Duel 073 - F4U Corsair vs Ki-84 “Frank”. Pacific Theater 1945 (2016) COMP.pdf

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F4U CORSAIR
Ki-84 “FRANK”
Pacific Theater 1945
EDWARD M. YOUNG
Author
Edward M. Young is a retired financial executive with
degrees in political science from Harvard University and
the University of Washington. During his career he held
assignments in New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
He has written a number of books and numerous articles
on aviation and military history. He is the author of many
Osprey books, including Duel 62:
F6F Hellcat vs A6M
Zero-Sen
and Aircraft of the Aces 119:
F6F Hellcat Aces of
VF-9.
He lives with his wife in Seattle, Washington.
Illustrator
Jim Laurier is a native of New England, growing up in
New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He has been drawing
since he could hold a pencil and throughout his life he has
worked in many mediums creating artwork on a variety of
subjects. He has worked on the Osprey Aviation list since
2000 and in that time he has produced some of the finest
artwork seen in these volumes.
Gareth Hector is a digital artist of international standing
as well as an aviation history enthusiast. Gareth, based in
Scotland, completed the battlescene artwork and cover
artworks for this volume.
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F4U CORSAIR
Ki-84 “FRANK”
Pacific Theater 1945 
EDWARD M. YOUNG
This electronic edition published in 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Osprey Publishing
PO Box 883, Oxford, OX1 9PL, UK
1385 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Osprey Publishing, part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
E-mail:
info@ospreypublishing.com
© 2016 Osprey Publishing Ltd.
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private
study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978 1 4728 1460 9
PDF ISBN: 978 1 4728 1461 6
ePub ISBN: 978 1 4728 1462 3
Edited by Tony Holmes
Cover artwork and battlescene by Gareth Hector
Three-views, cockpits, armament scrap views and Engaging the Enemy
artwork by Jim Laurier
Index by Mark Swift
Typeset in Adobe Garamond and Conduit ITC
Map and formation diagrams by Bounford.com
Originated by PDQ Media, Bungay UK
F4U Cover Art
Marine Air Group (MAG) 14 began re-equipping with the F4U-4 Corsair on
May 15, 1945 and on June 8 it arrived with its new airplanes on Okinawa.
MAG-14’s three Corsair squadrons started flying combat air patrols (CAPs) the
next day. On June 21 a division from VMF-223 was flying a late CAP when the
division leader spotted a formation of 12 Japanese fighters flying in near line
abreast. Closing in on the formation, the pilots identified the Japanese fighters as
“Tojos,” although they were more likely to have been “Franks” from the 26th
Shimbu-Tai unit, with an escort of more Ki-84s from the 47th Hikō Sentai.
Using the superior speed of their F4U-4s, 1Lt Martin Tiernan and his wingman,
1Lt John Groot, closed on a section flying on the right side of the formation.
Tiernan quickly shot down the wingman, hitting the Japanese fighter in the
cockpit. Another “Frank” then turned, attempting to get on Tiernan’s tail. The
JAAF pilot opened fire as he closed on the Corsair, Tiernan seeing tracers flying
over his right wing. As he pulled up to evade his pursuer, Tiernan’s wingman
came in on the “Frank” from above and behind and shot it down with two short
bursts. Both Ki-84s went down smoking and crashed into the sea below. (Cover
artwork by Gareth Hector)
Ki-84 Cover Art
On May 4, 1945, Maj Michiaki Tojo, commander of the 103rd Hikō Sentai, led
a formation of 30 Ki-84s from the 101st, 102nd and 103rd Hikō Sentai as
escorts for a mixed formation of Special Attack airplanes sent to attack US Navy
vessels off Okinawa. The Ki-84s had to zigzag above the slower bomb-laden
kamikaze. Near the island of Iheya Shima, northwest of Okinawa, the formation
spotted several American ships and the Special Attack airplanes began their final
dives. Flying above and monitoring the attack, Maj Tojo suddenly saw two F4U
Corsairs below him, intent on intercepting the Special Attack formation. One
Corsair turned to the right and came into firing range. Apparently unseen, Maj
Tojo opened fire and sent the F4U down smoking. The leading Corsair, probably
flown by Lt Saul Chernoff of VF-85, also turned to the right and failed to notice
the Ki-84s above until Maj Tojo was in a position to open fire, hitting Chernoff’s
engine. The naval aviator dove away, with his Corsair smoking badly, and
successfully ditched. Chernoff was rescued, only to be killed subsequently on June
2, 1945 when VF-85 clashed with the N1K2-J “Georges” of the 343rd Kokutai
over Kyushu. (Cover artwork by Gareth Hector)
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Ms. Naomi Williams for translating several articles on the
Type 4 Fighter and memories from former Hayate pilots. My good friend
Osamu Tagaya has again been generous with his time and extensive knowledge
of Japanese Army and Navy aviation in World War II. Jim Lansdale provided me
with copies of the Japanese Monograph Series relating to Home Defense.
Benjamin Kristy, Aviation Curator at the National Museum of the Marine
Corps, provided information on Capt William Snider of VMF-221. The images
for this volume came from Philip Jarrett, Dr. Yasuho Izawa, the National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the National Naval Aviation
Museum and the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. I would like to
thank Holly Reed and her able staff at NARA, Hill Goodspeed and his
volunteers at the National Naval Aviation Museum and Amy Heidrick and
Jessica Jones at the Museum of Flight. P. J. Muller at the Museum of Flight
worked up the image to illustrate the problem of aircraft recognition. I would
also like to express my appreciation to artists Gareth Hector and Jim Laurier,
with whom I have worked on previous Osprey volumes. It has been a pleasure to
work with them again. Thanks to Tony Holmes at Osprey for his patience and
support of this and other projects. Lastly, I would like to express my appreciation
to my late father, who, as a young intelligence officer in a B-29 wing on Guam
in the summer of 1945, was responsible for tracking all sightings and
engagements with the Ki-84 “Frank.” He sparked my interest in this exceptional
Japanese fighter airplane.
Osprey Publishing supports the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland
conservation charity. Between 2014 and 2018 our donations will be spent on
their Centenary Woods project in the UK.
www.ospreypublishing.com 
Previous Page
Capt Tadao Ikeda, CO of the 51st Sentai, stands by the tail of one of the
Ki-84s he flew during the war. Ikeda assumed command of the 51st in
December 1944 and remained with the unit until the end of the war. After
withdrawing from the Philippines, the Sentai reformed and flew Ki-84s in
defense of the Home Islands from Shimodate, northeast of Tokyo. (Dr. Yasuho
Izawa)
 
CONTENTS 
Introduction
Chronology
Design and Development
Technical Specifications
The Strategic Situation
The Combatants
Combat
Statistics and Analysis
Aftermath
Further Reading
Index
4
8
10
26
34
39
48
69
75
78
80

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