The Mitsubishi 1MF was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

carrier Carrier may refer to: Entertainment * ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos * ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game * ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

of the 1920s. Designed for the

Mitsubishi Aircraft Company Mitsubishi Aircraft CompanyGunston p. 318 (''Mitsubishi Kokuki'') was the new name given by the Mitsubishi Company (''Mitsubishi Shokai''), in 1928, to its subsidiary, Mitsubishi Internal Combustion (''Mitsubishi Nainenki''), to reflect its chang ...

by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

aircraft designer

Herbert Smith Herbert Smith LLP was a multinational law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and merged with the Australian law firm Freehills on 1 October 2012, forming Herber ...

, the 1MF, also known as the Navy Type 10 Carrier Fighter was operated by 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 ...

from 1923 to 1930.

Development and design

The

shipbuilding company Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd set up a subsidiary company, the Mitsubishi Internal Combustion Engine Manufacturing Co Ltd (''Mitsubishi Nainenki Seizo KK'') in 1920 to produce aircraft and

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

s at

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

. It quickly gained a contract from the

to produce three types of aircraft for operation from

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s: a fighter, a

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

and a

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...

. To produce these aircraft, it hired

, formerly of the

Sopwith Aviation Company The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force during the First World War, most famously ...

to assist the design of these aircraft, Smith bringing to Japan Jack Hyland and a team of six other British engineers . The fighter designed by Smith and his team, designated the 1MF by Mitsubishi, and known as the Navy Type 10 Carrier Fighter by the Japanese Navy (referring to the year of design of 1921, the 10th year of the Taishō period), first flew in October 1921. The 1MF was a single-seat, single-bay

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 ...

with unequal-span wings and all-wooden construction, powered by a

Hispano-Suiza 8 The Hispano-Suiza 8 was a water-cooled V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914, and was the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers during the First World War. The original Hispano-Suiza ...

engine (license produced as the

Mitsubishi Hi The Hispano-Suiza 8 was a water-cooled V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914, and was the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers during the First World War. The original Hispano-Suiza ...

engine). It was fitted with claw-type

arrestor gear An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBAR ...

for use with British-style fore and aft arrestor cables. After successful flight testing, the aircraft was accepted by the Japanese Navy as a standard fighter, with 138 of various versions being built, production continuing until 1928.

Operational history

The 1MF entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1923, replacing the

Gloster Sparrowhawk The Gloster Sparrowhawk was a single-seat fighter aircraft designed and produced during the early 1920s by the British aircraft manufacturer Gloster. It was developed by aircraft designer Henry Folland, who had recently joined Gloster after t ...

. A 1MF aircraft became the first aircraft to take-off from and land on Japan's new aircraft carrier on 28 February 1923. The 1MF series proved a tough and reliable aircraft, operating from the carriers and - as well as from ''Hōshō'' - when they entered service in 1927 and 1928 respectively. It continued in service until 1930, being replaced by the

Nakajima A1N The Nakajima A1N, or Navy Type 3 Carrier Fighter, was a Japanese carrier-based fighter of the late-1920s and early-1930s. It was a licensed copy of the British Gloster Gambet fighter, built by the Nakajima Aircraft Company for the Imperial Jap ...

Variants

;1MF1 :Initial prototype. Fitted with car-type radiator on front of nose. Navy designation Navy Type 10-1 Carrier Fighter. ;1MF1A :Experimental version with increased wing area. Navy designation Navy Type 10-1 Carrier Fighter. ;1MF2 :Experimental prototype with two bay wing. Navy designation Navy Type 10-1 Carrier Fighter. ;1MF3 :Production version with Lamblin radiators under nose replacing original car-type radiators. Navy designation Navy Type 10-2 Carrier Fighter. ;1MF4 :Revised production version with cockpit moved forwards. Navy designation Navy Type 10-2 Carrier Fighter. ;1MF5 :Minor changes. Navy designation Navy Type 10-2 Carrier Fighter. ;1MF5A :Carrier trainer version with jettisonable wheeled undercarriage and floats under wings to allow safe ditching. Navy designation Navy Type 10-2 Carrier Fighter.

Operators

; *

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The was the Naval aviation, air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired their first air ...

Specifications (1MF3)

References

External links

IJN Hosho and her aircraft
{{Mitsubishi aircraft 1920s Japanese fighter aircraft 1MF Aircraft first flown in 1921