Tinian Hanger C6N1 Myrt Research
by Jim Long

There were at least two Myrts captured at Tinian. They may both have been at the same airfield in the same hangar. One had tail marking 21-103, while the other plane had 21-101. The latter is better known because several photos were taken of it while it was being examined by a technical intelligence team operating in the Pacific Ocean Areas. Seventeen of these photos are in FAOW No.82 (blue-cover series). The dates on the photo placards indicate that the TAIPOA team looked the Myrt over and photographed it at least from 28 September to 1 October 1944, probably longer that those few days.

The Myrt in most of the seventeen photos of FAOW No. 82 was 21-101. Its manufacture number was 916, as can be seen on several of the photo placards. It didn't have an engine mounted, but did have the large external drop tank attached when it was first examined. A couple of the photos show 21-103 instead of 21-101, even though the caption material does not mention 21-103 anywhere.

The two Myrts have been confused, one for the other, in some publications, as I've just said. Myrt 21-103 had an engine mounted, while 21-101 didn't, though it had a drop tank. Aside from that, the visible airframe damage can be clues as to which plane is being viewed.

Myrt 21-101 with mfr. No. 916, the 16th C6N by Nakajima, had the external fuel tank mounted, as I said, while 21-103 didn't. Myrt 21-103 had more extensive damage to its vertical and horizontal tails, but had both tips of the horizontal tails present. Myrt 21-101 had the tip of its right horizontal tail missing. There are other differences, such as holes and tears in the skin panels that can be useful in determining which plane is which.

I do not yet have a manufacture number for 21-103. The one photo taken of 21-103 with a photo placard had no manufacture number on it. This photo is reproduced in FAOW No. 108, page 53, along with one other photo of 21-103 on that page. The caption for both photos identify the plane in the pictures as 21-101, but they are of 21-103. Notice that the middle photo on page 53 was taken after the TAI team had dismounted the engine. This same FAOW No. 108 has a third photo of 21-103, again mistakenly identified as 21-101. It's on page 57. It shows the plane before the TAI team removed the engine.

FAOW No. 108 has a color profile of 21-101 on page 5. Also it has a photo of the stripped instrument panel of 21-101 (Naka. No. 916) on page 33, and a photo of the camera mount in either 21-101 or 21-103 on page 34.