A Mitsubishi Zero captured on Akutan Island seen with American markings in March 1943. The Akutan aircraft was the first Zero to be captured intact, giving the Americans a better understanding of the Zero’s strengths and weaknesses. (NASA Langley Research Center)

How One Missing Japanese ‘Zero’ Fighter Saved the US in the Pacific War

Share this link on Facebook

Share this page on X (Twitter)

Share this link on LinkedIn

Share this page on Reddit

Email a link to this page

After a successful raid in Alaska, the Japanese fleet returned southward—unaware that it had left behind a fully intact aircraft for the Americans to capture.

In June 1942, Imperial Japan launched a diversionary attack against Alaska’s Aleutian Islands—intended to divide US forces and distract from the more consequential campaign then underway near the island of Midway in the Pacific. The campaign has often been described as the “forgotten battle,” as events farther south soon eclipsed it in importance.

However, the fight in the Aleutians led to one of the greatest American intelligence wins of the Pacific War, with major consequences for the larger conflict: the capture of a virtually intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the first flyable Zero ever captured by the Allies. After attaining the Zero, the US flight tested the aircraft, revealing weaknesses that fundamentally changed how American pilots fought against Japan’s premier fighter plane.

The A6M Zero Terrified US Troops at the Start of the War

Year Introduced: 1940

Length: 9.06 m (29.7 ft)

Wingspan: 12.0 m (39.4 ft)

Weight: 2,796 kg (6,164 lb) maximum takeoff

Engines: One Nakajima NK1C Sakae 12 14-cylinder radial (940 hp)

Top Speed: 533 km/h (331 mph; 288 knots)

Range:........

© The National Interest