{"id":3214896,"date":"2026-06-30T16:53:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T14:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/last-dogfight-wwii-air-group-88-tokyo-1945\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T09:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:48:14","slug":"last-dogfight-wwii-air-group-88-tokyo-1945","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/last-dogfight-wwii-air-group-88-tokyo-1945\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Dogfight of the Second World War"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style><p>It is a little after dawn on 15 August 1945, and a flight of Grumman F6F Hellcats is droning north over the haze of Tokyo Bay. In the cockpits are young U.S. Navy pilots of Air Group 88, launched from the carrier USS Yorktown to strike airfields near the Japanese capital. The air is cold at altitude, the sea grey below, the war &mdash; though none of them yet knows it &mdash; only hours from over.<\/p><p>Midway through the mission, the radios crackle with a recall: Japan has surrendered, all offensive operations are to cease, return to the ship. The Hellcats bank for home. And then, out of the morning sun, roughly twenty Japanese fighters fall on them.<\/p><p>What follows is the last dogfight of the Second World War. It lasts about fifteen minutes. When it ends, four young Americans are dead &mdash; the last men to be killed in air combat in the war.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border:1px solid #d6e0ff;border-radius:8px;padding:16px 20px;margin:22px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#1a1a1a\">Quick Facts<\/p><table style=\"border-collapse:collapse;font-size:15px\"><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Date<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">15 August 1945 &mdash; hours after Japan&rsquo;s surrender announcement<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Unit<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">Fighting Squadron 88 (VF-88), Air Group 88, USS Yorktown (CV-10)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Aircraft<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>The fight<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">~20 Japanese fighters bounced the withdrawing Hellcats over Tokyo<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>The fallen<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">Billy Hobbs, Eugene Mandeberg, Howard &ldquo;Howdy&rdquo; Harrison and Joseph Sahloff<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Their place in history<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">The last Americans killed in air combat in World War II<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The mission that should have been cancelled<\/h2><p>Air Group 88&rsquo;s Hellcats had taken off that morning to hit airfields around Tokyo, part of the relentless pressure the U.S. Navy kept on Japan to the very end. But Emperor Hirohito had already announced his nation&rsquo;s surrender, and Admiral Nimitz had ordered all offensive operations to stop. The recall order reached the pilots while they were already over hostile territory.<\/p><p>Turning for the carrier should have been the end of it. Instead, the withdrawal became the trap.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=260212545  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/uss-yorktown-cv10.jpg\" alt=\"The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10)\" style=\"display:block;width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">USS Yorktown (CV-10), the carrier from which Air Group 88 launched its final mission of the war. Photo: U.S. Navy \/ Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Bounced over Tokyo<\/h2><p>The Japanese fighters &mdash; among them nimble A6M Zeros &mdash; dived on the Hellcats as they headed out to sea. In the swirling, low-altitude brawl that followed, the Americans fought back hard and claimed several of their attackers. But the fight was savage and fast, and four of the Navy pilots did not come home: Billy Hobbs, Eugene Mandeberg, Howard Harrison and Joseph Sahloff.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=1190626828  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/a6m-zero-in-flight.jpg\" alt=\"A Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter in flight\" style=\"display:block;width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the type of fighter that bounced Air Group 88 over Tokyo on the last morning of the war. (Captured example shown.) Photo: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By the time the surviving Hellcats reached the Yorktown, the news of the surrender had been confirmed across the fleet. The men who landed had fought the last aerial battle of a war that, on paper, was already finished.<\/p><h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The last to fall<\/h2><p>That is what makes the story haunt. These four were not lost in some decisive battle that turned the war; they were lost <em>after<\/em> it had been decided, in a fight that history almost forgot. The historian John Wukovits later reconstructed their lives and their final mission from letters, diaries, interviews and archives in his book <em>Dogfight over Tokyo<\/em> &mdash; a young Indiana pilot who felt born to fly, a former Detroit newspaperman, a husband with a baby daughter he had never met.<\/p><p>They flew into the last morning of the Second World War and did not fly back. Remembering their names is the whole point.<\/p><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin-top:18px\">Sources: The National WWII Museum; Smithsonian \/ Air &amp; Space; MilitaryHistoryNow; John Wukovits, <em>Dogfight over Tokyo<\/em>.<\/p><!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;color:#5C91FF}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>When was the last dogfight of World War II?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The last aerial dogfight of World War II took place on the morning of 15 August 1945, over the Tokyo area, just hours after Japan announced its surrender. U.S. Navy F6F Hellcats of Air Group 88 were bounced by Japanese fighters while withdrawing.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Who were the last Americans to die in WWII air combat?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Four U.S. Navy pilots of Fighting Squadron 88 were killed: Billy Hobbs, Eugene Mandeberg, Howard \\u201cHowdy\\u201d Harrison and Joseph Sahloff. They are regarded as the last Americans killed in air combat in World War II.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Why did the dogfight happen after Japan surrendered?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Air Group 88 had launched to strike airfields near Tokyo before the surrender order took full effect. A recall reached the pilots in the air, but as they turned for their carrier they were attacked by roughly twenty Japanese fighters.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What aircraft were involved in the last dogfight?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Americans flew Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters from the carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10). The attacking Japanese force included A6M Zero fighters.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What was Air Group 88?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Air Group 88 was a U.S. Navy carrier air group embarked on USS Yorktown in 1945. Its fighter squadron, VF-88, flew the final combat mission of the war over Japan on 15 August 1945.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Is there a book about the last dogfight of WWII?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Yes. Historian John Wukovits wrote Dogfight over Tokyo: The Final Air Battle of the Pacific and the Last Four Men to Die in World War II, drawing on the pilots\\u2019 letters, diaries, interviews and archival records.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When was the last dogfight of World War II?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The last aerial dogfight of World War II took place on the morning of 15 August 1945, over the Tokyo area, just hours after Japan announced its surrender. 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Historian John Wukovits wrote Dogfight over Tokyo: The Final Air Battle of the Pacific and the Last Four Men to Die in World War II, drawing on the pilots\\\\u2019 letters, diaries, interviews and archival records.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/tetsuzo-iwamoto-japans-greatest-naval-ace-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/\">Tetsuz\u014d Iwamoto: Japan\u2019s Greatest Naval Ace You\u2019ve Probably Never Heard Of<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is a little after dawn on 15 August 1945, and a flight of Grumman F6F Hellcats is droning north over the haze of Tokyo Bay. In the cockpits are young U.S. Navy pilots of Air Group 88, launched from the carrier USS Yorktown to strike airfields near the Japanese capital. The air is cold [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":3214705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3214896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Last Dogfight of the Second World War | MiGFlug.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is a little after dawn on 15 August 1945, and a flight of Grumman F6F Hellcats is droning north over the haze of Tokyo Bay.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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