Nakajima B5N
Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" in flight.
Type	Single engine bomber aircraft
Manufacturer	Nakajima Aircraft Company
Maiden flight	1937
Primary user	Imperial Japanese Navy

The Nakajima B5N (Japanese: 中島 B5N, Allied reporting name: Kate) was the Imperial Japanese Navy's standard torpedo bomber for the first years of World War II. An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts The Nakajima Aircraft Company ( Japanese:中島飛行機株式会社/Nakajima Hikōki Kabushiki Kaisha was a prominent Japanese Aircraft manufacturer throughout The maiden flight of an Aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord For Combined Fleet, please see that article For Carrier Striking Task Force, please see that article is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities For Combined Fleet, please see that article For Carrier Striking Task Force, please see that article Types The torpedo bomber first appeared during the later years of World War I. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including While the B5N was substantially faster and more capable than its Allied counterparts, the TBD Devastator and Fairey Swordfish, it was close to obsolescence by the time of the Pearl Harbor Attack. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The attack on Pearl Harbor (or Hawaii Operation, as it was called by the Imperial General Headquarters) was a surprise Military strike conducted by Nevertheless, the B5N operated throughout the whole war. Although primarily used as a carrier-based aircraft, it was also used as a land-based bomber on occasions. An aircraft carrier is a Warship designed with The B5N had a crew of 3: pilot, navigator/bombardier/observer, and radio operator/gunner.

Design and development

The B5N was designed by a team led by Katsuji Nakamura in response to a 1935 specification by the Navy for a torpedo bomber to replace the Yokosuka B4Y. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Internally designated Type K by Nakajima, it successfully competed with the Mitsubishi B5M for a production contract. The Mitsubishi B5M was an Imperial Japanese Navy land-based attack aircraft with an Allied reporting name of Mabel (also known as "Kate 61" The first prototype flew in January 1937 and was ordered into production soon afterwards with the full designation Type 97 Carrier Attack Bomber (九七式艦上攻撃機).

Nakajima B5N1 "Kate" torpedo bomber taking off from the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi. Description Akagi was laid down as an ''Amagi'' class Battlecruiser at Kure Japan.

The B5N soon saw combat, first in the Sino-Japanese War, where combat experience revealed several weaknesses in the original B5N1 production model. The Second Sino-Japanese War ( July 7, 1937 to September 9, 1945) was a major war fought between the Republic of China and the These were mainly concerned with the lack of protection that the design offered its crew and fuel tanks. Keen to maintain the high performance of the type, the Navy was reluctant to add weight in the form of armour, and instead looked to obtaining a faster version of the aircraft in the hopes of out-running enemy fighters. The B5N2 was given a much more powerful engine, and various modifications were made to streamline it. Although its performance was only marginally better, and its weaknesses remained unremedied, this version replaced the B5N1 in production and service from 1939. It was this version that would be used by the Navy in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor (or Hawaii Operation, as it was called by the Imperial General Headquarters) was a surprise Military strike conducted by Apart from this raid, the greatest successes of the B5N2 were the key roles they played in sinking the US Navy aircraft carriers Yorktown, Lexington and Hornet. An aircraft carrier is a Warship designed with Early career Yorktown was laid down on 21 May 1934 at Newport News Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co Construction The Lexington is named after the battle of Lexington that took place in Lexington Massachusetts in 1775 Doolittle Raid April 1942 See also Doolittle Raid Hornet arrived at Alameda California 20 March 1942.

The B5N served as the basis for a follow-on design, the Nakajima B6N, which eventually replaced it in front-line service. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The B5N continued to fly in secondary roles, such as training, target towing, and anti-submarine warfare. Anti-submarine warfare (ASW or in older form A/S is a branch of Naval warfare that uses surface Warships Aircraft, space craft or other Submarines Some of the aircraft used for this latter purpose were equipped with early radars and magnetic anomaly detectors. Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range altitude direction or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as Aircraft, ships A magnetic anomaly detector (MAD is an instrument used to detect minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. B5Ns were also used as bombers during the unsuccessful defence of the Philippines in October 1944. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP

Altogether, around 1,150 were built, of which not a single complete example exists today. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " A large portion of a B5N2 was recovered from the Kuril Islands by a British private collector in 2003. The Kuril Islands (ˈkʊrɪl or /ˈkjuˈriˈl/ Кури́льские острова́ əstrʌˈva ru-Latn ''Kuril'skie ostrova'' or Kurile Islands in Russia The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Replicas of the B5N2s which were made from U. S. T-6 Texan training aircraft, which were modified to represent Japanese planes for the movie Tora! Tora! Tora! and have been used in a number of movies and airshows since to depict the planes. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

Variants

• Type K : Prototype.
• B5N1 : First production model.
• B5N1-K : Improved version.
• B5N2 : Many B5N1s were converted into advanced training aircraft.

Specifications (Nakajima B5N2)

Nakajima B5N2 "Kate".

A crashed Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" (tail marking "EI-306") from Shokaku. Design Shōkaku was laid down at Yokosuka Dockyard on December 12, 1937, launched on June 1, 1939, and commissioned This and a sister aircraft were ditched on a reef near Rennell Island during the Battle of the Coral Sea. The local name for Rennell Island is Mungava and is the main island of two inhabited islands that make up the Rennell and Bellona Province in the Solomon Islands The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from May 4 – May 8, 1942, with most of the action occurring on May 7 and May 8, was Survivors burned the cockpits to foil recovery.

General characteristics

• Crew: 3(1 pilot, 1 commander and 1 backgunner/radio operator)
• Length: 10. 30 m (33' 10")
• Wingspan: 15. The wingspan (or just span) of an airplane or a Bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip 52 m (50' 11")
• Height: 3. 70 m (12' 2")
• Wing area: 37. 7 m² (406 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,279 kg (5,024 lb)
• Loaded weight: 3,800 kg (8,380 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 4,100 kg (9,040 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Nakajima Sakae 11 radial engine, 750 kW (1,000 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 367 km/h (229 mph)
• Range: 1,935 km (1,202 mi)
• Service ceiling 8,260 m (27,100 ft)
• Rate of climb: 6. The Maximum Takeoff Weight or Maximum Takeoff Mass of an Aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot of the aircraft is allowed to attempt to take off WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion Engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such The maximal total range is the distance an Aircraft can fly between Takeoff and Landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft or cross-country In Aeronautics, a ceiling is the maximum Density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions In Aerodynamics, the rate of climb RoC is the speed at which an Aircraft increases its Altitude. 5 m/s (1,283 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 101 kg/m² (21 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 0. In Aerodynamics, wing loading is the loaded weight of the aircraft divided by the area of the wing Power-to-weight ratio (specific power is a calculation commonly applied to Engines and other mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another 20 kW/kg (0. 12 hp/lb)

Armament

• Guns: 1 x 7. 7 mm Type 92 machine gun 'Ru' ( Lewis )machine gun in rear dorsal position, fed by hand loaded drum magazines of 97 rounds. The Type 92 machine gun was developed for aerial use for the Imperial Japanese Navy before the World War II. A number of B5N1s were equipped with 2 x 7. 7 Type 97 machine guns in the wings. The was the standard Machine gun used on Tanks and Armored vehicles of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, and also as a Light machine
• Bombs: 1 x 800 kg (1,760 lb) Type 91 torpedo or 3x 250 kg (550 lb) bombs or 6 x 60 kg (132 lb)

See also

Nakajima B5N2 Model 12 "Kate" over Hickam field, December 7, 1941. The Type 91 was a 450 mm (177 inch diameter Torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Related development Nakajima B6N
Comparable aircraft TBD Devastator
Related lists List of military aircraft of Japan

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• 　Pictorial of B5N in multiplayer air-combat simulation of Battle of Coral Sea.