Name This AE...361

[Brady]

???

[borner]

vacationing in Alaska?

[AW1Steve]

A rufe based at Kiska , 1942.

[Local Yokel]

AW1Steve is spot on.

The photograph almost certainly shows one of the six A6M2-N Suisen of the Toko Ku conveyed to Kiska aboard Chiyoda in June 1942. Thereafter, a number of Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplanes (Suitei) belonging to the airgroups of Kamikawa Maru and Kiyokawa Maru were shipped into Kiska aboard Kamikawa Maru. On 5 Aug 1942 these Suisen and the Suitei were amalgamated into a single unit, Number 5 Kokutai, and assigned the character 'R' as their unit code. Hence the fact that the foreground Suisen bears this prefix to its tailcode, whilst in the background are visible one, perhaps two, Type 0 seaplanes - known under the Allied naming scheme as 'Jakes'.

Number 5 Kokutai was redesignated Number 452 Kaigun Kokutai on 1 November 1942, but I do not know whether a change of code was applied to the redesignated unit.

<edit> Kimikawa Maru's TROM has her landing 5 Suisen and 2 Suitei at Kiska on 25 Sep 1942; possibly only two of the float fighters arrived earlier aboard Chiyoda.

[DivePac88]

Been wondering if that is a F1M2 Pete in the background, and to the right of the Rufe.

[Cap Mandrake]

Notice how the only one smiling has no flight jacket or goggles. He is probably the ground support guy or maybe even the CO.

The other poor bastards are dreading going up against a couple of P-38's

[stuman]

I can never see a group photo like that without wondering what became of them.

[Brady]

A6M2-N, it is[:)]

Kiska, it is[:)]

E13A, it is[:)]

ORIGINAL: Local Yokel

AW1Steve is spot on.

The photograph almost certainly shows one of the six A6M2-N Suisen of the Toko Ku conveyed to Kiska aboard Chiyoda in June 1942. Thereafter, a number of Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplanes (Suitei) belonging to the airgroups of Kamikawa Maru and Kiyokawa Maru were shipped into Kiska aboard Kamikawa Maru. On 5 Aug 1942 these Suisen and the Suitei were amalgamated into a single unit, Number 5 Kokutai, and assigned the character 'R' as their unit code. Hence the fact that the foreground Suisen bears this prefix to its tailcode, whilst in the background are visible one, perhaps two, Type 0 seaplanes - known under the Allied naming scheme as 'Jakes'.

Number 5 Kokutai was redesignated Number 452 Kaigun Kokutai on 1 November 1942, but I do not know whether a change of code was applied to the redesignated unit.

<edit> Kimikawa Maru's TROM has her landing 5 Suisen and 2 Suitei at Kiska on 25 Sep 1942; possibly only two of the float fighters arrived earlier aboard Chiyoda.

,[:)]

TROM


15 June 1942:
Arrives at Kiska. Joins light cruiser KISO, tender KIMIKAWA MARU and destroyers and auxiliaries that arrived earlier. Also present at Kiska is a detachment of the Toko Kokutai with six Type 97 Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boats under Captain Ito Sukemitsu.

KAMIKAWA MARU off-loads her floatplanes to the beach where a seaplane base has been set up. KAMIKAWA MARU's floatplanes fly three-hour ASW and reconnaisance patrols.

19 June 1942:
Frequent air raids on Kiska by the USAAF 11th Air Force cause KAMIKAWA MARU to take refuge at MacDonald Bay, Agattu Island, Aleutians with KIMIKAWA MARU

The TROMS always facanate me.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: stuman

I can never see a group photo like that without wondering what became of them.

Kiska was evacuated before the US/Canadian landing. They might well have survived.

[TSCofield]

Unfortunately I highly doubt it. even if they managed to leave Kiska prior to the 1943 landings they probably ended up somewhere else like the Phillipines or one of hundreds of islands where they were either starved to death or shot down during futile attacks against US forces.

I also agree, I can't look at those photos without wondering what happened to the participants.