Tadashi Kaneko
Tadashi Kaneko (February 25, 1912 – November 14, 1942) was a Japanese Navy fighter ace and commander who fought in the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Born in Tokyo, he graduated from the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1932. In the Second Sino-Japanese War he flew fighters from the carrier Ryūjō and helped shoot down several enemy planes near Shanghai in 1937. In 1941 he became the fighter squadron commander of the carrier Shōkaku.
During World War II he took part in the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the April 1942 Indian Ocean Raid, where he shot down three Hurricanes and became an ace. In May 1942 he led the 6th Air Group and later fought in the Battle of Midway aboard the carrier Akagi, claiming two bombers before Akagi was set on fire; he was rescued back to Japan. He then commanded air groups on the carriers Hiyō and, later, in the Solomon Islands. On November 14, 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Kaneko was killed while defending Japanese ships; his squadron still shot down several dive bombers.
His official tally credited him with eight enemy aircraft destroyed.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 23:14 (CET).