Jirō Chōno was an officer and ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In combat over China, he was officially credited with destroying seven enemy aircraft. Chōno died in action on 21 February 1941 over

Kunming Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...

. While serving aboard the

fleet aircraft carrier A fleet carrier is an aircraft carrier designed to operate with the main fleet of a nation's navy. The term was developed during World War II, to distinguish it from the escort carrier and other less capable types. In addition to many medium-siz ...

Kaga on 13 April 1938, then-PO1c Chōno was part of a six-fighter escort group of three A4N and three A5M fighters led by Lt. Teshima to cover eighteen D1A1 dive-bombers led by Lt. Nishihara on a strike mission against

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

; Lt. Teshima's A5M was malfunctioning, and PO1c Chōno in his A5M had taken over command of the fighter group, when they later were engaged by nine Gladiators of the Chinese Air Force 5th PS, 29th Squadron led by Capt. John "Buffalo" Wong and nine Gladiators led by Capt.

Louie Yim-qun "Clifford" Louie Yim-qun (; 1914–1999), also known as Louie Yen-chung (), was a Chinese-American pilot and military officer in the Republic of China. Louie's father was from Taishan county, Guangdong, China, but Louie was born in Seattle, Washin ...

of the 28th Squadron. In the ensuing running air battle and dogfights over Canton city, the Chinese Gladiator pilots claimed at least one A5M, two or three A4Ns and two or three D1A1s; Capt. Wong of the 29th scored a triple-kill, successively shooting down a D1A1, an A4N and an A5M, before being shot down himself by Jirō Chōno; although Capt. Wong survived, his injuries will put him out of action for an extended period of time. Both PO1c Chōno and PO3c Hatsu-o Hidaka (flying an A4N) would each score double-victories against the formidable Gladiators in this major air-battle over Canton.

References

1907 births 1941 deaths Japanese military personnel killed in action Japanese naval aviators Military personnel from Ehime Prefecture Imperial Japanese Navy officers Aviators killed by being shot down Military personnel killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War {{Japan-mil-bio-stub