IJN Akagi Carrier Planes

[DennisL]

I am currently  building the Hasegawa 1/350 model of the IJN Akagi.  I am building her as she was preparing to launch the first strike against Pearl Habor.  I have researched the types of planes used on the first strike and have found the majority of tail identification numbers for these planes. 

My question is this.  Does anyone know why the identification numbers and letters on each tail was in the Latin alphabet rather than the Japanese alphabet??  The Akagi had her name on the stern in Japanese along with a huge A on the stern of her flight deck also in Japanese identifying her as the Akagi. Why would her planes have an alpha numeric I'd in Latin? I assume most Japanese pilots would not know how to read the latin alphabet. 

Sounds like a crazy question but I haven't found anywhere which mentions this.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Dennis

[bruce d]

Hello Dennis,

I was told it was because the Latin numerals were easier to recognise from different angles and over greater distances.

This is not official but it is the answer I was given when I asked the same question forty years ago!

HTH

ruce

[Roger Pellett]

Seeing models of Japanese lanes here on the forum, i’ve wondered the same thing.

[DennisL]

Thanks Bruce for you response!

Makes sense to me but then again I am not Japanese. 

 

Dennis

[DennisL]

Given the rabid nationalism which existed in Japan at the start of the war it seems crazy that the Japanese would put a western alphabet on their war machines.

[mtaylor]

53 minutes ago, DennisL said:

Given the rabid nationalism which existed in Japan at the start of the war it seems crazy that the Japanese would put a western alphabet on their war machines.

They were very practical back then.  Still are, so in that context it makes sense.

[lmagna]

4 hours ago, mtaylor said:

They were very practical back then.

I have no idea how practical they were but they were certainly pragmatic in some matters much of the time. 

 

The use of Arabic numbers probably stems from the idea adopted by the Japanese in the Modernization period 

When you do pencil-on-paper calculations, and similar activities with precision is the main goal, kanji is simply cumbersome; Arabic numbers are precise and elegant. Japan's Great Lesson to the world: when something is more useful than something else, don't worry about where it came from, or about how you "got by" with less effective tools (numbers) in the past. Arabic numerals started to become widespread in Japan with the Meiji government's Education Order of 1872, which mandated that only Western mathematics should be taught in the newly compulsory school system.

 

The use of Arabic letters is a little more complex and I am not certain Arabic lettering was even used as early as WWII on IJN ships. It was certainly not used in forms of communication. This has caused some issues in research as allied and Japanese sources used entirely different alphabets and translations for the same ship causing in many cases considerable confusion in understanding what ship was involved. There is at least one case where the bombing of a carrier by a pilot, (As he claimed) was credited as a cruiser and he was told he miss identified his target!

 

It will be interesting what others are able to bring to the table on this one.

Edited July 4, 2022 by lmagna

[catopower]

You know, their navy has always been somewhat western-oriented.

 

Not only were many (most?) early ships purchased from western shipyards, in the 1850s, the earliest navy learned their commands in Dutch. 

 

I'd actually be curious to find out how the instrumentation was labeled on ships built in England, etc.

[DennisL]

Would anyone happen to have any extra IJN Nakajima Type 97 bombers in their inventory?  If so please let me know.  I would be happy to purchase them.  I need 9 more planes to complete my Akagi for the first wave attack at Pearl Harbor.  There were a total of 27 Type 97.  I've tried everywhere but apparently the Hasegawa sets are out of production.  There's one on ebay from Japan but it's selling for $188!!  

 

Dennis

[Stevinne]

I'm currently building Hasegawa's 1:48 B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bomber. The plane has the markings of that flown by Lt. Jouichi Tomonaga, strike leader from the Hiryu at the battle of Midway. Her tail number is BI-310 in standard western letters and numbers. I'd say you can't go wrong trusting Hasegawa on a detail like that. Tomonaga was the guy whose plane had its fuel tanks damaged on the initial morning strike on Midway. He was able to return and land on Hiryu. When the Americans put the Akagi, Soryu and Kaga out of action and took out a large part of the Japanese strike aircraft, Tomonaga led the Hiryu's strike against the Yorktown, though the damage to the plane meant he didn't have enough fuel for the round trip flight. He managed to launch a topedo at Yorktown, though it missed, and was shot down by Jimmy Thach.  I've always thought the B5N2 was one the best-looking WWII planes, and the Hasegawa kit has been a great build. 

[DennisL]

Hi Stevinne,

Hasegawa definitely makes great kits.  I am currently building the IJN Akagi in 1/350 scale and have purchased all of the PE add on kits that go along with the kit.  It is somewhat of a PE hell once you get into it but the final results are quite stunning.  Hasegawa supplies 6 Kates in the original kit along with 3 type 99 dive bombers and 3 Zeros.  I added 2 extra plane kits a while back bringing my total of Kates to 18 and 9 zeros for the first strike at Pearl.

 

Incidentally, if you want an excellent read on the Battle of Midway and the story of Lt. Tomonaga I highly recommend the book "Shattered Sword" by Tully & Parshall.  It is written from the Japanese perspective and really gets into the difference in philosophies of the Japanese with respect to both carrier design and plane design and the factors which led to the Japanese defeat at Midway.

 

Dennis

[Canute]

I'll second that book recommendation. Excellent read.

[Stevinne]

On 7/6/2022 at 7:54 AM, DennisL said:

Hi Stevinne,

Hasegawa definitely makes great kits.  I am currently building the IJN Akagi in 1/350 scale and have purchased all of the PE add on kits that go along with the kit.  It is somewhat of a PE hell once you get into it but the final results are quite stunning.  Hasegawa supplies 6 Kates in the original kit along with 3 type 99 dive bombers and 3 Zeros.  I added 2 extra plane kits a while back bringing my total of Kates to 18 and 9 zeros for the first strike at Pearl.

 

Incidentally, if you want an excellent read on the Battle of Midway and the story of Lt. Tomonaga I highly recommend the book "Shattered Sword" by Tully & Parshall.  It is written from the Japanese perspective and really gets into the difference in philosophies of the Japanese with respect to both carrier design and plane design and the factors which led to the Japanese defeat at Midway.

 

Dennis

I've got Hasegawa's full-hull 1/700 Akagi waiting in the wings with the basic IJN photoetch to add to her. I've seen some amazing builds of the 1/350 kit. The PE really does help make it a beauty, though I imagine the build time for such a kit is probably at least equal to a wooden ship. I've been meaning to try "Shattered Sword" since I've been fascinated with Midway since reading "Incredible Victory" by Walter Lord as a kid. I recently picked up this memoir of a Kate pilot for my Kindle. My biggest problem is that books I'm interested in, like models I want to build, pile up faster than my free time expands. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00THSCSS8/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title