Kenji Okabe

Kenji Okabe
Kenji Okabe
Native name	岡部健二
Born	1915; Fukuoka, Japan
Died	?
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN)
Rank	Ensign
Unit	Saeki Air Group; Ōmura Air Group; 12th Air Group; Shōkaku; 634th Naval Air Group; 601st Naval Air Group;
Battles/wars	World War II:; Attack on Pearl Harbor; Indian Ocean raid; Battle of the Coral Sea; Solomon Islands Campaign; Battle of Leyte;

Kenji Okabe (岡部健二, Okabe Kenji, born 1915) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Participating in many of the Pacific War battles and campaigns as a member of several units, Okabe was officially credited with destroying 15 enemy aircraft. Okabe was credited with shooting down eight enemy aircraft on 8 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the IJN's official record for the number of aircraft destroyed in a single encounter.[1] He is famous for his strong opposition to the kamikaze attacks, rare in IJN at the time. Okabe survived the war.

References

Notes

Hata

Sources

Hata, Ikuhiko; Yasuho Izawa (1989). Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in World War II. Translated by Don Cyril Gorham. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-315-6.
Sakaida, Henry (2002). Aces of the Rising Sun, 1937–1945. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-618-6.
Sakai, Saburo; Martin Caidin; Fred Saito (1957). Samurai. ibooks, inc. ISBN 0-7434-9332-X.

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[1] Hata