A5Ms from Kaga entered combat on 4 September 1937, when two fighters under Lieutenant Tadashi Nakajima shot down three Curtiss Hawks. Six days later, the type supported a bombing raid near Shanghai, and by the end of the year it was helping Japan establish air superiority around Nanjing. The new monoplane had moved from successful trials into effective combat service. A later dogfight collision left one fighter missing roughly a third of its port wing, yet the pilot recovered and landed safely. That return showed how much structural damage the A5M could survive.
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The A5M's 1937 combat debut over China
Kaga's A5Ms scored early victories over Curtiss Hawks and helped demonstrate how fighter superiority could clear the way for Japanese operations.