The Yokosuka E1Y was a Japanese

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

of the 1920s. A single-engined

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 ...

that was designed and developed by the

Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal had many names, each depending on the period of its existence, and the circumstances at that time. Many of the names were acronyms that were derived from its military name or designation, which changed from time to time. The arsenal was sometim ...

as a reconnaissance 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 ...

, 320 were built as the Type 14 Reconnaissance Seaplane, entering service in 1925 and remained in operational service until 1932.

Development and design

In 1921, the Japanese Naval Arsenal at

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

started design of a single-engined reconnaissance

to replace the Navy's

Yokosuka Ro-go Ko-gata The Yokosuka Ro-go Ko-gata (YokoSho-shiki Ro-go Ko-gata) was a Japanese reconnaissance floatplane developed during the First World War by the Japanese Navy Arsenal at Yokosuka, and one of the first indigenous Japanese aircraft to enter production ...

floatplanes. The resulting aircraft, the Type 10 Reconnaissance Seaplane was designed by a team led by a member of a visiting delegation from

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was a single-engined two-bay, two-seat

Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer ''Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissements de Dietrich et Cie de Lunéville'' (known as ''De Dietri ...

engine. Two were completed in 1923, but showed poor performance due to being overweight. A modified aircraft, the Type 10 Model A flew in 1924, showing only slight improvement, while a further revised prototype, the Model B flew in 1925, this curing the aircraft's weight problems while demonstrating better stability and control. As a result, several pre-production Type Bs were built. Although the Type 10 was not adopted by the Japanese Navy, it was again redesigned, reducing the wingspan from 16.16 m (53 ft 0¼ in) to 13.99 m (45 ft 11 in) and reducing the empty weight from 1,912 kg (4,215 lb) to 1,660 kg (3,659 lb). In this form, the revised design was accepted in January 1926 as the Type 14 Reconnaissance Seaplane, later receiving the short designation E1Y. Two versions entered service in 1926, a two-seater powered by a

1 V-12 engine, the Type 14-1 or E1Y1, and a three-seater with all-metal floats and a more powerful Lorraine-Dietrich 2

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 ...

. In 1928, the Type 14-2 was used as the basis for the Type 90-3 Reconnaissance Seaplane, of which about 20 were built as the Yokosuka E5Y1 and Kawanishi E5K1. As the Type 90-3 showed little improvement over the Type 14-2 from which it was developed, in 1931, Yokosuka developed the further refined Type 14-3 Reconnaissance aircraft, with a new tail, a geared Lorraine-Dietrich 3 engine and significantly improved performance. A total of 218 E1Y1 and E1Y2s were built by Yokosuka (23),

Nakajima Aircraft Company The was a prominent Japanese aircraft manufacturer and aviation engine manufacturer throughout World War II. It continues as the car and aircraft manufacturer Subaru. History The Nakajima Aircraft company was Japan's first aircraft manufacture ...

(47) and

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 ...

(148). 102 E1Y3s were built by Aichi.

Operational history

The E1Y1 and E1Y2 entered service in 1926, replacing Yokosuka Ro-Go Ko-Gata and

Hansa-Brandenburg W.33 Hansa-Brandenburg W.33 was a German two-seat, single-engined low-wing monoplane floatplane, which had been developed by Hansa und Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke during World War I as a higher powered enlargement of the similar Hansa-Brandenburg W. ...

seaplanes, with the E1Y3 following them into service from 1931. The E1Ys formed the main reconnaissance seaplane equipment of the fleet, operating from

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

s and

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

s. E1Ys were operated from the seaplane tender ''Notoro'' during the Shanghai Incident of early 1932. The E1Y remained in use until the early part of 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 ...

. Many E1Ys were sold as civil aircraft from 1932, usually converted with a cabin for three or four passengers. Some were fitted with

Napier Lion The Napier Lion is a 12-cylinder, petrol-fueled 'broad arrow' W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D. Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept it in produ ...

engines.

Variants

;Navy Type 10 Reconnaissance Seaplane :Prototype reconnaissance seaplane, powered by 400 hp (298 kW)

1 V-12 engine but overweight. Two built. ;Navy Type 10 Model A Reconnaissance Seaplane :Revised prototype, one built. ;Navy Type 10 Model B Reconnaissance Seaplane :Further modified prototype and pre-production aircraft. ;Navy Type 14-1 Reconnaissance Seaplane (E1Y1) :Initial production version, powered by 400 hp (298 kW) Lorraine-Dietrich 1. ;Navy Type 14-2 Reconnaissance Seaplane (E1Y2) :Modified version, with new all metal floats and 450 hp (336 kW)

2 W-engine. ;Navy Experimental Type 14-2 Kai-1 Reconnaissance Seaplane :an experimental version of the Type 14-2 ;Navy Type 14-3 Reconnaissance Seaplane (E1Y3) :Further improved version with new tail and improved performance. ;Navy Type 14 Modified Transport Seaplane :Civil conversion.

Operators

; *

*'' Nippon Koku Yuso Kenkyusho''

Specifications (E1Y2)

Footnotes

*The type number was the year of the Taishō Emperor's reign, i.e. Type 10 = 1921.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yokosuka E1y 1920s Japanese military reconnaissance aircraft Floatplanes E01Y Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1923