The Nakajima A6M2-N (Navy Type 2 Interceptor/Fighter-Bomber) was a single-crew

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

based on the

Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1940 to 1945. The ...

Model 11. The Allied reporting name for the aircraft was Rufe.

Design and development

While waiting on the completion of the

Kawanishi N1K The Kawanishi N1K is an Imperial Japanese Navy fighter aircraft which was developed in two forms: the N1K ''Kyōfū'' (, "Strong Wind", Allied reporting name Rex), a floatplane designed to support forward offensive operations where no airstrips ...

, Nakajima was chosen by the Imperial Japanese Navy to provide an interim floatplane, which they did by modifying Mitsubishi's A6M-2 Model 11. Mitsubishi was not offered the contract as they were already overburdened. Nakajima proposed that they could churn out 900 aircraft in under a year. The design of the plane itself wasn't much different than the A6M-2 it was based on. The retractable, wheeled undercariage was removed and plated over. This was replaced by a large central float and one cantilever stablizer float under each wing. The tail was straightened out and the under fuselage received a type of two-section "keel" designed to counteract movement by the central float. The engine, cockpit, and armament remained stock. The first prototype of the A6M2-N flew on 7 December 1941, ten months after the initial request, and an order for 500 units was placed. Despite their boasts about production capability, Nakajima was unable to deliver more than 327 aircraft, including the prototype.

Operational history

The aircraft, referred to as the "Suisen 2" ("Hydro fighter type 2"), was deployed in 1942 in both the

Aleutians The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, larger volcanic island ...

and

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

operations. On 7 August 1942, almost all of the Rufes in the Solomons were destroyed by a raid made up of 15

Grumman F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based A carrier-based aircraft (also known as carrier-capable aircraft, carrier-borne aircraft, carrier aircraft or aeronaval aircraft) is a naval aircraft designed for operations from aircra ...

s launched from the USS ''Wasp''. The A6M2-N proved its worth in the Aleutians at

Kiska Kiska (, ) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is required to visit it. The island has ...

, where they weren't hampered by the lack of airfields and allowed land-based fighters in the

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the ...

to be freed up for tasks elsewhere. A6M2-N Rufe at Attu NAN15Apr43

The seaplane also served as an

interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Interceptor'', a British drama series on BBC One * Interceptor (game show), ''Interceptor'' (game show), a British television game show that ran during 1989 * Interc ...

for protecting fueling depots in

Balikpapan Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated 20 ...

and Avon Bases (

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

), and they reinforced the

Shumushu Shumshu (; ; ) is the easternmost and second-northernmost island of the Kuril Islands chain, which divides the Sea of Okhotsk from the northwest Pacific Ocean. The name of the island is derived from the Ainu language, meaning "good island". It i ...

base ( North Kuriles) in the same period. Such fighters served aboard

seaplane carrier A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

s ''Kamikawa Maru'' in the Solomons and

Kuriles The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the ...

areas and aboard Japanese raiders Hokoku Maru and

Aikoku Maru was an armed merchant cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. The ship entered service in 1940, the ship was later converted to an ammunition ship. She was sunk in February 1944 during Operation Hailstone. Design ''Aikoku Maru' ...

in Indian Ocean raids. Later in the conflict, the Otsu Air Group utilized the A6M2-N as an interceptor alongside

1 Kyofu ("Rex") aircraft based in Biwa lake in the Honshū area, suffering heavy losses. By this time it was already well-known that the Rufe simply could not compete against modern fighter designs, so production ceased in September 1943. A6M2-N anchorage-common

The last A6M2-N in military service was a single example recovered by the French forces in Indochina after the end of World War II. It crashed shortly after being overhauled.Dorr and Bishop 1996, p. 249.

Operators

; *

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The (IJNAS) was the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired its first aircraft in ...

** Yokohama Air Group **

Toko Toko is a small rural settlement 10 kilometres east of Stratford, New Zealand, at the intersection of East Road ( State Highway 43) and Toko Road. It is located on a railway, the Stratford–Okahukura Line, the western portion of which was o ...

Air Group ** Otsu Air Group ** Yokosuka Naval Air Group (technical evaluation unit) ** 11th Air Fleet ** 5th Air Fleet ** 36th Air Fleet ** 452nd Air Fleet ** 934th Air Fleet ; *

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

- Postwar, one Nakajima A6M-2N was captured in

Indo-China Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

, it was impressed into service with the French Navy in late 1945.

Specifications (Nakajima A6M2-N)

References

Bibliography

* Dorr, Robert F. and Chris Bishop. ''Vietnam Air War Debrief''. London:Aerospace , Publishing, 1996. . * 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. * Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''The Complete Book of Fighters''. New York: Smithmark, 1994. . * Jackson, Robert. ''Combat Legend: Mitsubishi Zero''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2003. . * Janowicz, Krzystof. ''Mitsubishi A6M2-N Rufe (Kagero Famous Airplanes 4)'' (in Polish/English). Lublin, Poland: Kagero, 2004. . * Mikesh, Robert C. ''Warbird History: Zero, Combat & Development History of Japan's Legendary Mitsubishi A6M Zero Fighter''. Osceola, Wisconsin: Motorbooks International, 1994. . * Sakaida, Henry. ''Imperial Japanese Navy Aces, 1937–45''. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1999. . * Gunston, Bill. ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Combat Aircraft of World War II''. London, UK: Salamander Books Ltd., 1978

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakajima A6m2-N Floatplanes Low-wing aircraft 1940s Japanese military reconnaissance aircraft Aleutian Islands campaign A6M2-N Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1941