The Japanese Navy Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter which will one day be on display at the Fargo Air Museum is an A6M2 Model 21, serial number 6544, tail code AI-1-129, owned and recently restored by Gerald Beck of Wahpeton, ND. The official Japanese Naval Air Force designation of this aircraft is Rei Shiki Kanjo Sentoki Ni Ichi Gata (Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter Model 21).

Mitsubishi A6M2 Reisen Type Zero Carrier-Based Fighter Model 21, s/n 6544, tail number AI-1-129, flown by Warrant Officer Katsuma Shigemi of the aircraft carrier Zuikaku, recently restored to flying condition by Gerald Beck of Wahpeton, North Dakota.

The service history of this particular aircraft and its pilot is known. The plane, built by Nakajima in the last week of December 1942, was flown by Warrant Officer Katsuma Shigemi of the fighter wing on board the aircraft carrier Zuikaku. Warrant Officer Shigemi was shot down and killed in combat over Russell Island southwest of Guadalcanal on February 4, 1943.

At the time of his death, Warrant Officer Shigemi was an ace with three victories against the Chinese Air Force and five victories flying against the US Navy in the Pacific.

Born in Shimane Prefecture on January 27, 1914, Shigemi graduated with the 20th class of the Pilot Trainee Student Course in July 1933. He served on board the aircraft carrier Kaga before transferring to the 14th Kokutai (land based air group) in China where he gained his first three victories flying in combat against the Chinese Air Force.

The Zero's cockpit was well designed but tight by Western standards, and few details differed from Allied fighters. The red pad on the reflector gunsight was intended to protect the pilot during rough landings. Throttle quadrant and fuel gauges are beside the seat to the left, as is the rudder trim wheel. The landing gear and flap handles are to the right, out of sight in this view.

Shigemi was reassigned to duty on board the light aircraft carrier Ryujo, probably shortly after this ship was refurbished and returned to service in November 1940. The Ryujo saw limited action in the first few months of the Pacific War. After being re-equipped with Zero fighters in late April 1942, the Ryujo sortied northward as part of the diversionary attack in the Aleutian Islands.

After a fleet reorganization following the Battle of Midway, the Ryujo, now became part of the 1st Carrier Division, and moved into the south Pacific to participate in attacks against the American-held airfield on Guadalcanal.

In a bombing strike against Guadalcanal on August 24, 1942, Warrant Officer Shigemi was in command of six of the 15 Ryujo Zeros which comprised the bomber escort. In the ensuing fight over Guadalcanal, the Japanese lost four Aichi D3A Val dive bombers and three Zeros. The United States Marines of VMF-212 and VMF-223 suffered three aircraft shot down of the 10 that rose from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal to do battle.

In the meantime, the Ryujo, left with only seven fighters to protect itself, was sunk in an attack by 30 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers and six Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers from the carriers Enterprise and Saratoga. The surviving planes of the Ryujo attack group were diverted to land at the Japanese naval base at Rabaul.

Cockpit interior of a restored Zero Fighter (the A6M5 in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.) Instrument positions sometimes varied according to pilot preference. The pilot chambered rounds into the two 7.7mm machine guns in the cowling by pulling the two cocking levers toward him, just as it was done on World War I fighters in 1914-1918.

After the aircraft carrier Ryujo was sunk on August 24, 1942 in the fighting for Guadalcanal in the eastern Solomon Islands, Warrant Officer Shigemi was reassigned to the fighter group on board the aircraft carrier Zuikaku.

The Battle of Santa Cruz on October 26, 1942 marked the next clash between the Japanese and American carriers. Warrant Officer Shigemi commanded the four escorting Zeros of the second wave attack force of 17 Nakajima B5N Kate torpedo bombers that sortied from the Zuikaku against the American aircraft carrier Enterprise.

This attack went badly for the Japanese, as eight Kates were shot down by US Navy fighters and anti-aircraft fire. Shigemi's four Zeros survived a scrap with four Wildcats which were also unharmed. In the dogfight, Shigemi was separated from his comrades and was forced to land on the Japanese airfield at Buin instead of on the Zuikaku.

After the Battle of Santa Cruz, the Zuikaku returned to Japan and the carrier fighter wing was resupplied with several new aircraft, including Zero s/n 6544 built by Nakajima during the last week of December 1942.  On January 17, 1943, the Zuikaku departed from Japan and sailed to the island of Truk.

On January 29, 1943, the fighter wing, composed of 36 Zeros under the command of Lieutenant Kenjiro Notomi, flew south to Rabaul as part of the operation to evacuate the Japanese forces from Guadalcanal. Flying from the airfield at Buin, on Bougainville Island, the Zuikaku fighters took part in three aerial cover operations in which they claimed about 40 victories before returning to Truk on February 17. Warrant Officer Shigemi was one of two Zuikaku pilots lost in this operation, having been shot down in combat on February 4, 1943.