Battle of Guadalcanal - Sakai Saburo vs James "Pug" Southerland (CG Animation)

[@cinewillp6391]

I believe this is the work of the legendary Masaru Tochibayashi, ("Tochy"-Suppon=Snapping Turtle) a military magazine illustrator and Lightwave 3d expert. HIs first short animation from years ago 2006 "Merlins "(showing spitfires and Mosquitos buzzing an airfield) blew everyone away with the realism. He was such a nice guy he put tutorials on his site showing how he did it!

[@FarhanPerdana]

I googled about Merlins but can't find it. Can you share it? Much thanks.

[@cinewillp6391]

@@FarhanPerdana kzbin.info/www/bejne/omK1h2eFbtuIp7c

[@FarhanPerdana]

@@cinewillp6391 thanks a lot. :D

[@doctorotis3743]

Sakai became a friend of my dad, an avenger pacific theater pilot. Sakai visited our home in Washington state, went to air shows with dad. Sakai warped his head wound with his scarf and presented a cut of the blood stained scarf, framed and a hand written message to dad and signed it. Both agreed it was war and not personal.

[@unowenwashere2782]

Bruh you are lucky

[@antonellobuonanotte5699]

I have a fragment of His silk scarf (muffler) He wore when He was wounded over Guadalcanal. Thanks, Dear Henry Sakaida, Thanks Dear Saburo Sakai San 🌹❤️🛩️.

[@valentinjigau9042]

Nice bro

[@timbacus9698]

Samurai by Saburo Sakai and Wing Leader by Johnny Johnson were two of my favorite books as a teen.

[@nighthawk8053]

Tim Bacus God is my co-pilot by Robert Scott is a excellent book too.

[@cullyschmetterling3963]

I recommend Sakai’s autobiography Samauri highly. Among other things, it shows that Japan went to war without even close to the necessary resources, so defeat was inevitable. Yamamoto told the general staff that Japan would lose and badly, but they refused to listen to him.

[@poikoi1530]

didn't he say something like "In the first 6 months of the war i will run and win battles, after that, we lose"

[@williamleadbetter9686]

Folks you do realize these guys loved to meet and talk to each other after the war and they wee no longer enemies. Many of the fighter pilots of WW2 who were once enemies became friends. Even bragging of who they were friends with.

[@Lemard77]

After seeing so much death and misery, it's kinda something to hold on, share with another one who suffered the same as oneself.

[@williamleadbetter9686]

+triggernutsy1 I'm sorry the only real experience I guess I had was with former German pilots and US Pilots.

[@russelloriely6343]

they confuse the pacific theatre with the european theatre where a lot of the fighter pilots on both sides considered themselves to be warriors and had a code of honour. pilots who broke the code were ostracized. japan saw the enemy as nothing more than dogs to be run down.

[@101jir]

+triggernutsy1 The IJA was much more hated by the US than the IJN, and for good reason. While being taken to IJA POW camps, Americans were often surprised at how well they were treated on IJN ships. Until they got to the POW camps, ofc. There was a radically different philosophy between the IJN and IJA, and they were very different political entities, often feuding with each other. At one point it nearly became a civil war. The IJA, overall, was much more cruel. The IJN wasn't perfect, but compared to the IJA they were pretty good. Even compared to the US they were pretty decent if we focus on the pilots.

[@earltaylor3971]

After the Battle of Midway several US Pilots were captured by the IJN, tortured for information, then loaded down with weights and tossed overboard.

[@gregmackenzie5822]

Saburo Sakai , WW2 ace with 64 victories , died 27 Sept. 2000 , while attending a formal dinner at the Atsugi U.S. Naval base , near Tokyo . A skilled pilot , a brave warrior , Rest in Peace.

[@richardsato678]

Greg Mackenzie Qqq

[@bobeveryday15]

Fuck that guy

[@midlandredux]

Are you still holding a grudge after 75 years? Most of the actual veterans of the war gave up hating the Japanese by the 1950s. Give it up. It isn't worth the poison it puts in your system.

[@Mike-01234]

He must have been very skilled to survive in a Zero against the F6F, Corsair, P-38 Lightning, and P-51 Mustang which all had advantages over the zero by that time the wildcats were under powered against the zero's but the tables turned when the Hellcats showed up.

[@midlandredux]

Saburo Sakai was very good, but, like many of the top Japanese aces in the first year of the war, he'd never faced any aircraft more modern then a P-40. He flew against the Chinese, against Americans in the Philippines, British and Dutch in the Dutch East Indies, and American and Australian pilots in New Guinea.

[@mausolos8]

I recommend Sakai's book SAMURAI. I read it some 50 years ago. An excellent read. What sticks in my mind is the incredibly difficult training that the Japanese naval aviators underwent.

[@Tweekers84]

This was surprisingly well made! +1

[@orgami100]

Definitely some of the best.... thanks 👍

[@auwnicolasbasunjaya3811]

Marty Groah

[@SirCabooseCCCP]

Nicolas Basunjaya

[@imataskguydontdoit7411]

This actually a real dogfight tho LOL

[@valentinjigau9042]

No one talks about how sakai got a bullet through his brain the same day and survived but his left side was paralized

[@xres1329]

That righ! (Or is it "left" for us to find out?)

[@Lt5K1TZ]

This is why the Second World War fascinates me so much. It's the last war where pilots really fought each other. It wasn't always machine against machine, men recognized that there were people in those machines. The Ernst Udet and Georges Guynemer story and the Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler story are the best examples of this chivalry that pilots carried with them in the first and second World Wars that sadly never really carried over to Korea or Vietnam as jet engines and missiles came into service.

[@theblytonian3906]

+Lt. 5K1TZ Romance, mercy and Boys' Own 'adventure' stories have no place in modern warfare.

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

05:26 *The Zero overshot, and Southerland prepared to fire. Sakai braced for the deadly impact of the Wildcat’s bullets into his flimsy fuselage… but the bullets never came.* *Not waiting around to find out why, the surprised Sakai pulled up alongside the Wildcat. He noticed that Pug was injured, fell in behind him, and after a moment of indecision, opened fire with his big 20 mm cannons. In his memoirs, Sakai wrote that he decided not to kill the pilot, but rather, to aim for the Wildcat’s engine to give Pug a chance to bail out.* In the video it might look like Saburo zero overcome the speed of wildcat by purpose but it wasn't.

[@101jir]

It could be done if there was damage to the Wildcat's engine, or if Sakai hadn't used up all of his energy from his dive yet. It is not difficult for a Zero to catch a Wildcat, provided one of the two. Based on the relative ease with which he went in front, then behind the plane, I would guess it was an engine problem. Or a poor mixture.

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

101jir yeah the wildcat took over 200 rounds of 30. cal. Would be no surprise if his aircraft didn't performance as how it used to haha..

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

Yea it id look like that. I guess its hard to make it seem he overshot without immediately pulling away.

[@MrWalker1000]

he did the honarable thing.

[@spookyshadowhawk6776]

amazing both these pilots survived this fight! in war, courage and honer is never on one side.

[@giraffe5193]

He is really one of the greatest aces. I read his book "Samurai". He never considered himself as an ace. But it's incredible how he managed to survive the fight against 15 Hellcats on his crumbling Zero without getting any breaches in its hull... and all that only with one eye! Unbelievable.

[@heyfitzpablum]

Actually, Pug pulled out of his 6th turn and pulled the Wildcat up into a loop. After a couple of loops, the Zero closed on him and then Sakai fired.

[@riojonmejares8996]

I love the Zero's they're my favorite fighter. Saburo sakai a great pilot. R.I.P

[@rotorheadv8]

Zero Pilots got a nasty surprise when they first encountered the Hellcats thinking they were Wildcats. Later they had to deal with Corsairs, Lightnings and Mustangs. They didn't fare as well against them as they did the Wildcats.

[@valentinjigau9042]

Especaly the crosairs and hellcats

[@bobuboi4643]

True, all the fighters who could easily counter them Was the zero8 mod 64, shiden kai, and the japanese me-262 etc. All of these were not available in high enough numbers or some not even produced yet.

[@maisonraider4593]

@@valentinjigau9042 Actually the figures from shot down mustangs show that a lot of them went down to zeros, compared to hellcats and corsairs.

[@sakai_2]

Sakai had to deal with 15 hellcats and not single one of them were able to fire against him.

[@jackmunday7602]

This video perfectly captures the superiority of the A6M Zero as a dogfighter. But it also shows the Zero's greatest Achilles heel. Its lack of a reliable radio. With out a radio, you are unable to alert your squadron to danger, co-ordinate attacks or discuss and divulge tactics. And this lack of a radio would go to have devastating consequences for Imperial Japan. As battles are won by three things. Team work, tactics and good communication. If even one of those elements is missing, defeat is inevitable.

[@jjiang7488]

The zero also couldn’t take a hit into the fuselage without turning into a flying matchstick due to a lack of self sealing fuel tanks

[@user-pn3im5sm7k]

@@jjiang7488this was corrected in later Zero models

[@1stMarine]

My Dad bravely served in the 1st Marine Division at Guadalcanal. I'm proud of him, his fellow U.S. Marines, and the many brave souls that served there, and throughout the many campaigns during WWII. I think of my beloved Dad almost every day, and miss him tremendously.

[@mjw1955]

The names are transposed. They are Shoichi Sasai and Saburo Sakai, not vice versa. Ref: "Samurai" by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito.

[@c.a.hazard2261]

wow the rendering was impressive... plus the music score (very good work..)

[@c.a.hazard2261]

I still have the Sakai Saburo interview

[@BushPilot444]

The facts here are a bit jumbled.... I especially like the description of Pug cornering two pilots.... must be good to do that with one plane. I read Sakai's book and it's a good one.

[@MsFrostitute]

BushPilot444 agreed!

[@joegibbs3222]

More like translation miscue. Like how Down hill is always Hill Down etc. Maybe it should of been " Pug was locked in on the 6 o'clock of zeros" or "Pug was hot on the heels of two zeros"

[@roberteugene7295]

After attacking the bombers he mistook for Wildcats, he was out of action for more than a year. The bombers were, in fact, Avenger torpedo bombers. Attacking directly from their six o'clock was his mistake, not noticing the radio operator's machine guns.

[@Greywolfgrafix]

I love the 3D aircraft in these videos! Excellent job, however is creating them!

[@randalldunkley1042]

Sakai came up on a flight of TBF Avengers and not SBD Dauntless aircraft when he was wounded. The tunnel gunners on the TBM's were just waiting for him to climb up to them. I also noticed the Zero fighters are missing their radio antenna masts in this recreation, but overall, an excellent and very well-done animation.

[@-juno-takaleon3830]

Thank you for your comment! The Zero fighter-pilots from Rabaul deliberately removed their radios and antennas to reduce weight/drag because of how useless they were (poor grounding/design, plus interference). There's been conflicting info about whether Sakai was hit by an SBD Dauntless or TBF Avenger;'s gunner; the English version of his wartime biography "Samurai!" claims it was a TBF, while post-war interviews and other Japanese sources say it was an SBD.

[@randalldunkley1042]

Then you have really researched history for this animation. I have never read that about the radios during missions being flown then but it has been 50 years since I read the book. It makes sense to lighten up the aircraft as much as possible since these were very long-distance flights. I will have to go with the autobiography version because Saburo describes his climbing approach to the supposed Wildcats and remarks that he was hit while climbing. A Dauntless rear gunner would not see him coming up from 6 o'clock low. His recovery and flight home was a miracle as was his survival of the war.@@-juno-takaleon3830

[@Nachtsider]

It is clear that Sakai was mistaken at the time he wrote his memoir. No TBF Avengers were involved in this particular battle, and Harold Jones, eventually identified as the gunner who shot him, was the backseat man in an SBD Dauntless.

[@tomasinacovell4293]

Planes aren't constantly shuttering like that all over, you don't even really see an xbox controller vibrate, it's simply felt and flight for the most part is very smooth, much more than a car.

[@yahatinda]

"The Stars at Noon " Sakais book is a good one

[@leighrate]

In a Wildcat never get into a turning fight with a Zero, he can turn tighter than you. Don't be suckered into chasing him into the vertical. You will stall out before he does, then your a dead man. AT ALL COSTS turn into him. Meet him head on. You have better armour, self sealing tanks and a lot more firepower than he does. One good solid burst and her is a dead man.

[@peterkirgan2921]

Wildcats were crap planes Corsair & Hellcats were better matched for zero

[@justinebautista1383]

@@peterkirgan2921 Wildcats may be inferior but its on the pilot to use his plane wisely

[@hghhhffhfhfhf3401]

@@justinebautista1383 yeah imagine pug using hellcat that time when he meet sakai, the wildcat is outdated compare to zero but pug manage to trade off evenly with the zeros he almost kill sakai

[@richardbanker3910]

In his biography, Sakai praises the Wildcat pilot as exceptionally good and keeping up with a dogfight longer than that aircraft could possibly do so. After hitting the Wildcat with machine gun fire, he sees it as helpless and shot up and his cannon fire is brief and aimed at the engine.

[@lothar29]

Nice CGI Animation.. Thx for your work

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

The video wasn't done by him but a japanese studio. This guy only translated the video, i thinks.

[@pac1fic055]

I recall that Sakai wrote that he could not believe how many 7.7 mm rounds the F4F took without going down. "A Zero would have been a fireball by then".

[@cardiv5zuikaku944]

Pac1fic0 yup, Wildcat migh inferior to Zero in many aspect, but their armor was better than Zero.

[@MrWalker1000]

well thats because the zero had no armor at all thats one of its biggest weaknesses. Maybe they could have made up for this weakness by puttng in more powerful weapons.

[@bobuboi4643]

@@MrWalker1000 they were about to produce a model of the zero to counter more modern USA fighters, the a6m8 mod 64. It had self-sealing fuel tanks, armor, also 4 20 mm cannons with 2 50 cals. And a better engine, Sadly it was never produced. The war ended too quickly for a new fighter.

[@MrWalker1000]

@@bobuboi4643 How good would it have fared against them ?

[@bobuboi4643]

@@MrWalker1000 pretty good, making thousands of the plane would have probably made japan bankrupt anyway. So they really had no choice, the only way they could really build more then 60 of them was if they considered building them in 1941-1943

[@jessfrankel5212]

Quite well made, very informative. The Zero was a marvelous plane in combat, fast and highly maneuverable, and the Japanese pilots highly skilled for the most part. Problem with the Zero, it lacked the firepower of the F4F and lacked even more against the Mustang, the Corvair, or the P-51 Lightning. It also sacrificed armor for speed...and the American pilots were good enough to destroy them one by one.

[@bourlivak88]

Jess Frankel corvair? p51 lightning? I can see you are very knowledgable about planes. Lol

[@jessfrankel5212]

I remember reading about fighter planes a long time ago. I liked the shape of the P-51, along with the Corvair. Those two models came late in the war, around mid-1944, I think.

[@jessfrankel5212]

@DOUG HEINS Thanks for replying. I should have put the full name of the aircraft in. By Mustang, I meant the P-51 Mustang, which came out around 1943 or so and was used later than that, of course, and in the Korean War as well before jets supplanted it. The Corvair--my bad. You are correct...I was thinking about the Corsair. As for the P-38...again, my mistake. Thanks for setting me straight.

[@TheSoundsage]

Those Corvairs were unsafe at any speed

[@poervids]

Beautifully well done. The first rule of fight club is not to dogfight with a zero. By the end of the first turn if you are fighting in a wildcat, you are done.

[@ThePyramidone]

I read an account of Sakai's escorting bombers to attack the initial landings on August 7th, 1942 at Guadalcanal. He asks in his book why the escorted bombers had been armed with bombs and not torpedos (as was done when the attacked the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse). I do not know why but the Japanese attempted to correct the error. Wikipedia cites "On 8 August 1942, during the second day of the U.S. Marine landings on Guadalcanal, 23 IJNAF torpedo-carrying G4M1s attacked American ships at Lunga Point. 18 of the G4M1s were shot down, by very heavy anti-aircraft fire and carrier-based F4F fighters. In all 18 Japanese crews - approximately 120 aviators - were lost at the beginning of August 1942." on the first da

[@dahur]

I read Saburo's book, he was also blinded in his right eye from his injuries in the battle over Guadalcanal.

[@proudhuichinese8935]

dahur samn

[@farmerdave7965]

Absolutely beautiful CGI. Hard to believe it's not actual war film footage.

[@CodeElement190]

Are you planning to subtitle the other Tochibayashi's CG documentaries such as the Battle of Santa Cruz? I know that would attract a lot of views.

[@-juno-takaleon3830]

+CodeFate190 Yep, already working on them!

[@benjackson7872]

It's a shame Southerland and Sakai never met each other in real life. I bet they would've been good friends.

[@xres1329]

Sakai came to the USA after the war quite a few times and had lectures, get-togethers even with the tailgunner who shot him. See the video "Legendary WW2 battle of Guadalcanal" (49:44)

[@thevictoryoverhimself7298]

Pug Southerland survived this encounter. "My plane was in bad shape, but still performing nicely in low blower, full throttle, and full low pitch. Flaps and radio had been put out of commission...The after part of my fuselage was like a sieve. She was still smoking from incendiary, but not on fire. All of the ammunition box cover on my left wing was gone and 20 mm explosives had torn some gaping holes in its upper surface...My instrument panel was badly shot up, goggles on my forehead had been shattered, my rear-view mirror was broken, my plexiglass windshield was riddled. The leak-proof tanks had apparently been punctured many times, as some fuel had leaked down into the bottom of the cockpit, even though there was no steady leakage. My oil tank had been punctured and oil was pouring down my right leg. At this time, a Zero making a run from the port quarter put a burst in just under the left wing-root and good old 5-F-12 finally exploded. I think the explosion occurred from gasoline vapor. The flash was below and forward of my left foot. I was ready for it...Consequently, I dove over the right side just aft immediately, though I don't remember how.[1]" He ended up wounded by machinegun bullets behind enemy lines, hiding from japanese ground troops. Eventually some natives, who hated the japanese risked their lives to hide him and let him recover. He ended the war as an ace with 5 kills and died in 1949 in a crash from an early jet as a training pilot.

[@dariosljubura1175]

amazingly, stunning animation!

[@wirelessone2986]

Why does the book SAMURAI about the ace say Saburo Sakai but many youtube videos have it as Sakai Saburo?Which is correct?

[@adrianjordan6291]

Both are correct. In western countries the individuals name comes first and the family/surname is placed second (i.e. Saburo Sakai), while in Asian countries such as Japan and China, the family name is placed first and the individual's name second (i.e. Sakai Saburo).

[@chrislondo2683]

I’d love to see the pilots instead done in 2D animation while the cockpit interiors are background paintings. And everything else is CG.

[@kirkbaddley7439]

Well done, but what does "exhausted of energy" mean? Out of fuel?

[@k.hashimoto8606]

Not fuel. He ran out of his power or strength.

[@kirkbaddley7439]

K. Hashimoto Thank you.

[@MosoKaiser]

Kirk Baddley, it means his Wildcat was losing too much speed (i.e. energy) and couldn't keep up the turn with the Zero. Now of course even going into a dogfight with a Zero in a Wildcat was a mistake from the beginning. In fact, US pilots were quickly started to be taught to avoid turning combat with Japanese fighters at all cost and stick to zoom & boom tactics, with which they could retain their advantage of speed.

[@kirkbaddley7439]

MosoKaiser Thanks for clarifying that. Makes sense -- I don't know much about WW2 fighters but I've heard the Zero's were sweet little planes to fly (fast and maneuverable) but not as powerful (heavily armed and armored) as American fighters. Very interesting!

[@namepassword2106]

"Exhuast of energy" in aircraft is airspeed. He ran out of airspeed and if he slowed down anymore by continuing the turn, he would stall out.

[@davidrodgersNJ]

Holy cow, where'd they get those planes for this movie?

[@hellcatyieee677]

How did he maintained stall after 5 hard turns ?!

[@zzodr]

Just think, in the next war the JASDF and USN may fight side by side.

[@manilajohn0182]

Not for long.

[@unowenwashere2782]

I've seen it in Godzilla

[@88hyperman]

Yes against china and Russia

[@bobuboi4643]

What do you mean "may"? They definitely will lol.

[@scootergeorge9576]

Years ago I read a book by Sakai, "Samurai." An outstanding book. A must read for anyone interested in the air war over the Pacific.

[@blank557]

I thought Sakai was hit from the .50 cal return fire of a TBF, not a Dauntless.

[@Nachtsider]

It was a Dauntless. No Avengers were involved in this battle.

[@Alex_Guy1011]

4:01 Inside Southerland's cockpit: _pewpewpewpewpewpewpew..._ Meanwhile behind Southerland: *_DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU_*

[@todddoom]

I read his book Samurai. Good book

[@xres1329]

If that makes any difference-I knew him too, he GAVE me a copy free and with dedication and autograph. But my eviction and taking my stuff gut it trashed...?

[@AlwaysBenevolence]

I like that CGI faces as I usually not like seeing actors' faces.

[@bbigjohnson069]

Getting shot down was only the beginning of Southerland's ordeal. It's documented in an episode of "Secrets of the Dead"

[@o6h8l7x5u0q]

nice CG work !

[@teddyreid2897]

SUCH AN AWESOME VIDEO!!!!

[@heyfitzpablum]

I thought the squadron that Sakai attacked from below were TBF Avengers and not Dauntlass dive bombers? The Dauntlass would not have had a machine gun in the rear belly.

[@Nachtsider]

They were Dauntlesses. No Avengers were involved in this battle.

[@fredsalfa]

Why would the Wildcat just fly straight and level and wait to be shot down ?

[@daniellxnder]

Flaps not operational anymore maybe

[@fredsalfa]

They showed the wildcat wanting to escape the circular dogfight "exhausted" then just flying straight and wanting to bail out ? He took no evasive action at all which doesnt make sense. They didnt show anything about flaps being damaged

[@daniellxnder]

Alfa Won hmm, when the Hellcat was flying straight and Sakai looked at it, the tail rudders were torn and Pug himself has already recieved a wound so that might explain why the Hellcat didn't evade anymore

[@paulguzman1634]

It was an F4F Wildcat, a fight with an F6F Hellcat would definitely have had a different outcome.

[@joegibbs3222]

No guns; already damaged straight, level, and as fast it will go was a good call. 1) The wild cat would eventually out pace the zero. 2) Puts lots of airframe and the armored seat between you and your engine and the zero's guns. 3) Many Wildcats in fact made it home after a zero used all its ammo on it.

[@Alex_Guy1011]

Where can i get the A6M2 Zero's gun sounds?

[@hoodoo2001]

Love this type CGI.

[@prydonian460]

Nice video. Sakai's book is a good read if anyone is interested.

[@iamgone6771]

Guys in war thunder do you have any German paint jobs for thr Zero? I have one already

[@jamesricker3997]

those bombers were Avengers not Dauntless.In the 1970s at an air show he misidentified a hellcat as a wildcat.His companions looked at him in horror,that mistake would have gotten him killed in combat.

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

Why didn't they show Sakai almost dying?

[@LegacyDriver1]

Poor Mike Lord. Claims he has studied WWII aircraft for years but didn't know what a TBM was. ----Did not realize ME-109 was a term used by everyone INCLUDING the manufacturer. Lol. ---Any way, of interest to some perhaps... The Wildcat was highly competitive against the A6M. ---Quoting a friend: The F4F had the best operational record of any Allied fighter in 1942 v Japanese fighters, especially the Zero. It was mentioned that its actual (per recorded losses on both sides) kill ratio v the Zero was around 1:1 in 1942, but to put that in context every other Allied fighter, which saw any significant combat that year, had a worse record, mostly much worse. Hurricane and Buffalo ballpark of 1:5 v the Zero in '42, P-39 and P-40 ballpark of 1:2~3, P-38's didn't establish superiority over Zero's in few encounters of late '42; even in 1943 the Spitfire V's fighter-fighter exchange ratio v the Zero was worse than that of the Hurricane in 1942.

[@LegacyDriver1]

Incorrect. Sometime after the 109F was introduced Messerchmitt AND the RLM used "ME-109" (see my prior posts on the subject with links to sample documents). The RAF and USAAF also used "ME-109" in their documents. Please learn the facts before insulting others who know them when you do not.

[@LegacyDriver1]

As for the rest of your bilge I've already provided the facts. Go get a room with Mike Lord. You ignoramouses deserve each other. (I have quite a few hours in single engine fighters, btw. You wouldn't know which end faces front.)

[@LegacyDriver1]

109E. TYPO correction.

[@nowhereman841]

The Wildcat was not that competitive 1v1 against the Zero, the A6M could out turn and out climb the Wildcat and was more heavily armed (2 7.7mm machine guns and 2 20mm cannon vs. 4 .50 BMG for the Wildcat). The Wildcat had better armor protection for the pilot, was able to absorb more damage and had self sealing fuel tanks. In many instances, it boiled down to the skill and experience of the opposing pilots, which the Japanese had in spades until after Midway, and the arrival of the Hellcat sounded the death knell for the Zero.

[@vixen0347]

Awesome video. Make more!

[@il2csichannel298]

It was an Avenger bomber to hit Sakai. They looked like Wildcats but with tail gunners. Great movie :)

[@peterohalloran1977]

nope sbd

[@Nessie-mf3xg]

Which side are you on??!!!

[@palomino73]

Didn't japanese pilots have radio to communicate ? The time neccessary to inform head of flight of enemy presence could be fatal...

[@theblytonian3906]

+palomino73 Hypothetically yes, physically they were generally fitted, but operationally and pragmatically no. Japanese radio tech at the time had an operating ergonomics and technical QC problem. Like all radios of the era, they were valve radios, and Japanese radio valves were poor quality and unreliable. Problems with replacement logistics (transports being sunk) may have exacerbated the servicability problem to unsustainable, there's no way of knowing the latter other than surmising. Switching and tuning was manual and primitive by standards we are familiar with today. Apparently, in conjunction with this they were reportedly also unnecessarily complex to tune and operate. Consequently, radios were considered so unreliable, they weren't used in operational practice with the Tainan Air Group. Sakai had his equipment removed to save weight, and his antenna cut off at the canopy to eliminate its form drag. Where they remained fitted they simply weren't used, whilst others removed them to eliminate weight because they were operationally redundant. They used a combination of hand and aircraft signals to communicate. They seemed to manage pretty well despite this, but undeniably a disadvantage. This is mentioned in the English version translation of Sakai's memoir. Particularly galling when fatigued to exhaustion pilots would fall asleep on the return leg of the long haul back to Rabaul subsequently plunging into the ocean unable to be radio contacted in attempt to awaken them.

[@palomino73]

Thank you a lot for this information ! I had't expected a relatively primitive device like a radio to be a problem for the japanes. Crashing on your way home because of exhaustion must be one of the most horrible ways/reasons to die; german pilots had their "Scho-ka-kola"-Chocolate and "Pervitin" (Meth) to keep them awake !

[@theblytonian3906]

FWIW I didn't realise it either for a long time, and I'm no youngster having grown up in an era with living veterans, friends, neighbours and relatives telling me of their experiences without the kind of misplaced glamor so often assigned it today long before they were even old men, let alone very old men ...then dead and gone. Some of those fought the Japanese in P-40Es out of Port Moresby in PNG, P-400s at Guadalcanal, B-25s out of Port Morseby, and Blenheims in Malaya and Burma amongst others in the Med and Desert and over Europe. Japanese engineering and their equipment was in many respects a conundrum. Their aero engines being a glaring example. It was amazing they had come so far so fast really as the "Zero" illustrated so well in 1941-42, but their aero engine tech, notably inline liquid cooled, lagged far behind the west. Even when Germany gave them the tech to clone, Japan's manufacturing - presumably tooling and labour force, not sure about raw material limitations, couldn't produce the consistent tight tolerances for instance required of their licence built DB-601 fitted to the Ki-61-1. Aesthetically beautiful as it was to behold and quite a good gun platform from the Otsu on and flight performer otherwise, it was plagued by an unreliable powerplant no doubt made worse by operation in the high density altitudes of the equatorial tropics and large expanses of over water flight even though operated from land bases by the IJA only. In the mid through late 1930s, even the Germans lagged behind Rolls-Royce who produced the most powerful aero engines in the world in 1937. The Bf 109 was originally equipped with a Junkers Jumo powerplant which although it had a two stage supercharger, even as late as 1938, the Bf 109D was only rated at approx 690HP for take-off. It wasn't until the DB601 came along in the 109E that a massive increase in HP (approx 1100HP give or take sub revision dependent) equipped Germany's flagship fighter with an engine as reliable and powerful as Rolls-Royce and their very famous Merlin XII fitted in their approx same timeframe Spitfire IIs. We accept so much tech for granted today. Even in the late 1950s, large valve set radios in were still de rigeur at home. Only in the early 1960s did the transistor and solid state revolution occur commercially changing that tech in terms of both size and reliability unimaginable beforehand. After the war, anything manufactured in Japan up until the mid 1960s was considered junk in the west. By 1970 that all changed and by the mid through late 1970s, Made in Japan with Brands like SONY, National Panasonic, Toyota and as was Datsun (Nissan)were a signature for high tech, quality, and reliability at killer pricing until the rising value of the Yen repriced them out of contention. Re uppers to stay awake. I don't know if the Japanese forces had them available for issue in situ. e.g. in Rabaul and Lae. A huge problem for the Japanese was logistics, made worse by three factors. Insufficient merchant shipping right from the beginning of the war they weren't prepared for without consideration of its expansion to an ocean wide defensive perimeter of far flung bases to supply and support. The disaster at Midway and strategic defeat at Coral Sea worsened this situation immeasurably. Exacerbating that, they prioritised movement of ordnance and men over logistical support which was subsequently inadequate to sustain either. Partly due limited merchant fleet capacity and far flung distribution, but also due interdiction by the USAAF and USN submarine fleet of that merchant fleet. Fatigue. Having flown and operated in the tropics extensively in my younger days, and operated over long overwater flights (trans Pacific, North and South Atlantic, and Indian Oceans) both above and below pressurised levels (10,000ft) many times in other than airliners, which came later, even with the pressures of combat, rubbish diet, extreme sleep deprivation to that extent, cumulative fatigue combined with long manual flight times (auto pilot being unenagable for reasons space precludes detailed explanation here) in conjunction with the relentlass heat and humidity, it makes it very easy to lapse into sleep. Anyone who has been deployed fully tactical as an infantryman, especially patrolling in the tropical heat and humidity, will know the extreme fatigue I'm referring to. After a few days of that intense physical activity getting literally 2-3 hours of broken sleep per night if, if lucky, you can barely keep your eyelids open and auto-lapse into sleep the moment you take a break from any physical activity. You can imagine what prolongued exposure under the kind of conditions Sakai describes in his memoir would be like. Then there's malaria....scrub typhus, tropical ulcers, etc. o.O !!!! Watch Spielberg's "The Pacific" and the episode where 1st Marines land at Cape Gloucester (other end of New Britain) which gives an idea of the miserable conditions. Imagine the reality being considerably worse.

[@MrWalker1000]

did americans have radio communications but not the japanese? hm. Also germany technology was a stupid or two ahead of the rest of the world look up the me262. i think its a common misconception that the japanese could never have won against the USA. if they hadmanaged to attack the pacific fleet either from pearl harbor or if the midway disaster never happened this would have meant that the japanese imperial navy would have been able to secure all the major strongholds and without bases the USA could not have pushed an offensive with japanese secured defenses as well as secured natural resources they so desperately needed. not to mention at the start of the war japanese technology was superior to americans and the japanese had lots of experience in carrier technology and operations. the japanese also had the most advanced torpedo, the most advanced carriers, battleships, as well as the zero which was the best carrier based fighter at the beginning of the war. They lacked the economy to make a real sucessor to it.

[@GisSlicknSmooth]

that was awesome man

[@trioultimo]

Americans werent dogfighting. They were mostly energy fighting.

[@ps2hacker]

They didn't get it right, they changed a few details. When Sakai found his wingmen, they were chasing Southerland, not the other way around. But he was sliding back and fourth, causing them to cross each others firing lines, in something like a reverse thatch weave, or as Sakai put it, "playing to their inexperience". He also said he had "never seen an enemy airplane move so gracefully". The other part they didn't mention is how Sakai knew Southerland's guns had jammed. He said that Southerland had beat him, straight up, he waited until Sakai thought he was closing for the kill then did, in Sakai's words, the absolute last thing that he expected, Southerland dropped his flaps and landing gear, and chopped his throttle back, in other words, he hit the brakes, and Sakai, as he said, fucked up. He tried to slow down with him, but failed. He went skidding past Southerland, just in time to hear Southerland's engine rev up to full power, and he figured that was it, and he just flinched and waited for it to come. That was why Sakai said he tried not to kill Southerland, he felt bad about that. Southerland took a beating from the bombers he shot down, that's what jammed his guns, he never got off a shot during his entire engagement with Sakai and his wingmen. Southerland had never been in combat before that day. But he was an instructor at the Navy's dogfighting school at Miramar, and was in his 30's, he had 10 more years of flying than anyone else, and he knew how to fly, he was ready. Sakai got himself shot in the head shortly thereafter, mistaking bombers for fighters, since Grumman airplanes all bear such a strong family resemblance. There is some confusion on what kind of planes they were, Sakai maintains they were Avengers, and it was the ventral guns that got him, he was attacking from underneath them. That was Sakai's third day ruining mistake that day. They knew it was a hell of a flight from Rabaul to Guadalcanal, so he packed a lunch to eat on the way, that included a grape soda. When he opened it, he forgot about the pressure, at the altitude he was flying, and soaked himself, and his entire cockpit in sticky soda. Everyone had a day like that at least once.

[@heyfitzpablum]

Sakai also almost got shot by a Douglas Dauntless which surprised him and pumped a few rounds in his cockpit. Fortunately for him, none of the rounds hit him and he shot the Dauntlass down shortly thereafter. Luck was working for him that day.

[@mjw1955]

In his autobiography Sakai states that he approached the other aircraft from below and behind. Could a Dauntless gunner depress his guns to a very low angle?

[@ps2hacker]

Michael Witkowski No, they could not. That's why Sakai was so sure that they were Avengers, Avengers have a .30 cal ventral gun, that means it's mounted on the bottom of the plane, and facing backwards. He also said he mistook them for Wildcats, because of the uncanny family resemblance of Grumman aircraft. And he also said he was sure that they hadn't seen him coming, because of that mistake, since they grouped together tight, like bombers should do if attacked, to mass their firepower, instead of breaking formation and rolling off, like fighters would. Bad mistake on his part, but he had never seen an Avenger before, they were sort of a surprise to him. If you read his book, you know that entire day went badly for him from the start, starting with the grape soda he brought with his packed lunch for the long flight, which he opened at altitude, and soaked himself in on the flight over, because of the pressure. Then he had to fly all the way back to Rabaul with half his head blown apart, and half of the tail blown off his plane. And to add insult to injury, the bombers he was escorting had bombs, not torpedoes, because his superiors decided not to take the time to rearm them properly, and they were all shot down without scoring a single hit. He said Pug Southerland was the best pilot he had ever come up against, and that Southerland had won, fair and square except that his guns had jammed. Someone went looking for what was left of his plane, and didn't find much except a live .50 cal round with a .30 bullet stuck in it, head on, and that'll do it, for sure. One of those bombers he shot down must have bit him back, they were Betty types with tailgunners. It was Southerland's first time in combat, actually, but he was a "Top Gun" dogfighting instructor, so he knew what he was doing. However, Southerland was killed in a carrier landing mishap, during a routine training flight in 47 or 48. Go figure.

[@heyfitzpablum]

I thought they found Pug's Wildcat in fairly good shape? He had bullet holes in his prop, probably from Sakai. They also found his .45 caliber pistol in the aircrafts wreckage. Sakai's flight back from Guadalcanal has become an epic among aviation buffs, he used to go to HS's in Japan and tell his story to the students, an example of never quitting when things got tough. Sakai was a unique individual.

[@ps2hacker]

They found the engine block, that was about all that was left. It had washed or somehow ended up in river bed, so most of it washed away. There was a cylinder or two blown clean off the block, which confirms what Sakai said, he aimed for the engine. And that wasn't actually Pug's plane, he stole that one since his wasn't ready on the flight deck when the report of incoming Japanese planes came.

[@EricPalmerBlog]

Sakai san was a good man. Correction: it was TBF Avengers not Dauntless Dive Bombers that he mistakenly thought were fighters; got really close; saw the tail gun and realized his error and purchased his really big head wound. His own words from his book.

[@bbigjohnson069]

Well then he was wrong again because it was the rear gun of a Dauntless SBD. If he can mistake an SBD for an F4F then he can mistake an SBD for a TBF since they are more similar. Maybe it was never clear to him after getting blasted.

[@mikjon67]

He managed to save himself and was transfered when recovered from his injuries to an American Prison of War camp... here he met a strange American with swords coming out of his fists....

[@xres1329]

When a true fighter pilot gets shot only through his brain - No essential organs are hurt!

[@MrWalker1000]

is this historically accurate.

[@cardiv5zuikaku944]

Yup

[@gibbyharambe6769]

Cardiv 5 Zuikaku Sort of. This late in 1942, F4Fs wouldn’t turn fight Zeros. That’d be the last thing they would do. Furthermore when Sakai lined up the Wildcat, the Wildcat wouldn’t just sit there, it would take evasive action, which would be a series of split S’s and power dives.

[@frederikedengah4434]

so the USn does not have good aces in the pacific theater?

[@gibbyharambe6769]

Frederike Dengah they had PLENTY of aces. These documentaries are about Japanese aces

[@joecoupon8299]

Worst of enemies, but best drinking buddies after the war. Maybe that's why us guys are better at handling combat--our forgetfulness makes us easier to forgive. Pass the sake bottle please, and I'll give you some whiskey.

[@donverdades3960]

Saburo Sakai EXCELLENT👍🏼✅🦅❤️👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼‼️

[@DonCarlosHormozi]

This is really cool!

[@MrKleth326]

Dios que honor. Fue una guerra epica.

[@starguard4122]

WHAT!! a WWII video that shows the Japanese WINNING??? I don't believe it :)

[@cardiv5zuikaku944]

really? Wildcats was inferior than Zero you know :v

[@MrWalker1000]

wildcats were heavily armored and took a lot of bullets to hit so not really.

[@joey243win]

read this in the lost shopz of guadalcanal by r ballard

[@haditjandradjaja8403]

Saburo Sakai, god of the sky......

[@gkp76]

Not sure why this is anything special that they thought to make a video of it. Southerland couldn't even fire his guns and why he got in a turn fight with a zero is beyond me. Thought maybe when he saw his injuries he would let him go and not shoot him down

[@marcinbieniek4796]

Saburo Sakai. Legende.

[@nelsondx8054]

Commander Sasai? Sasai was a Lieutenant Junior Grade lol.

[@-juno-takaleon3830]

+Nelson Azevedo Roger, added correction.

[@BigGayAl56]

Actually, at the time he was wounded, I believe he was Chief Petty Officer. I don't think he made officer rank until long after he had been wounded, near the end of the war. This is my tribute to him. I put if up shortly after his death. www.billybishop.net/sakai.html FYI, love all the video's that you have presented. :)

[@LegacyDriver1]

Sasai and Sakai were different people guys.

[@nelsondx8054]

You had Lieutenant Junichi Sasai and Petty Officer Saburo Sakai. Sasai died in Guadalcanal, he was Sakai's CO if I remember correctly.

[@-MaxXxuS-]

excellent

[@ghgghgyuhkljjijijui]

Very Good!

[@valentinjigau9042]

I am happy i have reletives that were a f4u pilot f6f pilot and zero pilots the f6f and f4u pilots were brothers

[@secondgoto6739]

next Tetsuzo Iwamoto pls

[@niidayosuke]

You can't deny that Japan has the best Air Force during ww2 but they lost war because of in lack of resources

[@theblytonian3906]

+Niida Terry Japan didn't have an "Air Force" in WW II. The IJN and IJA operated Japan's aircraft, and to their own direct and indirect support requirements with little inter service co-ordination or co-operation. There are sufficient books around today which should be able to better brief you on those basics.

[@jermainallen7176]

Wasn't Sakai the ace who died when his Zero exploded after trying to go vertical with a Hellcat or was that his officer

[@cardiv5zuikaku944]

No, that is different

[@mausolos8]

Jermain Allen Sakai survived the war.

[@田中太郎-w5e8t]

この後の戦いで頭に大けがすんだよな。 朦朧とする意識を傷口に指突っ込むことで意識を戻してなんとか帰ってこれたらしい。

[@TA-3359]

指を突っ込んでも眠気が収まらず､更には意識が朦朧とした為敵地に戻り自爆をしようと決心し､引き返せば目を覚ましを繰り返し､そこでラバウルで自爆をしようと自らに思い込ませて帰ったそうですよ？(著書､”大空のサムライ”より) 雑な文ですいません^^; 詳しくは､大空のサムライを読んでいただければ ．．．

[@mineshaft12]

I think Sakai Shot his engine just to save him because his injuries because if pug's plane fly too long he's gonna bleed in the aircraft and going unconcious

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

yes he didn't want to kill the pilot but to kill the engine giving the american pilot a chance to bail out.

[@lajarus]

Sakai was trained before the war begun, so he had a very good training, opposed to how japanese pilots were trained during the war. Over the skies of Iwo Jima he fought alone against 15 Hellcats at the same time, these aircrafts outskilled the Zero; must be mentioned too Sakai was blind of one eye at the moment, due to the wounds he received after fighting Southerland. Being Southerland aircraft flying slowly and in a straigh line, for a skilled pilot as Sakai it was not a hard thing to hit the engine engine. Sakai himself narrates he saw Southerland covered in blood, and though it was wrong to shoot him, so he shot the engine instead, forcing him to bail out.

[@lajarus]

+TheXWitcher You are not understanding. I meant the aircraft was not working so Southerland was forced to bail out, not that Sakai wanted him to bail out. Sakai just wanted not to shoot him but did not want the aircraft come back to the base or carrier so shot the engine. He said it was a different thing to shoot him while fighting than just shoot him there. That was all.

[@MrWalker1000]

i think what sakai did was an honorable thing.

[@Vikingr4Jesus5919]

It was okay until I saw that last bit: "Assuming they were F4F's, he approached from behind." Why would such a top-fighter, and a Japanese one for that matter, mistake bombers for fighters?

[@101jir]

Fatigue most likely. Also, if you start a good distance behind, and come in fast, then from where you started it may be hard to see the bend in the wing. Kindof like how even truckers will generally mess up if they don't take their mandatory rest breaks.

[@Vikingr4Jesus5919]

101jir Hm, that's a good point actually. Hadn't thought of that :)

[@101jir]

Warren Lloyd I'm glad you appreciated it.

[@Vikingr4Jesus5919]

Arigatō. thanks ;D 101jir

[@sillyone52062]

Warren Lloyd The planes Sakai was attacking were Grumman Avengers. From a distance, they look like Wildcats.

[@nomimcquade4004]

I love how the CGI artist gave Southerland a beaky nose and evil red-rimmed eyes. "Yes, he was less a shlubby-looking white guy than a living stereotype of a European Jew from Nazi propaganda. He was somehow a Semitic Dutchman from Pennsylvania."

[@circledash9813]

that not at all what happened

[@washington9816]

Sakai rules!

[@FlorinSutu]

This dog fight was one of the tens of thousands occurring during WWII. Nothing special in it. Really unique for all WWII was Sakai's return flight for 4 hours, over more than 1000 km, while having a severe wound in his had that was bleeding badly. Bleeding wounded pilots flied back to bases all the time, but this was a 4 hours flight.

[@garyraines7511]

Right! You know more about it than Sakai--"AND with the heavy fragments of TWO 50 caliber machine-gun bullets imbedded in his skull...." READ the book: para 4 page 7...SAMURAI! (1957).......

[@bobuboi4643]

They weren't imbedded, they went clean through his skull.

[@t.j.payeur739]

Gee..shot down a guy who had no guns..what a dogfight...

[@cardiv5zuikaku944]

how should he knew that the wildcat didn't have gun that operate?

[@Mr_Fu_Manchu]

Cool