The E13A1 “Jake” saw service against the U.S. from the start to the end of the Pacific War. A handful of E13A1’s preceded the first attack wave on Pearl Harbor, scouting the ships present, while those planes left at the end of the war were used in suicide attacks. The plane was first used in China, to attack railways and coastal shipping. Designed as the Japanese Navy’s standard floatplane of the 1940’s, the Jake was operated from seaplane tenders and from catapults on cruisers and the battleship Haruna.
Some 1420 E13A1’s were built. It had a crew of three: pilot, observer/navigator and radio operator (who fired the tail gun). The Jake uses 36 gallons of aviation gas at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Heavy Fighter chassis +3, Light Fighter-Bomber
Wings with STOL option +3, two sealed Large AFV pontoons [Body:U] +2, two
fixed skids +1.
Powertrain: 805-kW HP aerial gasoline engines with 805-kW
prop and 255-gallon standard fuel tanks [Wings]; 2,000-kW batteries
Occupancy: 3 CS Cargo: 2.9 Body
| Armor | F | R/L | B | T | U |
| All | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 |
Weaponry
Aircraft LMG/7.7mm Type 89 Shiki [Body:B] (483 rounds)
Equipment
Body: Medium range radio transmitter and receiver, navigation
instruments, autopilot, inflatable liferaft, 550-lb hardpoint. Wings:
two 132-lb hardpoints each
Statistics
| Size: 37'x47'x17' | Payload: 1.1 tons | Lwt: 4.05 tons |
| Volume: 224 | Maint.: 54 hours | Price: $13,700 |
HT: 11
HP: 260 [body], 80 [each wing], 113 [each pontoon]
| aSpeed: 233 | aAccel: 11 | aDecel: 14 | aMR: 3.5 | aSR: 2 |
| wSpeed: 27 | aAccel: xx | aDecel: xx | aMR: xx | aSR: xx |
Design Notes
Design top speed was 205 mph; the historical value has been substituted,
as well as the actual wing surface area (388 square feet). The design purchased
500 rounds of ammunition but the historical value was used. Design unloaded
weight was decreased 16% to match historical weight. The design floatation
rating is higher than the historical maximum take-off weight (4.05 tons);
the historical number should be taken as the maximum operational safe load.
The weight (and thus cost and HPs) of the pontoons and wings were divided by two to reduce weight.
The Jake needs a head wind of at least 4 mph to take off.
Either the centerline 250 kg bomb or four underwing 60 kg bombs/depth charges could be carried, but not both. Either requires a short load of 170 gallons of fuel.
Variants
The Jake served through most of the war unchanged. In 1944, two variants
were introduced.
The E13A1a carried improved communications gear.
The E13A1b carried ground-search radar and a primitive MAD sensor. It frequently mounted a Type 99-1 20mm cannon (20mm Short Aircraft AC) firing down and forward (from the observer’s position) for use against light shipping, such as PT boats.