Nakajima B5N

The Nakajima B5N 'Kate' was a carrier-based torpedo-bomber used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Designed in late 1935, it made its maiden flight in 1937, being introduced into service in 1938 in the B5N1 version. It flew its first combat sorties that year, attacking Chinese Army troops and military installations in the Hankow region of China as it took off from land-based runways. Later, it would operate mainly from Zuikaku, Kaga, Shokaku, Hiryu, Akagi, and other Japanese carriers.

In 1939, the Nakajima B5N1 would be upgraded into the B5N2, Navy Type 97 (or Model 2). This variant was driven by a more powerful engine; a Nakajima Sakae, 14-cylinder, two-row, radial piston engine, generating 1,000 HP. On December 11, 1941, when the United States declared war on Japan, Kate was the most advanced carrier-borne torpedo-bomber in the world, taking part in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Total production of this torpedo-bomber reached 1,149 aircraft made by 1945.

The Nakajima B5N Kate was used extensively and intensively throughout the war in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Not only did it take part in the sinking of several American warships at Pearl Harbor but also in the sinking of the British Royal Navy's capital ships, such as the 35,000-ton HMS Prince of Wales and the 32,000-ton HMS Repulse in the South China Sea as well as the US Navy's USS Yorktown (CV-5) at the Battle of Midway. The B5N was so efficient and reliable that even when the new Nakajima B6N Tenzan entered service, it would still be used, in the B5N2 variant, until the end of the war.

Technical Characteristics

The Nakajima B5N was a three-seat, single engine monoplane. It featured cantilever low wings. The fuselage was of all-metal construction. It was fitted with retractable landing gear, which folded up inwardly.

Specifications (B5N2)

Type: carrier-borne torpedo-bomber

Wingspan: 15.52 m (50 feet, 11 inches)

Length: 10.30 m (33 feet, 9 inches)

Wing Area: 37.70 m2 (405.8 sq. ft.)

Height: 3.7 m (12 feet, 2 inches)

Powerplant: 1,000-HP, Nakajima NK1B Sakae radial piston engine.

Maximum Speed: 378 km/h (235 mph)

Combat Range: 1,990 km (1,237 miles)

crew: 3

Armament: one 7.7mm Type 92 machine gun in rear part of cockpit; one 800-kg torpedo, or 900 kg of bombs.

Below, photo of Nakajima B5N in 1939, flying in the skies over China

Kate in December 1941 as it took off the flight deck of Shokaku aircraft carrier. You can see the 800-kg torpedo underneath it.

Below, the B5N2 version of Kate

The B5N2 in flight, climbing up into the skies over the Pacific.