Japanese carrier aircraft

[carnivorousplant]

Did the Japanese have any twin engined carrier based aircraft?
The notoriously inaccurate History Channel on the program Battle 360 concerning Guadalcanal showed twin engined aircraft in computer generated graphics. I have also seen a photograph in a children’s book of twin engined Japanese aircraft purportedly bombing Pearl Harbor.

[Johnny_L.A]

I think the aircraft the Japanese used on aircraft carriers were the A6M ‘Zero’, ‘Val’ and ‘Judy’ dive bombers, and the ‘Kate’ and ‘Jill’ torpedo bombers. The Japanese Navy did have a twin-engine bomber, the Mitsubishi ‘Betty’. The ‘Betty’ was known for its long range. Unfortunately for the crews, this came at the expense of defensive armor and large non-self-sealing wing tanks that made them vulnerable to attack. The ‘Betties’ were land-based.

[Johnny_L.A]

Re: Guadalcanal.

From Wiki:

At first the Bettys appeared to be trying to approach and attack Enterprise but turned towards Chicago after six Enterprise CAP fighters began to engage them. Four other CAP fighters chased the Bettys as they entered the anti-aircraft fire from Chicago’s escorting destroyers. In all, eight of the attacking Bettys were shot down by the CAP fighters or by anti-aircraft fire, but most of the bombers were able to drop their torpedoes before crashing.

[carnivorousplant]

The U.S. ships knew the Bettys were coming, because of a warning report from an Australian coastwatcher in the Solomon Islands,

So they were land based, and the computer animation on the History Channel was accurate, but the kid’s book about Pearl Harbor was not.
Thanks!

[carnivorousplant]

Upon actually reading the entire article, I see that

Partly because of their success in turning back the U.S. task force in this battle, the Japanese were successful in evacuating their remaining troops from Guadalcanal by February 7, 1943, leaving Guadalcanal in Allied hands and ending the battle for the island.

Since when did the Japanese evacuate their troops? I thought they fought to the last guy. Was retreating a less disonorable concept than surrender?

[Johnny_L.A]

@carnivorousplant

So they were land based, and the computer animation on the History Channel was accurate, but the kid’s book about Pearl Harbor was not.
Thanks!

De nada.

From the Wiki page on The Attack on Pearl Harbor (footnotes):

First wave: 189 planes, 50 Kates w/bombs, 40 Kates with torpedoes, 54 Vals, 45 Zekes Second wave: 171 planes, 54 Kates w/bombs, 81 Vals, 36 Zekes.

(‘Zeke’, of course being the American code name for the ‘Zero’.)

[Johnny_L.A]

@carnivorousplant

Since when did the Japanese evacuate their troops? I thought they fought to the last guy. Was retreating a less disonorable concept than surrender?

Operation Ke

Operation Ke… was the successful three-phase withdrawal of all Japanese forces from the Guadalcanal campaign following the defeat of the Imperial Army in ground combat centered at Henderson Field and the near destruction of Japanese naval forces in the area. The operation was agreed on and initiated on January 14, 1943, by the Imperial Japanese General Headquarters and completed by February 7, 1943, marking the end of Japanese attempts to recapture Guadalcanal.

[John_DiFool]

The Japanese sometimes were pragmatic and bugged out of no-win situations when it was possible to do so, as they also did in the Aleutians.