The Chitose Air Group (Chitose
Kōkūtai
A ''Kōkūtai'' () was a term used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) to designate a military aviation unit, similar to the Air Groups in other air arms and services of the time. (''Group'' in the British Royal Air Force, ''Grupp ...
) was an air group of the
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The group was formed on 1 October 1939 at
Chitose Airfield
, is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in Chitose, Hokkaidō, adjacent to New Chitose Airport. It is the JASDF's primary base in northern Japan and tasked with monitoring Japan's maritime borders with Russia. It was also Hokkaidō's ...
,
Hokkaidō equipped with
Mitsubishi G3M Type 96 bombers. The group was later supplemented with
Mitsubishi A5M Type 96 fighters. In December 1941, it was assigned to support Japanese Navy's
4th Fleet for operations in the central Pacific as part of the
24th Air Flotilla.
[Bullard, p.20.] It was renamed the
201 Air Group in December 1942. Not to be confused with
IJN Chitose.
References
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{{Imperial Japanese Navy air units
Groups of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
Military units and formations established in 1939
Military units and formations disestablished in 1942