air intelligence report, v1n9

8/8/2019 Air Intelligence Report, V1N9

1/8

TO KYO AP-SE "e AREA 'AcJ A.f A 0 PMXXI 80MCOM

JA.P 10eE TIME EI\.C GUNeOXYGEN #. " ' ~

~ ...cP'Hi tach i H,.t


2/8

XX I B 0 M BER e 0 MMAN~ I I I T E l l l G E N C E REPO

J AP Am. DEFENSE

Oxygen _ Critical Flight LevelsHigher M a t h e ~ a t i c sAir News from Honshu

Japanese 10 Centimeter Gun CapturedIncrease in Barrage Balloons ReportedAnother Instance of Flak Damage by Firefrom a Surface VesselSPECIAL REPORTS

-The JAF and the 21ST BO.!CO!IFLAK INTELLIGENCE

4 May 1945m BOlICOl! OPERATIONSOne Strike Gets Two Factories30 More Airfield MissionsB-29s Assist in Okinawa Fight

XXI BOHCOM THGBTSTokyo Arsenal AreaNumbered Targets in Tokyo Arsenal AreaPhoto Coverage. 15-28 April 1945


3/8

""enty nine a i r ~ r a f t fro., this" ine ~ o f J p e d 541 X 535-poul'ld IJPs ont ~ ~ l t ~ C h i plant. ~ i g h t droopedL06 X 5v5-pound ","s on the Tac:liY.a_':fa . : " i r c r ~ f t ";omp=;ny ar.d one dropned17 X 535-pound ~ r on ! ~ e ~ s h i d e nVisually f r o ~ 13,OOC fe, t to 15,oeOf ~ throuo 6/1" cloue and hllze.

Visible bursts i the strike.jhotos of t1e flrinsry t ~ B e t indicate the main pattern as coveringtnoq n o r t h ~ a s t and s,)'1t':u1est port:. .,.3 of the target erea. Snokeprohibits the plotting of o-hs inthe target. There are nu::erOU5h i ts in the large !!:a:'n engine a s s e ~ -bly, building in the s outh',1es t corn:r of the phnt . There are 15 hitson ~ j o r buildings of the T a c h i Y ~ ~ aA i r c r ~ f t Company, two hits on hangars and several adqitional burstsin the service a p ~ o n area.

Three eneny aircraft ~ e r e ce-stroved four p r o b ~ b l y destroyedand h v da"aged. One '3-89 of thisvling was hit by flak over the, target and crashed. One crashee sedburned at lwo.

314Tn ':TINGThirt eight aircraft dropped729 X 5 3 pound GPs on the prim:ry- dr ned 44 X ' i ~ 5 -t!lrget. Three oP. , wa Airerart

pound G?S on the T a c ~ i ~ ~ X 535-poti,dP13nt and one dropper eld ' visuallyGPS on Ya tSU"'t'a l ~ i ~ ~ feet t.'lroughfrom 12.000 0, There \fere6/10 cloud a ~ h a z e . ' b17"h large :nain ass emhits on "fath "itachi plant and abuilding 0 , e " bursts in theconcentration of f the plant.northwest section 0 i r raf t were de-?lve en


4/8

27 tp r l l , 108 throuAA 113, !bes ix-m ss onson tlitrdm' werea ga in st a ir rh 1d s at ItUlD1. l1ya.zald, Kokubu, JUyakonoJo, Y.anoya,and Kush1ra. All three wings par.t1cipeted. One hundred ten or 12:3airborne banbed the assigned pr1m_ar y targets visually rra:l 11,000 to16,500 fee t through O/lQ to 2/10cloud With excellent to unobservedresults reported. Enemy air oppo.s i t lon was generally moderate toweak, flak heavy and medium, meagerto mo!lerate, mostly inaccurate.One aircraft of the 73rd \'Ilna wentdown. near Agrihan. 'n1e cr8'll' bailedou t and a l l bu t one were rescued.One aircrar t or the 314th 'I1ill& waslos t to enemy action after beingh it by air-to_a1r phosphorus bOlll.baf t e r 1 eav ln g the target. Fourcrew m(lllbers were seen to parachuteend i t Is belin"ed they It'ey havebeen n icked up by a sub. (Secret)8-295 ASSIST INOKINAWA FIGHT

- - - - r " ' i " - ; - , . . , . ~ ; ~ e M r a l l y meager end inaccurate.Thh we! th e Ul'st or the air_f ie ld miSSions to be Covered byf lghter escort . Crews b


5/8

The distric t is , or wacriSs_crossed with rtre allelD8in arteriesi although SO:!lealmost solid y bUilt-UP a retween such fire breails a re aas 3/4 mile on each side.and sane open dri l l grC'Jsimilar spaces occur, Dartitoward th e wes t. but by aMth e g r o u n ~ area waS cocpacered. FINE INCEllDIARY TARGE

Rarely haS such an oppfor attack on industrieScontributing to the war-maker of th e enemY presentedAnd rarely doeS the inf'lam:nexPlosive nature of the inwithin th e target area reacdegree.gxploalons during the 1:11115siOOI wer e salci to bseeD 100 l1111es anY. 'nledamage assessment repor tth e story. At pr n t ado is l iS t th e taratU clUthe area and I nd ic at esurrerec! auaae

pages for names) are clustertl-e very center of the areaand 206 actually touching each1.evetments on some of the eT.plbuildings ar e so high t ~ o . reach above the or1gi:1al roc1110 r eg ul ar p at te rn is follo'1th e placement of these arsenagets ,bUt in general they are gmore or less concentricallyTene t 205, the grest It.abashenal.

, &

HEA1flLY POPULATED'nit 194.0 density of populationfilure!l range frOlll 30,000 to 80,000square eile, pretty th ick b}'_tern standards.

W 1 t ~ e character of the s t ructures~ l the area varies f'r0lll crowded.1\1 Ct:1Mntly '1I'ooden houses, to in ..-. .W,t1otlal buildings and of course1ta arsena ls which give th e place,-ensDa:!le. Severel of these aretilt s ~ as the photo on th e n ex t"" ._ ~ ~ h r e e largest ones. Target, and e06, (see followlM

he XXI Boober co:nmand str ikeof 1 ~ p 1 4 April against th e'tokyo Arsenal area was th esecond of th e three bi g raidsagaInst Toliyo City proper, and isUlltat1YelY esti.-ated to have de 5tt()jfld 10.'7 sc ,uare ClUes of t.he~ o r ' ! 1 cit.y. completed damageassess:aen t reportS h ave been hele.liP pend1J'\g good reconnaissance 0'10t ~ - p h Y , but on th e basis of th enasb re?orts,here are th e r e s u l t s ~1M arsenal area is an ov81-52;el!, congested I re s identia l andIntJstrtal distric t in th e north.,est uct ion of Tokyo. It is bounded OIl the north 'by the Sumida RiveraM extends as fa r south as t h ~ c t 1 o n of the Chuo ~ a i l r o a d Line; ~ in froe the \1est and th e

'lZJ.eo lallroad which, co:ning frome : e a . ~ r t h , practically bisects th e

~ 4 b , ; : d ; ' ; ; ; i t i " C & A . t f & ~ ~ " . - , ; ; . , . p ~ . - . . : -...._ ~ ~ TOKYO A j { S E N A L ~ R E ~ \

,'1 "lrhinS h ..../eDurlne; ' the S,.fre 'e6 '25 A!'rn \ 1 ~ e r ~ C l d f r ~ e l ~ i ! t2, ?4 ? planes estroj'e(l t , ~t i cn. Of t h e s ~ n the O " ' " ~ " : ; :Task :"orce 58 6 2 1 , : n o ' ! t ~b;r CITE planes 5 \'I'!I'@ - " ' " ~Force 51 , and thand ~ ' Brit iSh, navy e b & lit,th e Army Air ~ ~ search pl..rces, """II,

Despite th is thf ~ . i c t e ~ c o n S i ~ e ~ a b i e 1 ! 1 ; ; s ~a1 uni t s p a r t 1 c i p a t ~ d a . " . a t t ~s ton. During the 10 t:.t,th e operation we h1rst tils t royers and sl'l8ller ave 1 I a 4 ~ 'over 10 other Ships dSh1psextent by enemy ! l c t 1 0 ~ : ' . 8 . ~ t laged but no t sunk " !tl:lllC'! . nCl'


6/8

entral Clnfol. .f__203 I n _ -_201 l tabashi A r .\rsenal ~ n Vil

e09, l l,I t,13

~ l l 1 t a r y CunpowderArmy Branch p o ~ d e r ractory11111tary ',','orks. Taklnagawa Arcy ArsenalInawashlro T r a n s f o r m l n ~ 1tat ionAsahi Electro C h o ~ i c a l Companyr,lnugawa Steam Power Stat ionArlllorypowder ?actory. I tabashiOrdnance Storp.hf'luse?olfder "agazineTnbata-Nipporl ~ a l l r o a d YardsGovernment Steam P o ~ e r Stat lonArcy Engineer ing SchoollIaval Gunpowder "'orks!oho Steel -='oundry Co:npanyNlppon ?iston ~ l n g Company ( r 8 ~ 8 g u c h i )Physico-Che:::lical Industr ies. (Research)Oji Paper CompanyProbable Powder Plant . " ir i og r ange - Cavalrypara.de grounds adjacent to th e !::ast.lInldentified. la.!'(;e i n s t 9 . l l ~ t i o n . Probable l ightIlletals p lB nt . l rawagu ch i)~ ~ e l 7 . unidentified plant , prob3blv Oji ~ 3 c t o r y of Chuor.oY-yo, Y..r.., 1'l8nufacturing ordnance fo:, tM a r andnavy. ":nong a 8roup of ::llants directly connected dt!'!.~ ~ e n a l s . having secre t ~ o d e syobols assigned t h e ~ .er Such priVa te f irms !:l.re no t loc :! ted in thB a.-ea.Probable por.der storage or arsenal.' ~ l d e n t i r i e d industry.Diesel J idoSha Co. autos/parts ell/dnes; Ale parts."cnishi Ph t "'o.irpla 0 0 o rk s. r epo rt e d c o n v e r t e ~ to f"uZlS,ne &un Sight Circles, se!lsit1zed alu'=1inun s h ~ t s~ ~ i ~ U k u 1!l Station Y o r d S ~ l e r nst outlet. oaere e ~ o s t l jpor tant in TokyO.


7/8

' - ..

NAVAL AIR "'ORCEIn th e latterJapanese Raval AJa; t or 19considered the supe i orce (uwent a major chang/ i or arc)A series or Area Air gorganiganized to consol1dat roups Io f b at te red naval ail 'e the rements recovered at ~ n i t s .close that th wo Ji1!ppe1ar generalI;r ~ ~ ~ ~ n ~ ~ i ~ oce. defense seareh _ all" pa

Events at Okinawa indicatt h ~ / a p a n e s e have com:nitted pca 'I a ll their ca!lbBt nav~ n i t s . plus a few arlllY units,y medium beabers. to the "deof Okinawa.Since th e prioary cdssionXXI Bomber coa:nand is strbombing of Japan and s ince thanese have c ~ i t t e d theirneval air force to the defeOkinawa, i t appears th!lt thponese ArIllY fighter forcemajor defense unit .which wtempt interception of B-29th e ~ : a r lanas. 'M'lree facts sut ia te this statement:( l ) The naval ai r Installare fo r th e IDost part locaKyushu and the south and wof Honshu, In the prOX1ll1t1Nanse! Shoto. cur naTY rheavy enea1 losses or Jap nafcra t t staged frCIII these ar. . .(2) Fighters .t by t!l.of th e XXI Bomber C b I.ost17 er'f/I1 tt&bter t7P'!.durIng ..d1ua alUt;Qdt .11

Th t l a t tAr f'UrtbIJ" .IUbSta

TOkyO_!lito 6" ,24" ,40" 1 F . ....psaka-Kyoto_Izu 6" ,24" ,40" ''''Tokyo-Osaka 6" ,24" ,40" FW",r.yushu South 6",24" , 'tv" , ---Kurume-YatsushlroT o k u Y 8 m a - ~ s h u s . 6" ,24" ,40" I ........-Shlmonosekl_Kure_Sasebo~ ~ ~ U S h l r o - x u r u m e 6" ,24" ,40" , - . s h uS&EY.\.ikushlma_ t l l to - 6" ,24".40" I 'oedToyama Takayams_l111geta Nl1hama

/6 11 ,24 11 ,40 11 I.yushu E. &: S._ 'oedXurume Yatsushtro-Shlmonoseklrail'*"agoY8_J(.yoto 6" ,24" .40"

T O ~ O - l . u t o 6".24" ,40 ....T O k y O - ~ l t o _ N a g o y a Abortive 110J(yushu. 10/10 cloud' 110Kyushu AbortiveKyushu E. & S._ 6",24" ,40Kure llH.1ama

15 April thl'ouah 28 ' \ !lrl l 1 " ' ~ 5

;II- J.." ( I .Lt> Apr Kyusnu ~ a s ' t 6: ~ O U r . l l l o ."'"* ,...."fUrume-8hlmonoseklTokuyama-SaseboI Yatsushiro

,.1. ; .",. . ,. ,'... :


8/8

Jan claims of beating up the;8-29S' I ' 1 h i c ~ at tacked the Hitachiand Tachikawa aircraf t plants on 24Anril (see page 3) were, as usual ,grossly exaggerated. ' ~ . l o s t f iveB-29s on that day. Here 1S the account given by the Jap Home Service]adio, Tokyo, the. fo llowing day."The war results achieved in thebatt le of intercept ion agains t theB-29s which attacked the Tachikawaarea yesterday morning were revealedas 46 planes either shot down ordamaged.

,"The main force of approximate ly120 Variana-based B-29s attackedthe Tachikawa area, and also theShizuoka and Hnki areas Viere a t-tacked with a portion of the force

f"br about all houday in raids r frOi'l 0820s ta l la t ions . on O\lr 1 l 1 ~

"OUr a ir defensecOllbining air and laUni s, lintercepted these p ~ 'lli.1100 the a ir force anes ,the war results or ~ : ! . I tand 20 damaged. so,:"However. later contirvealed that , adding the r e ~ cO!J\pl1shed by anti-aircraftadded seven more p l a n e s . ~ .

suI ts of yesterday's b a t t l tercept ion as a result a:13 shot down e , " ~ " dal:Art o t a l of 46 shot down or 1(Restricted)

AIANEW5 FROM HONSHThe following items summarizerecent Japanese pronouncements onthe air situation. These items donot necessarilly reflect the viewsor opinions of the editors Of theAir Intelligence Repol t .

(1) Steady supply of " . I : r c r ~ l ' t toOkinawa must be maintained 7' lOU h"ar workers produce ":ac.' 11' t ~ - i ~ lunder incredible c ~ n d i t i o n ~ ' c a ~ s e dby enemy raids,theY'must never fa lte r before enemy aSsaults. (2) Jap I ~ p e r i a l Headquartannounced tota l of 111 B _ 2 ~ ; s hasshot dawn and more than 150 ~ ~ r ebig bombers damaged in last t 0 er~ e c u t i v e night raids on .ro.....100 con.. , 0 area(3) Director of Aircraft qlade statement to Jap " " t ~ d n a n c eDis return from Okinl!'ra t on uponhis inspection of Jap' 8 i r C ~ ; ~ g or

(4 ) l.litsubishi tells a uabundant lumber supplY ISshould resor t to wooden Pcome necessary.

air intelligence report, v1n9

Documents