Anybody know what air group the last Aichi Type 99s to attack USS Nevada on Dec. 7 were from? Only ref. I can find are two paintings. One from Robert Taylor (usually has his sh*t together.) is from Kaga. Other shows a single blue fuselage band , indicating Soryu. Printed matter I’ve seen just says they were attacked by bombers. No info on type or air group… (Note: They were more successful than the B-29 at Bikini Atoll. The bombardier MISSED by a 1/2 mile. They Val crews scored a couple hits.)
The first wave launched B5N Kates from Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu carrying torpedoes or heavy bombs for anti shipping, D3A Vals from Shokaku and Zuikaku tasked with hitting airfields, and fighters from all 6 six carriers as escorts. The second wave was something of the reverse, with Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu launching D3A Vals for striking both ships and airfields, and Zuikaku and Shokaku launching B5Ns as level bombers for airfield targets. Again all six carriers launched fighters to escort the strike group. As far as which ship’s Vals was tasked with ships or airfields on the second wave, I’m not sure if I have that info in my books here.
Paydirt! according to “Attack on Pearl Harbor” by Stan Cohen, it was Kaga’s dive bombers that went after USS Nevada. Two red stripes on the rear fuselage for that air group, tail codes would be
AII-2xx. Vertical stabilizer stripes depends upon the aircraft position.
Awesome. Thanks. Taylors painting … what I saw of it … had red bands , but could not tell if there was 1 (Akagi) or Kaga’s 2. Wonder if there’s info on the Kate that hit Nevada with the torpedo at the start of the festivities. Thinking 'bout doing a Pearl Harbor set (Kaga Val, Kate with torpedo, Kate with bomb (the one that got Arizona? ) , and Zero … each from different carriers. Have to do duplicates of 2 to get the other 2 carriers represented. And maybe a Jake and Dave from the two cruisers , Tone and Chikuma that flew weather recce and DBA before & after.)
Off the top of my head, I want to say that the First Carrier Division’s Torpedo Kate’s (Akagi & Kaga) were tasked with Battlship Row, while Second Carrier Division’s Kates (Soryu & Hiryu) were tasked with Aircraft Carrier Row on the opposite side of Ford Island. The final flights of Second Division Kates switched to Battleship Row when they saw that there were no carriers moored during the attack.
The bomber generally given credit for the fatal bomb hit on Arizona was supposedly from Soryu, and reputed to have the best bombardier in the IJNAF aboard. He was later shot down over Wake Island while supporting the landings there.
I’ll check my book again to see if it has the info as to which air group torpedoed Nevada.
With the clues you guys gave me I found this… #34 - PEARL HARBOR raid - Kaga’s dive bombers (forumotion.com)
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Heres info on all the Pearl Harbor attackers. (least if you scroll down to the PH sections.) Of interest is the recon entries. Lahaina (which was devastated by a wildfire a little over a month ago) was scouted by a Jake from Tone, but no ships were at the anchorage there. COLOR PROFILES (forumotion.com)