List of aces of aces

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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

See also: Lists of World War I flying aces

The concept of aces emerged in 1915 during World War I.

  This with the * indicates that the pilot was either killed in action or killed in a training event during the war.

Person	Country	WWI years active	Overall years active	Aerial victories	Plane flown	Notes
René Fonck	French Third Republic	May 1915 – 1 November 1918	1914–1918 1937–1940	75	Caudron G III, SPAD VII, SPAD XII and SPAD XIII	All-time Allied ace of aces, with 75 confirmed aerial victories.[3][4][5]
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 the 21st of April 1918. Available evidence suggests that he was most likely killed by Australian Sergeant Cedric Popkin.
Billy Bishop	Dominion of Canada	April 1917 – end of World War I	1914–1918 1936–1944	72	Nieuport 17	Credited with 72 victories, making him the top Canadian and British Empire ace of the war.[6] 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.[7]
Eddie Rickenbacker	United States	29 September 1918 – end of World War I	1917–1919	26	Nieuport 17, SPAD S.XIII	American Ace of Aces, 26 aerial victories.[8]
Indra Lal Roy	British India	1917–22 July 1918	1917–1918	10	S.E.5	India's most successful fighter pilot, with 10 kills.[9][10] Killed during a dogfight with German aircraft

World War II

See also: List of World War II flying aces

World War II had more aces than any other war.

Person	Country	WWII years active	Overall years active	Aerial victories	Plane flown	Notes
Erich Hartmann	Nazi Germany	19 September 1942 – 8 May 1945	1940–1945 1956–1970	352	Bf 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)[11]
Kurt Welter	Nazi Germany	1939 – 1945	1934–1945	20[Note 1]	Me 262	All-time leading jet ace during World War II.[13]
Ilmari Juutilainen	Finland	1939–1944	1932–1947	94	Fokker 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[14]
Teresio Vittorio Martinoli	Italy	1940–1944	1938–1944	22	CR.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 of behalve of Italian Co-belligerent Air Force.
Pat Pattle	United Kingdom	4 August 1940– 20 April 1941	1936–1941	50	Hurricanes and Gladiators	Credited with 51 victories, making him the most successful South African Ace of the Second World War. Killed in adogfight with a German Bf 110s.
George 'Buzz' Beurling	Canada	1940–1944	1940–1944, 1948	31	Spitfire and P-51 Mustangs	Credited with 31 confirmed victories, making him the most successful Canadian ace of the Second World War.[15]
Richard Bong	United States	19 January 1942 – 6 August 1945	1941–1945	40	P-38 Lightning and P-80 Shooting Star	Top US flying ace of the war, credited with 40 confirmed downed Japanese aircraft. Awarded the Medal of Honor.[16] Killed in a flying accident before the war end.
Ivan Kozhedub	Soviet Union	6 July 1943 – 17 April 1945	1940–1985	64	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.[17][18]

Post-World War II era

See also: List of Korean War flying aces, List of Vietnam War flying aces, List of Egyptian flying aces, List of Israeli flying aces, and List of Syrian flying aces

Person	Country	Wars	Years active	Aerial victories	Plane flown	Notes
Nikolai Sutyagin	Soviet Union	Korean War	1941–1978	22	Mig-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.[19]
Joseph C. McConnell	United States	Korean War	1940–1954	16	F-86 Sabre	First US Jet ace, also top scoring American ace.[20]
Fan Wanzhang	People's Republic of China	Korean War	?–1952	8[21]	Mig-15	Also known as Fan Van Chou. Killed in action on August 8, 1952. Highest scoring People's Liberation Army Air Force Ace.
Muhammad Mahmood Alam	Pakistan	Indo-Pakistani War of 1965	1953–1982	5	F-86 Sabre	Muhammad Mahmood Alam is credited with having shot down five Indian aircraft in less than a minute, the last four within 30 seconds.[22]
Saiful Azam	Pakistan & Jordan	Six-Day War, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965	1960–1988	5	F-86 Sabre and Hawker Hunter	Saiful Azam flew for the Pakistan Air force (1 Victory) and for Arab Armies during the Six day War (4 Victories).[23][24][25]
Giora Even Epstein	Israel	Six-Day War War of Attrition Yom Kippur War	1956–1997	17	Mirage 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.[26][27]
Nguyen Van Coc	Democratic Republic of Vietnam	Vietnam War	1961–2002	7–9	MiG-17 and MiG-21	From seven to nine victories on US-crewed aircraft, as well as two drones.[28][29]
Vadim Shcherbakov	Soviet Union	Vietnam War	1966–1967	6	MiG-21	Per US sources.[30]
Randy H. Cunningham	United States	Vietnam War	1967–1987	5	F-4 Phantom II	First American ace of the Vietnam War.[31]
Legesse Tefera	Ethiopia	Ogaden War		7	Northrop F-5	Ethiopia's most successful pilot, and the most successful Northrop F-5 pilot, with six or seven kills.[32][33][34][35]
Jalil Zandi	Iran	Iran–Iraq War	1970–2001	8–11	F-14 Tomcat	Iran's most successful fighter pilot ever, with eight confirmed aerial victories. The most successful F-14 Tomcat pilot.[36][37]
Mohommed "Sky Falcon" Rayyan	Iraq	Iran–Iraq War	1977–1986	5	MiG-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.[38][39]

21st Century era

Person	Country	Wars	Years active	Aerial victories	Plane flown	Notes
Ilya Andreevich Sizov	Russia	Russian invasion of Ukraine	2022 to Present	11	Sukhoi Su-30SM	Shot down 11 Ukrainian aircraft (3 Su-24s, 3 Su-27s, 2 MiG-29s, 2 Mi-24s, and 1 Mi-14) and destroyed two Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence.[40][41]
Oleksandr Oksanchenko the "Grey Wolf"	Ukraine	Russian invasion of Ukraine	1989–1991 1991–2018, 2022	10	Sukhoi Su-27	One of the first fighter aces of the 21st century with more than 10 confirmed aerial victories. he was killed by a Russian S-400 missile during the battle of Kyiv. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Gold [42]
Vadym Voroshylov callsigns: "Karaya" & "Ghost of Vinnytsia"	Ukraine	Russian invasion of Ukraine	2015–present	10+	Sukhoi Su-27	On October 10, during a massive missile attack, he shot down two Russian cruise missiles. On October 12, he destroyed five Shahed 136 drones three in southern Ukraine and two over Vinnytsia, making him the first ace in a day in the 21st [43]

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	Period	Notes
Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière	Imperial Germany	World War I	1915–18	The commander of U-35, Arnauld de la Perière sank a total of 194 merchant vessels and gunboats totaling 453,716 gross metric tons.[44][45]
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.[46]
Wolfgang Lüth	Nazi Germany	World War II	1933–1945	46 enemy merchant ships sunk and plus French Submarine. Total GRT sunk of 225,204.[47]
Otto Kretschmer	Nazi Germany	World War II	1939–1941	46[48] or 47[49] enemy ships sunk with 274,418 GRT. The most successful German Submarine ace in GRT sunk.
Dick O'Kane	United States	World War II	July 1943 – 25 October 1944	31 Japanese merchant ship sunk.[50] Captured and made Prisoner of war.[51]
Malcolm David Wanklyn	United Kingdom	World War II	February 1940 – 14 April 1942	16 enemy ships sunk.[52] Wanklyn was the British Ace of Aces in terms of tonnage, disappeared during 28th patrol on board HMS Upholder.[53]
Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia	Italy	World War II		The highest scoring Italian submarine commander, with 11 ships sunk for a total of 90,601 tons.[54]
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.[54]

Submarine hunters

Persons accorded the title ace of aces^{[citation needed]}

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.[55] 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.^[56]

Person	Country	War	Period	Tanks destroyed	Tank type crewed	Notes
Edmund Roman Orlik	Poland	Invasion of Poland	1 September 1939 – 28 September 1939	10 (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.
Ervin Tarczay [hu]	Hungary	World War II	January 1943 – 18 March 1945	10	41M Turán II, Tiger I, Panther and Panzer IV Ausf. H	10 confirmed and 15 unconfirmed tank kills during World War II.[57][58] On March 15, 1945, he was knighted and took medical leave. He returned to service quickly and was officially declared missing in action on March 18, 1945, after having been left behind while wounded in Söréd.[59]
Kurt Knispel	Nazi Germany	World War II	1940 – 28 April 1945	168	Tiger I and Tiger II	168 confirmed and 195 unconfirmed tank kills. He fought in nearly every type of German tank, working as a loader, gunner, or commander. He is credited with destroying a T-34 tank from 3,000 meters.
Otto Carius	Nazi Germany	World War II	1940 – 7 May 1945	150	Tiger I, various others	Credited with over 150 tank kills and 1 aircraft shot down, mostly in various Tiger tanks.[60]
Johannes Bölter	Nazi Germany	World War II	1940 – 28 April 1945	139	Tiger I	Destroyed 139 enemy tanks, including 16 tanks in one action. Referenced in Wolfgang Schneider's "Tigers in Combat, Volume 1"[61]
Michael Wittmann	Nazi Germany	World War II	1941 – 8 August 1944	138	Tiger I and Sturmgeschütz III	Credited with over 138 tank kills[62]
Walter Kniep	Nazi Germany	World War II	5 July 1943 to 17 January 1944	129	Stug	Awarded the Iron cross, commander of the assault gun battalion of SS-Das Reich[63]
Paul Egger	Nazi Germany	World War II	1941 – 3 May 1945	113	Tiger I	SS Oberscharfuehrer Credited with 113 tank kills[64]
Fritz Lang	Nazi Germany	World War II	1941 – ????	111	Stug III	Germany's WW2 top assault gun ace.[65]
Albert Kerscher	Nazi Germany	World War II	???? – 19 April 1945	100	Tiger I	Feldwebel Albert Kerscher, a member of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 502. Credited with 100 tanks destroyed[66][67]
Dmitry Lavrinenko	USSR	World War II	1941	52	T-34	Dmitry Fyodorovich Lavrinenko was a Soviet tank commander and Hero of the Soviet Union. He was the highest scoring tank ace of the Allies during World War II. Lavrinenko destroyed 52 tanks in just 2.5 months of fierce fighting in 1941.
Alfred Nickolls	United Kingdom	World War II	1940 – 1943	30	M4 Sherman	According to the 22nd November 1942 citation,[68] Corporal Nickolls, in a Sherman tank at El Alemain destroyed 14 tanks, including destroying 9 German tanks in one single engagement.[68] He destroyed 30 tank during the entire North Africa campaign, making him the top tank ace of the United Kingdom and the top tank ace of the western Allies during World War II[69] Awarded the Military Medal by Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery[70]
Zinovy Grigoryevich Kolobanov	USSR	World War II	1941	25	KV-1	During an ambush on German units on 20 August 1941 as part of the battle for Leningrad, region of Voyskovitski, his KV-1 destroyed 22 tanks and 2 artillery pieces before running out of ammunition. His unit of 5 KV-1Es destroyed a total of 43 German tanks that day.[71]
Sydney Valpy Radley-Walters	Canada	World War II	October 1942 - end of World War II	18	M4 Sherman	Credited with 18 tank kills and many other armoured vehicles, whilst in command of three Sherman tanks, named 'Caribou'.[72] The tank squadron under his command may have been responsible for the death of German tank ace Michael Wittmann.
Lafayette G. Pool	United States	World War II	27 June 1944 – 15 September 1944	12	M4 Sherman	Widely recognised as the American tank ace of aces, with 12 confirmed tank kills and 258 armoured vehicle kills, whilst in command of a Sherman tank.[73][74]
Börje Bror Brotell	Finland	World War II	1943 – 1944	11	Sturmgeschütz III	Recognised as the Finnish tank ace of aces, with 11 confirmed and 4 unconfirmed tank kills during World War II. Brotell's role during The Battle of Tali–Ihantala was decisive and his Sturmgeschütz III destroyed multiple enemy tanks which had achieved a breakthrough.[75]
Arun Khetarpal	India	Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Battle of Basantar	9 December 1971 - 16 December 1971	10	Centurion	Indian tank ace. Personally responsible for destroying 10 tanks before he was killed in action in Battle of Basantar[76]
Zvika Greengold	Israel	Yom Kippur War	6 October 1973 – 25 October 1973	60	Centurion (more specifically Sho't)	In total 60 tanks were accredited to him.[77] Greengold himself claims 20 Syrian tanks over the space of holding his position for 20 hours. He changed tanks six times.[78][79]

See also

• Ace (military)

Notes

1. According to Hinchliffe, Kurt Welter is credited in excess of 20 aerial victories while flying the Me 262, but the exact number is disputed.^[12]