Arguably the best torpedo bomber in 1941, the Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bomber featured a crew of three, and the ability to carry two of the most effective weapons of the entire war. the Japanese aerial Torpedo, and the 800 Kg Bomb. The aircraft of the IJN were either a solid green as recreated electronically as the background from Munsell color designations, or Green and brown mottled over a silver or perhaps gray (like the Val and Zero pages.) All Kates carried a Bluish black cowl that extended back to the canopy, and the carrier designations as described on the A6M2 Zero Page. Kate torpedo units began with numbers 3XX. On the right had side is AII-312 from the IJN Aircraft Carrier KAGA. AII-312 was flown by PO3c Koshiro Yoshikaw, PO2c Koji Ojino was the Observer, aircraft commander, and PO2c Takeshi Maeda was the radioman/gunner. The target of AII-312 on December 7, 1941 was the West Virginia, and the crew was successful in delivering their ordinance on target. The B5N2 Kate carried only a rearward firing 7.7mm machine gun as defensive weaponry. The Kates in the movies are converted BT-13 trainer aircraft of the United States Army Air forces from the same period as when the Kates actually flew. They have either 2 or 3 bladed props, and extraneous marking that are pure fiction. There are no surviving Kates known to exist. All colors on the model are from relic analysis from pieces retrieved at Pearl Harbor, and the tail codes, and markings are from David Aiken of the Pearl Harbor History Associates who has contact with PO2c Takeshi Maeda who flew in this aircraft on December 7, 1941. The KAGA Kates suffered by far the worse of the Japanese casualties on a per unit basis losing 5 of their number. Overall commander of the Japanese Strike Force Commander Fujita flew in a Kate that carried a 800 Kg bomb, and targeted the USS Maryland. His aircraft carried a aircraft tail number of AI-301, a single red stripe in from of the tail, and the tail itself was red with 3 yellow stripes. Model of AII-312 by Michael Gawell |
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