AÏCHI E13A1 JAKE

Aichi E13A1 "Jake" of the 8S squadron. (Marine Nationale)

SINGLE-ENGINED SEAPLANE

HISTORY

This twin-float seaplane, code name 'Jake', performed its tasks almost anonymously, but it was effective, and very popular with its crews. It was motorized with a Mitsubishi Kinsei 43 engine of 1,080 hp. The Jake was ordered in 1940 and notably took part in recce missions before the famous strike of Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. Some 1,350 aircraft had been built. In 1945, when French troops came back to Indochina ; pilots and mechanics found some surviving Japenese aircraft of the World War II. Among them there was the "Jake" (code invented by Capt. Frank T. Mc Coy, in charge of identification and naming Japanese aircraft using first names).

Four examples were operated by the 8S squadron in Indochina alongside Loire-130s and an A6M-2N Rufe between 1945 and late August 1948. Unlike Japanese examples based aboard cruisers and battle cruisers, they were ground-based.

SPECIFICATIONS	(US)	(FR)
LENGTH	37 ft	11. 30 m
WINGSPAN	47. 5 ft	14. 50 m
HEIGHT	24. 27 ft	7. 40 m
WEIGHTS	5 825 lb (empty)/ 8 818 lb (full)	2 642 kg (empty)/ 4 000 kg (full)
MAX SPEED	233 mph	376 km/ h
RANGE	1 128 nm	2 089 km
OUTPUT	1 080 hp	805. 68 kW

WEAPONS

One flexible rear-firing 7.7 mm Type 92 machine-gun and one flexible downward-firing 20 mm Type 99 Model 1 cannon (field modifications on late production aircraft). One 250 kg bomb or four 60 kg bombs or depth-charges.