Nakajima J1N

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nakajima J1N1 was a twin-engine aircraft used by the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II and was used for reconnaissance, night fighter, and kamikaze missions. It was given the Allied codename "Irving", since the earlier reconnaissance version the J1N1-C, was mistaken for a fighter.

Nakajima J1N at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Originally, the J1N was designed as a fighter, but early prototypes were judged too heavy and production was authorized for a three person crew reconnaissance variant, the J1N1-C and was also known by the Navy designation Type 2 Reconnaissance. One early variant, the J1N1-F, had a spherical turret with one 20 mm Type 99 Model 1 cannon mounted immediately behind the pilot. In 1943, Commander Yasuna Kozono of the 251st Kokutai in Rabaul came up with the idea of converting the J1N1-C into a night fighter. The field modified J1N1-C KAI shot down two B-17's of 43rd Bomb Group attacking air bases around Rabaul on May 21, 1943.

The Navy took immediate notice and placed orders with Nakajima for the newly designated J1N1-S nightfighter design. This model was christenned the Model 11 Gekkō (月光, "Moonlight"). It required only two crew and like the KAI, had a twin 20mm pair of Type 99 Model 1 cannon firing upward and a second pair firing downward at a forward 30 degree angle, placed in the fuselage behind the cabin, similar to the German Schräge Musik configuration. This arrangement was effective against B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and B-24 Liberators, and its existence was not quickly understood by the allies who assumed the Japanese did not have the technology for night fighter designs. Early versions had nose searchlights in place of radar. Later models omitted the lower-firing gun and added a single 20MM cannon (J1N1-Sa Model 11a). Other variants without nose antennae or searchlight added a 20MM cannon to the nose.

The J1N1-S was used against B-29s in Japan, though the lack of good radar and insufficient high-altitude performance handicapped it, since usually only one pass could be made against the higher speed B-29 bombers. However, some skillful pilots had spectacular successes, such as Lt. Sachio Endo, who was credited with destroying eight B-29s and damaging another eight before he was shot down by a B-29 crew, Shigetoshi Kudo (9 victories),Shiro Kuratori (6 victories),amongst Juzo Kuramoto (8 victories);both lasts in equipment claimed 5 B-29 during nigth of 25-26 May,1945.Another Gekko crew shot down five B-29's in one night, but these successes were rare. Many Gekkos were also shot down or destroyed on the ground. A number of Gekkos were relegated to "Tokko" missions, the Japanese term for kamikaze attacks, using 250kg bombs attached to the wings.

[edit] Survivors

Only one J1N1-S Gekko "Irving" survives today. Following the occupation of the home islands, U. S. forces gathered 145 interesting Japanese aircraft and sent them to the United States aboard three aircraft carriers. Four Gekko's were in this group: three captured at Atsugi and one from Yokosuka. Serial Number 7334, the aircraft from Yokosuka, was given Foreign Equipment number FE 3031 (later changed to T2-N700). Records show that after arriving aboard the U.S.S. Barnes, air intelligence officials assigned Gekko 7334 to Langley Field, Virginia, on December 8, 1945. The airplane was moved to the Air Materiel Depot at Middletown, Pennsylvania, on January 23, 1946.

The Maintenance Division at Middletown prepared the Gekko for flight tests, overhauling the plane's engines and replacing the oxygen system, radios, and some flight instruments with American equipment. Mechanics completed this work by April 9. The Navy transferred Gekko 7334 to the Army in early June, and an army pilot flew the Gekko on June 15, 1946, for about 35 minutes. At least one other test flight took place before the Army Air Forces flew the fighter to an empty former Dodge C-54 factory at Park Ridge, Illinois, for storage. The remaining three Gekkos were scrapped.

In 1949 the Gekko was given to the Smithsonian's National Air Museum, but remained in storage at Park Ridge, Illinois. The collection of museum aircraft at Park Ridge numbered more than 60 airplanes when the war in Korea forced the United States Air Force to move it to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland. Gekko 7334 was dumped outside the restoration facility in a large shipping crate in 1953 where it remained until building space became available in 1974. In 1979, NASM staff selected Gekko 7334 for restoration.

Following restoration of the Museum's Mitsubishi Zero in 1976, the Gekko became the second Japanese aircraft to receive the skilled attentions of NASM restoration craftsmen. The airframe was found to be seriously corroded from having remained outside for twenty years. At that time, it was the largest and most complex aircraft restoration project the NASM had ever undertaken. Work started on September 7, 1979, and ended December 14, 1983, following 17,000 hours of meticulous, dedicated labor. Today Gekko 7334 is fully restored and on display in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington D.C., the sole remaining example of Japan's innovative line of night-fighting Gekkos.