Nakajima B5N2 Kate
In 1935, the Imperial Japanese Navy issued a requirement for a monoplane carrier-based torpedo bomber that would also be capable of carrying bombs. Nakajima won the contract with its B5N design, which first flew in 1937. The prototype was considered slightly too complicated for carrier operations of the time, and it was simplified for production as the B5N1.
The B5N immediately won over crews, who liked its easy handling and steady performance, which made it both a superb torpedo bomber and level bomber. Speed was not considered a factor, as torpedo bombers were usually slow--torpedoes could not be dropped at high speed--and would require fighter escort in any case. A single .30 caliber machine gun was provided for self-defense. However, experience over China showed that the B5N was helpless against even the second-rate fighters used by the Chinese Air Force: like many Japanese aircraft, sacrificing weight for range left the B5N without armor or self-sealing fuel tanks. One or two hits would destroy the aircraft. Unfortunately for the Japanese, adding armor would reduce the aircraft's already slow speed even further, not to mention its range--and Japanese carrier doctrine emphasized hitting the enemy beyond the range of enemy counterattacks. The best Nakajima could do was to upgrade the engine in the B5N2, to make it somewhat faster.
Though considered obsolete by December 1941, the B5N2 was still the backbone of the IJN's Carrier Striking Force. For the Pearl Harbor attack, B5Ns were equipped with torpedoes in the first wave and a mix of torpedoes and bombs in the second. The aircraft would do the most damage of any Japanese aircraft in the attack: armed with the best torpedoes in the world--the Type 91 Long Lance--B5Ns sank the USS Oklahoma and severely damaged the California, West Virginia and Nevada. The Arizona may have been sunk by a B5N using armor-piercing bombs in the level bombing role, though the loss was also attributed to Aichi D3A dive bombers.
For the next two years, B5Ns--codenamed "Kate" by the Allies--would wreak havoc on Allied ships, contributing to the loss of no less than three American carriers and several other vessels. However, as the US Navy began to field more effective fighters and antiaircraft guns, the B5N began to suffer heavy casualties--it could not escape or defend itself against fighters, and now its escorting Mitsubishi A6M Zeroes were shot down as well. Ironically, the B5N's ability to carry torpedoes or bombs may have contributed to the Japanese loss at Midway, as Admiral Chuichi Nagumo kept delaying attacks while he considered one ordnance load or another, with lethal results for the Carrier Striking Force.
The IJN recognized the B5N's vulnerability and were already working on a replacement by 1942--the B6N Tenzan, codenamed "Jill"--but the B6N was delayed due to engine problems, and then by US bombing. The B6N never replaced the B5N; though the latter was relegated to antisubmarine duties in 1944, it was brought back in its original role from land bases, and as a kamikaze.
The heavy casualties taken by B5N crews during the war ensured that few of the 1268 produced survived to the end; those that did were scrapped. Today, no complete B5N survives, though some have been reconstructed from wrecks to partial aircraft.
When I began teaching my World War II class, Dad began building models for it. He had wanted to build a B5N for awhile in any case. This is the Hasegawa 1/72 scale B5N2. Dad intended this to be in the colors of Mitsuo Fuchida, who led the attack on Pearl Harbor; Fuchida's aircraft carried distinctive red and yellow formation markings on the tail, but Dad had not finished decaling the model before he passed away in October 2013. Unlike many IJN aircraft, Fuchida's aircraft had dark green uppersurfaces over the standard light gray underside. The single red stripe on the fuselage indicates an aircraft from the carrier Akagi.
Nakajima B5N2 Kate
In 1935, the Imperial Japanese Navy issued a requirement for a monoplane carrier-based torpedo bomber that would also be capable of carrying bombs. Nakajima won the contract with its B5N design, which first flew in 1937. The prototype was considered slightly too complicated for carrier operations of the time, and it was simplified for production as the B5N1.
The B5N immediately won over crews, who liked its easy handling and steady performance, which made it both a superb torpedo bomber and level bomber. Speed was not considered a factor, as torpedo bombers were usually slow--torpedoes could not be dropped at high speed--and would require fighter escort in any case. A single .30 caliber machine gun was provided for self-defense. However, experience over China showed that the B5N was helpless against even the second-rate fighters used by the Chinese Air Force: like many Japanese aircraft, sacrificing weight for range left the B5N without armor or self-sealing fuel tanks. One or two hits would destroy the aircraft. Unfortunately for the Japanese, adding armor would reduce the aircraft's already slow speed even further, not to mention its range--and Japanese carrier doctrine emphasized hitting the enemy beyond the range of enemy counterattacks. The best Nakajima could do was to upgrade the engine in the B5N2, to make it somewhat faster.
Though considered obsolete by December 1941, the B5N2 was still the backbone of the IJN's Carrier Striking Force. For the Pearl Harbor attack, B5Ns were equipped with torpedoes in the first wave and a mix of torpedoes and bombs in the second. The aircraft would do the most damage of any Japanese aircraft in the attack: armed with the best torpedoes in the world--the Type 91 Long Lance--B5Ns sank the USS Oklahoma and severely damaged the California, West Virginia and Nevada. The Arizona may have been sunk by a B5N using armor-piercing bombs in the level bombing role, though the loss was also attributed to Aichi D3A dive bombers.
For the next two years, B5Ns--codenamed "Kate" by the Allies--would wreak havoc on Allied ships, contributing to the loss of no less than three American carriers and several other vessels. However, as the US Navy began to field more effective fighters and antiaircraft guns, the B5N began to suffer heavy casualties--it could not escape or defend itself against fighters, and now its escorting Mitsubishi A6M Zeroes were shot down as well. Ironically, the B5N's ability to carry torpedoes or bombs may have contributed to the Japanese loss at Midway, as Admiral Chuichi Nagumo kept delaying attacks while he considered one ordnance load or another, with lethal results for the Carrier Striking Force.
The IJN recognized the B5N's vulnerability and were already working on a replacement by 1942--the B6N Tenzan, codenamed "Jill"--but the B6N was delayed due to engine problems, and then by US bombing. The B6N never replaced the B5N; though the latter was relegated to antisubmarine duties in 1944, it was brought back in its original role from land bases, and as a kamikaze.
The heavy casualties taken by B5N crews during the war ensured that few of the 1268 produced survived to the end; those that did were scrapped. Today, no complete B5N survives, though some have been reconstructed from wrecks to partial aircraft.
When I began teaching my World War II class, Dad began building models for it. He had wanted to build a B5N for awhile in any case. This is the Hasegawa 1/72 scale B5N2. Dad intended this to be in the colors of Mitsuo Fuchida, who led the attack on Pearl Harbor; Fuchida's aircraft carried distinctive red and yellow formation markings on the tail, but Dad had not finished decaling the model before he passed away in October 2013. Unlike many IJN aircraft, Fuchida's aircraft had dark green uppersurfaces over the standard light gray underside. The single red stripe on the fuselage indicates an aircraft from the carrier Akagi.