In the late 1930s, Seversky aircraft exported twenty two-seat 2PA-B3 to Japan for operational service by the

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 ...

as the A8V1 Type S Two Seat Fighter. The aircraft were imported as a result of Japanese anxiety over escalating losses for their unescorted strategic bombing raids with Type 96 G3M bombers deep into China from bases in Formosa (Taiwan) which had begun in 1937. The purchase contract for the Seversky 2PA-B3, construction numbers 122 through 141 had been negotiated secretly but was to cause controversy in the US and subsequent difficulties in Seversky's relationship with the US government and military. Sources differ on exactly when the aircraft were delivered, but it must have been at least prior to October 1938 (see below).

Design and development

The origins of the

Seversky P-35 The Seversky P-35 is an American fighter aircraft built by the Seversky Aircraft Company in the late 1930s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, the P-35 was the first single-seat fighter in United States Army Air Co ...

single-seat fighter trace back to the

Seversky SEV-3 The Seversky SEV-3 was an American three-seat amphibian monoplane, the first aircraft designed and built by the Seversky Aircraft Corporation. Design and development The SEV-3 was an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane powered by a nose-mou ...

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

, which was developed into the Seversky BT-8 basic trainer. Seversky's chief designer,

Alexander Kartveli Alexander Kartveli, born Aleksandre Kartvelishvili, ( ka, ალექსანდრე ქართველიშვილი) (September 9, 1896 – July 20, 1974) was a Georgian aeronautical engineer and an aviation pioneer in the United ...

, also proposed a two-seat fighter derivative, the SEV-2XP. This was powered by a Wright R-1670 radial engine. It had fixed landing gear in aerodynamic spats and was armed with one and one forward-firing machine guns plus an additional machine gun for rear defence. When the

USAAC The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

announced a competition for a new single-seat fighter in 1935, Seversky sent the SEV-2XP, confident it would win despite being a two-seater. However, the aircraft was damaged on 18 June 1935 during its transit to the fly-offs at

Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Loca ...

. The Air Corps delayed the fly-off until March 1936, which allowed Seversky time to rework the fighter into the single-seat SEV-1XP with retractable landing gear and re-engined with the

Wright R-1820 The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, widely used on aircraft in the 1930s through 1950s. It was produced under license in France as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V, and in the Soviet Uni ...

radial.Green 1961 In what proved to be an unpopular move for Seversky, twenty 2PA-B3s were sold to the

Japanese Navy , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

, which briefly employed them in the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

as Navy Type S Two-Seat Fighter or A8V1 (Allied codename "Dick"). Two demonstrators ended up in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

; although a manufacturing licence was also bought, the Soviets undertook no production. Sweden ordered 52 2PAs (known as the B 6), but only two were delivered before the remaining 50 were impounded in 1940 and put into service with the USAAC as the AT-12 Guardsman advanced trainer. On 18 June 1940, United States declared an embargo against exporting weapons to any nation other than the United Kingdom.

Operational history

The Seversky two-seat fighters were to be used as long-range escort aircraft with forward-firing guns and the observer equipped with a hand-held machine gun. However, when they arrived and were tested, the Japanese were disappointed with their performance, climb rate and agility in the air. There does not seem to be any record of them being used in the long-range bomber escort role for which they were intended, but instead they were relegated to a reconnaissance role over central China with the 12th

Kōkūtai A ''Kōkūtai'' () was a term used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) to designate a military aviation unit, similar to the Air Groups in other air arms and services of the time. (''Group'' in the British Royal Air Force, ''Gruppe ...

, operating from bases around Nanking. Possibly the successful development of the Zero-sen as a long-range fighter was also a factor in their demise. Unfortunately, little has been documented about their operational use over China. Expecting to encounter these aircraft still in service, they were given the Allied reporting name "Dick", but by that time they had long been withdrawn from service. Two of the aircraft were passed on to

the Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...

Newspaper company to become Shiokaze-go (汐風号, "Tide Wind",

aircraft registration An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by Chicago Convention, international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and ...

:J-BAAN) and Umikaze-go (海風号, "Sea Wind", aircraft registration:J-BAAQ), and a third was given to the

Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.4 ...

Newspaper company. Their planes used for interview and air transportation of manuscripts and photographs. J-BAAN was registered in October 1938 and J-BAAQ in March 1941, but a registration for the Tokyo Nichinichi Newspaper aircraft cannot be confirmed.

Variants

;2PA :Two-seat version of

with rear gunner. ::2PA-202 - European demonstrator (1) ::2PA-A - for USSR (1) ::2PA-B - European demonstrator (1) ::2PA-BX - European demonstrator (1) ::2PA-B3 - 20 production aircraft for

as Seversky A8V1. ::2PA-L - for USSR (1) ;A8V1 "Dick" :Japanese designation for 2PA-B3 (and U.S. codename). ;B 6 :Swedish designation of the 2PA (only 2 delivered, see below). ;AT-12 Guardsman :Two-seat advanced trainer for the USAAF (50 2PA ordered by Sweden, but impounded).

Operators

; *

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

; *

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

Specifications (A8V1)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Davis Larry. ''P-35: Mini in Action'' (Mini Number 1). Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1994. . * Fitzsimmons, Bernard. ''The Illustrated International Aircraft Guide Fighters of WWII, Part IX''. London: MacDonald Phoebus Ltd., 1981. * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters''. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (Sixth impression 1969). . * Hucker, Robert. "Seversky: Innovator and Prophet." ''Air Classics,'' 20th Anniversary Special Edition 1964-1984, 1984. * ''United States Air Force Museum Guidebook''. Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio: Air Force Museum Foundation, 1975.

External links

Seversky P-35
–

National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...

Information about all models and survivors of this series. Also information about new replicas to be built by VCS.
{{Allied reporting names A08V 1930s Japanese fighter aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft