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Yokosuka E14Y ( 零式小型水上機)
The Yokosuka E14Y is a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft based on submarines. Built in 1938, by the end of the war between 126 and 138 of these aircraft were built. In September, a Yokosuka E14 aircraft taking off from the I-25 submarine carried out a successful attack (and the only one during WW2) on the continental United States.
History
In 1937, the Japanese Navy began its third naval development program, which included new submarine cruisers. It was decided to additionally replace the aging E9W observation aircraft with new aircraft. The Navy organized a competition for a new observation aircraft for submarines, which was joined by the Yokosuka and Watanabe plants, but it soon turned out that Yokosuka’s proposal was better. The project was headed by Mitsuo Yamada. The designers encountered challenges to ensure that the aircraft had the right performance, while not exceeding the required dimensions. And so, at the end of 1938, work began on two prototype aircraft. The first flight took place in early 1939 at Tokyo Harbor, and the crew consisted of pilot Lieutenant Okane and observer Kato. The performance of the aircraft met the requirements of the navy, but its design was worse. It turned out that the plane weighed too much by as much as 180 kg, and there were problems with stability of levels. Due to the excessive weight, the ad hoc solution was to take only 200 liters of fuel with you, which shortened the range. Because of these problems, the designers slimmed down the plane, and redesigned the tail of the plane. In December 1940, the redesigned aircraft was accepted into service under the designation E14Y1 or Type Zero Small Seaplane. E14Y aircraft served on submarines from I-7 to I-11 and from I-19 to I-35. By the end of production 1 in 1943, between 126 and 138 E14Ys had been produced, which served as reconnaissance aircraft for submarines and seaplane bases in Japan. Yokosuka E14Y aircraft were used for reconnaissance over important Allied ports, including Perl Harbor or Sydney.
Attack on Oregon
On August 15, 1942, the I-25 submarine sailed from Yokosuka Harbor with one E14Y aircraft on board. The purpose of this cruise was to attack the continental United States in order to take revenge for the Doolittle Rally. It was decided that the most effective would be an attack by an incendiary bomb plane on densely forested areas, and the most suitable areas were in the state of Oregon, in addition, the I-25 ship had recently returned from there, so it knew the surrounding waters. The I-25 submarine added to Oregon on 7 September, but due to bad weather, it was unable to send a Yokosuka E14Y aircraft to attack. Two days later, the weather improved and the E14Y plane took off towards the American coast, pilot Nobuo Fujita and rear gunner/navigator Shoji Okuda were on board the machine, and the plane was equipped with two incendiary bombs weighing 30 kg. The plane dropped its cargo over Mt. Emily, which caused a small fire to be started due to the large amount of water in the litter. The Yokosuka E14Y aircraft was observed by American forest rangers, but it was not believed that it caused the fire on Mt. Emily. Only a later FBI investigation showed that it was a Japanese attack (one of the incendiary bombs was found, which did not explode). After the aircraft returned to the I-25 submarine, preparations began for the next attack, but on September 10, the I-25 submarine was observed by an American patrol bomber and attacked with 3 bombs weighing 150 kg. The damage to the ship was minor (apart from flooding of the telegraph room), so operations against the forests in the USA were continued. On 29 September, the E14Y aircraft was sent again to attack, but only with the pilot Nobuo Fujita and one incendiary bomb weighing 60 kg. This attack was also not very effective (it caused a small fire), and the possibility of another attack by American bombers was becoming more and more important, so the captain of the I-25 submarine decided to return to Japan. After an FBI investigation, it was discovered that this was a Japanese attack on the continental United States, which caused shock in American public opinion and accelerated American offensive operations in the Pacific. For the Japanese, these attacks were an incentive to build powerful I-400-class submarine cruisers and the construction of special attack aircraft based on submarines - the Aichi M6A1 Seiran.
Construction description
The Yokosuka E14Y was a two-seat, low-wing monoplane of mixed construction, with two floats supported by struts. The fuselage had a structure made of metal tubes, covered in the front part with duralumin sheets, and in the rear with canvas. The wings and tail had a mixed construction, metal and wood, covered with canvas, the floats were made entirely of duralumin. The plane had folding wings and a horizontal and vertical stabilizer. The floats were detached and transported separately. In the closed cabin there was a pilot and an observer/radiotelegrapher/gunner. The aircraft was equipped with a Type 92 mobile machine gun at the rear of the cockpit for self-defense and could carry two 30 kg bombs under the wings or one 60 kg bomb.
Cockpit sketches
Comparison of the Yokosuka E14Y versions
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 8,53 m
- Wingspan: 10,98 m
- Height: 3,39 m
- Wing area: 19 m2
- Empty weight: 1,119 kg
- Gross weight: 1,450 kg
- Powerplant: 1 × Hitachi GK2 Tempu 12, 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 250 kW (340 hp) for take-off
- Propellers: 2-bladed wooden propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 246 km/h
- Cruise speed: 167 km/h
- Range: 882 km
- Service ceiling: 5 420 m
- Time to altitude: 3,000 m in 10 minutes 11 seconds
Armament
- Guns
- 1 x Type 92 7.7mm machine gun at the rear of the cockpit
- Bombs
- 2 x 30 kg bombs
- 1 x 60 kg bomb
- 2 x 60 kg bombs (?)(Without a second crew member)
Special thanks
@Rowiek
Summary
The Yokosuka E14Y aircraft is a very interesting, even unique aircraft for Japan in War Thunder. It is the only enemy aircraft in history to bomb the continental United States (not counting Alaska). Although its performance is poor and its armament is poor due to the history behind this aircraft, it is an ideal Premium or event aircraft, or even as a free reward. In the future, it may be a reconnaissance aircraft for Japanese submarines. I encourage you to discuss in the comments and to share your own knowledge on this subject.
Finally, I apologize for the linguistic and logical errors because unfortunately English is not my main language and I had to use google translator.
Internet sources
零式小型水上機 - Wikipedia
零式小型水上機/空技廠Yokoshuka E14Y | 大日本帝国軍 主要兵器
零式小型水上偵察機
Yokosuka E14Y - Wikipedia
Lookout Air Raids - Wikipedia
Уголок неба ¦ Yokosuka E14Y
Yokosuka E14Y [Hidroavión de Reconocimiento] - La Segunda Guerra Mundial
Yokosuka E14Y Glenn - submarine-based float-plane
Jokosuka E14Y1 [Glen] : Jokosuka
Yokosuka E14Y (Glen) - Technical Information
Yokosuka E14Y (Glen): Photos, History, Specification
Yokosuka横须贺E14Y_百度百科
Yokosuka E14Y - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia
Yokosuka E14Y Floatplane: Japan’s Foldable Submarine Scout
Yokosuka E14Y
Yokosuka E14Y
Book sources
- Japanese Submarine Aircraft Mushroom - Red Series 5103 page 35-57
Mushroom - Red Series 5103 Japanese Submarine Aircraft | PDF - Am HS04 PDF | PDF
- Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War page 451-453
- La Aviación Japonesa en la Segunda Guerra mundial (Japanese aviation in World War II) page 409-412
Aviones Japonese | PDF | Fuerzas aéreas del ejército de los Estados Unidos | Avión de combate - Manual on Japanese aircraft, TAIC No. 1, July 1945. Report No. 9-a(43), USSBS Index Section 6 (文書名:Records of the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey ; Entry 46, Security-Classified Intelligence Library. 1932-1947. 65 ft = 米国戦略爆撃調査団文書 ; 各種日本関係情報) (課係名等:Intelligence Branch ; Library and Target Data Division) (シリーズ名:Intelligence, Air: General) - NDL Digital Collections
Additional sources
Thank you for reading the suggestion, see you in the next one. Good luck pilots
