The Kawanishi E11K was a Japanese

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

of the 1930s. It was designed as a night

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

aircraft for the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

, but was not accepted, the two aircraft built being used as transports as the Type 96 Transport Flying Boat during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Development and design

In 1936 the

drew up a requirement for an aircraft to replace the Aichi Type 96 Reconnaissance Seaplane as a specialised night reconnaissance aircraft, intended to spot naval gunfire in night actions and to shadow enemy forces at night, allowing submarines to be directed to targets. The requirement was passed to

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectu ...

and Kawanishi, with both companies producing aircraft to meet the navy's needs. While Aichi produced a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

similar to the aircraft that was to be replaced, Kawanishi designed a

gull wing The gull wing is an aircraft wing configuration, known also as ''Pulaski wings'', with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles. Numerous aircraft have incorporat ...

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

. It was powered by a single pusher

Hiro Type 91 The Hiro Type 91, (full designation Hiro Type 91 520 hp water-cooled W-12), was a 12-cylinder, water-cooled, W engine developed for aircraft use by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s. Power was in the 450 kW (600 hp) ran ...

w engine A W engine is a type of piston engine where three or four cylinder banks use the same crankshaft, resembling the letter W when viewed from the front. W engines with three banks of cylinders are also called "broad arrow" engines, due to their shap ...

strut mounted above the wing driving a four-bladed propeller, with its radiator mounted in a fairing above the rear fuselage so that it was located in the propeller's slipstream. It was fitted with retractable wingtip floats, while its wings folded to aid storage aboard the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

s of the Japanese Navy. The first of two prototypes of Kawanishi's design, the Experimental 11-''Shi'' Special Reconnaissance Seaplane, with the short designation E11K, made its maiden flight on 11 June 1937. It proved to have poor stability and water handling, while the engine installation overheated. It was unsuitable for the night reconnaissance role, with the Aichi design proving generally superior and being ordered into production as the

Aichi E11A The Aichi E11A (九八夜偵, ''Kyū-hachi Yatei'') was an Imperial Japanese Navy flying boat used during the first year of World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was "Laura"; the Japanese Navy designation ...

Operational history

The two prototypes were fitted with retractable beaching gear, in order to serve as a utility transport aircraft, and was accepted into service by the Japanese Navy as the Type 96 Transport. These aircraft were used as liaison aircraft for reconnaissance seaplane squadrons and remained in use well into the

Specifications

Footnotes

* In the Japanese Navy designation system, specifications were given a ''Shi'' number based on the year of the Emperor's reign it was issued. In this case 11-''Shi'' stood for 1936, the 11th year of the

Shōwa era The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the Taishō era. The pre-1945 and post-war Shōwa periods are almos ...

. * Kawanishi had made a similar modification to its earlier

Kawanishi E10K The Kawanishi E10K, also known as Kawanishi Type T, Kawanishi Navy Type 94 Transport Seaplane and Kawanishi Navy Experimental 9-Shi Night Reconnaissance Seaplane, was a small Japanese flying boat of the 1930s. It was a single-engined biplane int ...

, which had lost out to the

Aichi E10A The Aichi E10A was a Japanese night reconnaissance flying boat of the 1930s. A single-engined biplane, 15 were built for the Imperial Japanese Navy as the Type 96 Night Reconnaissance Seaplane, serving from 1936 but were retired in 1941 before th ...

, producing the Navy Type 94 Transport.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{Japanese Navy short aircraft designations E11K, Kawanishi Flying boats E11K Single-engined pusher aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937