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Table of Contents |
1 Air Fleet was organized
on 10 April 1941 at the instigation of Combined Fleet commander Yamamoto Isoroku. The
brilliant air officer of Carrier Division 1,
Genda Minoru, had advocated such a move for five years, but Yamamoto
hisitated at first because of the profound change it implied in Navy
doctrine. The idea was further championed by Ozawa Jisaburo, who formally
submitted it to Yamamoto and the Navy
General Staff in April 1940. Yamamoto was angered by the breach of
protocol but finally endorsed the proposal in December 1940.
1 Air Fleet was an
important tactical innovation,
concentrating
Japan's first-line naval air power into a
single independent force rather than assigning it to provide air cover
for the battle line. It was organized a few months before the attack on
Pearl Harbor
and
intensively trained for that
mission. Some of its destroyers
were
assigned to missions intended to clear the return path to Japan after
the attack. 1 Air Fleet was not a balanced force, however, and it always operated with heavy surface escort provided by 1 and 2 Fleets.
Curiously, neither the commander of 1 Air Fleet, Nagumo Chuichi; his chief of
staff, Kusaka Ryunosuke;
nor his senior staff officer, Oishi Tamotsu, were aviators. However, the air
officer was Genda, upon whom Nagumo came to heavily rely.
Pearl Harbor Attack Force (Nagumo; 210 nm north of Oahu) | Also
described as Kido Butai ("Strike
Force") |
|||
Carrier Division 1 (Nagumo) |
||||
CV Akagi | ||||
18 A6M Zero | ||||
27 B5N Kate | ||||
18 D3A Val | ||||
CV Kaga | ||||
27 A6M Zero | ||||
27 B5N Kate | ||||
27 D3A Val | ||||
Carrier Division 2 (Yamaguchi) | ||||
CV Hiryu | ||||
25 A6M Zero | ||||
18 B5N Kate | ||||
18 D3A Val | ||||
CV Soryu | ||||
27 A6M Zero | ||||
18 B5N Kate | ||||
18 D3A Val | ||||
Carrier Division 5 (Hara) | ||||
CV Shokaku | ||||
15 A6M Zero | ||||
27 B5N Kate | ||||
27 D3A Val | ||||
CV Zuikaku | ||||
15 A6M Zero | ||||
27 B5N Kate | ||||
27 D3A Val | ||||
DD Akigumo | ||||
First Section, Battleship Division 3 (Mikawa) | On loan from First Fleet | |||
BB Hiei | ||||
BBKirishima | ||||
Cruiser Division 8 (Abe) | On loan from Second Fleet | |||
CA Tone | ||||
CA Chikuma | ||||
Elements, Destroyer Squadron 1 (Omori) | On loan from First Fleet | |||
CL Abukuma | ||||
Destroyer Division 17 | ||||
DD Hamakaze | ||||
DD Isokaze | ||||
DD Tanakaze | ||||
DD Urikaze | ||||
Elements, Destroyer Division 18 | On loan from DesRon2 | |||
DD Kagero | ||||
DD Shiranuhi |
Midway Neutralization Force (from DesDiv7, CarDiv1; north of Midway) | ||
DD Sazanami | ||
DD Ushio |
First Supply Force (near 158W 31N) | ||
DD Kasumi | On loan from DesDiv18, Second Fleet | |
AOR Kyokuto Maru | ||
AOR Kenyo Maru | ||
AOR Kokuyo Maru | ||
AOR Shinkoku Maru | ||
AOR Akebono Maru |
Second Supply Force (near 170W 40N) | ||
DD Arare | On loan from DesDiv18, Second Fleet | |
AOR Toho Maru | ||
AOR Toei Maru | ||
AOR Nippon Maru |
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2013 by Kent G. Budge. Index