DIVINEWIND
Lt.J.G. Shunsuke Tomiyasu
【Introduction】
At 6:56 am on May 14, 1945 , the US Navy's iconic aircraft carrier Enterprise (CV6), known as The Big-E, was rammed by a Zero fighter and severely damaged. As a result, Enterprise was towed to the Navy Yard for repairs and never returned to the battle line. The U.S. military was impressed by the calm demeanor of this kamikaze and its strong determination until the last moment, and called it DIVINEWIND to distinguish it from other KAMIKAZE. Who was in this Zero(A6M5c) Fighter, and what kind of drama happened from sortie to rush, and even today after the war?
The commander of the 6th Tsukuba SAU
【Suffering of The Big-E】
TF58 (58th Task Force) suffered heavy damage on May 14th. Shortly after dawn, 26 Japanese planes attacked. Six were shot down by anti-aircraft fire, and 19 were shot down by CAPs (air patrol aircraft). However, at 0656 (6:56 am), one of the surviving planes that had slipped past them crashed into the rear of the Enterprise's front elevator. It blew up the elevator hall and lifted a large overhang of the flight deck. The bomb penetrated the flight deck and reached the depths of the ship 50 feet further (three floors below) and exploded. The elevator was destroyed and its parts (a platform on which the plane rests up and down) were blown up 400 feet (130 meters) into the air. Fire broke out in the forward part of the containment deck and in the elevator room. The fire quickly came under control and was extinguished in 30 minutes. In spite of the heavy property damage, casualties were relatively light, with 13 killed and 68 wounded. The Enterprise had to be sent back to the Puget Sound Navy Yard for major repairs. A U.S. military pilot wrote in detail about the battle situation that day. When this Zero Fighter was about to be hit by a CAP or a barrage, it hid in the clouds, and occasionally popped its head out of the clouds to confirm the position of The Big-E, and started a dive after getting close to it. When it is about to overshoot at high speed and nose-up, it corrects itself by flying backwards, and rushes toward the elevator, which is the weakest point of the mothership. The Enterprise burst into flames and was forced to withdraw from the battlefield. He praised him for accomplishing, in an instant, what the Japanese navy senior veterans could not have done in three years. Others call this kamikaze plane DIVINEWIND to distinguish it from other kamikaze planes. While the so-called kamikaze has a meaning of recklessness, it can be said that the Zero Fighter's exceptional planning and ingenious and precise technology aroused special respect and a great impression on the US military.
Lt.Tomiyasu’s A6M5c w No.50(500kg)bomb
The Big-E wrecked by Tomiyasu’s Zero
【History of confirmation】
It all started when Kan Sugawara, a 77th Class of I.J.Naval Academy, was interviewing U.S. officials about the military record of Kazuo Nakai, a 63rd IJNA. Thay said, “At 14/05/1945 0656, a Kamikaze-Zero Fighter piloted by Lt. named Tomizai was rushing into the Enterprise." On the evening of May 14, the day of the raid, the 13 crewmen who died in the attack by the kamikaze planes were wrapped in Stars and Stripes and buried in the water. Kamikaze pilots were also buried at sea from the stern. At that time, it was discovered that he was a Navy lieutenant from the insignia on his flight suit, and from the business cards in his pocket, a second-generation Japanese-American interpreter deciphered him as Tomizai.By the way, there is no name named Tomizai among those who did not return from the Special Attacks that day. Investigations began in both Japan and the United States to find out who it was. According to the National Institute for Defense Studies, four lieutenants were among the bombers who did not return that day, and two of them were still alive elsewhere at 0656, when the Enterprise was rammed. The other two were Lt.J.G. Shunsuke Tomiyasu of the 6th Tsukuba SAU and Fumio Kusumoto of the 11th Kemmu SAU. This led to the conclusion that Tomizai must be Tomiyasu. On the Japanese side, the bereaved family of Lt.J.G. Tomiyasu (who was promoted 2nd class specially to Lieutenant Commander after his death), Mr. Hideo (younger brother) and Hakuoh Bereaved Family Association, and the Tsukuba Naval Air Group Memorial Association decided to ask for the fragments of Tomiyasu's Zero to be returned. It was decided that Mr. Sugawara would serve as the point of contact for Japan.
【Tomobe Town Museum of History and Folklore Special Exhibition】
In August 2003, Tomobe Town (now Kasama City, Ibaraki pref.) held a special exhibition titled ‘’Tsukuba Naval Air Corps and Kamikaze Special Attack Squadron - Wishes for Peace''. In the lobby on the 1st floor of the central public hall, fragments of Lt.J.G.Tomiyasu’s Zero Fighter, his suicide note were displayed. And former Tsukuba air pilot instructor and the commander of Jinrai Corps Ouka SAU. Captain Fujio Hayashi (71st IJNA, former Air Self-Defense Force Major, President of the Tsukuba Naval Air Corps Memorial Association) gave a lecture titled "The Origin of Kamikaze and the Tsukuba Naval Air Corps." Approximately 140 people attended the lecture (capacity: 150 people).
"With a wish for peace, we are pleased to hold a special exhibition at the Tomobe Town Museum of History and Folklore: 'Tsukuba Naval Air Corps and the Kamikaze Special Attack Squadron: Debris from the Zero Fighter that rushed into USS Enterprise'. Kamikaze Special Attack Corps were attacking the US forces around Okinawa bitterly, the site of the fiercest battles of the Pacific theatre. On May 14, 1945, Lt.J.G. Shunsuke Tomiyasu, the commander of the 6th Tsukuba SAU, deftly dodging a fierce attack from the US forces and finally rushed into USS Enterprise. 14 crew members were killed and 60 were wounded in this attack. USS Enterprise, which had achieved brilliant results, was not able to be recover by the end of the WWⅡ. Norman Zaft, one of the crew members of USS Enterprise had debris and part of the propeller from the crashed Zero. For a long time Mr. Norman didn't have a good feeling about Japan and Kamikaze. Because three of his colleagues were killed in action. But after more than fifty years, this animosity has faded, and he has decided to return to the bereaved family of Lt.J.G. Tomiyasu in Japan one of his two precious mementos, the piece of the Zero. Through friends in Japan and the United States, investigations into the crew of the Zero and his bereaved family proceeded, and this year it was discovered that the pilot was Lt.J.G. Shunsuke Tomiyasu and his bereaved family were in Tokyo. In early July, fragments of the Zero fighter were returned. This exhibition was made possible thanks to the courtesy of Mr. Hideo Tomiyasu, the bereaved family of Lt.J.G. Tomiyasu, Mr. Fujio Hayashi, Mr. Nobuya Kinase, of the Tsukuba Naval Air Group Memorial Association, Mr. Takeharu Nozaki of the Hakuoh Bereaved Family Association, and Mr. Kan Sugawara, who negotiated the return. It will be held in Tomobe-cho, where the Tsukuba Navy Air Group were based , and where Lt.J.G. Tomiyasu belonged. From this small fragment, we are keenly aware of the weight of history and the preciousness of human life."
Pamphlet of Exibition（Aug. 2003）
Zero's fragment
【Published in overseas magazines】
"NAVAL HISTORY" , the magazine published by the U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE (USNI) contains a detailed eight-page article titled "Who Knocked the Enterprise Out of the War?" contributed by Kan Sugawara (Issue of April, 2008). The Enterprise is a symbolic aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy, and although it has many battle records, it was severely damaged by Lt.J.G. Tomiyasu's attack, and not only did it leave the line of battle, but three months later, on August 15, World War II ended. Eventually, it never saw combat again until it was retired in 1947 and dismantled in May 1960. By the way, CVN65, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, inherited the name Enterprise along with the nickname Big-E. Perhaps because of this, even today, 63 years after the war, there is something special about Real Tomi-Zai, Lt.J.G. Tomiyasu, who destroyed the Enterprise.
NAVAL HISTORY Issue April 2008
【Farewell letter of Lt.J.G Shunsuke Tomiyasu】
Dear Father, Mother
Suddenly, I was ordered to attack certain place, and I'm leaving now.
Of course, I will not return alive because I lay down my life for the country. We are always prepared for great achievement.
The rise and fall of my homeland depends on now. We will serve as defenders of our country.
You may miss me when I'm gone, but please do your best and live in good health.
What worries me is that you feel deep sorrow with a heavy heart.
As long as I joined the navy, of course I was prepared for death, so I don't think you will be lonely.
I will write to Hideo, but please tell him do his best.
Lt.J.G. Kondo is scheduled to visit, so please meet him.
Then....
I will do my best, so don't worry about that.
Shunsuke
〔the13th Class of Reserve Students ,
Waseda University School of Political Science and Economics〕
Lt.J.G Shunsuke Tomiyasu
References
"History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II Volume 14 Victory in the Pacific Chapter 16 May days at Okinawa Section 2 The Fast Carrier Force"
U.S. Navy Lieutenant General Samuel Elliott Morrison
"Tsukuba Navy Air Group and Kamikaze Special Attack Squadron"
" Tsukuba Naval Air Group Recollections of Their Youth"
with added quotes from the Lifelong Learning Division of the Tomobe Town Board of Education