World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseShinchiku Airfield in northern Taiwan was among the largest Japanese military airfields on the island. Between 1943 and 1945, it was subjected to several attacks by China-based US Army Air Force aircraft, Philippine Islands-based USAAF aircraft, and carrier-based US Navy aircraft; in the latter portions of the war, this airfield was particularly important in that it launched strikes against US fleets in the Philippine Islands and in Iwo Jima waters, among other targets; it was also struck once by British carrier aircraft from HMS Victorious. Shinchiku, the airfield and the city together, would receive the greatest tonnage of American bombs among locations on Taiwan during WW2. After the war, it was named Hsinchu Air Base (Shinchiku had been the Japanese reading of Hsinchu, which could also be romanized in the Pinyin system as Xinzhu); it housed Republic of China Air Force units as well as the US Air Force 1131st Special Activities Squadron. In 1958, Republic of China Air Force jets based in Hsinchu engaged in combat with Communist Chinese MiG-17 jets over Wenzhou Bay, Zhejiang Province, China; 9 MiG-17 jets were shot down in combat, making this engagement the largest aerial battle over the Taiwan-China region during the Cold War. At least one of the MiG-17 jets were destroyed by air-to-air missiles, thus also making this one of the first such victories in history. In 1998, it became a mixed military-civilian facility.

Shinchiku Airfield Interactive Map

Photographs

Shinchiku Airfield Timeline

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