Ace of aces is a title accorded to the top active ace within a branch of service in a nation's military in time of war. The term ace is used for a highly successful military professional that has been accredited with: multiple enemy aircraft shot down, tanks destroyed, or ships sunk; by number or tonnage. The term was widely used for propaganda purposes during World War I, and mainly applied to a pilot who was credited with shooting down five enemy aircraft. The title is most closely associated with fighter aces, though there are other types, such as tank aces and submarine aces.
Flying aces Ace of aces is a title accorded to the top flying ace of a nation's air force during time of war.
World War I
The concept of aces emerged in 1915 during World War I.
Person Country WWI years active Overall years active Aerial victoriesPlane flownNotes René Fonck French Third Republic May 1915 – 1 November 19181914–1918 1937–194075Caudron G III, SPAD VII, SPAD XII and SPAD XIII All-time Allied ace of aces, with 75 confirmed aerial victories.The Lowell Sun, "Record by French "Ace Of Aces" Never Equalled", Associated Press, Friday 21 June 1918Doubleday, "Ace of Aces", René Fonck, 1967 Manfred von Richthofen German Empire 17 September 1916 – 21 April 1918 1911–1918 80 Albatros D.V, Fokker Dr.I and others Ace of Aces, the highest score in World War I. Richthofen, also called "The Red Baron", achieved 80 air combat victories. Shot down on 21 April 1918. Available evidence suggests that he was most likely killed by Australian Sergeant Cedric Popkin. Billy Bishop Canada April 1917 – end of World War I 1914–19181936–1944 72 Nieuport 17 Credited with 72 victories, making him the top Canadian and British Empire ace of the war. In 1917 he became the highest scoring ace in the RFC and the third top ace of the war, behind only the Red Baron and René Fonck.McCaffery 1960, p. 143. Francesco Baracca Kingdom of ItalyMay 1915 – 19 June 19181907 – 191834Nieuport 11,Nieuport 17, SPAD VII,SPAD XIIIItalian ace of World War I. His Prancing Horse emblem was adopted as logo of Italian carmaker Ferrari in his honor. Shot down during a strafing mission on the Montello (hill) area on 19 June 1918. Eddie Rickenbacker 29 September 1918 – end of World War I 1917–191926 Nieuport 17, SPAD S.XIII American Ace of Aces, 26 aerial victories.Robert Widener, "WWI Most Decorated", VFW Magazine, April 2017 Indra Lal Roy British India 1917–22 July 1918 1917–1918 10 S.E.5 India's most successful fighter pilot, with 10 kills. Killed during a dogfight with German aircraft
World War II
World War II had more aces than any other war. Person Country WWII years active Overall years active Aerial victoriesPlane flownNotes Erich Hartmann Nazi Germany 19 September 1942 – 8 May 19451940–1945 1956–1970352Bf 109 Hartmann is the highest scoring ace of all time, with 352 aerial victories, the first pilot to achieve 300 aerial victories (on 24 August 1944) and 350 aerial victories (on 17 April 1945). Kurt Welter Nazi Germany 1939 – 19451934–194520Me 262 All-time leading jet ace during World War II. Ilmari Juutilainen 1939–19441932–194794Fokker D.XXI, Brewster Buffalo and Bf 109 The top scoring Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force with 94 confirmed aerial combat victories"Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari and Niska, Klaus. Hävittäjä-ässät (Finnish Fighter Aces). Espoo, Finland: Tietoteas, 1978. . Teresio Vittorio Martinoli Italy 1940–1944 1938–1944 22CR.42, C.202 22 air victories, 21 on Allied aircraft and 1 on German aircraft after Italian Armistice of Cassibile. Killed in an accident flying on behalf of the Italian Co-belligerent Air Force. Constantin Cantacuzino 1941–1945 1941–1945 69Hurricane and Bf 109 69 victories by Romanian standards, of which 7 against the Axis after the 1944 coup. Top scoring Romanian ace. Flew as a commercial pilot before and after the war. Pat Pattle 4 August 1940– 20 April 1941 1936–194150Hurricanes and Gladiators Credited with 51 victories, making him the most successful South African Ace of the Second World War. Killed in a dogfight with a German Bf 110. George 'Buzz' Beurling 1940–19441940–1944, 194831Spitfire and P-51 Mustangs Credited with 31 confirmed victories, making him the most successful Canadian ace of the Second World War. Richard Bong19 January 1942 – 6 August 19451941–194540P-38 Lightning and P-80 Shooting StarTop US flying ace of the war, credited with 40 confirmed downed Japanese aircraft. Awarded the Medal of Honor. Killed in a flying accident before the war's end. Ivan Kozhedub 6 July 1943 – 17 April 19451940–198564 La-5 and La-7 Credited with 64 victories, Kozhedub is the top scoring Allied ace of World War II. One of the few pilots to shoot down a Messerschmitt Me 262.
Post-World War II era
Person Country Wars Years activeAerial victoriesPlane flownNotes Nikolai Sutyagin Korean War 1941–1978 22Mig-15 The 'Ace of Aces' in the Korean War, with the highest number of kills for any pilot. Officially the highest scoring jet ace in history. Awarded Hero of the Soviet Union. Joseph C. McConnell Korean War 1940–1954 16F-86 Sabre First US Jet ace, also top scoring American ace.Fan Wanzhang Korean War ?–1952 8Mig-15 Also known as Fan Van Chou. Killed in action on 8 August 1952. Highest scoring People's Liberation Army Air Force Ace. Muhammad Mahmood Alam Pakistan Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 1953–1982 9F-86 SabreMuhammad Mahmood Alam is credited with having shot down five Indian aircraft in less than a minute, the last four within 30 seconds. He is the only jet pilot who has achieved Ace in a day. Giora Even Epstein Israel Six-Day WarWar of AttritionYom Kippur War 1956–1997 17Mirage III, Mirage 5, Kfir and F-16 Credited with 17 victories, 16 against Egyptian jets, making Epstein the ace of aces of supersonic fighter jets and of the Israeli Air Force.Saiful Azam PakistanIndo-Pakistani War of 1965, Six-Day War1960–19805F-86 Sabre, Hawker HunterHe holds the world record for shooting down the highest number of Israeli aircraft (4) in aerial combat. He is also the only pilot to have served in four different air forces (PAF, RJAF, IrAF and BAF). Nguyễn Văn Cốc Democratic Republic of Vietnam 1961–2002 7–9MiG-17 and MiG-21 From seven to nine victories on US-crewed aircraft, as well as two drones. Vadim Shcherbakov 1966–1967 6 MiG-21 Per US sources. Randy H. Cunningham 1967–1987 5F-4 Phantom II First American ace of the Vietnam War. Legesse Tefera Ethiopia 7Northrop F-5 Ethiopia's most successful pilot, and the most successful Northrop F-5 pilot, with six or seven kills. Jalil Zandi Iran 1970–2001 8–11F-14 Tomcat Iran's most successful fighter pilot ever, with eight confirmed aerial victories. The most successful F-14 Tomcat pilot.. Mohommed "Sky Falcon" Rayyan Iraq 1977–1986 5MiG-21 and MiG-25 Iraq's most successful fighter pilot ever, with five confirmed aerial victories. The most successful MiG-25 pilot. Shot down in July 1986.
Submarine aces Top subsea ace/undersea ace/submarine ace of a nation's submarine force during time of war.
+Persons accorded the title ace of aces Person Country War PeriodNotes Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière Imperial Germany World War I 1915–18The commander of U-35, Arnauld de la Perière sank a total of 194 merchant vessels and gunboats totaling 453,716 gross metric tons.Challenge Publications, "The U-Boat ACE of ACES", William H Langenberg, 2004. Georg von Trapp Austro Hungary World War I 1915–18 Most successful Austro-Hungarian Empire submarine commander with 13 enemy ships sunk including two warships. Wolfgang Lüth Nazi Germany World War II 1933–1945 46 enemy merchant ships sunk and plus French Submarine. Total GRT sunk of 225,204. Otto Kretschmer Nazi Germany World War II 1939–1941 46 or 47 enemy ships sunk with 274,418 GRT. The most successful German Submarine ace in GRT sunk. Dick O'Kane World War II July 1943 – 25 October 1944 31 Japanese merchant ship sunk. Captured and made Prisoner of war. Malcolm David Wanklyn World War II February 1940 – 14 April 1942 16 enemy ships sunk. Wanklyn was the British Ace of Aces in terms of tonnage, disappeared during 28th patrol on board HMS Upholder. Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia Italy World War II The highest scoring Italian submarine commander, with 11 ships sunk for a total of 90,601 tons.. Carlo Fecia di Cossato Italy World War II With 16 sinkings, he is credited with the most kills in the Regia Marina, as well as the second most successful Italian submarine commander with 86,545 tons.
Submarine hunters
+Persons accorded the title ace of aces Person Country War Period Notes John Walker United Kingdom World War II 1909–1944 Walker sank more U-boats (12 confirmed) during the Battle of the Atlantic than any other British or Allied commander. Died 9 July 1944 by cerebral thrombosis.
Tank aces
A "tank ace" or Panzer ace has been described by Historian Robert Kershaw as being the minority of tank commanders that accounted for the most destroyed enemy armor, saying it is roughly analogous with a flying ace.
Person Country War PeriodTanks destroyedTank type crewedNotesEdmund Roman OrlikPolandInvasion of Poland1 September 1939 – 28 September 193910 (official)TKS (20mm variant)Polish "tank ace of aces". During the Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in September 1939 he claimed to have destroyed ten German tanks, including one Panzer IV Ausf. B, the largest tank then fielded by Germany, with a 2.6 tonne TKS tankette armed with a 20mm autocannon. The unofficial claim is that he destroyed 13 tanks, although this has not been confirmed by any trustworthy sources to date. World War IIJanuary 1943 – 18 March 194510 41M Turán II, Tiger I, Panther and Panzer IV Ausf. H 10 confirmed and 15 unconfirmed tank kills during World War II..