26th Air Flotilla

Unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during the Pacific War

26th Air Flotilla
Active	1 April 1942
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Navy
Type	Naval aviation unit
Role	Bomber, Fighter, Dive Bomber
Part of	11th Air Fleet
Garrison/HQ	Rabaul Buin
Engagements	Solomon Islands Campaign New Guinea Campaign
Commanders
Notable commanders	Yamagata Seigo Masafumi Arima

Military unit

The 26th Air Flotilla (第二六航空戦隊, Dai Nijūroku Kōkū Sentai) was a combat aviation unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during the Pacific Campaign of World War II.

History

The 26th Air Flotilla was established on 1 April 1942 as a part of the 11th Air Fleet, and was originally composed of the Misawa Air Group and Kisarazu Air Group, both operating Mitsubishi G4M medium bombers. Under the command of Rear Admiral Seigo Yamagata, the unit was deployed to Rabaul on New Britain in August 1942 in order to reinforce the Japanese air power in the area and conduct operations in the New Guinea and Solomon Islands Campaigns. While being primarily a medium bomber unit, it eventually absorbed fighter (6th Air Group and Hiyō Air Group) and dive bomber (31st Air Group and 582nd Air Group) units too. The operational title for this hybrid organization was the 6th Air Attack Force. Due to vulnerability of G4M medium bombers, the unit took heavy losses in air combat over Guadalcanal.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Organization

Date	Higher unit	Aviation units
1 April 1942 (original)	11th Air Fleet	Misawa Air Group, Kisarazu Air Group^[4]
12 September 1942		Misawa Air Group, Kisarazu Air Group, 6th Air Group (detachment), Chitose Air Group (detachment)^[4]
10 October 1942		Misawa Air Group, Kisarazu Air Group, 753rd Air Group^[a] (detachment), 6th Air Group, 31st Air group^[5]
11 November 1942		705th Air Group^[b], 707th Air Group^[c], 204th Air Group^[d], 582nd Air Group^[e], 703rd Air Group^[f], 956th Air Group, Hiyō Air Group (detachment)^[6]

Commanding officers

	Rank	Name	Date	Note
1	Rear Admiral	Seigo Yamagata	1 April 1942
2	Rear Admiral	Kanae Kosaka	25 February 1943
3	Rear Admiral / Vice Admiral	Munetaka Sakamaki	1 September 1943	Vice Admiral on 1 November 1943.
4	Rear Admiral	Masafumi Arima	9 April 1944	Vice Admiral (posthumous) on 15 October 1944.
x		vacant	15 October 1944
5	Rear Admiral	Ushie Sugimoto	27 October 1944	Vice Admiral (posthumous) on 12 June 1945.
x		vacant	12 June 1945
x		dissolved	15 August 1945

References

Footnotes

^ Renamed Takao Air Group.
^ Renamed Misawa Air Group.
^ Renamed Kisarazu Air Group.
^ Renamed 6th Air Group.
^ Renamed 2nd Air Group.
^ Renamed Chitose Air Group.

Citations

^ Lundstrom 2005.
^ Tagaya 2001.
^ Hata, Izawa & Shores 2011.
^ ^a ^b Lundstrom 2005, pp. 189–191.
^ Lundstrom 2005, pp. 294–295.
^ Lundstrom 2005, p. 474.

Bibliography

Hata, Ikuhiko; Izawa, Yasuho; Shores, Christopher (2011). Japanese Naval Air Force Fighter Units and their aces, 1932-1945. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 9781906502843.
Lundstrom, John B. (2005). First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942 (New ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-472-8.
Tagaya, Osamu (2001). Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko 'Betty' Units of World War 2. Osprey Combat Aircraft #22. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 184176082X.

Imperial Japanese Navy air units

Air Fleet

Air Flotilla

Combined Air Group

Air Group

Naval Air Group
(Numbered name)

121
131
132
133
141
151
153
171
201
202
203
204
205
210
221
251
252
253
254
256
261
263
265
281
301
302
312
321
322
331
332
341
343
345
352
361
381
452
453
501
502
503
521
522
523
524
531
541
551
552
553
582
601
631
634
652
653
701
702
703
705
706
707
721
722
723
724
725
732
751
752
753
755
761
762
763
765
801
802
851
901
902
903
931
932
933
934
936
938
951
952
953
954
955
956
958
1001
1021
1022
1023
1081

Naval Air Group
(Place name)

Expeditionary unit	Chitose Genzan (I) Kanoya (I) Kisarazu Mihoro Misawa (I) Takao (I) Tainan (I) Tōkō Yokohama
Patrol / Defensive unit	Chichijima Chinkai Kure Kushimoto Maizuru Okinawa Ōminato Saeki Sasebo Tateyama Toyohashi (I) Yokosuka
Practice unit	Atsugi Genzan (II) Hakata Kaikō Kanoya (II) Komatsushima Kōnoike Matsushima Miyazaki Nagoya Ōi Ōita Ōmura San'a Seitō Shanhai Shinchiku Sukumo Suzuka Tainan (II) Takao (II) Tokushima Toyohashi (II) Tsuiki (I) Tsukuba Usa Yatabe
Basic training unit	Amakusa Fukuyama Himeji Hyakurihara Isahaya Iwakuni (I) Izumi 1st Izumi Jinmachi Kan'onji Kashima Kitaura Kobi Kōchi Kokubu 2nd Kōriyama Kōshū 2nd Kōwa 2nd Miho Mineyama 3rd Okazaki Ōryū Ōtsu Pusan Saijō 2nd Takao Takuma Tōkyō Tsuiki (II) Yamato
Mechanic training unit	Fujisawa Hitoyoshi 2nd Izumi 2nd Kanoya Katori Kōriyama 1st Kōriyama Kōwa 1st Kōwa Kushira Oihama Okazaki 1st Okazaki 2nd Okazaki Sagamino 1st Sagamino 2nd Sagamino Sunosaki 2nd Tainan Tarumi Taura
Preparatory flight training unit	Fukuoka Iwakuni (II) Kagoshima Kasumigaura Kofuji Komatsu Kōyasan Kurashiki Matsuyama Mie Miho 1st Miho Misawa (II) Nara Nishinomiya Seto Shiga Shimizu Takarazuka Tsuchiura Urado Uwajima

Naval Air Group
(Regional name)

Chōsen
Chūhi
Chūshi
Gōhoku
Higashikarorin
Hitō
Hokuhi
Hokutai
Hokutō
Inshi
Kantō
Kinki
Kyūshū
Marai
Mariana
Naikai
Nanpi
Nanpōshotō
Nanseishotō
Nantai
Nishikarorin
Ōu
Saikai
San'in
Taiwan
Tōin
Tōkai

Flying squadron

Fighter Squadron	161 162 163 164 165 166 167 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 315 316 317 318 351 401 402 403 407 601 602 603 701 804 812 851 901 902
Attack Squadron	1 3 5 102 103 105 107 161 251 252 253 254 256 262 263 401 405 406 501 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 711
Reconnaissance Squadron	3 4 11 12 61 101 102 301 302