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    Yokosuka Airfield (NAS Oppama) Kanagawa Prefecture Japan
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USAAF April 18, 1942
Location
Lat 35° 20' 0" N Long 139° 40' 0" E. Yokosuka Airfield is located on Natsu Island in Kanagawa Prefecture in the Kantō Region off Honshū Island in Japan. Connected by a causeway to Yokosuka on the mainland. The airfield is located next to the Yokosuka Naval Facility south of Yokohama on Tokyo Bay. Also known as Yokosuka Field, Yokosuka Airfield, Yokosuka Navy Base or Oppama. It also includes Yokosuka Seaplane Base.

Construction
Built by the Japanese prewar. Yokosuka Naval Base included Yokosuka Airfield and Yokosuka Seaplane Base. The airfield complex was was rectangular in shape, covering about 126 acres and measuring 2200' N-S and 2680' E-W.A single asphalt runway 196' x 1475', approximately NE-SW, with grass outside the runway areas, plus the Yokosuka Seaplane Base. Of the 21 or more hangars, it is believed only seven are intended for land plane use. There are many servicing and repair shops and underground storage, probably of large capacity.

Wartime History
Site of Japanese Navy technical air arsenal (Kaigun Koku-Gijutsu-Sho Kugisho). Due to the shorter runway at Yokosuka, testing was later performed at Misawa Airfield and Kisarazu Airfield on the other side of Tokyo Bay. During 1945, attacked by American aircraft.

Japanese units based at Yokosuka
Yokosuka Kōkūtai (N1K2 Shinden-Kai)

American missions against Yokosuka
April 19, 1945–July 10, 1945

F6F-5 Hellcat Bureau Number 71441
Pilot August force landed January 4, 1945 aircraft transported to Yokosuka and painted in Japanese markings

Captured Japanese Aircraft
Captured at the airfield were three G4M3 Model 34 Betty bombers, including G4M3 Betty Tail T2-2205, A6M7 Zero 23186, N1K2 George 5341. Captured Japanese aircraft from other locations were assembled at Yokosuka for shipment to the United States aboard USS Barnes (CVE-20) which departed on November 3, 1945 for the United States.

Postwar
After the war, occupied by the U.S. Navy (USN) and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) during the occupation of Japan. During the American occupation, this airfield was known as NAS Oppama and remained an active airfield until the 1950s.

References
Survey of Japanese Airfields in the Empire Area. CinCPac-CinCPOA Sept. 1944

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Last Updated
May 30, 2023

 

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