Kenji Okabe

Kenji Okabe

Born	1915 Fukuoka, Japan
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 Air Group 601st 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.

References

Notes

^ Hata

Sources

Hata, Ikuhiko; Yasuho Izawa, Don Cyril Gorham (translator) (1975 (original) 1989 (translation)). Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in World War II. 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.

Persondata
Name	Okabe, Kenji
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1915
Place of birth	Fukuoka, Japan
Date of death
Place of death