The Nakajima Type 97 Carrier Attack Bomber (kankō) made its first flight in January 1937. The B5N1 version was powered by a nine-cylinder Nakajima Hikari 2 radial engine which produced 700 horsepower for take-off. The prototype featured Fowler flaps and hydraulic wing-fold mechanisms, but these were removed at the request of the Imperial Navy to make the aircraft easier to maintain. Pictured is Ko-345 assigned to the Naval Air Technical Arsenal for trials.Kankō B5N1 Ka-302 of the Kasumigaura Kokutai showing details of the wing fold and standard anti-glare paint on the cowling. The Kate was designed to carry either bombs or a torpedo. This aircraft is fitted with bomb racks for the level-bombing role.Ka-310 being re-positioned by ground crewmen. The Type 97 was assigned to carrier air groups as well as land-based units.Another Kasumigaura Kokutai B5N1, Ka-320 is seen climbing out while retracting her gear. Overall finish is natural Aluminum with black tail codes. The Kasumigaura Kokutai was a training command, these B5N1s are unusual for having unpainted tail surfaces.Seen over the wing of another Type 97, Ka-310 now sports the more common red tail surfaces applied to uncamouflaged B5N1s.Kasumigaura Kokutai B5N1s seen on 18APR42 in the immediate aftermath of the Dolittle Raid. The Kokutai had received orders to arm their aircraft and sortie to find the American carriers, but the orders were rescinded before the aircraft could launch.Ie-312 is seen outside a hanger at Hiyakurigahara Air Base with a Yokosuka K5Y “Willow” trainer in the background.This perspective shows the bomb racks fitted to the B5N1 to advantage, one loadout option was six 60 kg bombs. Yo-335 was assigned to the Yokosuka air group in 1939.In 1938-39 the aircraft carrier Soryu participated in strikes against the Chinese mainland, her Kankō being very active in the level-bombing role. Here W-323 is seen from another Type 97 with her wheels and tailhook down, ready to recover aboard Soryu. The “shark fin” seen on the wing in the foreground is a gear down indicator which gave the pilot visual confirmation of the position of the landing gear.Something which has caused much confusion is this photo of a B5N1 loaded with a torpedo, seen with a carrier island covered in crewmen’s hammocks in the background. The island is to port, indicating the ship is either Akagi or Hiryu, the hammocks were fitted to catch shell splinters when combat was expected. However, both carriers had replaced their B5N1s with the improved B5N2 Kankō in time for the Pearl Harbor raid and were lost in June 1942 at Midway, but the dark camo with yellow wing stripes on this B5N1 indicates a post-September 1942 time frame. While there are various claims regarding this photo in references and on the Internet, it is almost certainly a still from the wartime movie production “Hawaii / Battle of Malaya”.A Type 97 over China with a pair of Yokosuka B4Y Type 96 “Jeans” in the background. The Kate is seen in a field-applied green and brown segmented camouflage scheme. For those interested in obscure trivia, the Jean is technically a Battle of Midway aircraft. Eight Jeans operated from the light carrier Hosho as part of the Main Body, and one of them took the famous photos of the damaged aircraft carrier Hiryu adrift after the battle.B5N1 Kankō of the land-based 14th Air Group is seen over China. Shore-based units in China painted their Kates in green and brown segmented schemes and were used as level bombers. The limited Chinese opposition did not reveal the liabilities of the Type 97s limited defensive armament nor lack of self-sealing fuel tanks.KaSu-315 is a B5N1 assigned to the Usa Naval Air Group during 1943-44. This Kankō wears dark green upper surface camouflage and yellow wing identification stripes. As the war dragged on Kates of all types were increasingly relegated to second-line duties such as anti-submarine patrol.Ku-320 is an interesting aircraft and something of a mystery. Her paint and markings indicate she was photographed after September 1942. The inscription on her fuselage is illegible in this photo, but is most likely a Hokaku donation inscription. The significance white square background to her fuselage Hinomaru has been described in various ways. Most Japanese references just note its presence without attempting to assign a meaning.
WHENEVER ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT BECOMES DESTRUCTIVE OF THESE ENDS (LIFE,LIBERTY,AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS) IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER OR ABOLISH IT, AND TO INSTITUTE A NEW GOVERNMENT― Thomas Jefferson
Inch High Guy 