The Mitsubishi F1M ( Allied reporting name "Pete") was a Japanese

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

floatplane of

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 ...

. It was the last biplane type of 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 ...

, with 944 built between 1936 and 1944. The Navy designation was "Type Zero Observation Seaplane" (零式水上観測機).

Design and development

In 1934, the

issued a specification to Mitsubishi,

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

and Kawanishi for a replacement for its

Nakajima E8N The Nakajima E8N was a Japanese ship-borne, catapult-launched, reconnaissance seaplane of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was a single-engine, two-seat biplane with a central main-float and underwing outriggers. During the Pacific War, it was ...

floatplanes, which were used for short-ranged reconnaissance and observation missions from the Navy's warships.Francillon 1970, p. 358. Mitsubishi's design, the Ka-17, given the short system designation F1M1 by the Japanese Navy, was a small all-metal biplane powered by a single

Nakajima Hikari The Nakajima Hikari (Japanese: 光 "Light") was a nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine developed in Japan for Navy use during World War II by the Nakajima Aircraft Company. It was a development of the Nakajima Kotobuki and Wright ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

rated at , the same engine as used by Aichi's competing F1A. It had elliptical wings and great care had been taken to reduce drag, with the number of interplane struts and bracing wires minimised. The first of four F1M1s flew in June 1936.Francillon 1970, pp. 358–359.Green 1962, pp. 128–129. While the F1M1 had better performance than the Aichi aircraft, it had poor stability both on the water and in the air, so the aircraft was redesigned to resolve these problems. The wings were redesigned, with straight tapered leading and training edges and rigged with greater dihedral, and the vertical fin and rudder were enlarged. The aircraft's floats were enlarged to increase buoyancy, and the Hikari engine was replaced by a Mitsubishi Zuisei 14-cylinder radial, giving better forward visibility. As modified, the aircraft's handling characteristics were greatly improved, and the modified aircraft was ordered into production as the Navy Type 0

observation seaplane Observation seaplanes are military aircraft with flotation devices allowing them to land on and take off from water. Their primary purpose was to observe and report enemy movements or to spot the fall of shot from naval artillery, but some were a ...

Model 11 (''rei-shiki kansokuki ichi-ichi-gata'', ''Reikan'' in short), with the short designation F1M2.Francillon 1970, pp 359, 361.Green 1962, p. 130. 940 series aircraft were built in total (342 by Mitsubishi and 598 by Sasebo Arsenal and 21st Arsenal) in addition to 4 prototypes (older publications present higher production figures, i.e., 1,016 or 1,118).Number of 940+4 is quoted by Wieliczko (2017), p. 19-21 (in Polish) derived from the latest Japanese research. The F1M2 had a maximum speed of 368 km/h (230 mph) and operating range of up to 1,072 km (670 mi) without external stores. It provided the

with a very versatile operations platform. The F1M was armed with a maximum of three 7.7 mm (.303 in)

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

s (two fixed forward-firing and one flexible rear-firing) with provision for two 60 kg (132 lb) bombs.

Operational history

The F1M was originally built as a catapult-launched reconnaissance float plane, specializing in gunnery spotting. The "Pete" took on a number of local roles including convoy escort,

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

, anti-submarine,

maritime patrol {{Unreferenced, date=March 2008 Maritime patrol is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities. Maritime patrol refers to ac ...

, rescue, transport, and anti-shipping strike; for example sinking

Motor Torpedo Boat PT-34 Patrol torpedo boat ''PT-34'' was a of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. The boat was laid down as Motor boat submarine chaser ''PTC-14'', but was reclassified as ''PT-34'' prior to its launch ...

on 9 April 1942. The type was also used as an area-defense fighter and engaged in aerial combat in the Aleutians, the Solomons and several other theaters. In the New Guinea front, it was often used in aerial combat with the Allied bombers and Allied fighters. In 1945, at the war's end, Indonesians had taken some F1M2s to fight against the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

during the Indonesian National Revolution.

Variants

; F1M1 : Prototypes. Four built. ; F1M2 : Two-seat reconnaissance floatplane for the

. ; F1M2-K : Two-seat

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

version.

Operators

;

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU), literally "''Indonesian National Military-Air Force''") sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF, is the aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The I ...

;

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

* Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service ;

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Royal Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy ( Abrv: RTN, ทร.; th, กองทัพเรือไทย, ) is the naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known a ...

Specifications (F1M2)

References

External links

Notes

Bibliography

* Francillon, R.J. ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War''. London:Putnam, 1970. . * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Six: Floatplanes''. London: Macdonald & Co., (Publishers) Ltd., 1962. * {{Allied reporting names F1M, Mitsubishi Floatplanes World War II Japanese reconnaissance aircraft F1M Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1936