Does anyone know who these guys are?

[Dutch_slith]

These are named japanese pilots in the database. I cannot find any information on them whatsoever.
I found 2 japanese aces Furukawa and Nishikyo but without a given name.

IJAAF
Hida, H.
Furukawa, I.

IJNAF
Morita, T.
Nishikyo, S.

[btd64]

I'm going out on a limb here but I'd say Japanese pilots.
Try google....GP

[Kull]

Here's some added information from the editor:

Hida, H. - 75th Sentai (Lily) 3/4/44

Morita, T. - Kanoya Ku K-1 Det (Betty) 12/6/41

Furukawa, I. - 104th Sentai (Oscar) 10/21/44

Nishikyo, S. - Zuikaku 1 (Zero) 10/28/42

******************************

1) Right away you can see that it will be hard to find anything on Hida. Lily pilots won't show up on any "ace" lists, and it's even worse since he's a late war addition to the unit.

2) The same is true with Morita (Betty pilot), but here at least there's a chance he might show up in any "War start" lists. The Kanoya unit was famous for taking out PoW and Repulse, but unfortunately Morita served in the detachment group that was left on Taiwan to support the Philippine op.

3) Furukawa's 104th is a fighter unit, but it wasn't formed until 7/44 and quickly transferred to Manchuria (which is when he appears). The "Battle Honors" for this unit consist entirely of B-29 engagements, and they didn't shoot down too many of those, so it's not surprising that he can't be found on an "ace" list.

4) Your best hope is with Nishikyo since he was a Zero pilot on board CV Zuikaku. However, his arrival date is late enough to miss out on Coral Sea and the Indian Ocean op, but you might find him in any detailed write-ups on the Battle of Santa Cruz. For most of '43 the CV was parked at Truk while the fighters were detached and based at Buin and Rabaul. If he survived all of that, then he's sitting somewhere in this 10/43 photo:

IMG_2399.jpg (2.57 MiB) Viewed 1334 times

[BBfanboy]

Wait a minute - Lt. Shirane is claiming 14 aircraft shot down in one attack? And his superiors believed him? No wonder the Japanese were infected with "Victory Disease"!

[Kull]

Wait a minute - Lt. Shirane is claiming 14 aircraft shot down in one attack? And his superiors believed him? No wonder the Japanese were infected with "Victory Disease"!

It seems unlikely, but this action took place during the Battle of Santa Cruz and US aircraft losses were exceptionally high (81 of 175 aircraft), and most of those did occur over and around the US Carrier force (which is the action described by Lt. Shirane). So yes, some level of exaggeration and wishful thinking (common to pilots on both sides) is undoubtedly present, but it's quite likely that he had a very successful day.

But most did not. 409 of the 765 elite Japanese carrier aviators who had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor were killed in this battle, a level of decimation that Japan simply could not overcome. A true pyrrhic victory.

[Platoonist]

A true pyrrhic victory.

After the battle, the Japanese initially claimed to have sunk three carriers, a battleship, a cruiser, a destroyer, and a submarine. Imperial General Headquarters inflated the claim further, to four U.S. carriers sunk.

If those had been the actual results it would have been a stunning landmark victory. I've often wondered how often those in higher command positions really believed these grossly inflated totals

[Kull]

Conversely:

"Both sides claimed victory. The Americans stated that two Shōkaku-class fleet carriers had been hit with bombs and eliminated. Kinkaid's summary of damage to the Japanese included hits to a battleship, three heavy cruisers, and a light cruiser, and possible hits on another heavy cruiser. In reality, Shōkaku, Zuihō, and Chikuma were the only ships hit during the battle, none of which sank."

[Platoonist]

Conversely:
"Both sides claimed victory. The Americans stated that two Shōkaku-class fleet carriers had been hit with bombs and eliminated. Kinkaid's summary of damage to the Japanese included hits to a battleship, three heavy cruisers, and a light cruiser, and possible hits on another heavy cruiser. In reality, Shōkaku, Zuihō, and Chikuma were the only ships hit during the battle, none of which sank."

I guess that's what I find interesting. Navy press releases and US newspaper headlines in the days after the Santa Cruz battle seem more in line with the actual battle results although still containing errors and I suppose that's what intrigues me. At what point does a military establishment let the initial fantasy version of the battle go and acknowledge reality. I suppose in some cases they never do.

Santa Cruz clippings.jpg (173.78 KiB) Viewed 1186 times

NY Times.jpg (134.8 KiB) Viewed 1186 times

[Yaab]

Wait a minute - Lt. Shirane is claiming 14 aircraft shot down in one attack? And his superiors believed him? No wonder the Japanese were infected with "Victory Disease"!

I guess the wording is wrong and it was the whole "first wave", that "claimed 14 aircraft shot down".

[RangerJoe]

Conversely:
"Both sides claimed victory. The Americans stated that two Shōkaku-class fleet carriers had been hit with bombs and eliminated. Kinkaid's summary of damage to the Japanese included hits to a battleship, three heavy cruisers, and a light cruiser, and possible hits on another heavy cruiser. In reality, Shōkaku, Zuihō, and Chikuma were the only ships hit during the battle, none of which sank."

I guess that's what I find interesting. Navy press releases and US newspaper headlines in the days after the Santa Cruz battle seem more in line with the actual battle results although still containing errors and I suppose that's what intrigues me. At what point does a military establishment let the initial fantasy version of the battle go and acknowledge reality. I suppose in some cases they never do.
Santa Cruz clippings.jpg
NY Times.jpg

Well now, that picture of the new "Southwest Pacific" commander and his staff doesn't appear to show someone that I would have expected to see. Instead I see someone who looks and acted like he played fullback at a certain college!

[Platoonist]

These old newspapers are an amazing reflection of the war as it was happening. You see aspects of the conflict you never knew existed. Modern newspapers in contrast seem like they're built for a much shorter attention span. On the other hand, you'd certainly never see the term "Nipponese" or "Jap" in use anymore.

$25,000 a year salary. Probably couldn't live in a doghouse on that today.

Springfield Union.jpg (152.26 KiB) Viewed 1117 times

[Zeckke]

i dont even care about USA i live there in Sacramento two years 10 and eleven grade but i did also 12 grade i have two blondimes and also my girfriend was the sherryf daughter of the neigbor city

[RangerJoe]

These old newspapers are an amazing reflection of the war as it was happening. You see aspects of the conflict you never knew existed. Modern newspapers in contrast seem like they're built for a much shorter attention span. On the other hand, you'd certainly never see the term "Nipponese" or "Jap" in use anymore.

$25,000 a year salary. Probably couldn't live in a doghouse on that today.


Springfield Union.jpg

Considering that "Nippon" is the local's name for their country and "Japan" comes from one of the many Chinese languages . . .

https://www.33rdsquare.com/why-was-japan-called-nippon/

[Zeckke]

These old newspapers are an amazing reflection of the war as it was happening. You see aspects of the conflict you never knew existed. Modern newspapers in contrast seem like they're built for a much shorter attention span. On the other hand, you'd certainly never see the term "Nipponese" or "Jap" in use anymore.

$25,000 a year salary. Probably couldn't live in a doghouse on that today.


Springfield Union.jpg

Considering that "Nippon" is the local's name for their country and "Japan" comes from one of the many Chinese languages . . .

https://www.33rdsquare.com/why-was-japan-called-nippon/

envidia and trolling;

[homer82]

These old newspapers are an amazing reflection of the war as it was happening. You see aspects of the conflict you never knew existed. Modern newspapers in contrast seem like they're built for a much shorter attention span. On the other hand, you'd certainly never see the term "Nipponese" or "Jap" in use anymore.

$25,000 a year salary. Probably couldn't live in a doghouse on that today.


Springfield Union.jpg

Considering that "Nippon" is the local's name for their country and "Japan" comes from one of the many Chinese languages . . .

https://www.33rdsquare.com/why-was-japan-called-nippon/

envidia and trolling;

shortcake and bowling%

[Kull]

I guess that's what I find interesting. Navy press releases and US newspaper headlines in the days after the Santa Cruz battle seem more in line with the actual battle results although still containing errors and I suppose that's what intrigues me. At what point does a military establishment let the initial fantasy version of the battle go and acknowledge reality. I suppose in some cases they never do.

The apparent accuracy of newspaper reporting is very misleading. In fact, the US Intelligence analysis prior to the battle was abysmal, and at least some of that was based on overestimating US success in earlier battles:

Based on Ultra, Nimitz warned of a Japanese naval offensive as early as 17 October. But U.S. radio direction-finding and traffic analysis placed only two Japanese aircraft carriers in the battle area, and the ONI estimates located three of the five enemy flattops in home waters when all of them were at sea. Four Japanese flight decks would be at Santa Cruz compared with two American. The disparity would have been even worse save that the Japanese carrier Hiyo, crippled by mechanical failure, was sent away for repairs. The day after the battle, ONI still estimated that an enemy carrier division that had fought at Santa Cruz was in Japan.

The intel record with respect to other warships was equally poor. That was partly because of assessments that both of the Aoba-class heavy cruisers had already been sunk and partly because Rear Admiral Norman Scott, who won a surface victory off Guadalcanal at the 11–12 October Battle of Cape Esperance, had overestimated enemy losses in that fight. He initially claimed three Japanese cruisers and four destroyers had sunk, but the IJN had actually lost only one heavy cruiser and one destroyer. The exaggerated losses were then scored to units other than Japan’s Cruiser Division 6, which had the Aoba-class ships and had been the main opponent at Cape Esperance. This had the effect of minimizing Japanese heavy-cruiser strength. When the cruisers Myoko and Maya bombarded Guadalcanal on 15 October, U.S. intelligence believed the former was in Yokosuka and the latter at Palau.

As for battleships, the 20 October ONI estimate carried as “possibly damaged” one of Admiral Takeo Kurita’s vessels that had smashed Henderson Field on 13 October, placed the Yamato and Mutsu as possibly at Rabaul, and credited the enemy fleet in the Solomons as, again, “possibly” including the Ise, which was in Japan. At Santa Cruz, the Japanese surface fleet chased Kinkaid’s task force as the Americans retired from the scene. If the pursuit had resulted in a gunnery engagement, the mistaken appreciations would have come home to roost.

Highly recommend reading John Prados' entire article on this:
https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-hi ... santa-cruz

[Platoonist]

Highly recommend reading John Prados' entire article on this:
https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-hi ... santa-cruz

Thanks for the link. Wow! I'm assuming this is the same John Prados that designed Avalon Hill's Rise and Decline of the Third Reich all those years ago. My first wargame purchase if you don't count Risk.

[btd64]

These old newspapers are an amazing reflection of the war as it was happening. You see aspects of the conflict you never knew existed. Modern newspapers in contrast seem like they're built for a much shorter attention span. On the other hand, you'd certainly never see the term "Nipponese" or "Jap" in use anymore.

$25,000 a year salary. Probably couldn't live in a doghouse on that today.


Springfield Union.jpg

Yes, I love the old newspapers. I have a couple in a box here somewhere....GP

[Platoonist]

Yes, I love the old newspapers. I have a couple in a box here somewhere....GP

Me too, but nothing close to the WW2 vintage other than a souvenir reproduction of a Honolulu front page on December 7th 1941.

[BBfanboy]

Front pages around the Cuban Missile Crisis would be cool. Did the public get news of the Russian SS that turned back rather than fire their nuke torps? Did the public know anything about the deal to remove US missiles from Turkey?