The Yokosuka Ro-go Ko-gata (YokoSho-shiki Ro-go Ko-gata) was a Japanese

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 ...

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, ...

developed during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

by the Japanese Navy 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 ...

, and one of the first indigenous Japanese aircraft to enter production. There were 218 of these aircraft built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, which remained in use until 1928.

Development and design

The Japanese Navy Arsenal at Yokosuka became involved in aircraft production in 1913, when an aeroplane factory was set up, with its first work being to build several

Maurice Farman Maurice Alain Farman (21 March 1877 – 25 February 1964) was a British-French Grand Prix motor racing champion, an aviator, and an aircraft manufacturer and designer. Biography Born in Paris to English parents, he and his brothers Richard and ...

and

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

Seaplanes.Mikesh and Abe 1990, pp. 262–263. It continued to build aircraft under license, including more Farman aircraft and several

Short 184 The Short Admiralty Type 184, often called the Short 225 after the power rating of the engine first fitted, was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying folding-wing seaplane designed by Horace Short of Short Brothers. It ...

seaplanes, as well as prototypes of several of its own designs.Mikesh and Abe 1990, pp. 264–268. In 1917,

Chikuhei Nakajima , was a Japanese naval officer, engineer, and politician, who is most notable for having founded Nakajima Aircraft Company in 1917, a major supplier of airplanes in the Empire of Japan. He also served as a cabinet minister. Biography Nakajim ...

, chief designer of the Yokosuka Arsenal aircraft factory designed a new reconnaissance

. A prototype of this new design, powered by a 140 hp (104 kW)

Salmson Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...

water-cooled

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

, made its maiden flight early in 1918. Test results were good, and the type was ordered into production as the Ro-go Ko-gata.Mikesh and Abe 1990, p.269. The Ro-go Ko-gata was a three-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 ...

of wood and fabric construction, with twin main floats and wings that folded backwards for storage. Its crew of two sat in separate, closely spaced cockpits. Initial production aircraft were powered by 200 hp (149 kW) Salmson engines, but the majority of production aircraft were fitted with 200–220 hp (149–164 kW)

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

-built

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 ...

V-8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...

s. A total of 218 aircraft were built in total,Donald 1997, p.922 32 by the Yokosuka arsenal, 80 by

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 106 by the

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 ...

, with production continuing until 1924.Mikesh and Abe 1990, p.270. It was the first locally-designed aircraft to be built in large numbers for the Japanese Navy.

Operational history

Three of the early aircraft were modified in 1919 for making long-range flights, with one of the cockpits replaced by additional fuel storage. This allowed a record flight of 1,300 km (808 mi) to be flown in 11 hours, 35 min on 20 April 1919. The Ro-go Ko-gata, along with licensed built

Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 The Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 was a German two-seat fighter aircraft, fighter floatplane which served in the closing months of World War I with the Imperial German Navy's () Naval Air Service () from bases on the North Sea coast. Background and d ...

s, replaced the obsolete pusher Farmans in Japanese Navy service, remaining in large scale service until 1926, being re-designated Yokosho-Type Reconnaissance Seaplane in 1923. Several were sold for civilian use, and were used to carry

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...

until 1928.Civil Aircraft Register - Japan
". ''Golden Years of Aviation''. Retrieved 19 December 2009.

Units using this aircraft

; *

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 ...

Specifications (Production type)

Notes

* Under the designation system introduced by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1918, this designation corresponded to Model A reconnaissance aircraft.Mikesh and Abe 1990, pp. 1–2. * Yokosho was an acronym standing for ''Yokosuka Kaigun Ko-Sho'' (

Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was located at Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture on Tokyo Bay, south of Yokohama. History In 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate government established the ...

).Mikesh and Abe 1990, p.262.

References

Bibliography

* Donald, David (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Leicester, UK: Blitz Editions, 1997. . *Mikesh, Robert and Abe, Shorzoe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941''. London:Putnam, 1990. . {{Yokosuka aircraft 1910s Japanese military reconnaissance aircraft Floatplanes

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

Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1918