Aircraft History
Built by Aichi at Watanabe Iron Works, estimated date of assembly March 1943. Possibly, this aircraft was manufacture number 6214, as the bomb bay doors are stamped "No. 6214". Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). Assigned to ? Kōkūtai.

Jim Long adds:
"The number 6214 you have reported conforms to that Watanabe MN-producing plan. I would, at this time, suggest to you that the number 6214 is a component MN of the Watanabe type because 6 and 4 equal ten. Thus, I say that the true serial number of the component is 214, meaning that it was the 214th such component built by Watanabe. But from this limited information there is no way to know the MN of the airframe, except to guess that it might be close to 6214. If we were to assume that 6214 was the airframe number, we could find a date to go with the number. Doing that, we could derive a completion date that would be in the general vicinity of when the plane was produced. That date is March 1943. In fact, an E13A1 with the airframe MN 6214 was completed that month and year. Whether the plane you have identified is airframe No. 6214 is open to question, since the number came from stampings on the bomb bay doors and are unlikely to be the manufacture number of the airframe."

Wartime History
Sunk upside down into the Buka Passage off Buka Airfield.

Wreckage
This wreckage of this aircraft is upside down and encrusted with coral and marine growth. Present is the engine with one propeller blade sticking upward, the wings and fusealge. The bomb bay doors are open.

References
Production Records for the Type Zero Reconnaissance Seaplane (E13A1) (Jake) by Jim Long

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Last Updated
October 23, 2019