|
|
Conceived in 1936, the prototype of the 'Kate' first flew in January 1937. It was intended for both torpedo and level bombing. The early B5N1 aircraft flew bombing missions over China, most of them converted to B5N1-K trainers. The definitive B5N2, which first flew in Dec. 1939, equipped carrier squadrons from 1939-1940. A total of 1,149 of both variants were built. The low-wing monoplane had a clean configuration with a fully retractable undercarriage. The large wings folded upward for carrier storage, arranged so that the wing tips overlapped the fuselage. The plane had a long, "greenhouse"-style cockpit. The radial engine had a variable-pitch propeller. The plane lacked armor protection for the crew and self sealing fuel tanks, therefore it was highly vulnerable to allied fighters. Late in the war some were fitted with surface search radar or magnetic anomaly detectors for (land based) antisubmarine operations. Nicknamed 'Kate' by allied forces, it was the principal Japanese torpedo plane in the war. The B5N or Type 97 was Japan's primary carrier based attack plane when the war began, with eighteen- or twenty-seven-plane units on all of the larger carriers; detachments were provided to smaller carriers. In the Pearl Harbor raid, the six carriers launched ninety-four 'Kates'- a quarter of the attacking planes. They devastated the American "battleship row" with aerial torpedoes and with level bombing using modified armor-piercing naval shells as bombs, sinking four battleships ( two being a total loss ) and heavily damaging three others. Subsequently, 'Kates' delivered death blows to three U.S. aircraft carriers -the Lexington (CV 2), Yorktown (VC 5), and Hornet (CV 8). 'Kates' served throughout the war, flying from land bases and, until Nov. 1944, from carriers.
|