Nakajima C6N Saiun


The Nakajima C6N Saiun is a carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. Advanced for its time, it was the fastest carrier-based aircraft put into service by Japan during the war. The Allied reporting name was "Myrt".

Development and design

The C6N originated from a 1942 Imperial Japanese Navy specification for a carrier-based reconnaissance plane with a top speed of 350 knots at 6,000 m and range of 2,500 nautical miles. Nakajima's initial proposal, designated N-50, was for a craft with two engines housed in tandem in the fuselage, driving two propellers mounted on the wings. With the development of the class Nakajima Homare engine, the dual powerplant configuration was abandoned and Nakajima decided on a more conventional single-engine layout. Unfortunately the new Homare's power output was less than expected, and the design had to be optimized in other areas. The resulting aircraft was designed around a long and extremely narrow cylindrical fuselage just large enough in diameter to accommodate the engine. The crew of three sat in tandem under a single canopy, while equipment was similarly arranged in a line along the fuselage. The C6N's low-mounted laminar flow wing housed fuel tanks and was fitted with both Fowler and slit flaps and leading-edge slats which lowered the aircraft's landing speed to ease use aboard aircraft carriers. Like Nakajima's earlier B6N Tenzan torpedo bomber, the vertical stabilizer was angled slightly forward to enable tighter packing on aircraft carrier decks.
The C6N's first flight was on 15 May 1943, with the prototype demonstrating a speed of. Performance of the Homare engine was disappointing, especially its power at altitude, and a series of 18 further prototypes and pre-production aircraft were built before the Saiun was finally ordered into production in February 1944.

Operational history

Although designed for carrier use, by the time the C6N entered service in September 1944, there were few Japanese carriers left for it to operate from, so most were flown from land bases. Its speed was exemplified by a telegraph sent after a successful mission: "No Grummans can catch us.".
A total of 463 aircraft were produced. A single prototype of a turbocharged development, mounting a 4-blade propeller, was built; this was called the C6N2 Saiun-kai. Several examples of a night fighter version C6N1-S with oblique-firing single 30 mm cannon were converted from existing C6N1s. The C6N1-S's effectiveness was, however, hampered by the lack of air-to-air radar. A torpedo carrying C6N1-B was also proposed but was not needed after most of Japan's aircraft carriers were destroyed.

Variants

Source:Famous Airplanes of the World
;C6N1 Experimental Number 17 carrier reconnaissance plane
;C6N1 Saiun Model 11
;C6N2 Test production Saiun Kai / Saiun Model 12
;C6N3 Test production Saiun Kai 1
;C6N4 Test production Saiun Kai 2
;C6N5 Test production Saiun Kai 3
;C6N6 Test production ''Saiun Kai 4''

Operators

  • Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
  • Naval Air Group
  • *Yokosuka Kōkūtai
  • *121st Kōkūtai
  • *131st Kōkūtai
  • *132nd Kōkūtai
  • *141st Kōkūtai
  • *171st Kōkūtai
  • *210th Kōkūtai
  • *302nd Kōkūtai
  • *343rd Kōkūtai
  • *701st Kōkūtai
  • *723rd Kōkūtai
  • *752nd Kōkūtai
  • *762nd Kōkūtai
  • *801st Kōkūtai
  • *1001st Kōkūtai
  • Aerial Squadron
  • *Reconnaissance 3rd Hikōtai
  • *Reconnaissance 4th Hikōtai
  • *Reconnaissance 11th Hikōtai
  • *Reconnaissance 12th Hikōtai
  • *Reconnaissance 102nd Hikōtai
  • Kamikaze
  • *1st Mitate Special Attack Group
  • *Sairyū Unit
  • *Saiun Unit

Surviving aircraft

One C6N1-S Model 11 Myrt was captured at war's end in Japan and was selected by US forces for further technical evaluation in the United States. In early November 1945, embarked aboard USS Barnes (CVE-20) as one of 145 Japanese aircraft and departed November 3, 1945, for the United States. On December 8, 1945, this Myrt arrived at Langley Field, Virginia. Later, transferred from the U.S. Navy to the U.S. Army Air Force. This plane was overhauled at the Air Depot at Olmsted Field in Middletown, Pennsylvania for flight testing. Details about any flight test are unknown. In 1949, it was turned over to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). Afterwards, disassembled and transported to the NASM Garber Facility and placed into storage where it remains to this day disassembled as the fuselage and engine. This aircraft is not currently on public display.
Another C6N was abandoned at war's end at Moen No. 1 Airfield (Chuuk Airport) on Moen Island. In the early 2000s the Myrt was salvaged by a local and placed into storage on Moen Island. Later, shipped to the United States. Was later sold to Nobuo Harada and shipped to Japan and became part of the Kawaguchiko Motor Museum / Fighter Museum and is currently being restored to static display. On August 1, 2023, unveiled to the public at the museum.
There is also another C6N1 Model 11 that sits at the bottom of Truk Lagoon, dumped there by US forces after the war ended.