Hello, hello.
I'm seeking input and information surrounding specific carrier based aircraft squadrons from the Japanese Navy during WWII.
For some context, I play a mobile game called "Azur Lane", in which there are certain aircraft squadrons that come from real life examples. Squadrons such as Wade McClusky's SBD squadron (Battle of Midway), the 831st Barracuda squadron (Operation Tungsten), or VT-18 (sinking of Musashi). These equipment often carry gameplay benefits over standard equipment as well as being interesting pieces of history to tie to the ships.
However, lacking in presence is any form of Japanese squadron. I browsed online articles for any kind of significant squadrons, I checked the wikipedia entries on the orders of battle for Midway and Philippine Sea, but these Japanese squadrons and commanders are often only listed in name with no linked page or additional information. This leads me to consistent dead ends.
Now we're in a bit of a content drought, so as bored players and enthusiasts often do, we start with a lot of "what if's". One such "what if" was looking at possible candidates for these named squadrons. Unique equipment that were backed by actual history and legacy.
So far I've discovered only a few squadrons / named individuals, mostly from exploring the (laughably) "IJN strong" Kantai Collection and its collection of "named squadrons":
Tetsuzō Iwamoto A6M2 Squadron - operated fighters from Zuikaku during battle of Coral Sea, defending the carrier from incoming attacks.
Egusa Takashige D3Y Squadron - operated dive bombers from Souryuu in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Joichi Tomonaga B5N Squadron - operated from Hiryuu to damage Yorktown during the Battle of Midway.
Shigeharu Murata B5N Squadron - operated from Akagi to heavily damage Hornet during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Squadron switched to Shoukaku after Midway.
What other squadrons or individuals, if any (are some of these even worth the mention?) would meet or exceed the history and fame of things like McClusky and the 5 minutes of fate, the torpedoes of 818 that jammed the rudder of Bismarck and directly leading to her demise, or the VF-17 Corsair squadron and its remarkable kill ratio?
If I glossed over a detail of the request let me know.
Regards.
Its a tough question as the IJN did put much less emphasis on the individual squadron as an organizational unit vs the carrier air wing as a whole. While yes they existed on paper, the air wing as a whole was generally the focus, either it was ready to go or not.
We see this played out during the Spring/Summer of 1942. The USN routinely swapped out squadrons from air wings/groups, and the rosters come the Guadalcanal landings looked almost nothing like they did 3 months prior. Yorktown itself sailed for Midway with a something of a scratch assembly of squadrons to rebuild after Coral Sea. A core group of vets supplemented by those which had been ashore in Hawaii.
Meanwhile, Zuikaku and Shokaku's surviving aviators were left behind.
That said the list you were able to pull together isnt a bad start.
1 other does come to mind, Lt. Michio Kobayashi was Tomonaga's subordinate on Hiryu and commander of the bombing squadron. He led the scratch first counter-strike that caught Yorktown the first time and was killed as well.
One other, though shore-based, is the IJN's Tainan Air Group(named for where it was formed just before the war). It would become one fo the most effective fighter outfits in the IJN during its time. One of the noted squadron commanders in the unit(who commanded several other prolific aces) was LTJG Junichi Sasai. He was killed in late August 1942 over Guadalcanal by Marion Carl, the USMC's first ace of the war.
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