In this photo history, Donald Nijboer traces the history of aircraft carriers, from their early development just after World War I, to the Japanese carrier-borne attack on Pearl Harbor, through the great battles of the Pacific War, which featured some of military history’s great ships: the Yorktown, the Enterprise, the Hornet, the Lexington, and other vessels. Special sections cover […]
By the time the Americans began their aerial bombardment of Japan in 1944, both the JAAF and IJNAF were spent forces. What the Japanese did have though was the Ki-44 “Tojo.” Armed with two 40 mm cannon, it was the most heavily armed and feared single-seat fighter to see action against the new American bomber, […]
August 15, 1945 just hours before the Japanese surrender broadcast, the last two dogfights of World War II occurred above and around Tokyo Bay. The American’s claim it was the Hellcats from US Navy squadron VF-88, the British say it was the Seafires from the 24th Naval Fighter Wing. Both groups of fighters encountered Japanese […]
