A6M2 Zero Type 21
1. Shichisei-tai, Kanoya AB, Japan, April 1944

A6M2 Zero Model 21 / Lt. Nobuo Miyatake, Kamikaze Tokubetsu Kōgekitai, 1. Shichisei-tai / Kanoya Air Base, Japan / April 1944.
From the April 3, 1945 a total of eight special attack units with the battle name "Shichisei" were organized from the airmen serving in Genzan Kōkūtai (II) and Hikōtai 306 (part of Kōkūtai 721). Lt. Miyatake, who was 24 years old at the time, led the 1st Shichisei-tai in an attack on a convoy off Okinawa on April 6, 1945. During that day, eleven other airmen from Genzan Kōkūtai (II) sacrificed their lives along with him. They took off successively in four formations. Their formation was part of the 524 aircraft of special attack units and escort fighters from IJN and IJA sent against Allied vessels off Okinawa as part of Operation Kikusui I. The U.S. Navy lost destroyers USS Bush and Colhoun and other ships were severely damaged. "Shichisei" units were sent against ships off Okinawa, Yoronjima, Kikai, and Tanegashima islands in several missions till May 14. Only one of them returned to base due to bad weather. Lt. Miyatake was born in Kagawa Prefecture and graduated from the Etajima Naval Academy in 1942. Before the mission, he wrote farewell letters to his mother and three sisters. His father was interned in Siberia at the time. Nobuo Miyatake was posthumously promoted to the rank of Commander. His aircraft from Nakajima production is designated "Ke-113".