U.S. Navy. Via Francillon (1979)
Nakajima B5N1 “Kate”
|
Crew |
2 or 3 |
|
Dimensions |
50’11” by
33’11” by
12’2” 15.52m by 10.30m by 3.7m |
| Wing area | 406
square feet 37.7 square meters |
|
Weight |
5024-9039 lbs 2279-4100 kg |
|
Maximum speed |
235 mph at 11,810 feet 378 km/h at 3600 m |
|
Cruising speed |
161 mph at 9,845 feet 259 km/h at 3000 m |
|
Climb rate |
23 feet per second 7.0 meters per second |
|
Ceiling |
27,100 feet 8260 m |
| One Nakajima NK1B Sakae 11 fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radial engine rated at 1,000 hp for take-off, and 970 hp at 3,000 m, driving a three-blade constant-speed metal propeller. | |
|
Armament |
One flexible rear-firing 7.7mm Type 92 machine gun. |
|
External stores |
1 1764 lb (800-kg) torpedo or 3 551-lb (250-kg) bombs |
|
Range |
608 miles (978 km) normal 1240 miles (2000 km) maximum |
|
Production |
A total of 1,149 B5Ns were built as follows:
Nakajima Hikoki K.K., at Koizumi: Aichi Tokei Denki K.K., at Nagoya: Dai-Juichi Kaigun Kokusho, at Hiro: |
|
Variants |
The B5N2 used a 1115hp Sakae 21 engine and was armed with dual flexible 7.7mm in the rear cockpit and two 7.7mm fixed above the forward fuselage. |
The Kate was the standard Japanese torpedo bomber at the start of the war. Though the design dated back to 1935 and was considered obsolescent by 1941, it sank more Allied ships than any other aircraft type. However, like most torpedo bombers, the Kate was slow, clumsy, and vulnerable to antiaircraft and fighters. A particular weakness of the original model was that it had no forward-firing guns whatsoever.
The original design featured Fowler wing flaps and
hydraulic folding wings. Both proved problematic, and they and were
replaced with conventional flaps and manual wing folding.
After the Kate was replaced in front line service
by the Jill, the surviving aircraft
were relegated to reconnaissance
and antisubmarine duty. Some
were retrofitted with surface search radar
(as in the example shown in the photograph) and MAD gear.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007-2008 by Kent G. Budge. Index
