Nakajima B5N (Kate)
Type 97 Carrier Attack Bomber
The sole shipborne torpedo-bomber
of the Japanese Navy at the start of the Pacific War. Designed
to meet 1935 Navy specifications, it was judged to be obsolescent at the start of the war. But, was greatly
superior to the TBD Devastator the shipboard
torpedo-plane of the US Fleet at the battles of Coral
Sea and Midway.
Infamous
Combat History
B5Ns played the main role in sinking the carrier
Lexington at Coral Sea, Yorktown
at Midway, and Hornet at the Battle
of Santa Cruz. These exploits supplemented the Kate's success in the surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor, in which
40 B5N2s armed with torpedoes and 103 B5N1s armed with bombs, crippled the
US Battle Fleet.
Production
A total of 1,149 were built.
