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NOTES TO TABLES 23 AND 24

These tables provide a breakdown of air combat activity by type of aircraft and primary purpose of the mission during which the combat occurred.

Well over half of the total number of sorties engaging enemy aircraft in combat were on offensive missions, one-twelfth were on reconnaissance and miscellaneous missions, and less than 40 percent were on defensive missions. Of the total enemy aircraft shot down, 7 percent were encountered on reconnaissance and search missions, and the remainder were evenly divided between offensive and defensive encounters. Thus, as would be expected, more enemy planes were destroyed per own plane engaging in defensive combat than in offensive combat.

On offensive missions the enemy planes engaged were over 90% fighter types, while in defensive actions about 40% were normally bombers. For the same reason losses in air combat were normally higher on offensive missions; over 60% were sustained on such missions, and only 30% of the total in defensive engagements. Normally from 40% to 70% of the enemy planes engaged by our fighters were reported destroyed. Bombers claimed the destruction of only about 15% of the enemy fighters encountered, and 30% or more of the enemy bombers engaged.

Table 23 gives anti-aircraft and operational losses on action sorties as well as losses in air combat. Of the total losses on action sorties over 80 percent were on offensive missions, 12 percent on defensive missions, and about 7 percent on search, reconnaissance and miscellaneous missions resulting in action. Primarily the combat action of Naval aircraft was offensive, and the losses sustained in action were in large part sustained in carrying the offensive to the enemy.

Table 24 is an extension to a monthly basis of the "Enemy Aircraft Destroyed" columns of Table 23. It provides an interesting historical record of the fluctuations between offensive and defensive combat at various stages of the war. In 1942 the air combat, by carrier and land-based planes, was predominantly defensive. In addition, because of a shortage of fighters on carriers, carrier bombers had to handle a considerable share of the combat on offensive missions. In the latter part of 1943 the balance shifted in favor of the offensive, and so remained during most of 1944, with the exception of the two great air campaigns of June and October, when the carriers defended themselves and the amphibious forces against everything the Japs could get into the air to stop the carrier-paced invasions of Saipan and Leyte.

The emphasis on offensive air combat continued into early 1945, particularly in February and to a lesser extent in March. In April and May combat shifted almost wholly to the defensive as carriers and land-based aircraft combined their efforts to turn back the Japanese counterattack on our forces at Okinawa. For 1945 as a whole the balance was clearly in favor of defensive combat, by 2-to-1, while in 1944 it favored the offensive by the same ratio.

TABLE 23. OWN SORTIES AND LOSSES, AND COMBAT WITH ENEMY AIRCRAFT, BY MISSION OF OWN AIRCRAFT By Type of Aircraft, Carrier-Based and Land-Based, for Entire War.
CARRIER-BASED
BASE, PLANE TYPE, PURPOSE OF MISSION	ACTION SORTIES	SORTIES ENGAGING ENEMY AIRCRAFT	AIRCRAFT ENGAGED		ENEMY AIRCRAFT DESTROYED IN COMBAT		OWN LOSSES ON ACTION SORTIES
BASE, PLANE TYPE, PURPOSE OF MISSION	ACTION SORTIES	SORTIES ENGAGING ENEMY AIRCRAFT	Bombers	Fighters	Bombers	Fighters	To Enemy A/A	To Enemy A/C	Operational
VF Offensive	67,437	4,377	513	5,483	380	2,569	614	204	357
VF Defensive	14,877	4,081	2,090	2,883	1,394	1,624	53	102	124
VF Recce. & Misc.	3,596	342	192	324	155	134	31	10	14
VF Unknown	106	1	1	0	1	0	58 (*)	23 (*)	1 (*)
VSB-VTB Offensive	58,514	854	69	951	28	132	597	86	494
VSB-VTB Defensive	1,136	82	61	65	21	9	0	8	3
VSB-VTB Recce. & Misc.	1,304	83	48	86	18	19	25	9	7
VSB-VTB Unknown	144	0	0	0	0	0	50 (*)	10 (*)	1 (*)
LAND-BASED
BASE, PLANE TYPE, PURPOSE OF MISSION	ACTION SORTIES	SORTIES ENGAGING ENEMY AIRCRAFT	AIRCRAFT ENGAGED		ENEMY AIRCRAFT DESTROYED IN COMBAT		OWN LOSSES ON ACTION SORTIES
BASE, PLANE TYPE, PURPOSE OF MISSION	ACTION SORTIES	SORTIES ENGAGING ENEMY AIRCRAFT	Bombers	Fighters	Bombers	Fighters	To Enemy A/A	To Enemy A/C	Operational
VF Offensive	55,253	1,963	189	3,299	79	1,028	180	141	158
VF Defensive	4,193	1,378	1,034	1,725	533	726	16	120	39
VF Recce. & Misc.	1,099	30	1	35	0	18	7	1	1
VF Unknown	58	0	0	0	0	0	29 (*)	63 (*)	0
VSB-VTB Offensive	57,683	237	1	457	0	55	136	28	89
VSB-VTB Defensive	47	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
VSB-VTB Recce. & Misc.	1,847	32	3	62	1	8	15	5	7
VSB-VTB Unknown	12	0	0	0	0	0	35 (*)	24 (*)	1 (*)
VPB Offensive	10,690	95	13	146	1	13	33	12	21
VPB Defensive	64	16	17	7	6	4	0	1	0
VPB Recce. & Misc.	5,996	727	359	1,103	139	196	82	38	28
VPB Unknown	37	10	0	12	0	0	21 (*)	22 (*)	0
* – Losses listed under "Unknown" are not comparable with the action sorties reported under this category; they represent largely losses on offensive, defensive or reconnaissance missions which were reported through aircraft record channels rather than in action reports and are thus not classifiable by type of mission. These losses should be pro-rated among the three types of mission, in proportion to the losses where type of mission was known, if loss rates for various types of mission are computed. NOTE: Losses to enemy A/A on "defensive" missions are largely attributable to attacks by target combat air patrols after completion of their defensive primary mission. It should be noted that action sorties whose primary purpose was search or reconnaissance normally involved attacks on targets of opportunity.

TABLE 24. ENEMY AIRCRAFT DESTROYED IN AERIAL COMBAT BY ALL NAVAL AND MARINE AIRCRAFT By Base, Mission, and Type of Own Aircraft Accomplishing their Destruction, Monthly.
MONTH	BASE, MISSION, AND TYPE OF OWN AIRCRAFT														TOTAL
	CARRIER-BASED						LAND-BASED
	OFFENSIVE		DEFENSIVE		REC. & MISC.		OFFENSIVE			DEFENSIVE		REC. & MISC.
	VF	VSB-VTB	VF	VSB-VTB	VF	VSB-VTB	VF	VSB-VTB	VPB	VF	VPB	VF	VSB-VTB	VPB
Dec 1941									1	10				1	12
Jan 1942														1	1
Feb 1942	4	7	21	1										1	34
Mar 1942		1								1					2
May 1942	18	16	16	14		2									66
Jun 1942	21	4	44					6		15					90
Aug 1942		10	72	2		4	1			51				4	144
Sep 1942							34			77					111
Oct 1942	16	23	41			10	26	8		138			5		267
Nov 1942	2	4	30			1	20	5		48		2	2		114
Dec 1942							17	2							19
Jan 1943			11				42	2		10					65
Feb 1943			4				15	6							25
Mar 1943													1		1
Apr 1943							6			40					46
May 1943										15					15
Jun 1943							46			82					128
Jul 1943							93	6		81				6	186
Aug 1943							27			73		8		1	109
Sep 1943			5				93	2		4				9	113
Oct 1943	27		16				62			2				5	112
Nov 1943	120	20	47	3		1	8			78	1			11	289
Dec 1943	30	8	7		1		90			5	2			9	152
Jan 1944	34	1	17				343	15		3	1			8	422
Feb 1944	139	3	17		2	1	132	2		6	4			5	311
Mar 1944	87	2	19		2	1	13			1		1		5	131
Apr 1944	70	3	21							2				12	108
May 1944	1	1			1									18	21
Jun 1944	279	6	465	3	38	6	1							20	818
Jul 1944	96		15		2				1					3	117
Aug 1944	16		1		7				3					1	28
Sep 1944	349	5	16		3				1					8	382
Oct 1944	499	29	581	4	68	8						1		18	1208
Nov 1944	196	7	58	1	10						1			9	282
Dec 1944	65		45		1		14			36		4		36	201
Jan 1945	88	2	148	1	4		1			4	1			9	258
Feb 1945	378	5	28		21					1				26	459
Mar 1945	184	1	136		27	1	1							25	375
Apr 1945	131	1	823		92	2	4			141				11	1205
May 1945	28	1	246		3		3	1		214				43	539
Jun 1945	10		11				7		3	108		2	1	17	159
Jul 1945	43		17		2		8		2	10				8	90
Aug 1945	18		41		6				3	3				5	76
1941-42 Total	61	65	224	17	0	17	98	21	1	340	0	2	7	7	860
1943 Total	177	28	90	3	1	1	482	16	0	390	3	8	1	41	1,241
1944 Total	1,831	57	1,255	8	134	16	503	17	5	48	6	6	0	143	4,029
1945 Total	880	10	1,450	1	155	3	24	1	8	481	1	2	1	144	3,161
GRAND TOTAL	2,949	160	3,019	29	290	37	1,107	55	14	1,259	10	18	9	335	9,291
No enemy planes were destroyed in April or July 1942.

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TABLE 23. OWN SORTIES AND LOSSES, AND COMBAT WITH ENEMY AIRCRAFT, BY MISSION OF OWN AIRCRAFT

By Type of Aircraft, Carrier-Based and Land-Based, for Entire War.

TABLE 24. ENEMY AIRCRAFT DESTROYED IN AERIAL COMBAT BY ALL NAVAL AND MARINE AIRCRAFT

By Base, Mission, and Type of Own Aircraft Accomplishing their Destruction, Monthly.