found at Cape Gloucester (Tuluvu) in January 1944. The aircraft had made an emergency landing, note the bent propeller blades, and then was straffed but otherwise it was in fairly good condition.
As with most, if not all, "Nicks" the rather complicated top camouflage was applied at the Kawasaki factory and therefore it was very neatly painted and was less prone to flaking than those applied at the depots. Note that unlike the fuselage hinomaru, the wing hinomaru do not have a white ring and the camouflage is painted around them. On the fuselage, the hinomaru have white ring and they were painted over the camouflage.
In this and the previous photo we can see that the port engine is missing but the landing gear is still keeping the plane upright.
In the belly of the "Nick" a Type 98 37mm Tank Gun, standard equippment of the Type 95 "Ha-Go" Light Tank, was installed. This was a special modification for only a small number of aircraft to give the aircraft some punch against the heavier US bombers. All Japanese sources agree that the particular aircraft was a Ki-45 Kai-Ko.
Unfortunately the Type 98 37mm Tank Gun was hand loaded by the rear observer and therefore its rate of fire was approximately one round every 30 seconds, making it virtually useless during aerial combat. It could deliver a devastating blow against a bomber though. In the photo we can see the gun breech in the observer's position.
The unit's tail marking at the time consisted of a stylized representation of the unit's number "13" comprised number "1" and three bars. The serial number of the aircraft was "1023" and the last two digits were repeated on the tail above the unit marking. In the previous photos the part of the tail marking on the rudder looks darker than the rest of the marking and some artists have depicted it in red, suggesting that perhaps it was a replacement? Nevertheless the camouflage pattern on the rudder matches the rest of the tail and the number "23", from the aircraft's serial number, is painted on the rudder; if the rudder was from a different aircraft it would have a number not matching the serial number. There are many reasons why the canvas covered rudder would look darker than the metal covered parts of the tail.
Artwork by Devlin Chouinard.
A depiction of the Tuluvu "Nick" from War Thunder. Not bad at all except for the innacurate wing hinomaru.
The formation ceremony of the 13 Sentai was held on March 15, 1938, at Kakogawa Airfield, Hyogo Prefecture.
At that time the unit was equipped with Kawasaki Ki-10 "Perry" fighters but these were soon replaced with Nakajima Ki-27 "Nates".
In September 1941, relocated to Taisho Airfield in Osaka and in December moved to Kashiwa Airfield, Chiba Prefecture, assigned to Tokyo air defence
In August 1942, changed its aircraft to Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" (Nick).
In April 1943, commenced advance into the South Pacific. Concentrated at Rabaul by late June. Relocated to the Eastern New Guinea/Wewak front in July.
August 16: Air raid engulfed most aircraft on the ground in flames, causing severe difficulties for air defence. (Operational aircraft numbered only eight by late September). Retreated through Wakde Island, Ambon, and Kendari.
April 1944: Transferred to Halmahera Island. Reorganised with the Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" (Oscar) as the primary aircraft type. Engaged in combat across various sectors of the New Guinea front.
October 1944: Reorganised at Itami Airfield with the Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" Model III.
Continued combat operations across various sectors of the New Guinea front until November of the same year. In New Guinea, the squadron was reconfigured with the "Hayabusa" as the primary aircraft.
December 3: Transferred to the Porac (Philippines) area and reorganized again with the Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" as the primary aircraft.
December 6: Supported the Burauen Paratrooper Raid.
December 14: Squadron commander killed in action while supporting the "Kikusui Special Attack Unit" (9 heavy bombers), combat strength halved. Subsequently recovered strength at Saigon, reorganising with 10 Nakajima Ki-84 "Hayate" (Frank) and 20 Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" fighters.
March 1945: Transferred to Singapore. Participated in "Operation Meigo" and other operations.
July of the same year, withdrew to Pingtung Airfield, Taiwan, where the end of the war found it.
Hasegawa has released two 13 Sentai "Toryu" kits. The one depicted here is in 1/72, number #00810. It includes decals for the Tuluvu "Nick".
The other kit is number #09925 and is in 1/48. It too includes decals for the Tuluvu "Nick".