Air Corps

Aircraft Carriers and Bases

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
11th Carrier Division Chitose (seaplane tender) Pete and Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane 16
Jake 7
Kamikawa-Maru (seaplane tender) Pete and Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane 8
Jake 4

Third Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
1st Carrier Division Shokaku Zero 27
Val 27
Kate 18
Zuikaku Zero 27
Val 27
Kate 18
2nd Carrier Division Junyo Zero 16
Val 18
Kate 9
Hiyo Zero 21
Val 18
Kate 9
Ryujo Zero 24
Kate 9

Fourth Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
4th Naval Base Force 21st Air Corps Jake 11
5th Naval Base Force (Attachment) Jake 6
6th Naval Base Force 19th Air Corps Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane 8
Jake 10
(Attachment) Kunikawa-Maru
(Seaplane Tender)
Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane 6
(Attachment) Transport Planes 3

Fifth Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
(Attachment) Chichijima Air Corps Jake 6
(Attachment) Kamikawa-Maru (Seaplane Tender) Jake 8
(Attachment) 5th Air Corps Rufe 12

Eighth Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
(Attachment) Kiyokawa-Maru (Seaplane Tender) Pete and Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane 8
Jake 4
(Attachment) 2nd Air Corps Zero 16
Kate 16

Eleventh Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
22nd Air Flotilla Mihoro Air Corps Nell 36
Genzan Air Corps Nell 36
Zero 36
24nd Air Flotilla Chitose Air Corps Betty 36
Zero 36
1st Air Corps Betty 36
Zero 36
14th Air Corps Mavis and Emily 16
25th Air Flotilla Yokohama Air Corps Mavis 16
Rufe 12
Tainan Air Corps Zero 60
Type 98 Reconnaissance Plane 8
Transport Plane 4
4th Air Corps Nell and Betty 48
26th Air Flotilla Misawa Air Corps Nell and Betty 36
Kisarazu Air Corps Nell and Betty 36
6th Air Corps Zero 60
Type 98 Reconnaissance Plane 8
Transport Plane 12

Malay Area Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
12 Naval Base Force
(Attachment) 40th Air Corps Kate 12
(Attachment) Sagara-Maru (Seaplane Tender) Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane 8
(Attachment) Transport Plane 1

Dutch East Indies Area Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
21st Naval Base Force 33rd Air Corps Kate 8
24th Naval Base Force 36th Air Corps Jake 8
(Attachment) 35th Air Corps Val 12
(Attachment) Sanyo-Maru (Seaplane Tender) Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane 6
Jake 2
(Attachment) Transport Plane 2

Philippines Area Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
(Attachment) 31st Air Corps Val 16
(Attachment) Sanuki-Maru Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane 8
(Attachment) Transport Plane 1

Southwest Area Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
21st Air Flotilla Kanoya Air Corps Betty 48
Zero 36
Toko Air Corps Mavis 16
(Attachment) Transport Plane 3
23rd Air Flotilla Takao Air Corps Betty 60
3rd Air Corps Zero 60
Type 98 Reconnaissance Plane 8
(Attachment) Transport Plane 4
(Attachment) Transport Plane 3

Attached to Combined Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
Kasuga-Maru (Converted Carrier) Zero 11
Type 96 Dive Bomber 14
Yawata-Maru (Converted Carrier) Kate 14

Northern China Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
(Attachment) Jake 4

Southern China Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
(Attachment) Jake 3

Hainan Naval Station

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
Kate 4

China Area Fleet

Division, Flotilla, etc. Warship, Air Corps, etc. Plane Types Number
(Attachment) Kate 8

Other Vessels

In addition, there were aboard the fleet's various Battleships, Cruisers, Submarines and other vessels.

Type Number
Pete and Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane 39
Jake and Type 94 Reconnaissance Seaplane 44
Type 96 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane (used on Submarines) 14
Type 98 Night Scout Seaplane 3

Total Aircraft

Type Designation Number
Carrier-based fighters (all Zeros) 492
Carrier-based dive bombers (mostly Vals) 132
Carrier-based attack bombers (all Kates) 141
Land-based reconnaissance planes (all Type 98) 24
Land-based attack bombers (Nells and Bettys) 360
Transport Planes (Type 96 and Type 0) 32
Two-seat reconnaissance seaplanes (mostly Type 95) 107
Three-seat reconnaissance seaplanes (Type 0 and Jake) 121
Fighter seaplanes (all Type 2 Rufe) 24
Small-type reconnaissance seaplanes (all Type 96) 14
Night scout planes (all Type 98) 3
Flying boats (mostly Mavis and some Emily) 48
Total 1,498

This total represented an increase of only 117 aircraft over what was available on 7 December 1941.

Allied and Japanese Designations

Aircraft identification in the source given below is given primarily by Allied designations and for that reason these same designations are used in the table above. A cross-reference with Japanese designations is shown below for clarity.

Allied Designation Japanese Designation
Short Long
Zero (Zeke) Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter
Kate Nakajima B5N2 Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Bomber
Val Aichi D3A Navy Type 99 Carrier Bomber
Nell Mitsubishi G3M Navy Type 96 Land-based Attack Bomber
Betty Mitsubishi G4M Navy Type 1 Land-based Attack Bomber
Alf Kawanishi E7K Navy Type 94 Reconnaissance Seaplane
Babs Mitsubishi C5M Navy Type 98 Reconnaissance Plane (Land Based)
Laura Aichi E11A Navy Type 98 Reconnaissance Seaplane
Jake Aichi E13A Navy Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplane
Pete Mitsubishi F1M-2 Navy Type 0 Observation Seaplane
Slim Watanabe E9W Navy Type 96 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane
Mavis Kawanishi H6K1 Navy Type 97 Flying Boat
Emily Kawanishi H8K1 Navy Type 2 Flying Boat
Rufe Nakajima A6M2-N Navy Type 2 Floatplane fighter
Tina Yokosuka L3Y Navy Type 96 Transport
Tabby Showa L2D Navy Type 0 Transport

Sources

  • "Zero! The Story of Japan's Air War in the Pacific: 1941-45" by Masatake Okumiya and Jiro Horikoshi with Martin Caidin

Page History

22 December 2008
Benchmark
12 December 2011
Minor additions and corrections