The Kyūshū Q1W ''Tokai'' (東海 "Eastern Sea") was a land-based anti-submarine patrol bomber

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

developed 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 surrend ...

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 ...

. The Allied reporting name was ''Lorna''. Although similar in appearance to the German

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called '' Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

medium bomber, the Q1W was a much smaller aircraft with significantly different design details.

Design and development

Kyushu Q1W Tokai maritime reconnaissance aircraft

The Imperial Japanese Navy ordered development of the Kyūshū Q1W as the Navy Experimental 17-Shi Patrol Plane in September

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

, and the first test flight took place in September

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 ...

. It entered service in January

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

. The Q1W carried two low-power engines, allowing for long periods of low-speed flight. In same period Kyūshū built the K11W1 Shiragiku, a bomber training plane (also used in

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 ...

strikes) and the Q3W1 Nankai (''South Sea''), a specialized antisubmarine version of the K11W. The latter was of all-wood construction and was destroyed during a landing accident on its first flight. Another specific anti-submarine airplane was the

Mitsubishi Q2M The Mitsubishi Q2M "''Tai'yō''" (大洋, ''Great Sea'') design was derived from the Mitsubishi Ki-67-I ''Hiryū'' ("Peggy") heavy/torpedo bomber of the Japanese Army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieit ...

1 "Taiyō" (which was derived from Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryū "Peggy" Torpedo-bomber), but this did not progress beyond the preliminary design stage.

Variants

* Q1W1 : one prototype. * Q1W1 Tokai Model 11: main production model. * Q1W2 Tokai Model 21: version with tail surfaces in wood, built in small numbers. * Q1W1-K Tokai-Ren (''Eastern Sea-Trainer''): trainer with capacity for four, all-wood construction. One prototype built.

Specifications (Q1W1)

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links