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Type 0 Observation Seaplane, which was used by special
(suicide) attack squadrons formed at Amakusa Naval Air Group
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Amakusa Two-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane Squadron: Two Planes in First
Battle, Dove into Reef (Amakusa niza suiteitai: Uijin no 2ki, ganshō ni totsunyū)
Researched and written by Shūji Fukano and Fusako Kadota
Pages 158-161 of Tokkō kono chi yori: Kagoshima shutsugeki no kiroku
(Special attacks from this land: Record of Kagoshima sorties)
Minaminippon Shinbunsha, 2016, 438 pages
During the night of May 24, 1945, on the sea off Ibusuki City, located south
of Kagoshima Bay, the waves were high under the light of the moon, which soon
would be full. Four Type 0 Observation Seaplanes (Allied code name of
Pete), part of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps 12th Air Flotilla Two-seat
Reconnaissance Seaplane Squadron that was formed from the Amakusa Naval Air
Group, took off from the sea at 11:00 p.m.
Since the seaplane had huge pontoons called floats attached to the lower
side, it also was called a geta-clad plane. (Geta are traditional
Japanese sandals with an elevated wooden base.) A Type 0 Observation Seaplane
used for a special (suicide) attack had the middle float removed and a 310-kg bomb,
which weighed more than three times the usual float, was installed, which
caused the plane's balance to be poor. The pilots of the four planes handled the
difficult-to-maneuver planes and took off from the rough seas toward
Okinawa.
The order to sortie came in the afternoon on the same date to the Amakusa Air
Group, located at Saitsu Village (now Amakusa City) in Kumamoto Prefecture, from the 5th
Air Fleet Headquarters in Kanoya City that directed the Okinawan air operations.
Eight Type 0 Observation Seaplanes in the Amakusa Air Group Reconnaissance
Seaplane 1st and 2nd Kutai (four-plane tactical formation) advanced in the
evening to Ibusuki Naval Air Base, which was a staging base. When the bombs were
loaded, they busily prepared for the flight to Okinawa. However, the 2nd Kutai
had planes with mechanical problems, so only the four planes in the 1st Kutai
took part in Amakusa Air Group's first battle.
The Type 0 Observation Seaplane normally had a two-man crew with a pilot and
an observer responsible for navigation on a planned route. However, on this date
only the 1st and 3rd planes had observers. The 2nd and 4th planes would depend
on moonlight to fly so as to not become lost, and they earnestly followed escort
planes.
However, the 1st and 2nd planes broke off near Amami Ōshima and made forced
landings at Koniya in Setouchi Town. Only the 3rd plane manned by Flight Petty
Officer 2nd Class Akio Eshiro and Ensign Naonari Hiwada and the 4th plane
piloted by Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Noboru Yamaguchi continued to advance
toward Okinawa.
Takeshi Nakayama (89 years old, resident of Fuchū City in Tōkyō Prefecture)
thinks back about the atmosphere after the first Amakusa Air Group special
attack squadrons were sent off. "The barracks were a place where we were not
supposed to speak, and that evening not a single person went to bed even though
it was late." The pilots Flight Petty Officers 2nd Class Akio Eshiro and Noboru
Yamaguchi were both fellow trainees in the 13th Kō Class of the Navy's Yokaren
(Preparatory Flight Training Program) at Kagoshima Air Group and in the 39th
Class of Flying Technique Trainees at Amakusa. The two were assigned together to be
Special Attack Corps members.
When the estimated dive time drew near, Nakayama and others could not contain
themselves and headed toward the radio telegraph room. Nearly all the Air Group
members crowded around.
When we strained our ears to hear the radio telegraph receiver that gave off much
static, we could barely hear the telegraph message sent by the special attack
plane of "ta ta ta ta ta ta," which meant "we are diving." Soon the sound
changed to a dash of "tsu —" and abruptly stopped.
Members of 12th Air Flotilla Two-seat Reconnaissance
Seaplane Squadron at Amakusa Naval Air Base.
Ensign Naonari Hiwada (back row on left end),
Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Akio Eshiro (front
row on right end), Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class
Noboru Yamaguchi (front row in middle).
May 25 at 2:52 a.m. was the moment when his comrades' lives were lost.
Thinking that "they really died," he looked at all those gathered around whose
faces had turned white while staring out at a point.
How did the three men die? In 1985, 40 years after the war's end, a member of
the Amakusa Naval Group Association, made up of former members and bereaved
family members of the Amakusa Naval Group, visited Iheya Island in Okinawa
Prefecture and brought back astonishing news to Nakayama, who worked as the
Association's secretary.
Before dawn on May 25, 1945, a man who lives on Iheya Island witnessed the
dives and explosions one after another of the special attack planes on one of
the reefs scattered around Gushikawa Island about three kilometers offshore.
Moreover, he said that at the reef they recovered flight boots with the names of
Hiwada and Yamaguchi. From these circumstances it was clear that the two Type 0
Observation Seaplanes mistook the reef for an enemy ship and dove on it.
Even among former Air Group members, there were a succession of doubts at to
why they made this mistake. Nakayama came to understand the reason why when he went to see the
actual place. "There are several reefs with a flat shape like an aircraft
carrier. Facing bad conditions, the men had to continue to fly low in order to avoid
enemy radar and night fighters, so it is understandable that they dove at what
they believed to be an enemy ship.
Reef between Iheya Island and Izena Island (Okinawa
Prefecture) where two special attack planes dove into
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Translated by Bill Gordon
September 2024
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