Takahide Aioi | |
Birth Date: | January 4, 1912 |
Birth Place: | Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan |
Allegiance: | |
Branch: | Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service |
Serviceyears: | IJN 1933-1945 |
Rank: | IJN: Commander JMSDF: Vice Admiral |
Commands: | IJN: Vice commander of the 343rd Air Group JMSDF: Commander of the Fleet Submarine Force, Commander in Chief of the Self Defense Fleet |
Battles: | Second Sino-Japanese War Pacific War |
Awards: | Order of the Rising Sun (3rd Class) Order of the Sacred Treasure (4th Class) Order of the Golden Kite (5th Class) |
Vice Admiral was commander of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as well as an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific theater of World War II. In aerial combat over China and the Pacific, he was officially credited with destroying 10 enemy aircraft.
During the Pacific campaign of World War II, Aioi participated in the conquest of the Philippines as a pilot aboard the aircraft carrier Ryūjō. Later, he served as a group leader in the 202 Air Group in the Solomon Islands Campaign. Aioi experienced the Battle of Leyte Gulf aboard the carrier Zuikaku in 1944. He ended the war as executive officer of the 343 Air Group in Japan.
In 1954, Aioi joined the JMSDF, eventually rising to the rank of vice admiral.