Kenji Okabe

Kenji Okabe (岡部 健二, Okabe Kenji, 1915-September 1943) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Participating in many of the Pacific War battles and campaigns as a member of several units, Okabe was officially credited with destroying 15 enemy aircraft. Okabe was credited with shooting down eight enemy aircraft on 8 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the IJN's official record for the number of aircraft destroyed in a single encounter.^[1] He is famous for his strong opposition to the kamikaze attacks, rare in IJN at the time. Okabe was killed in action in September 1943 over Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.

Kenji Okabe
Native name	岡部 健二
Born	1915 Fukuoka, Japan
Died	September 1943 Bougainville, Papua New Guinea
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service / branch	Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN)
Rank	Ensign
Unit	Saeki Air Group Ōmura Air Group 12th Air Group Shōkaku 634th Naval Air Group 601st Naval Air Group
Battles / wars	World War II Attack on Pearl Harbor Indian Ocean raid Battle of the Coral Sea Solomon Islands Campaign Battle of Leyte

References

Notes

1. Hata

Sources

• Hata, Ikuhiko; Yasuho Izawa (1989). Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in World War II. Translated by Don Cyril Gorham. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-315-6.
• Sakaida, Henry (2002). Aces of the Rising Sun, 1937–1945. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-618-6.
• Sakai, Saburo; Martin Caidin; Fred Saito (1957). Samurai. ibooks, inc. ISBN 0-7434-9332-X.