Warplanes of Japan: Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki

Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki

(IJAAF Photo)

Nakajima Ki-44-1a Shoki Army Type 2 single-seat Fighter Model 1A, codenamed “Tojo”, at Akino Army training field, Japan.  

The Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (鍾馗, "Devil Queller") was a single-seat fighter-interceptor which was developed by the Nakajima Aircraft Company and operated by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War. Its official designation was Army Type 2 Single-Seat Fighter (二式単座戦闘機) and its Allied reporting name was Tojo.

The design and development of the Ki-44 differed greatly from that of other Japanese fighters of the time, incorporating speed and rate-of-climb in preference to maneuverability. This was a result of a need for a heavy fighter aircraft that followed a more offensive doctrine and the Ki-44 is often classified as an Air Defence Fighter. Its development ran almost in parallel to its predecessor, the lighter and nimbler Nakajima Ki-43, and yet the two aircraft differed. The Ki-44 had a higher landing speed but was less maneuverable. These were concerns for pilots who would compare it to the Ki-43 or Ki-27 which were far more agile and responsive. As a result, the Ki-44 was first restricted to pilots with at least 1000 hours of flying time due to its tricky handling characteristics. However, it was later found that younger pilots who had not been instilled with the extensive aerobatic training of earlier cadres could manage the aircraft perfectly well, so the restriction was removed.

The Ki-44 was the fastest climbing Japanese fighter at the time. It was the Imperial Japanese Army's only interceptor type when the USAAF's B-29 Superfortresses began bombing the Japanese mainland in June 1944. While there were performance restrictions at high altitude, it was superior to the Ki-43 in that it was capable of matching Allied aircraft in climbs and dives, giving pilots more flexibility in combat and greater pilot confidence than the Ki-43. The basic armament of four 12.7mm machine guns or two 12.7-mm guns and two 20-mm cannon (or, in a few aircraft, two Ho-301 40-mm cannon of limited range) was far more powerful than the older Ki-43's two 12.7-mm machine guns.

Production of the Ki-44 was terminated in late 1944 in favour of the more advanced Nakajima Ki-84, and when the war ended, only three sentai units were still equipped with them. No examples survive today of the 1,227 built. (Wikipedia)

(IJAAF Photo)

The Nakajima Ki-44 at one point equipped 12 sentai ("groups/wings") of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force: 9, 22, 23, 29, 47, 59, 64, 70, 85, 87, 104 and 246 Sentai. The Manchukuo Air Force also operated some Ki-44s.

Pre-production Ki-44 aircraft and two of the prototypes were turned over to the Army for service trials on 15 September 1941. The type commenced operations when nine aircraft were received by an experimental unit, 47th Chutai "Kawasemi Buntai" ("Kingfisher Flight, 47th Squadron"), commanded by Major Toshio Sakagawa at Saigon, Indochina in December 1941.

The Ki-44 also saw significant action with 87th Sentai in the air defense role, while based at Palembang, Sumatra. Other units equipped with the Ki-44 during the early part of the war were stationed in China, Burma, the Philippines and Korea.Later in the war, the type saw action in an air defense role over the home islands – mainly around Japan's large industrial cities. 47 Chutai, after it was transferred to air defense roles in Japan, was expanded to become 47 Sentai.

The Ki-44-II Otsu (also known as the Ki-44-IIb) could be armed with a Ho-301 40 mm autocannon. While this was a relatively high-caliber weapon, it used caseless ammunition with a low muzzle velocity and short range, which was effective only in close attacks. Some of these aircraft were used against USAAF bombers by a special Shinten Seiku Tai (air superiority unit), comprising at least four aircraft, that was part of 47th Sentai, based at Narimasu airfield in Tokyo. Pilots from such units attempted to shoot down B-29s and, once their ammunition was expended, to ram them – effectively a suicide attack. While the concept appeared straightforward, ramming a B-29 at high altitudes was difficult to achieve in practice.

By the end of the war, Ki-44 variants were being replaced by the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate, which was regarded as vastly superior – in aspects other than maintenance and reliability.During 1946–49, both sides in the Chinese Revolution operated Ki-44s surrendered or abandoned by Japanese units. Air units of the People's Liberation Army obtained aircraft formerly belonging to 22 and 85 Sentai, which had disbanded in Chosen. Some of these aircraft were reportedly flown by Japanese veterans. Within the Republic of China Air Force 18th Squadron (12th Fighter Group) was equipped with Ki-44s formerly of 9th Sentai, which had disbanded in Nanking, and 29th Sentai, which had disbanded at Formosa and they saw action in. Following the retreat of the Nationalists the People's Liberation Army Air Force (formed in 1949) used the Ki-44 until the early 1950s. (Wikipedia)

(IJAAF Photos)

Nakajima Ki-44-1I Shoki Army Type 2 single-seat Fighter Model 1A.

(USAAF Photo)

Nakajima Ki-44-II Otsu at Clark, Philippines, 1945.

Nakajima Ki-44-1I Shoki Army Type 2 single-seat Fighter Model 1A, codenamed “Tojo”, in camouflage.  This a late-war production aircraft with individual exhaust stacks still in IJAAF camouflage with the partially over-painted emblem of a former operator the 70th Sentai on the rudder.  It has separate cowl flaps.  This aircraft is possibly USAAF FE-303, scrapped at Park Ridge ca. 1950, or FE-307, also scrapped in the USA.  (USAAF Photo)

(USAAF Photos)

Nakajima Ki-44-1a (Army Type 2 single-seat Fighter Model 1A Shoki), (Serial No. 2068), codenamed “Tojo”, in the Philippines in TAIU-SWPA S11, USAAF markings.  It is shown here being tested by TAIU-SWPA at Clark Field in the Philippines in 1945 in natural metal finish with pre-war rudder stripes.  The uncoded serial number of this aircraft was 1068 and it was manufactured in July 1944.   This aircraft crashed at Clark Field in the Philippines.  (USAAF Photos).  No complete surviving examples of the Ki-44 exist.  However a wing center section is preserved at the Northwestern Polytechnic University Aviation Museum, Xian, China.

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