Warplanes of Japan: Kawanishi

Kawanishi Warplanes

Kawanishi N1K1 Kyufu (strong wind) floatplane, IJNAF.  (IJNAF Photos)

Kawanishi N1K1 Kyufu (strong wind) (Serial No. unknown).  One shipped to the USA after the war was designated USAAF FE-324.  It was scrapped at Park Ridge, ca. 1950.  (USN Photo)

Kawanishi N1K1 Kyufu (strong wind) (Serial No. 565), when it was on display at NAS Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.  This aircraft is now with the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida.  (USN Photo)

Kawanishi N1K Kyofu (strong wind), Allied reporting name “Rex”, on display in immaculate condition at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas.  (Author Photo)

Kawanishi N1K4-J Shiden Kai, IJNAF, prototype.  (IJNAF Photo)

Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden (Serial No. 5511), test flown by the TAIU-SWPA, TAIC (S) 7, in USAAF markings.  This aircraft crashed at Clark Airfield, Luzon, Philippines, 1945.  (USAAF Photo)

Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden (Violet Lightning), (Serial No. 7102), code-named George, TAIC-SWPA, S9, at Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, 1945.  (USAAF Photo)

Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden (Serial No. 7287) and (Serial No. 7317) were captured and taken to United States on the carrier USS Barnes. The Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden was an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service land-based version of the N1K1 floatplane.  Assigned the Allied codename “George”, the N1K1-J was considered by both its pilots and opponents to be one of the finest land-based fighters flown by the Japanese during the Second World War.  The N1K1 possessed a heavy armament and, unusual for a Japanese fighter, could absorb considerable battle damage.

Kawanishi N1K2-J, USAAF markings being run up with the assistance of Japanese workers.  (USAAF Photo)

At least three Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden Kai Model 21 aircraft survive in American museums.  Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden Kai (Serial No. 5128) is in the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.  Kawanishi N1K2-Ja Shiden Kai (Serial No. 5312), a fighter-bomber variant equipped with wing mounts to carry bombs, is on display in the Air Power gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.  The N1K2-Ja is painted as an aircraft in the Yokosuka Kokutai, an evaluation and test unit.  Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden Kai (Serial No. 5341), USAAF FE-305 is on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

(Goshimini Photo)

( Valder137 Photos)

Kawanishi N1K2-Ja Shiden Kai Model 21 (Serial No. 5312) on display in the National Museum of the USAF.

(Greg Goebel Photo)

(Dick Jenkins Photo)

Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden Kai Model 21 (Serial No. 5128), USAAF FE-306 on display in the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida.

(Bouquey Photos)

Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden Kai Model 21, on display in the Shikoku Museum, Japan.   This is an authentic N1K2-J Shiden-Kai from the 343 squadron.  After the aircraft was damaged in battle, its pilot landed on 24 July 1945 in the waters of the Bungo Channel, but he was never found; by the time of the aircraft’s recovery from the seabed in the 1970s, he could be identified only as one of six pilots from the 343 squadron who disappeared that day.

(USAAF Photo)

Kawanishi H6K Type 97 seaplane, code-named Mavis wearing green cross surrender markings.

(IJNAF Photos)

Kawanishi H8K2 Type 2 flying boat.

 (USN Photo)

Kawanishi H8K2 Type 2 flying boat (Serial No. 426) in Washington State post war.  Four H8K2 aircraft survived until the end of the war.  One of these, an H8K2 (Serial No. 426), was captured by U.S. forces at the end of the war and was evaluated before being eventually returned to Japan in 1979.  It was on display at Tokyo's Museum of Maritime Science until 2004, when it was moved to Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima.

(Max Smith Photo)

(Miya.m Photos)

Kawanishi H8K2 Type 2 flying boat (Serial No. 426) on display at Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima.

The submerged remains of an H8K can be found off the west coast of Saipan, where it is a popular scuba diving attraction.  Another wrecked H8K lies in Chuuk Lagoon, Chuuk, in Micronesia.  This aircraft is located off the south-western end of Dublon Island.

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