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H8K
Country | Japan |
Manufacturer | Kawanishi Aircraft Company |
Primary Role | Seaplane |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseThe H8K flying boats, also designated as the Japanese Navy Type 2 Large Flying Boats, entered service in Feb 1942. While two of them were used in the ineffective bombing of Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii on 4 Mar 1942, most of the 131 H8K flying boats built were used as long-range reconnaissance aircraft. They were generally regarded as among the best flying boats of the era.
ww2dbase36 aircraft of the H8K2-L Seiku ("Clear Sky") variant design were built between 1942 and 1945. They were personnel transports with capacity for 64 passengers.
ww2dbaseOf the 167 examples built, only four survived the war. One of them was taken by the US and was not returned until 1979.
ww2dbaseThe Allied code name for the H8K design was "Emily".
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Revision: Dec 2012
H8K Timeline
4 Mar 1942 | At 0000 hours, US radar operators detected two signals approaching Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii; they were two H8K flying boats from Wotje, Marshall Islands via French Frigate Shoals (where they took on fuel from submarines I-15 and I-19). At 0130 hours, five PBY Catalina aircraft were launched, armed with torpedoes, to search for the carriers that the Americans thought where the flying boats must have launched from; at the same time, five US Army fighters were launched to attack the flying boats. At 0210 hours and 0230 hours, the two flying boats dropped their payloads uncontested, although the first bombs fell harmlessly in the mountains 10 miles from Pearl Harbor and the second bombs landed in the water just outside of Pearl Harbor. The two aircraft flew back to Wotje unscathed. |
SPECIFICATIONS
H8K3
Machinery | Four Mitsubishi Kasei 22 radial engines rated at 1,850hp each |
Armament | 5x20 mm Type 99 cannon, 5x7.7mm Type 97 machine guns, 2x800kg torpedoes or 1,000kg of bomb or depth charges |
Crew | 10 |
Span | 38.00 m |
Length | 28.15 m |
Height | 9.15 m |
Wing Area | 160.00 m² |
Weight, Empty | 18,380 kg |
Weight, Loaded | 24,500 kg |
Weight, Maximum | 32,500 kg |
Speed, Maximum | 465 km/h |
Rate of Climb | 8.10 m/s |
Service Ceiling | 8,760 m |
Range, Maximum | 7,150 km |
H8K2 Seiku
Machinery | Four Mitsubishi Kasei 22 radial engines rated at 1,850hp each |
Armament | 1x20mm forward cannon, 1x13mm rear machine gun, 64 passengers |
Crew | 10 |
Span | 38.00 m |
Length | 28.15 m |
Height | 9.15 m |
Wing Area | 160.00 m² |
Service Ceiling | 8,760 m |
Photographs
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Captain Henry P. Jim Crowe, Guadalcanal, 13 Jan 1943