was an officer and

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

fighter pilot in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

(IJN) during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

and the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

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 opposin ...

. In aerial combat over China and the Pacific, he was officially credited with destroying 27 enemy aircraft.

Flying ace

Akamatsu was known as a troublemaker and trickster. Many of his air victories were obtained while drunk. Despite this, his supervisors stood behind him, as did his fellow pilots who frequently defended and covered for him.

Henry Sakaida Henry Sakaida (October 1951 28 August 2018) was an American writer who authored a number of books relating to World War II. He was a third-generation Japanese-American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the t ...

confirmed that Akamatsu flew for more than 8,000 flight hours. At the end of the war, Akamatsu flew the Mitsubishi J2M Raiden fighter. Akamatsu was credited with shooting down 11 enemy aircraft over China in the

, including four in a single engagement near Nanchang on 25 February 1938. In the opening months of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, he served in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Dutch East Indies campaign The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Forces from the Allies attempted u ...

s. From January 1944 until the end of the war, Akamatsu flew out of

Atsugi Air Base is a joint Japan-US naval air base located in the cities of Yamato and Ayase in Kanagawa, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy (USN) air base in the Pacific Ocean and once housed the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5), which ...

, defending Tokyo from

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

air attacks.

After the war

After the war, Akamatsu worked as a fish search pilot for the Kōchi Fishery Association and later ran a small cafe in Kōchi. After struggling for years with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

, Akamatsu died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on 22 February 1980.

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

"Song of Raiden fighter squadron"
''Nippon News'', No. 254. in the official website of

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

. *
The Bad Boys
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akamatsu, Sadaaki 1910 births 1980 deaths Japanese naval aviators Japanese World War II flying aces People from Kōchi Prefecture Deaths from pneumonia in Japan Imperial Japanese Navy officers