The was a two-seat unequal-

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

biplane trainer that served in 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 surrend ...

during

World War II 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 opposing ...

. Due to its bright orange paint scheme (applied to all Japanese military trainers for visibility), it earned the nickname ''"aka-tombo"'', or " red dragonfly", after a type of insect common throughout Japan. A K5Y of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps 3rd Ryuko Squadron was credited with sinking the destroyer USS ''Callaghan'' on July 28, 1945, the last US warship lost to

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

attack during the war.

Design and development

The aircraft was based on the Yokosuka Navy Type 91 Intermediate Trainer, but stability problems led to a redesign by Kawanishi in 1933. It entered service in 1934 as Navy Type 93 Intermediate Trainer K5Y1 with fixed tail-skid

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

, and remained in use throughout the war. Floatplane types K5Y2 and K5Y3 were also produced. After the initial 60 examples by Kawanishi, production was continued by

Watanabe Watanabe ( and other variantsSee #Miscellaneous) is a Japanese surname derived from the noble and samurai Watanabe clan, a branch of the Minamoto clan, descending from the Emperor Saga (786-842), the 52nd Emperor of Japan, and refers to a loca ...

(556 aircraft built), Mitsubishi (60), Hitachi (1,393), First Naval Air Technical Arsenal (75), Nakajima (24),

Nippon Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(2,733), and

Fuji Fuji may refer to: Places China * Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan Japan * Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan * Fuji River * Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture * Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefec ...

(896), for a total of 5,770. These aircraft were the mainstay of Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service's flight training, and as intermediate trainers, they were capable of performing demanding aerobatic maneuvers. Two further land-based versions, the K5Y4 with a 358 kW (480 hp) Amakaze 21A engine and the K5Y5 with a 384 kW (515 hp) Amakaze 15, were projected but never built.

Variants

;K5Y1: * Two-seat intermediate trainer for the

. ;K5Y2: * Floatplane version, with Amakaze 11 engine. ;K5Y3: * Floatplane, with 384 kW (515 hp) Amakaze 21. ;K5Y4: * Projected land-based version with 358 kW (480 hp) Amakaze 21A. Never built. ;K5Y5: * Projected land-based version with 384 kW (515 hp) Amakaze 15. Never built.

Operators

; *

Postwar

; * Indonesian People's Security Agency and later

Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU), literally "''Indonesian National Military-Air Force''") sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF, is the aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The I ...

operated derelict aircraft against Dutch colonial rule. On July 29 1947, the Indonesians using 2 units of Yokosuka K5Y (Called "Cureng/Churen" by Indonesian fighters) with one "Guntei Bomber" (

Mitsubishi Ki-51 The Mitsubishi Ki-51 (Army designation "Type 99 Assault Plane"; Allied nickname "Sonia") was a light bomber/dive bomber in service with the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It first flew in mid-1939. Initially deployed against Chines ...

) from Maguwo Air Force Base,

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

for bombing Dutch strategic positions in

Ambarawa Ambarawa is a town (and administratively, a district of the Semarang Regency) located between the city of Semarang and Salatiga in Central Java, Indonesia. Administratively, it is bordered by the districts of Banyubiru to the south, Jambu to the ...

Salatiga Salatiga ( jv, ꦯꦭꦠꦶꦒ) is a city in Central Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of and had a population of 192,322 at the 2020 Census. Located between the cities of Semarang and Surakarta, and administratively an independent c ...

and Semarang. On its original plan, Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" also planned to be involved too in this operation, but cancelled as the aircraft suffered technical difficulties. It is currently on display at Yogyakarta ( Dirgantara Mandala Museum).

Specifications (K5Y2 floatplane)

Notes

Bibliography

* Collier, Basil. ''Japanese Aircraft of World War II''. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1979. . * * * Mondey, David. ''The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II''. London: Chancellor Press, 1996. . * Tagaya, Osamu. ''Imperial Japanese Naval Aviator, 1937-45''. Botley, Oxfordshire, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2003. . *

External links

* http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijna/k5y.htm {{Allied reporting names World War II Japanese trainer aircraft K05Y, Yokosuka K05Y, Yokosuka Biplanes K5Y Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933