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 Forthcoming issues featurer
Volume ll Issue 122 Modern NavalArtillery
1950s Aircraft-Caniers
Published by Modern Pistols
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Seclplcnes
oI WbrldWbrlf
Seaplanes s ewed, in a wide variety of roles ii
all major
theafues of war, A fapanese floatplane laa nched from a
*bmarine drcpped the only bombs to hit the Ameican
mainlud; more significantly, seaplanes reconnoitred for
many Gernran cotimetce taidersn includingrBismarck and
Atlantis, an d directed their long-range naval gttnfire,
Regarded with hrndsight as somethtng of an anachronism, the float
seaplane was flown with varyrng success by all the major powers during
World War II, performing all manner of tasks from active combat to
clandestine roles such as delivering agents to hostile coasthnes, Of all
the major warring nations, however, the UK employed thrs type of
aircraft least and was the first to discard it, most of its usual duties being
more conveniently performed by carrierborne aircraft, flying-boats or
even long-range land-based aircraft, Indeed in the Royal Navy the
Swordfish and Fairey Seafox seaplanes survived in service only in the
traditional role of gunnery spotting with crulsers and caprtal shrps until
susperseded lor ever by the advent of radar relatively early in the war, It
was perhaps lronic that four other seaplanes, the German Hernkel He
I 15, the French Lat6coere 298, and the American Vought Kingfisher and
Northrop N-3PB Nomad gave more extensive service with the British
forces lhan dld the indigenous types. The great maritime powers, the
UK, the USA and Japan, all employed floatplanes aboard their capital
ships, as did Germany and Itaty, thelr use being marnly conflned to
limited sea patrolling and ship-to-shore commitnciations.
However, whereas all-out efforts were made by the UK and the USA to
The Heinkel He 59
the
first saw service in
panish Civil War, operated by
S
the LegionCondor. By the beginning
of World War II most had been
relegated to training duties, but
somewere employed for
reconnaissance, minelaying and air-
sea rescrre-
bridge the Atlantic with flyrng-boats and long-range land-based aucr- .
to counter the depredations of enemy surface raiders and submarmes
the Pacific's vast expanse encouraged widespread use of floatplaies
particularly by the Japanese; indeed the only bombs dropped by aer:-
planes on the USA during the war were two light bombs from a yokosi:-<a
E l4Y I carrred by a Japanese submarine to within range of the Ameic--
malnland,
The US Navy was equipped with a variety of floatplanes, including ::
Curtiss SOC Seaqrull and Grumman J2F Duck biplanes and the Cuf*ss
SO3C SC-1 Seahawk and Vought OS2U Kinqrfisher monoplares. Of .l-
these the venerable Seagull probably enjoyed the most illustrious ser-
vice career, being present in the actlons at Guadalcanal, Wake. Grlber:
and Marshall Islands, and also sewing aboard American warships ir jte
Atiantic and Mediterranean until 1944,
A Heinkel He 1 15 taxis to take-off position, displaying the distinctive planlorm
of the wings derived from the eaitier He z0 fait niaitirane. The He I I'swi thi
Luftwaffels most successful floafp,lane,.so successfu/ that production, enaea i"
1941 on the completion of orders, was re-opened in 1g43.-
f€ tiL"oore
l.lcst widely used of a dozen French
ze8
- : itplane types lhat were in service in
-:39, the Lat6codre 298 saw consider-
:ble actron during the Battle of France
:e followingr year. Of all-metal con-
s--ructlon this robust twin-float aircraft
';as intended for service with the sea-
plane carrier Commandant Teste and
rade its maiden flight on B May 1936,
ld by the beginning of World War II a
:rtal of8l aircraft had been ordered, of
',-.hich 53 had been delivered, Most
a:craft (Lat6 298A machines with fixed
','ings) were servinq with Escadrilles
l L at Berre and T2 at Cherbourg while
about 17 Lat6 2988 and Lat6 298D air-
:raft wrth folding wlngs and flxed
-.';Lngs respectively were with Escad-
r-lles HB I and HB 2 aboard the Com
::andant Teste. Another 65 Lat6 29Bs
;ere ordered on 22 November a
-rther escadrfle, T3, havinq been
-:rmed on 15 September; T4 was to be
-:rmed on 15 January.
When the German attack in the
',Vest
opened on 1O May 1940 the
:rench narry possessed some 60 Lat6
23Bs in front-line service, all were now
srore-based as the Commandant
- esle had been releqated to other
::rties, roughly half the force beingr
:ased on the Channel Coast and the
r:mainder in the Mediterranean. In
.le early stages of the Battle of France
.ie Lat6 29Bs were flown as cover for
:e Alhed occupation of Walcheren,
a.rt were forced to evacuate Bouiogne
:r 21 May, thereafter engagrnq in drve
:ld level bombing attacks on the
=tvancinq German columnsl on 23
l.iay lB of the seaplanes dive-bombed
: rumber of key bridges in northern
IIALY
Cant 2.5068 Airone
France with 500-kg (1,102-lb) bombs,
losrng four aircraft to enemy fire, Los-
ses began to mount so that by 3 June
the number of serviceable Lat6 29Bs
stood at 27, and it was deemed prudent
to confinethet attacks to night sorties
aithough a daylight attack was carried
out by Lat6 29Bs of T2 against enemy
coiumns near Abbevrlle on 6 June
Seven other aircraft were lost before
the armistice but about 30 aircraft (in-
cludinq the survivors of T2) made their
way'o Lac d'Oubeira in Alqerua,
Production was reinstated in 1942 by
the Vichy government, some 30 lrat6
29BF aircraft (similar to the Late 29BD)
being built, Units of the Vtchy air force
in North Africa continued to fly the Lat6
29Bs throuqhout 1942-3, and at least hvo
but sheered away when faced by Fleet
Air Arm Fairey Fulmar fiqhters. There-
after the Airone was almost entirely
withdrawn from use as a bomber and
torpedo attack aircraft, the ltalian nalry
calling for its greater use in maritime
teconnaissance, air-sea rescue, con-
voy escort and anti-submarrne patrol
roles: such had been the shlft tn naval
superiority rn the Mediterranean fol-
lowing the debacle at Taranto and the
Battle of Cape Matapan.
Development and production of the
Airone continued, with small modifica-
tions beinq introduced with each new
production batch (serie), of which
Serie XIi was the most important, A
special air-sea rescue converston was
the 2.5065 (Soccorso), thts verston
berng also used in small numbers bY
escadrilles flew alongside the RAF in
the Mediterranean until 1944 when
French forces once more regained
their autonomous identities.
Specification
Latecoere 298D
Type: two/three-seat torpedo-bomber
and bomber floatplane
Powerplant: one 656-kW (BBO-hp)
Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs- L inhne piston
englne
Performance: maximum speed
290 km/h (180 mph) at 2000 m (6,560 ft);
climb to 1500 m (4,920 ft) in 5 minutes
42 seconds; service ceihnq 6500 m
(2 1, 325 ft); range with maximum
warload 800 km (497 miles)
Weights: empty 3071 kq (6,770 1b);
the Luftwaffe, After the ltalian surren-
der 23 2.5068 and five 2.5065 aircralt
were flown to Allied ports and subse-
quently flew with the Co-Belliqerent
Air Force's Ragrgruppamento ldro,
performing transport and other
secondline tasks.
Specification
Cant 2.5068 Serie XII
Tlpe: five-seat bomber and torpedo-
bomber floatplane
Powerplant: three 559-kW (750-hp)
Alfa-Romeo I 26RC, 34 radial piston
engdnes
Performance: maximum speed
350 km/h (217 mph) at 4000 m
(13,125 ft); climb to 4000 m (13,125 ft) in
20 minutes 6 secondsl sewice ceilinqt
7000 m (22,965 ft); ranqe 2000 km
*
A Latecodre 298 of the Vichy French
air force passes a G erm an D ornier
Do 24 on the Aegean coast. The most
widely-used French floatplane in
1940, Lat6 29Bs were also flown by
fwo escadrilies of the Free French.
maximum take-off4BO0 kq (10 582 ]b)
Dimensions: span 15.50 m (50 ft
10,2 in); length 12.56 m(41 ft2.5 in);
heiqht 5,23 m (17 ft 1.9 tn); wing area
31.6 m'z(340, 15 sq ft)
Armament: two fixed forward-firlng
7.5-mm (0,295-rn) machine-qnrns in the
wings and one 7 S-mm (0 295-in)
trainable machine-gnrn in the rear
cockpit plus 500 kg (t, 102 lb) of
bombs or one 670-kq (1 4771b)
torpedo, or depth charge
( I,243 miles)
Weights: empty 8750 kg (19,290 1b);
maximum take-off 12705 kg (28,010 Ib)
Dimensions:span 26.50 m (BO ft
11,3 in); lensth 19.24 m(63 ft 1,5 in);
heiqht 7.45 m (24 ft 5,3 in); wrngarea
86.26 m'z (928.53 sq ft)
Armament: one 12. 7-mm (0, 5-in)
trainable machine-gun in the dorsal
position, and three 7.7-mm (0.303-in)
trainable machrne-gnrns in the two
beam and one ventral positions, plus a
bombioad of 1200 kq (2 646 Ib) or one
800-kq ( 1,764-lb) torpedo
The largest operational floatplane of
the war was the C ant 2.506, an
ex ample of which was forced down
at Mondello beach, S icily, in
November,1943.
:al.:=.i
"-*!Y: '* :
 NETHFBLANDS
ffi
nE Fokker T.VIII-W
Designed rn 1937 to replace ageing
reconnaissance/torpedo-bomber bi-
planes in service with the Dutch
Marine Luchtvaardienst (MLD), the
twin-engine twrn-float Fokker T.VIII-
W seaplane was of mtxed wood and
metal construction and accommo-
dated a three-man crew, The aircraft
inltially powered by Wriqht Whirl-
wind radials, was considered to be
very underpowered, but plans to intro-
duce Brrslol Mercury englnes we.re
effectively overtaken by the German
rnvasion of the Netherlands The
T.VIII-W entered service with the
MLD in 1939 and by the time of the
German attack the following May 11
aircraft had been deiivered (includrng
one lhat had been shot down m error
by the Luftwaffe), Quickly realizing the
tutility of flying the seaplanes in the
presence of the Luftwaffe's fighters,
the MLD ordered the nine sewiceable
aircraft to be flown to French bases on
the Channel coast, one aircraft berng
used to fly two members of the Dutch
government ro lhe UK. Arriving rn
France on 12 May, the T, VIII-Ws flew a
number of patrols over the Channel
during the following 10 days, but such
operations iacked cohesion and pur-
pose as there remained little unified
command in the rapidly dwindling air
forces in northern France Therefore,
on22May, the MLD orderedallsuwiv-
ing Dutch aircrews to fly their aircraft
to the UK a total of eight T,VIII-Ws
eventually assemblingT at Pembroke
Dock in South Wales where, on l June,
these crews formed the nucleus of No.
320 (Dutch) Squadron of the RAF, For
two months the Fokkers (carryinq the
British serials AV958-AV965) flew anti-
shipping patrols over the Western
Approaches until an increasing lack of
spares forced the withdrawal of the
Dutch seaplanes in favour of Avro
Ansons and Lockheed Hudsons, which
were flown from Carew Cheriton.
In the meantrme Fokker had, at the
time of the German invasion, been pro-
A reconnaissance seapJane rn
service with the Royal N etheil an d s
navy, the Fokker T.VIII could do li::.e
to stem the German invasion in I 341.
Eight T.VIIIs reached England and
formed the nucleus of No. 320
(Dutch) Sqn, which operated over
the Western Approaches.
ducing a larqer version of the arrcraft,
the T.VI[-WiC, for Fin]and; powered
by Bristol Mercury XI radials, this arr-
craft possessed a top speed some
72kT't/h (45 mph) faster than the MLD
version In all the Germans took over
20 partrally-completed T.VIII-Ws and
five T.VIII-WCs, these aircraft subse-
quently being completed by Fokker
and enterinq service with the LuJtwaf-
fe on anti-shipprng and air-sea rescue
duties over the North Sea
Specification
FokkerT.VIII-W
Type: three-seat reconnaissance and
torpedo-bomber floatplane

ffi iairey Seafox

Designed to a 1932 specrflcation the When the German pocket battleship to seffe at sea until 1943, two aircraft
Fairey Seafox prototype was flrst flown Admiral Graf Spee was being hunted being lost when the Ajax -class cruiser
on 27 May 1936; its operational pur- in the South Atlantic during November HMS Orion was severely damaged by
pose was to equip Royal Navy trade- 1939 Seafoxes were in constant Lrse by German air attack dulng the evacua,
protection light cruisers which, rn time the British cruisers, and dunngthe Bat- tion of Crete on 28 April 1941
of war, would patrol the world's oceans tle of the River Plate the light cruiser
on the lookout for enemy surface ratd- HMS A,rax launched one of her two Specification
ers and blockade runners. Equipped aircraft for qnrnnery spotting, although FaireySeafox
wrth cross-braced twin-float alighting difficulty was experrenced with the Type: two-seat light fleet
gear, the Seafox was unable to carry a air-to-ship radio contact. Later the Sea- reconnarssance fl oatplane
torpedo (being some 40 per cent light- fox crew kept a watch on Montevideo Powerplant: one 295-kW (395-hp)
er than the Swordfish) and its role was harbour while the Graf Speewas seek- Napier Raprer VI inline prsron engine
entirely passive; its value was, howev- ing shelter from British warships be- Performance: maxrmum speed
er accepted as lying in its ability to fore her scuttling. Seafoxes continued 20Akrnlh(124 mph) at 17BS m (5,860 ft);
spot for the cruiser's gnrns if brougrht to
action by enemy warships. The Seafox
was of all-metal structure with mono-
coque fuselaqe and fabric-covered
wings and tail; it was fuliy stressed for
catapulting and the pilot was
accommodated in an open cockpit, his
observer beinq enclosed beneath a
glazed canopy.
A total of 64 production Seafoxes
'*as built (K8569-K8617 and L4519-
,4533), the f,rst bernq delivered to the
Royal Narry on 23 April 1937; they sub-
.!.@4+!#*s*1f*qs*
sequently served wrth Nos 702 713 ll

,14 716 and 718 Catapult Flights, as

,'.'ell as Nos 753 and 754 Trarning
Squadrons. The Catapult Flights
::rbarked srnqle or pairs ofaircraft rn
:::ps of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron rn
: Medrterranean, the 9th Cruiser
S;:adron and South Amerjcan Djvj-
. :: cf the South Atlantic command, At
.,: lutbreak of war 32 Seafoxes were
- ::a wrth the Royal Nar,ry as well as
--=::: cruisers of the Royal Australian
I ..'.; and the New Zealand Drvision of
':= L:-lal NaW,

as#@*F E?

lrl:t$9.:4

l;*
Swordfish Afloat
TheSwordfish is famous as the aircraftthat shattered the ltalianfleet atTarantoand
scored more torpedo hits than any other carrierborne aircraft. The fame of the
Swordfish as a torpedo bomber has tended to obscure the fact that it also achieved
considerablesuccess a.s a seaplane, the flight aboard the battleship HMS Warspite
sewing with distinction from Norway to the Mediterranean.
The explorts and achievements of the Fairey
Swordflsh during World War II have passed
into aviation history as epics of tremendous
gallantry by the crews of this old biplane, and
the 'stringbag' represented what was perhaps
the most extraordinary anachronism of the air
war, yet lt is a statistical fact that Swordfish
biptanes scored more torpedo hits on naval
targets during World War II than any other
carrierborne aircraft of any navy, Far less
chronicled were the activities of the Swordfish
seaplanes which the Royal Navy embarked rn
some of its capital ships, of which the aircraft of
the batiieship HMS IzVarspjle must reign sup-
reme,
Warspite was laid down on 3l October 1912
and joined Admiral Jellicoe's Grand Fleet on 13
Aprit 1915, being present with the Sth Battle
Squadron dunng the great Battle of lutland on
31 May i9t6 and receiving a number of heavy
hits, Between the worjd wars the battleship
'rnderwent several refits, that of 1926 involving
:he removal ol her aircraft catapult. In 1934
:here started a major modernization program-
ne lor British battleships, of whtch lhe Wars-
oile was the first io refit at a cost of t2,360,000,
including the return of an aircraft catapult; a
ianQlar was constructed on the upper deck
anait the funnel to accommodate a pair of
Swordflsh seaplanes, and two electric cranes
,rere added to recover the aircraft from the sea
|,bove: A Fairey Swordfishfloatplane taxis past the
::: - {a ted battlecrur'serHMS Hood and sever al' E'
r,ass desfroyers. HM'S Warspite carried a pair of
S.,+'ordfish floatplanes in a hangar mounted abaft
:.er funnel, plus two eiectric hoists to retrieve them'
and hoist them inboard, When lhe Warspite
recommissioned in
1937 her company in-
cluded about a dozen airmen and maintenance
crew from the Fleet Atr Arm,
Her first appointment after refit was as
Admiral Sir Dudley Pound's flagship tn the
Mediterranean during 1938, a period divided
between 'showing the flag'at foreign ports and
working up her efficiency at sea, In August that
year the Warspite carried out main armament
firings at a rangre of 24 km (15 mrles) against
towed targets whrch, thanks to excellent spot-
ting by Lieutenant Commander W,l,,M, Brown
in one of the Swordfish, were reduced
matchwood by some 40 salvoes from the bat-
tleshrp's elght 38l-mm (15-in) guns,
A-fter the outbreak of war the Warspite re-
turned to home waters and by March 1940 was
with the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, When Ger-
many attacked Norway she had just set sail for
the Mediterranean but was recalled to join
Admiral Sir Charles Forbes who sailed for Nar-
vik on 7 April. Apart from an unsuccessful
attack by German dtve-bombers on I0 April
Ihe Warspile was not involved rn the lst Battle
of Narvrk, but two days later Admlral Forbes
decided to send her into Narvik Fjord with nine
destroyers under the command of Vtce Admir-
a1 Sir Wllliam Whitworth in an attempt to flnish
olf the eight modern 127-mm (S-in) qnrn Ger-
man destroyers believed to be in the vicinity.
Below:TheFairey Swordfish could carry asingle
457-mm ( I8-in) torpedo or up to 680 kg ( I '500 lb)
of bombs or depth-charges. Swordfish biplanes
scored more torpedo hits on naval targets than any
other carrierborne aircraft of WorldWar II.
'.'*'_r, : lelr,:11,,:::r3lll:du j:ll':rrel1{:rtil,rl:
:i9rr,r:,,1Prr,:r1,,{.ilsrrljlll iilrri!r,:r,,.1:i1:
. ,'".'. ... -'".
"'.c",",1-
.
"t-"'-'.3
-'"'";--
'-:\'"3\
to
iii.rtt'atd;:t!triilta;irls,litrit:rridu,:rl
a!r::arillll::ilr,idll:ilf r::nri;ierl:il;i1y1:
iietLi!13lldta.r,,$:il:iP:rit;llllt
:Qlr;it;lqlPaijYlR.*l;lelritilt
'-,
HMS Malaya hoists one of her Swordfish
floatplanes aboard after a reconnaissance [Iight.
Before radar-directed gunnery had been
perfected, battleship floatplanes were also used to
spot the fall of shot of the big guns , greaUy
extending their effective range.
As the Warspstte sailed past the rsland ol
Baroy at 12,30 on 13 April she iaunched one of
her Swordflsh, crewed by Lieutenant Com-
mander W,M,L, Brown (captain and observer),
Petty Oificer Airman R.C, Rice (pilot) and Tele-
graphrst M,G, Pacey, and armed with srx I 13-
kg (2501b) bombs to scout ahead, Almost im-
mediately Brown spotted the destroyers Erich
Koellner and Eich Giese in Ofotfi ord, and then
flew into Herjangsiord where the U-boat U-64
was sighted and attacked with bombs at Blerk-
vik; the submarine was sunk, although the air-
craft suffered slight damage from return
qunflre. On returning to Ofotflord Brown disco-
vered that the Erich Koellner was manoeuvrinq
to bring her torpedo tubes to bear on the L/ars-
pife, and so commenced dtrecting the bat-
tleship's flre against thrs target. Soon after 13,20
the German ship was overwhelmed and sunk,
The Swordfish then flew back towards Nar-
vik, directing the Warspite's gnrns against the
Ench Giese and Diether von Roder off Narvik
itself, and Ihe Hermann Kfinne rn Herjangsf
;ord. By 15, 15, after the Swordfish had been
airborne for nearly three hours, the Warspite
and eiqht destroyers (HMS Cossack had gone
aqround an hour earlier) arrived at the entr-
ance to Rombaksfiord where the last four Ger
man destroyers, Georg Thiele, Wolfgang
Zenker, Bemd von Arnim and Hans Lildemann
were brought to action and destroyed; one of
them (it is not known which) was attacked and
frnrshed off with the Swordflsh's iast two bombs.
In his subsequent despatches Admiral Whit-
worth wrote 'The reports made by Warspite's
aircraft were invaluable, I doubt if ever a ship-
borne aircraft has been used to such good
purpose as it was on this occasion,'
Self-inflicteddamage
The battleshtp had suffered little damage
durins the 2nd Battle of Narvik, most of it
caused by blast from her oum great Sluns; one
of the Swordflsh seaplanes was replaced when
Warspite returned to Scapa Flow, but the air-
crew that had perlormed so well off Narvik
remained aboard when the shrp sailed for Gib-
raltar at the end of April, She was present at the
naval actlon off the Calabrian coast on 9 Jul-v
]940 when Admiral Cunntnsham with three
battleships, an aircraft carrier (HMS Eaglle)
four crulsers and three flotrllas of destroyers
engaged two Italian battleships, 16 cruisers
and 32 destroyers, Once again the Warsptte
launched a Swordfish wrth Brown aboard, the
crew sighting the Italian fleet and so accuratel-;
spotting for the Brrtish gmns that the battlesht;
was able to obtarn a direct htt amidships from.
range oi 23775m (26000 yards) on the ba--
tleship Giulio Cesare, causing considerab-:
damage, putting four boilers out oi action, i:--
flictrng 115 casualties and reducrng the ship .
speed At once the ltalians made smoke -:
A Swordfish Mk I is launched from the shore; the
apparatus under the fuselage is the rackfor the
torpedo. The failure of the Swordfish attack on
German heavy units involved in 'the Channel Dash'
led to the aircraft's redeployment to anti-
subm arine w artar e dutie s.
cover the withdrawal of their battleshrps and IO
of the cruisers, leaving the remaining shrps to
engage the British fleet. When ltalian alrcraft
appeared on the scene the majorrty of their
torpedoes were directed at their own ships.
Once again a British admiral recorded un-
stinted praise for the actlons of the Zl/arsprle's
seaplane,
The Warspite and her Swordfish continued
to be heavily committed in the Mediterranean, captarned by Lieutenant Commander A, S, Bolt, htmself had been totally unaware that Crr::- J-
as when the battleship bombarded the for- that was catapulted off at I 7, 45 and whose crew ham's battle squadron was even at sea ie: ^' ::-:
tifications at Bardia on 1 7 Augmst, and again on 2 spotted the Italian fleet and passed its composi- in pursuit of his own ships.
January 1941, At the Battle of Cape Matapan the tlon and movement to the British admiral, the Shorlly afterwards Warsptte was se-;e::-.
Warspite was Admiral Cunningham's flagship flrst such truly accurate reports he received, damaged off Crete and had to be wlthdra-,';: :: I
as she sailed northward towards Crete on 28 As night approached both seaplanes returned lengthy repairs, By the ttme she reiurnej .-
March of that year. Knowing that heavy Italian lo Warspite and were horsted inboard, thelr active duty carrierborne forces had beel :::-
naval forces were at sea, Cunningham had task completed, Subsequently, referring to the siderably increased and much-impr:',::
launched one of the Swordfish, with Brown's work of Bolt, the ltalian commander-in-chief radar introduced into the fleet, so tha: se-i-:-
crew, for gmnnery spotting in the event oia fleet Admiral Iachino expressed his envy and was so much reliance placed on the use : .:-:
action, However, it was her other Swordfish, admiration of the British airman's reports, for he ancrent Swordflsh seaplanes,

Left: A Fairey Swordfish of the

Catapult Flight, HMS Mday+ in I 341
The'Queen Elizabeth' class
baftleships Malaya and Warspire
both carried Swordfish until I 9 4 3.
when the installation of effective
-.. radar rendered them superfluous.
1
.. Warspite's Swordfish destroyed the
firstU-boat to be credited to theFlee:
AirArm.
Below: ASwordfish floatplane of the FleetAir Am
comes a.sftore after a training flight. By 1939 Fleet
Air Arm torpedo bomber squadrons were
exclusively equipped with the Swordfish and njne
Swordfish squadrons were still operationa! in
1945.
 Arado Ar 196
-:-:r.rough the attractive Arado Ar 196
..', -n-float seaplane was frequently en-
llrntered by Allied aircraft around
::e of EuroPe during World
-,larcoasts
II, it had originallY been de-
-,-:loped to replace the Heinkel He 60
:cat biplane aboard Germany's larger
',';rrshjps whose construcllon was
advancinq apace during the late 1930s
3i all-metal structure with metal and
-abnc covering, the Ar 196 was by all
accounts an extremely pleasant aero-
plane to fly, the crew being afforded
exceilent fields of view, After first
:lights by the four prototypes in i93B (of
-,vhich one leatured a sinqtle central
-loat and small underwing oulrigger
loats), the flrst service deliveries ofthe
A-r t96A-1 were made in JulY 1939, in
:rme to embark examples in the pocket
battleships Deutschland and Admiral
-lraf Spee belore they sailed for theit
',','ar stallons in August. During the {ol-
lowing six weeks lB Ar l96s were
embarked rn the battlecruisers Sc,har-
r-horsl and Gnetsetau, the pocket bat-
:leship Admrral Scheer, the heavY
:rurselAdmrial Hipper al Kiel and the
liqiht crulsers Emden, Koln, Konigs
berg, Leipzig and Ntrnberg aI
Wilhelmshaven,
The Deufsc,hland made constant use
ci her aircraft during her early foray
rnto the Atlantic (which resulted in the
with Luftwaffe coastal units throughout
northern Europe, and an aircraft of
Kustenfliegergrmppe 706 attacked and
damaged ihe submarrne HMS.SeaJ in
the Kattegat, leadtng to the boat s cap-
ture by the Germans, Although several
Ar 196s were shot down bY the RAF
during the Battle of Britain, most losses
were attributable to storms at their
anchotaqes. In 1941-2, flown from
French bases, they were used to inter-
ceot RAF Coasral Command anti '
submarine patrols over the Bay of Brs
cav, their pilots clarmrng more than a
dozen viCtorjes. Total produclion
amounted to 593 aircraft
Specification
AradoAr 196A-3
Type: two-seat shipborne and coastal
patrol floatplane
Fowerplant: one 723-kW (970-hP)
BMW I 32K radral piston enq ine
Performance: maxrmum sPeed
310 km/h ( 193 mph) at 4000 m
(I3, 125 ft) climbto 3000 m(9 845 ft )lnB
mrnutes 42 seconds servLce ceiling
7O2O m (23,030 ft); range 1070 km (665
miies)
Designed to replace the Heinkel He 60 floatplane aboard German warships,
weiqhts:emotv 2335 kq t5, 148 lb):
the irado Ar 196 was pressed into service with Luftwaffe coastal units in 1940 '
maxinum tateloil3303 ks (7.282 Ib)
Dimensions: spanl2.40 m (40 ft B 2 in); Flying from French bases during 1941 and 1942, they intercepted ASW patrols
length 11.00 m (36 ft I I rn); height mouiteanynAf CoastalCommand and claimed over a dozenvictories'
4. 4i m (14 ft 7, 2'in); winq atea 28 3 mz

sinking of nine merchantmen), as did (304,62 sq ft)

'.ne Schamhorsl and Gneisenau during Armament: two frxed forward-f, ring Arado Ar 196A-3 cutaway drawing key
.reir sortie northwards late in Novem- 2O-mm cannon and one fixed forward-
firing 7. 92-mm (0, 3 I -in) machine-gmn, 1 Splnner 48 Supportframe
ber, but the GrafSpee dld not attempt 2 Propel erhub 49 Canopyaftsection
c launch her aircraft during the Battle and two 7.92-mm (0 3l-in) trainable 3 Sta.board fuse dgefi'ed 50 Aftcanopv ock/re ease
:i the River Plate because of the dif- machine-qn-rns in the rear cockpit, pll's 7.9 mm MG 17 gun port 51 Flrst-ald klt
rculty ol its recovery duringt the chase provision ior two 50-kg ( I l0lb) bombs 4 Schwarzadjustable Pitch 52 Observer/gunner's sl ding
I
three blade propeLler seat
c'y the Britrsh cruiserst in any case her under the wingrs 5 Cowling ring 53 Entryfootstep
6 54 F are carlrldge stowage
Juns were apparently adequately Arado Ar I 9 6 s were embarked on 7
Cyllnder head falrlngs
BMWl32Knine-cylinder
sen'ed by radar, During the pursuit of aircooled radia engine
.ae battleshrp Bjsmarck in May 194i, several of G ermany's mai or 8 Cowllng panelf rame
';hich led uttimately to her destruction, warships, including the 9 Oulckieleasecatch
:r least two Ar i96s were launched in 'Scharnhorst',' Deutschland' and 10 Cowingflaps
'Hipper' classes. This examPle is T T Engine lower bearers
a:tempts to prevent RAF Consolidated 12 Handholds
latalinas from shadowinq the warshtp embarked on the heavy cruiser 13 Englneaccessories
ln 1940 the Ar 196A entered service AdmiralHipper. T4 Alr ouvre
15 Firewall bulkhead f rame
16 Oi tank
T7 StarboardMGTtrough
18 Fuselageframe/eng ne
support attachment
Tg Enqineupperbearers
20 FoMard f uselage decking
21 Starboard wing sklnnlng =
22 Leadrno-edoe flb stations
23 StarboSrd o"uter rlb
24 Starboard navlgatlon lght
25 Starboard wlngtlP
26 Starbord ai eron
2 / ALleron masS 0a ance
28 UndeMingacaesspanel
29 Alleron control linkage
30 Windscreen
31 lnstrumentPanel
32 Foruardfuse age uPPer
fram e
33 Sea rudder lever
34 Handho d

35 Sea equipment ocker(ina,

drao-Jrne and anchor/
hea"ving Line)
36 Rudderpeda assemby
37 Seatsuppodframe
38 Entryfootstep
39 Seatadjustment
handwheel
40 Armrestand seatharness
4T ControlcoLumn
42 Pilot's seat
43 Slidingcanopy
44 Rear-vlew mirror
45 Aerlalmast
46 (Starboard) wing fold
position
47 Pllot's headrest
 Seaplanes of World War II
Left:AnAradoAr 196A-3 of 1.
Bordfliegergruppe -l96, based on Ae
Lototen I slands in February I 944 . F-
pleasantmachine tofly, ttreAr Jgf
afforded excellent fields of visior
and ac hieve d considera-ble success"
One aircraft of Kiis tenfliegrergn tpp
706 crippled the submarine HMS
SeaI, /eadrhlr lo the boat's capture bI
theGermans.

I
I
I

I
Right: Aradoswere exported to two
of Germany's Balkan allies;this
aircr aft belongs to Rom anian
Escadrilla I 02, operating from the
Black Sea port oI Odessa in I 943.
O ther s s erved wi th the Roy al
Bulgarian air force's I 6 I st Coastal
Squadron, based at Varna.

55 Charttable 58 Wlngrootfillet 64 Ring sight 72 Elevatorcontro aable 98 Tle-down luo

56 Radioequipment 59 Obsever's s idlng seat pon 65 Twin7.9 mm MG81Z in kage
I 99 Catapult attichment
57 Fuse ageframe/aftspar runner f exib e machine-guns 73 Ruddercontrols 100 Control eads
attachment 60 Ammunition box 66 Flare bomb stowage 74 Tailf in/f uselaqe support/ 101 MG B1 Z counterbalance attachme^:
6'l Dorsalgun swivel 61 Gun support bracket attachment bracket 142 Wing attachment 130 Fuel I nes '... .- . --- _
mountrng Fuselage aft{rame 75 Tailfin rootfillet strengthening p ate 13T Floatcross-:-::
62 Wind def lector p ate 69 Master compass access 76 Starboardtailpianesectlon 103 Wngfoldline 132 Strutcrcss-:-a:
63 Ammunition feed 10 Fuselage skinn ng 77 Elevatormassbaance 1 04 Gun charging cylinder 133 Smokeca^ s::'
/1 Strlngers 78 Starboard elevatorsectlon starboarc i:a::

79 Tailfin eading-edge
B0 Rudderinternalmass
balance
81 Ruddertablinkage
82 Tailfin structure
83 Aerlai
84 Aerlai stubattachment

irlli:ir.,."." -

98 .r,t

105 Ammunltion drum {60

B5 Rudderupperhrnge rou nds)
86 Rudderframp 1 06 Portwing f ixed
20-mm MG
87 Rudderpost FF cannon
88 Ruddertab '107 Cannon aftmountlng
89 E evatortab bracket
90 Tabhinge 108 Carlrldge collectorbox
9'1 Elevatorframe 109 Cannon barrel suppor-t
92 Elevatormassbalance sleeve
93 Tailp ane structure 1 10 Watertlght muzz e cap
94 Elevatorattachment 1 1 1 Foryardsparattachment
95 Ruddercontrol lrnLaoe 112 FloatfoMardstrut/
9b I ar plane
attachment fuse age attachment
97 Elevatorcable/rod ink 1 T3 Tubu arstrutfairing
I l4 nnerVee-strut
1 1 5 Cross brace struts
T 16 Entrysteps
117 Exhustoutlet
118 Oilcoolerintake
1 'l 9 Strut/float attachment
cover
120 Starboardfue cell(66 mp
qa /300 lltre capacltV)
121 Starboard float
122 Upperstrake
1 23 Handholds
124 Pafttloat
125 Sldestrake
126 Poft fuelcel (66 lmpgl/300
litre capacltv)

@ Pilot Press Limited

 Heinkel He 59
The Germans' use of float seaplanes to
deliver combat troops rnto action is be-
lieved to have been unique during
World War II, and principally involved
the large Heinkel He 59 two-float twin-
engine biplane, an aircraft desigmed
back in 1930 as a reconnaissance bom-
ber landplane during the clandestine
activitres which eventually resulted in
the creation of the LuJhvaffe, The first
floatplane example made its maiden
flight rn January 1932 and the first major
production version, the He 598-2, saw
operational service in Spain with the
Legnon Condor as a night bomber and
for coastal patrol.
By the outbreak ofwar about 70 He
59Bs had been completed and served
v,rth the third Staffein of Kiistenflieger-
gnuppen 106, 406, 506 and 706 for coas-
tal reconnaissance, anti-shipping pat-
rols and mrnelayinq (being capable of
carryinq two 500-kg/1, 102-1b magnetlc
mines). They also equipped the
Seenoldienslslaffeln and the Staffel
Schwilben for air-sea rescue duties
over the North Sea and Baltic, Later
they joined KGrzbV I0B for specialist
coastal assault troop-carrying duties,
and I Gruppe ol KC 200 for air-sea
rescue work, During the invasion of
Norway most of these units were
pressed into use for coastal patrol and
au-sea rescue, and during the initial
assault phase were occasionally em-
ployed to deliver assault parties rnto
ihe fiords. During the German assault
Ln the West on 10 May 1940 12 He 59Bs
of the Staffel Schwilben transpofied
120 troops to the banks of the River
Maas to capture the key bridge at Rot-
ierdam losing four aircraft to the Dutch
defences
Durinq the Battle of Britain the He
59s of the Seenotdienstkommando
g Heinkel He I 15
Flown largely by Kriegsmarine pilots
iuring much of the war, the Heinkel He
115 twin-engine two-float seaplane
-,",'as almost certainly the best such aLr-
craft to serve with any air force in
iVorld War 11, DesiQned in competition
-,'ith the Blohm und Voss Ha l4O, the He
-13 was first flown in 1936 and two
;ears later established eight world
--peed records for ils class tn various
pavload and ranqe categiories. Tech-
:-:aliy in advance of anY British,
: lench or American maritime aircraft
:: srmilar concept, the type was
::jered into production, the He I l5A-
1 ;ersron joining the Luftwaffe in l93B
'::rrq foliowed by the He IISA-2, of
,';:-ch srx were exported to NorwaY
lO to Sweden in 1939).
=i; September 1939 about 60 He I 15A
He IISB aircraft (the latter with
--j fuel capacrty) were servinq
--.:::ased
-r;-j: -re Kilstenfliegergruppen. Apart
l::: scme reconnaissance work over
':.: 3-:lac du-rtng the Polrsh campatgn.
::::rst rmportant task involved sea-
-j:egaps rn the mrneflelds along
-,:-;
,:-: ::si coast of the Bdtish Isles, the
-- s::h mtssion being flown bY 3./
l- ':3: 306 on 20/21 November 1939.
--:,::: actrvtties continued for more
::--:- -3 months (and sporadically
:,=:==er for two years), the mlning
-:-= ,:slg 33 arcraft destroyed and
--r :::a-ij severely damaged during
:= :e:-: of the Battle of Britain; most
r=-:::s were suffered from British
{.
--_:
were extremely active all round the
coasts of the UK, ostensibly on the
Iookout for downed German aircrew.
but when it became apparent that de-
spite displaying prominent Red Cros-
ses the aircraft were being used to
shadow and report British convoYs,
orders were given to RAF Pilots to
shoot down enemy seaplanes; no few-
er than 31 He 59s (11 of them from
Seenotflugkommando 3, based at
Boulogne) were lost during the Battle
of Britain, with seven others badly
damaged. Set against this more than
400 German airmen were recovered
from the sea round the UK.
Specialist versions included the He
59C-2 air-sea rescue aircraft, the He
59D-I and He 59N series trainers, the
He 59E-1 torpedo trainer and He 59E-2
long-range reconnaissance aircraft,
Air-sea rescue He 59s continued to
serve in the Mediterranean and Ae-
Although an old, outdated design,
the He 59 was pressed into a number
of duties: as a trainer, minelayer,
assault transport, air-sea rescue and
coas t al r econ na is s ance air cr aft.
Before the end ofthe Battle of Britatn
the first exampies ofthe He I ISC series
were in sewice wrth increased defen-
sle armament while the He Il5C-2,
introduced in 1941, featured streng-
thened floats to allow operation from
snow and ice surfaces, The He I I5C-3
and He I I5C-4 were respectively spe-
cialist minelayers and torpedo bom-
bers, the latter being flown against the
North Cape convoys. Production was
halted rn 1941 when operations in the
USSR made more pressing demands
for other aircraft, In 1943 production
was resumed and 141 He 1l5E multi-
purpose arrcraft were delivered to the
Luftwaffe in the followingi year; some
He 115Cs and He 115Es were armed
with single forward-firing MG 151 20-
mm cannon under the nose for flak-
gean until mid- 1943. At least one Slaffel
served on the Black Sea.
Specification
Heinkel He 598-2
Tlpe: four-seat mantime
reconnaissance and air-sea rescue
floatplane
Powerplant: two 492-kW (660-hp)
BMW Vl6.OlU V- l2 piston engines
Performance: maximum speed
220 krn/h (137 mph) at sea level; climb
to 1000 m (3,280 ft) in 4 minutes 48
suppression during torpedo attacks.
At the end of the Norwegian cam-
paigm three of that country's He 115A-
2s and a captured He i15B-l were
flown to the UK, where they were ev-
aluated by the RAF before being com'
mitted to clandestine operations be-
tween the UK and Norway and in the
Mediterranean for carryinq agents
into enemy-occupied territory in North
Africa, Total productlon was about 500
aircraft,
Specification
HeinkelHe Il5C-l
Tlpe: three-seat mrnelaying, torpedo-
bombing and reconnaissance
floatplane
Powerplant: two 716-kW (960-hp) BME
132K radial piston enqiines
This HeinkelHe 59 D sewedwith
Seenotzentrale AgAisches Meer in
the Aegean Sea during I 94 I.
Although the 'D' modelwas
ostensibly a trainer, itwas used on
air-sea rescue duties in the south
well into 1943, Iong after the type's
presumed obso/escence.
seconds; service ceiling 3475 m
( I 1,400 ft); range 1750 kn (1,087 miles)
Weights: empty 5000 kg (l1,023 1b);
maximum take-off 9 100 kg (20, 062 lb)
Dimensions: span 23.70 m (77 ft 9 in);
lengrth 17.40 m (57 ft I in); heig^hl 7. 10 m
(23 fl 3.5 in), wtnsarea l52 Bm'
(i,644.78 sq ft)
Amament: three 7,92-m (0.3 t-in)
trainable machine-qnrns (one each in
the bow, dorsal and ventral positions),
plus a load ofup to 1000 kg (2,205 lb) of
bombs and,/or mines or one torpedo
The Heinkel 1 1 5 sewed the Luftwaffe
in awidevariety of theatres, trom the
Mediterranean to the North Cape.
This particular aircraft was operated
by I.lKuFIGr406 outof northern
Norway in 1942.
Performance: maximum speed
300 kr/h (186 mph) at l00O m (3,280 ft);
climb to 1000 m (3,280 ft) in 5 minutes 6
seconds; range 2800 km (1,740 miles)
Weights: empty 6870 kq (15, 146 lb);
maximum take-off 10680 kq (23,545 lb)
Dimensions: span22.29m('13 ft 1.2 in);
Ienqth 17.30 m (56 ft9. I rn): hetght
6.59 m t2 I ft 7.5 rn): wing a rea 86 7 m'
(933,26 sq ft)
Armarnent: one 7, 92-mm (0. 3 I-in)
trainable machine-gnrnandone 1S-mn:
fixed cannon in the nose, one 7.92-mm
(0,3 f -in) fixed rearward-firing
machine-gnrn in each engdne naceile,
and one 7,92-mm (0,31-in) trainable
machine-gnrn in the rear cockpit, plus a
loadof ]250 kq (2,756 lb) of bombs
and/or mines, or one 500-kq (1,102-lbl
torpedo
HeinkelHell5in Acfion
One of the mosl successfu I of all the
large floatplanes operated during
World War II, the Heinkel He I I 5 was
originally conceived as ageneral-
purpose floatplane with emphasis on
torpedo-attack capabihty, but found
itself much more widely employed.
Although seemingly somethrng of a paradox lirr
a contlnental nation with a relatively short
coastline (which of course underwent con-
siderable lengthening), Germany's use of the
excellent Helnkel He II5 twin-engine twin-
float seaplane was both extensive and long-
lived. Its three spheres of operation in which
greatest lnterest must lie were its minelaylng
activitles, its use as a torpedo-carrying attack
aircraft and, surprisingly, operation by the
Allies for clandestine work against enemy-
occupled shores.
Although much experimental work had Nevertheless the Kiistenfllegergruppen A'Weser' Flugzeugbau-built He,l JSB-J rsseen
been carried out by British scientists on stepped up their mlning activlty in lg40 and by during pre-delivery trials in the spring of I 940.
magnetic sea mines before World War II, the the time of Germany's invasion of Norway more This isprobably oneof the lastbatchof I8 He
1 I 58- 1 s fitted with strengthened floats in
use of such mines by the Germans in 1939 came than 50 He IlSs were available whenever
as an unpleasant surprise, particularly as the weather conditions permrtted operations, By anticipation of the invasion of Norway, where
operations from ice and snow could be expected.
war was scarcely I0 weeks old when German July sevenSlaffeJn (L and 3,KuFlGr 106 at Nor-
seaplanes started laying the weapons at night derney and Schellingwoude, L, 2, and 3./
in the approaches to Bntish ports on the east KuFlGr 506 at Tromso, Bodo and Stavanger, period when two aircraft of 3.iKuFlGr 506
coast, operations whrch the RAF was power- and L and 3,/KuFIGr 906 at Ijmuiden and else- crashed on Jan Meyen rsland almost 480 kn
less to prevent as it was very poorly equipped where) were deployed for operations against (300 miles) north of lceland, both crews being
with night-fighters, Such airborne radar that the UK; air mimng had already started rn the rescued unhurt.
existed was utterly useless below about 2440 m Western Approaches. The first He 115 known The loss of 33 alrcraft during the summer ol
(8,000 ft). to have been shot down in the Battle of Britain 1940 was certainly heavy, having regard to the
Almost from the beginning of the war Ger- period was an aircraft of 3,/KiiFlGr 906 flylng number of aircraft in service, 3 /KuFlGr 506
man destroyers approached close to the Nor- from Ijmuiden, brought down by guns at night losing seven aircraft, and 3,/KuFlGr 106 and
folk and Suffolk coast to lay mines, and on the in the Thames estuary in mid-July, rts naval prlot l,/KirilGr 506 slx each, The majority of Staffel
night of 2012i November 1939 their work was (Oberleutnant-zur-See Hildebrant) and the two pilots and some navigators were officers of the
complemented by the He I I5B- Is of 3. Staffel of other crew members belngr killed, On 16 Kriegsmarine, but as casualties mounted their
Kiistenfliegergruppe 906, flyinq from North September a Heinkel He I 15C of 3./KuFiGr 506 places were olten taken by Luftwaffe aircrew.
German bases and dropping srx magnetic. from Stavanger suffered total engine failure off At least one such Luftwaffe He 115 piloi, Ober-
mines in the Thames estuary and off Harwich, the British coast near Berwick, the pilot (Haput- leutnant Karl Barth, was awarded the Knight's
Tbro mghts later 3,/KiiFlGr 906 was joined by mann Hans Kriependor| putting the aircraft Cross for hts combat record during the Battle of
3./KuFlGr 106, and it was one of the latter unit's down on the sea. Despite capsizing, the aircraft Britain, Such was the importance attached to
Heinkels that dropped a mine off Shoebury- was towed lnto Eyemouth harbour and later sea mining by the Germans that the task a_tso
ness which lay exposed on a mudbank when repaired for use by the RAF; in this aircraft came to be undertaken by Luftwaffe bomber
he tide receded the following day, The were the two most senior officers of 3.iKiiFlGr units, particularly when mines were to be sown
,reapon was defused by Lieutenant Comman- 506. The following niqht l./KiiFIGr 106 also lost rnside Brrtish harbours.
rer J, G. D, Ouvry from HMSVemon, who disco- its S/alfelkapjtiin, as did 3./KirFlGr 106 two
;ered that the German mine was detonated by nights later, Kiistenfliegergruppe 506's Grup- This He 1 15 displays the ladder stretching from the
change of magnetism in the vertical field
='::mpared penkommandeur, Major Wilhelm Rentsch, rear of the float to the rear cockpit. This was
wlth Brltish weapons which re- was killed in an accident involving a 1./KiiFlGr necessary because ffie fuse/age was at leastman-
r_::ed a change in the horizontal field), This 506 He I l5 on 25 September, One unexplarned high from the surface, with the cockpit
::-irmation proved vital, as hitherto the Ger- accident occurred durinq the Battle of Britaln over 3 m (9.8 ft) above thewater.
mines had seemed unsweepable and, by
==::
--=:me of Ouvry's discovery, 27 ships (totalling
-:;, 358 tons) had already been sunk by mines
-,:':g November,
Grn defences alefied
-:;ari from measures put in hand to render
J-,:i shipping immune to the German mines
:1 "=gaussing the ships), British coastal gnrn
:!:ll=r:es were alerted to the danger of the
:i=:-<:s and all coastal liqhts (kept burning to
amsl tsntish ships) were henceforth exting-
irsri:Fn The tasks facing the minelaying Kris-
w-:=gergruppen quickly became more drf-
fl:; =- ijc-"',n
hazardous, although the first He I 15 to
re :::: did not fall until early 1940 be-
.ll=.-,:: ::::rght down by Bofors guns in one of
tr. :-:-- -:: the Thames estuary. There were
aui: :s:=:-3es of mines, whlch were dropped
i!:r ::- .:-r, as 20 m (60 ft) withr:ut parachutes,
an;r':-:-3 ::: contact with the water or a sand-
n'Fi-r;-:-t iesroying the aircraft (German mine
jiam;s mr::: io less unreliable than the Kriegs-
rrlrFr*r:E: ::1cedo pistols in use at that early
-ffift1= - -'= ,';ar).
HeinkelHe llSinAction
Heinkel Hell5
This Heinkel He I 158-1 was in sewicewifft ffie frsf Staffel of
Kiistenfliegergruppe 406 ( I./ KUFIG r 40 6), based at Sorreisa near Tromsi in
northern Norway. Along with the aircraft of KnFlGr 906 the Stalfel took part in
the attacks on the ill-fated convoy PQ 17 (indeed, it was the Heinkels of KitFIGr
406 which made the first attack on the convoy, losing lfie Staffelkapitan's
aircr af t in the process ). By late I 9 42, 1 / K uF lG r 40 6 w as the only rem aining H e
.

1 15 unit in the Arctic, remaining on torpedo-attack duties until at least May

1944. By the end ot thatyear, the He I I5 was no longer in the Luftwaffe's
first-line inventory.
Heinkel He I 15 in Action
For all the weaknesses inherent in early Ger-
man sea mine design, production of the
magnetic mine reached enormous propor-
tions. The Heinkel He II5 was an extremely
popular aircraft among rts crews who were
later called on to perform mlning operations off
Soviet ports in the far north, in the Baltic and the
Black Sea; they were also very active in the
Medlterranean for more than two years,
Bearing in mind the mountainous nature of
the terrain ln the extreme north oi Norway, the
austere environment and the sparsity of oper-
ational airflelds, it was not surprlsing that the
greater share of flying operatlons undertaken
by the Luftwaffe in the Arctic was with sea-
planes and flylng-boats, limited though these
responsibilitres were; that is until Hitler attack-
ed the USSR in 1941 and the British started
sailing their North Cape convoys from Scotland
and Iceland to Murmansk and Archangelsk. By
that time, however, production of the He 115
had been termlnated (it was to be restarted
laier), and KuFlGr 106 and 506 (as KGr 106 and
KGr 506) had been fu1ly integrated into the
Lu-ftwaffe wlth Junkers Ju 88 bombers; KriFlGr
9OO had re-equipped with Blohm und Voss Bv
138 flying-boats,
Little action
For many months the British convoys sarled
with little interference, enemy air action being
confined to shadowing by Focke-Wulf Fw 200
Condors and the flying-boats, as well as spor-
adic U-boat attacks, Meanwhile a new unit,
i.iKiiFlGr 406, had undergone training with the
He 1l5C-4 in the torpedo attack role and in
1942 was based under the command of Haupt-
nann Eberhard Peukert at Sorreisa, near
Ttomso, about I 15 km (70 miles) north of Nar-
,nk. At the same time the Hernkel He II]H-6
:orpedo bombers of VKG 26 under Hauptmann
Gernot Eicke were located on the airfields at
Bardufoss and Banak, These torpedo aircraft
-.\rere ready for combat when air reconnaiss-
ance reports were received ofthe approach of
convoy PQ 17 On 2 July eight torpedo-
equipped He l15C-4s took off and, led by
I{auptman Herbert Vater, attacked the convoy,
Cespite very healry flak from the escorting ves-
sels, The leader's arrcraft was hit and forced
Cown but before it sank in the rcy seas another
He I15, flown by Oberleutnant Burmester,
alighted alongside and took off again with the
stricken crew, At dawn two days later 1./
KilFlGr 406's Sla.ffelkapilain himself spotted the
convoy and put a torpedo into the American
freighter Chistopher Newport.
rfj
't .t
The Heinkel He llSs remained at Sorreisa
for several more months and took part in a
number of attacks on Allied shippinq in the far
north, particularly ships returnrng empty from
the Soviet ports, The Sfaffel claimed the sinking
of about eight shlps, usually sailing wlth no
more than token escort, Their principal job,
however, was to mlne the approaches of the
ports; the appearance of escort carriers with
the North Cape convoys rendered attacks by
the relatively slow floatplanes too danQrerous,
the main attacks now being undertaken by He
i]]s, Ju 88s and Ju 87s,
One of the pre-war purchasers of the He I 15
from Germany was Norway, whose naval air
sewrce (Marinens Flyvevaesen) received six
He l15A-2s during 1939, When German forces
opened their invasion of the country in Aprrl
the followrng year three of the Heinkels were
sewing with the air service's No. 2 Squadron in
the south and the other with No. 3 Squadron in
the north, As the situation rapidly deteriorated
in the south one of No, 2 Squadron's aircraft was
flown to the UK, another flew north to join No, 3
Squadron and the other was captured in Hafrsf-
jord by ihe Germans when they occupied Sta-
vanqer. Meanwhile the Norwegians them-
selves had captured a pair of German He I I5B-
1s at Brannoysund and Ornes complete with
bombload and the new Goertz bombsight.
Thereafter the four He I15A-2s and two He
115B-1s made a number of rards on German
positions in Norway during the final month's
fighting. By the time of the ceasefire one of the
German aircraft had been cannibalized for
spares, the other He I I5B-1 andthree He l15A-
2s were flown to the UK and the remaining He
115A-2 flew to Finland, where it was interned.
However, one of the He 1l5A-2s making for
Scotland ran out of fuel just before reaching its
destination and was sunk by its crew,
This late-productionHe I 11C-i of 1./KuFlGr 906 is
seen in Norway in the spring of I 942 . Note the
additionof afixed l5-mmMG 151 cannontothe
underside ofthe port fuselage, later to be
upgrunned to 20-mm.
Given RAF markrngs and the serial numbers
BV184-BV187, the four surviving He l15s were
taken over by the Marine Aircraft Establish-
ment (MAEE) at Helensburqh on the Clyde,
being joined by another He 115 captured dw-
ing the Battle of Britain (this was eventually
cannibalized and is believed not to have car-
rled a British serial number). Durtng the course
of fairly exhaustive trials with the MAEE two of
the aircraft were lost in accidents, but the other
two were specially prepared for clandestine
operations. One aircraft was flown from
Woodhaven, near Dundee, by Lieutenant
Skavhauqen, a Norwegian pilot on secret op-
eratlons to his native land, delivering agents
and returning with escapees from the German
occupation, However, in due course it was de-
cided that using a captured 'enemy' alrcraft
posed too many risks and the operations were
abandoned, the aircraft bleng moored in the
Tay until scrapped ln 1943.
The other aircraft, provided with an addr
tional armament ol eight machine-gnrns in the
wings (four of them firing aft), was flown by
another Norwegian, I:ieutnant Offerdahl, to
Malta where it was used to deliver agents and
saboteurs to the enemy-occupied North Afrt-
can mainland, occasronally being painted in
Luftwaffe insignia. It was eventually destroyed
by a German bomb which struck its hangtar on
Malta,
Seen in October 1 942, this He I I 5A-2 was the last
survivor of three Norwegian aircraftwhich had
flown to Shetland in June I 940. Itwas modified for
clande s tine oper ations.
?re,ell.'J.a13
:i,$l:e*re;;
:]iieriuilrl'i9;it:::ii
i t,d .e -
llritrri;:tidt,i;a:e:i
il,:il;i.sc;:3:":a
!rr,!ti::ur:l:'e|]u::t:,ie:3l
::::g:rerar,:ildlr',,al l;
t*,11?;*dt)'';:
 JAPAN

-l Aichi EI3A ,tr-

l.rmerically the most important of all
,-apanese
-,'rar
float seaplanes during World
II, the Aichi El3A monoplane (of
,';ir-rch i 418 were produced) orrgin-
ared in a naval staffspecification rssued
:: Aichi, Kawanishi and Nakajima in
.137 for a three-seat leconnaissance
seaplane to replace the sx-year-old
Xawanishi E7K2 float brplane, A pro-
.ctype was completed late in 1938 and
after competitle trials with the Kawa-
:rshi E13K in December 1940 was
:rdered rnto production as the Navy
Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplane
Model L Early aircraft were
:mbarked in Japanese cruisers and
::aplane tenders the followrng year
a singrle 250-kq (55llb)
=d, carrying
::mb apiece, flew a series of raids on
::e Hankow-Canton railway. Soon
=::erwards EI3AI floatplanes accom-
laded the Japanese Bth Cruiser Drvi-
s-:n ior reconnaissance patrols durinQl
-:e stdke agTainst Pearl Harbor in De-
::mber 1941.
Thereafter, as production switched
.: Kyrlshu Hikoki KK at Zasshonokuma
--C accelerated, the seaplanes (code-
:--rned 'Jake' by the Allies) were
=:,lcarked in the battleships and cruis-
=:s of the Kanlais (fleets), including the
:a:tleship Haruna and crrrisers Ciiku-
-:: and Tone of Vice Admiral Nagnr-
:,: s Carrier Striklng Force at the Bat-
-= cf Midway. Because of mechanical
;::b1ems with the ships' catapults
,:-:re were delays rn launching one ol
:= rcw El3Als to search for the Amer-
,:= carriers at dawn on the crucial 4
--.e 1942, depriving the Japanese of
:-: vital initiative during the early
---;es of the assault on Midway. Furth-
:r:-ore lhe Chikuma's E13A1 was
,::ed to return early when it suffered
=:;:,:re trouble, further reducinq the
."-inportant search area, One of the
":.-: Jake pilols. Irom Lhe cruiser
, :-::. eventually sighted the American
'=:: but at flrst failed to repofi the
; r:sence of carriers, causing a further
:--inute delay in arminq the strike
=-::laft awaiting orders to launch from
An Aichi E I 3A'J ake' of the I mperiai
J apanese Navyls seen rn the i:arly
wartime colour scheme thatwould
have beenworn at sea aboard the
fJeef 's crursers and battlesh ip s.
Japanese carriers, As it was, when the
Americans launched their flrst strtke,
the pilots found the decks of the car-
riers Akakgi, Kaga, Soryu and Htryu
clogged with aircraft which should
have been attackinq the Amertcan
fleet,
In all, it is estimated that by mid- 1943
more than 250 El3Als were at sea
aboard Japanese ships, thouqh their
use was severely curtailed whenever
American fiqhters were in evidence,
Nevertheless they continued to sewe
rrght up to the end of the war, many of
them being ultimately used in suicide
attacks on the huge Amertcan invaston
fleets closinq on the Japanese home-
land,
Specification
AichiEI3Ala
Type: three-seat reconnarssance
floatplane
Powerplant: one 790-kW (1,060-hp)
Mitsubishi Krnsei 43 radial piston
Performance: maxrmum speed
377 krn/h(234 mph) at 2180 m (7, 155 ft); lengrth 1 1,30 m (37 ft 0.9 in); heiqht At a J apanese seaplane base
climb to 3000 m (9,845 ft) in 6 minutes 5 7.40m(24 ft3.3 in); wingarea36.0 m2 somewhere inthe Pacific the crew of
seconds; service ceilingB730 m (387.5 sq ft) an E I 3A leave their cockpits. W ith a
(28,640 ft); range 2089 km (1,298 miles) Armament: one 7.7-mm (0,303-rn) range of nearly 2 I 00 l<n ( 1,300
Weights: empty 2642 kg (5,825 lb); trainable machrne-gnrn in the rear miles), sorties could, and often did.
maxlmum take-off 4000 kg (8, B tB lb) cockpit plus250 kg(551 ]b)ofbombs mean up to 15 hours at a time in the
Dimensions:span 14.50 m (47 ft 6.9 in); and./or depth charges cockpitfor the three-man crew.

a Kawanishi NIK Kyofu

r:-::rpation of a need for stnqle-seat
i-= -equipped interceptor seaplanes
: :. :pred he Japanese naly to initiale
, ::.;elopment programme for such
=:::rrr in 1940, the Nakajima A6M2-N
- - -:plane adaptation of the famous
- i=-jrrshi A6M2 Zero beinq intended
- : s.opgap until a purpose-desiqned
.-::::-;t could be rntroduced. This was
:: the highly-imaerinative and
='.:=ctive Kawanishi NIK Kyofu
-.;:.iy wind), whose destgn was
.--.:C in September of that year.
i - ,--r-ng a central float and twtn wing-
::,, -:-:ed stabilizing floats, the new
:r:::iype retained the same gun
-:-=:rent as the AOM2 but was po-
i:=13i ly a 1089-kW (1,460-hp) Kasei
,- ::Cial engine driving two-blade
,---liprops in an attempt to counter
.-,: ::que induced swinq on take-off
' . ,',-.ng-mounted floats were otigt-
:-. : -ntended to be retractable but
-=. ; problems led to these being
'-=: before the aircraft's first flight,
:=:::.ent trouble with the contraprop
;-':::x resulted in a change to the
, ..-- r3 engine driving a single three-
:,.r: propeller from the second pro-
--,t: cnwards.
::: iown on 6 May 1942, the NIKI
went on to trials with the navy, whose
pilots were enthusrastic about the per-
[ormance, although expressrng mis-
givings over the tncky take-off charac-
teristics. ln the air, with its combat
flaps, the Kyofu handled beautifully
and possessed excellent manoeuvra-
brhty, At a trme (the end of 1942) when
the Zero navai frqhter had effectively
won air supertorili for the Japanese in
the Paciflc, the NlKi was ordered into
productlon but the delivery rate was
slow to accelerate and fortunes
changed rapidly during 1943. Thus in
December of that year, with only 15
aircraft beinq completed each month
and Japanese ollensrve tnittative
dwindling, it was decided to end pro-
ductron of the aircraft, and in March
1944 the last of89 Kyofus was delivered
to the servrce.
Codenamed'Rex' by the Allies, the
NlKl was first deployed for the de-
fence of Balikpapan rn Borneo, whose
recovery by the Allies was regarded
as no longter pressing as American
forces surgred closer to the Japanese
homeland, whrle the Japanese then
lacked the carriers with which to pro-
tect their isolated garrisons, In the flnal
weeks of the war NlKls flewalonqside
the 'Rufes' of the Otsu Kokutai from
Lake Biwa in defence of central Hon-
shu aqalnst the increasing American
raids on Japan. It was lronic that so
promising was the NlKl that the
Japanese had reversed the process o{
adaptation, and with it produced the
N1KZ-J'George' Iandplane frghter,
cerrarnly one ol the best Japanese air-
craft to see combat durinq the war.
Specification
KawanishiNIKI
Tlpe: singile-seat rnterceptor frqhter
floatplane
Powerplant: one 089-kW ( 1, 460-hp)
1 Designed as a fighter to supporr
Mitsubishi MK4C Kasei 13 radial piston offensive operations far from ]ati-
engine based air cover, the Kyofu t+'x a =':e
Performance: maxrmum speed machine overtaken by even3 h ie
4Bg km/h (304 mph) at 5700 m Pacificwhich saw its plannedrcte
(18,700 ft); climb to 5000 m (16,405 ft) in made superfluous.
trl rvrits,,lishi FIM
Roughly equivalent to the American
Curtiss SOC Seagmll observation float
biplane, the smaller Mitsubishi FIM
was of more compact and neater de-
srgn, its development startinq about
two years later rn 1934. First flowt in
June 1936, the FIMI embodied all the
efforts of its desiqners to achieve an
exceptlonally clean aerodynamic
shape, includinq low-drag float mount-
ings, srngle interplane struts and all-
metal construction, only the control
surfaces being fabric-covered, The
early aircraft displayed poor water
handling and a lack of in-flight direc-
tional stability, however, but after fairly
extensive alterations the production
FIM2 emerged as a thoroughly
effrcient aircraft, acceptable in all re-
spects,
Initral production by Mitsubishi,
which got under way in 1938,
amounted to 524 aircraft before it was
transferred to the 2lst Naval Air Arsen-
al (Dar-Nijuichi Kaignrn Kokusho) at
Sasebo, where a fwther 590 were built,
In due course the F1M2 equipped al1
but one ofthe K-Maru (6,900{on) and
S-Maru (7,200/8,300-ton) classes of
converted merchant seaplane ten-
ders, as well as numerous battleships
ald cruisers of the Imperial Japanese
Nalry, Codenamed'Pete' by the Allies,
FlM2s were present at the Battle of
Midway, tlvo aircraft beinq launched
-rom the battleship Kirishima (bul
ceinq lost when the Japanese scuttled
-jre sorely-crippled ship at the end of
--i-re Battle of the Solomons). The giant
srperbattleshrps Musashi and Yamato
each carried several 'Petes' to spot for
,neir 460-mm (18, f -in) main gn-m arma-
:nent at the time of the Marianas bat-
JAPAN
J.-l Nakajima AOM2-N
_iapan was the only nation to produce
ard dehver into service float-
single-seat interceptor
=quipped
iqhter seaplanes (the British Sprtfire
:--oat adaptatron drd not progress
i-'eyond the experimental stage).
r,\hen rn i94O the
Japanese narry initi-
ated the design of a new interceptor
seaplane (the Kawanishi NlKl Kyofu,
:r 'Rex'), the need was also expressed
::r a stopgap aircraft and the Nakajima
3ompany was instructed in February
l34l to develop a float-egurpped ver-
sron of the excellent Mltsubishi AOM2
Zero naval interceptor. As evidence of
Japan's long-standing plans for territo-
ra1 expansion through the Pacrfic, it
:ad been recognized that in the inevit-
able'rsland-hopping' war there would
be few ready-made air bases from
-reich to provide ar cover during the
lccupation of the smaller islands, and
-:at the construction of runways would
i:e impractical, Although equipped
n:h almost a dozen aircraft-carriers,
re Japa:rese would be unable to use
:em in support of every single rsland
:ias10n,
A-fter removing the wheel landing
;ear aad fairing over the wheel wells
:i a standard AOM2, Nakajima
ncunted a large float under the fusel-
age by means of a forward-raked cen-
la-l pylon and a pair of V-struts below
:e cockpit; two cantilever stabrlizing
-ats were also mounted under the
r,.:igs, The standard Zero gnrn arma-
:-ent was retained, and the flrst pro-
:::;,pe was flown on 7 December 1941,
:: day on which the Japanese navy
:134
tles, but none was used in earnest; tn- type was committed to the unequal Unlike the reconnarsance lypes
stead the Musashi succumbed to task of defending the Japanese home- carrie d by m aj or J ap anes e surf ace
American bombs and torpedoes in the land from the devastatlng American units, the Mitsubishi F I M'Pete' was
Sibuyan Sea; the Yanata, bent on a raids, serving alongside 'Rex' and an obsewation aircraft, designed for
suicide mission to Okinawa, followed 'Rufe' seaplane fighters with the Otsu sucft fasks as grunfire direction, but
her to the bottom on 7 April 1945. Kokutai in 1945. was rarely used for that putpose.
Nevertheless'Pete' seaplanes were
wrdely used throughout the Pacific Specification Weights: empty 1928 kq (4,251 lb);
war, accompanyrng every seaborne MitsubishiFIM2 maximum take-off 2550 kq (5, 622 lb)
landing by Japanese forces, providingr Type: two-seat observation floatplane Dimensions:span 11.00 m (36 ft t. t in)t
gunnery spotting duringr preliminary Powerplant: one 61 1-kW (820-hp) Iength9,50 m (3'L fr 2 rn): herght 4.00 m
bombardment by supportinq warships Mitsubishi Hikari I radial piston (13 ft 1.5 rn;, wingarea29.54 mz
and subsequently serving as covering engme (317,97 sq ft)
flghters (and even dive-bombers) Performance: maximum speed Armament: two flxed forward-fl ring
once the assault forces were ashore It 370 krn/h (230 mph) at 3440 m 7. 7-mm (0. 303-in) machrne-gmns and
was also flown on convoy escort duties (11,28S ft); climb to 5000 m (16,405 ft) in one 7 7 mm (0.303-in) uainable
with the many supply convoys sailed 9 minutes 36 seconds; service ceilinQt machine-qun in the rear cockpit, plus
by the Japanese during the mid-war 9440 m (30,970 ft); ranse 740 km (460 two 6O-kq ( 132-lb) bombs under the
period, In the last stages of the war, the miles) wmgs
attacked Pearl Harbor. 10000 m (32,810 ft); ranse 1781 km firing 7.7-mm (0 303-in) machine-gnrns
Entering production as the Naka- (1, 107 miles) plus provrsion for two 60-kq ( 1321b)
jima AGM2-N and codenamed 'Rufe' Weights:empty 1912 kg (4,215 lb); bombs under the wings
by the Allies, the new fighter sttll dis- maximum take-off288O kg (6,349 Ib)
played a creditable performance Dimensions: span 12,00 m (39 ft 4.6 in);
being first issued to the Yokohama length i0,10 m (33 ft 1,6 1n); heisht U n til the purpose-desr'gned iVJK
Kokutai and deployed to Tulagi tn the 4,30 m(14 ft 1,3 1n); wingarea22.44m2 could be produced, theJapanese
Solomons where the Japanese had first (241.54 sq ft) navy acquired a stopgap floatplane
landed durinq the Battle of the Coral Armament: two flxed forward-flring fighter in the Nakajima adaptation of
Sea. However, almost all the 'Rufes' 20-mm cannon and two fixed forward- Mitsubishi's famed A6M'Zero'.
were destroyed in a strike on the sea-
plane base by 15 Grumman F4Fs from
USS I4lasp on 7 August 1942. Better
success attended the 'Rufes' which
fought in the later Aleutian campargn.
but losses soared as soon as American
figrhter strengrth could be burlt up. Dur-
ing the final year of the war, when
American healry bombers and naval
aircraft opened their great attacks on
the Japanese homeland, 'Ru-fes' of the
Otsu Kokutar, based on Lake Biwa,
were thrown into the ballle as inter-
ceptors in defence of Central Honshu
but suffered very healry losses. Total
production of 'Rufe' amounted to 327
before being halted in September
1943,
Specification
NakajimaA6M2-N
Type: single-seat interceptor flghter
floatplane
Powerplant: one 7OB-kW (950-hp)
Nakajima NK1C Sakae 12 radial piston
Performance: maximum speed
435 kr/h (270 mph) at 5000 m
(16,405 ft); climb to 3000 m (9,845 ft) in 3
minute 54 seconds; service cei[ng
Fws&#&e Semp&mnes
s upporfin grJan d-based av i a t ian mean f th at all mai or ressels
:ad to/:ave sorneJrindof aerialreconnaissanee cap acity' In
: ddjCion, the plan tar I apanesa expansioR foresaw an em-p-ire
::mcngr f&e r'siands, Jrince fhe Jargre-sca tre intraductian of the
:iaa tplane in ffie years befo re I I 4 L

' *rrepar ng for the war rn the Pacific for which, like all aggressor.nations' she
''call
-:lci ihe tune' with regard to military equipment, Japan envisaged wide-
. _--.ad use Of floatequipped seaplanes to support her numerous territorlal
.--:1rons: such aircraft were deemed essential in view of prolonged fleet
-.--paigns and ihe general scarcity of land air bases avallable throughout the
::r eipanse of oc6an. Accordtngly considerable use was made not only of
.- '',,eniional arrcraft-carrlers but 6f'seaplane tenders, vessels that in other
:. :s \,iere employed as mobile but non-operatronal depot ships; by contrast
. : ,3 possesseil a iotal of about elght such tenders, wlth a total complement,of
f
. --,rd 100 seaplanes, which could accompany assault tasl forces durlng the
:. l\\o Vears of the war.
-,.,.ng'said thrs, however, the seaplanes themseives were at the time of
: -.- fla'rbor generally of obsoiescent design and were not lntended to engage
. ' :ombat,"lt being'left to the excellent carrierborne fighters and bombers to
-:-..e air supremacir, Nevertheless great reliance was placed on such aircraft
,:-:Ka,,r,anishlEil:Kz'Ali' turinfloaibiplanesintheearlymonthsof thewar,
. . 1.c aboard the tenders Chlrose and Chiyoda, the f ormer being present at the
-:.:"ons campaign. Boih these '1 'l
,190-ton ships were subsequently con- AVougfuASZU Kingfisher taxis onto the recovery sled of the heavT'cr:::::
-' :C :nic escort Earriers jn 1943, and both were sunk byAmerlcan aircraft in U.SS Quincey. This technique allawed the recovery of spotter seapjaies :'".::. =
under way,-an important-consideration in a combat zone.
'-:l: 17K2 was obsolescent when the Pacif ic war started, but already a much
' ..:i floa.l monoplane, the Aichl E134.l , was enterrng servlce, and this 'Jake' accommodating aircraft in submarines was by no means the sc i l-:' ..: -
'l:f.1, operatlng'f ronr tenders and cruisers, had i owi bombing attacks ox the the Japanese. although the Japanese were alone in en p:\ rr ' -

.-.:n-H'ankow"railway shorily before being larnched from the cruisers Chiku-
. ',inugasa and,'one'dui"tng ihe operat ons agarnst Peari Harbor'
This relative-
, -al; tiree-crew floatplan6 cculd, li requrred, remain alofi for as long as 5
'1
',i An even better Aichi seaplane was tne E1641 'Pau1" but this entered
lj -e at a time uovhen the lnitiative had alreadlr passed to the Americans, and so
''=;ed heavr/ Iosses rn the Philipo nes dur ng 1944; lrke so many 'Jap,anese
:tt, whose intended purpose had been deteated by overwhelming Allled air
-='icrty, nrany of the survvlng El6A1s were simply thrown away in the
..-:rate surcid6 attacks of the war's last year.
tervice rend'ered bv-.Japanese floatplaneswas
.'.:";;;;;;;;tt';*igin;ti;"
', icnlunction uritli submarines of the lmperral Navy The concept o{
operationally, relatively successfully and over a prolonged per oi. 'i:'= .' i
36 such arrcraft-carrying submarines served or were burlt bv;al.- :---:
war. lndeed the '1935-vintage fleet subrnanne l-7 12,525 tonsr ar ^.:--t . -
suka E14Y1 seaplane to carry out a damaqe-assessmeni reca'^::::-',':
Pearl Harbor just 10 days after the crippling attac[. thdt brougn::r:, :-
war. Some 125 of these small floatplanes were produced. and r:. - -
:,r-
The myriadof is/ands rn tfteEasl/ndiesmade the seap.lane an t,ro:s-ce:: = :.;
taolafthe|apanese conquerors. After theend of thewar, theSe/efar i. t-;.
base on,9inErapore island was found to be an important seaplane b as e' : :
:
"
Aichi E 1 3s and Mitsubishi F lMs being present in some numbers.
 tl I i.t
.a :r1-:i:-t :' Lr' l

lone's El3Awas on the delayed

:orthern leg of its search pattern
',.'hen it first sighted the American
ships. By good fortune, itwas to the
eas t of the ships and so in the eye of
'-h.e newly-risen sun to any obsetvers.
@'
,':',vas thus able to keep contact for
:,are than an hour. ':l -'
-, ,

:1e aircraft:cairyiiig rf leet.submarines,of up td aro-und 3;000 tons. lt .was such a

srbmarjne, the 125, that later lau{rch€d an E14Y1;flown by Wairant OJficef
::irta, to drop four T6.kg {168.ib} ph'osphqrus bcjmbs on the Oregon.coaSt, the
:riy bombs.dropped from. an aerppl,ane.oa the Ameiican mainland. Thege two
srlaied attacks were, like Doolirttle's atteck ort the.Jaoanese mainland tn 1942
:rcugh on a'far s_mdller scale) rntended for no more than propaoanda purposes.
ior more tha'n two vears.the Japanese lonq-iange rl-7' class, 'l-gl 6i6ss :r1-r 5'
:'ass and 1l-40l,class subraarines roamed the Pacific and lndian Oceans. their:
i:;!c-rTlon E14-Yl.seaplanes bei.ng.empJoyed almost exclusively to reconnoitre Mainstay of the'sceuling squadrons af.theJmperialJapa:nese N avy, the Aichi
-i1,ed ports in Auslralia;.Nev/,z€aland and the Aleutians, as wellas in Cevion, the E ] 3A was shipped aboard heevy crujsorsandtea'p/aie carriers.'
Seychelles,. Medagascar and the east ioast of mainland Af rica. Nine of these 22
s-lrnarines were,lost,during'th.e period,. usually when .ehgaged in commerde I
-a:ding, and asAllied'strength in the air grew rapidli the whole use of,subrmarine-
:crne aircraft:imposed'uhaccdptabJe. risks and severely restricied.the mobilitv of
.-, s-bmar.nes themselves.
A far more.bm.bitious.use.of sUbrmar:ine-boine seapldneS was ioncelved in
.3212 when therJapane,se_naw initjated the deSign.of a,.f.asland poweriuLaltack
::mber, the Aichi M6Al, capable oi deliyetjng.an 850-kg (1,,S7a-lblbomb over a
': r,ge of 1 1 30 km,1700 miles).,.l ntended ds'a"bnerrvay''altaek ailcr.af{ 1the twin
' cais were to be jettisonqd €f:l.er take-offl the MbAl was powered by a 1 ,400'hp
'144-kW) Atsuta'.3z inline engine. Unfqltunatelv for'thdi Japanelse,. deVetop.
-ert of the aircraft Was slow, and jt,was-:]944 befoie'the huge.1l.4-00' class
: 22O-ton) and smallei:il-13,1, class,13.600-ton) submAri'iesweie Commissroned:
r 1945 plans:were.afoot.Jor the Japariese 1st Submaiine:F]otilia'to attackthe
:.<s on the vital Panama Cand',,\\-e,l-4A0and L401 eaeh car.rying three M6A1s
:r:i the l-13 and l-1,4'lwo.apjece.:Realizing that ihe mosl worthwhlle targets
.'.:re already massed in the Pacific,,however,.theJapaneseswitched the flotiila
.::iirst the huge US Navy.alrchorage at Ulirhia aroll, 480 krn.(300'm,iles) sou,th
,',:si of the MariariaS. The:Jlotilla was.at sea when the aiomid bctmbs on
- :osnirna and Nagasaki.brought. the war !o an end.
=tcat seaplanes were also canied by the. lwq aircraft-carryinq battlaships
-,. iga and lse, each capable 0J accommodating 22 Aichr fJ 6A1,s: These,Very
:-:,'.'e dul warships were r:egarded by,the.Americans.as representing a signi-
' ::r: threat during the Jast \1ear of the war,'and the.ir deStruction wasthe:US.3fd
' :ei's rnain priority,during the.fnonihs preceding the..assault On lwo Jima. The
: ships managed.to .avoid:,sea. action, and. wer'e...eientua.ili des.troyed in.
I
: --:r:can naval ait attacks on the pon ofl'Kure at the end ol July'.1945. . .

l,rreugh it can be seen thai nq singie Japatese riavai action w6s influenced.
: . :: e use of seaplanes'in: the Pacific war, thre,provision of such aircrdft and th.eir
.' ::spread deployment r:epresented an ingenrou.s el'ement oi naval..powet i.n i;
"' :ss,r,e strategic.plan of aggr€ssior.i that was.in{enddd to occupy no. more than,
.'. : Their use also seried to emphasize the.relative absenie oJ shipboine.
-,::.',iears.
,n the Japanese navy duiino.those two yeats.

_; :;-
. .-.e tloatplane's first signal, at07.28, read'10
.' :)^s. apparen f Iy enemy. sigh ted'. La ter s ign als
:re to identify'5 cruisers and 5 destroyers'but
-:: unl.i|08.20 was there any mention of an aircraft-
. ::rier a considerable shock to the Japanese,
'. .-.c realized that they themselves were now
to a carrier strike. Theywere correct.
'.:-.nerable
the decisiveAmerican attackchanged the
. ,Lrse of the Pacific war.

Shsdower cf fr'fiidwag
T he B attie of M idw ay is seen as the tu rning- point in the P a c ifi c'N ar.'.' : :. .- =
:

struggle of carrier against carrier decisively going the Amer jcans ','. . . ; '
only sheer chance that theJapanese received any warning of tfie LtS."-:; ,
ships, a catapult fault on the heavy cruiserTone ensurjng fhaf ils,!c:::.::: =
Iaunch was delayed. I t was this alone which allowed Tone's'J ake tc : ;', . : =
American force. By cantrast, the Americans had partially cracked ii e
/apanese code, and had a fairly good idea o{where the J apanese v,'e:,' .: . ".
l;;mes.

l:e of the mostraleresfingsea planes af theJapanese navy, theAichiMGASeiranwas designed as a submarine-launched attack afucraft. Designed fo be
:.:.:cped aboard the giant-il-40A'class ofsuSma fine,lhe originalmissionof theM6Awas to have been an attackonthe lockgates of the Panama canal.
ffi Eonis SOC Seasrull
At the climax of its Service life the Cur-
tiss SOC Seagull scout-observation
seaplane in 1940 was serving aboard
every battleship, cruiser and carrier in
the US Nalry, as well as a destroyer, a
seaplane carrier and two grunboats,
with a US Marine Corps squadron and
at a US Coast Guard statron. It had en-
tered production in 1935 having
beaten the Eouslas XOZD-1 and
Vought XOSU-I ln competition, and on
i2 November that year the first oper-
ational SOC-I was assigned to the light
cruiser USS Marblehead, Subsequent
versions were the SOC-2, SOC-3 and
SOC-4 (the SOC-2A and SOC-3A beins
fitted with arrester gear) and the SON-
I produced by the Naval Aircraft Fac-
tory,
Featuring interchanqeable wheel
and float alighting gear (in the latter
conflgnlation rt was fitted with single
central float and outrrqged wing
floats), the SOC replaced Vought O2Us
and O3Us, and was used to spot for the
fleet's big gmns, increasing the accura-
cy of the main gmn armament of the US
Navy's battleshrps, Each such bat-
tleshrp embarked three or four SOCs,
the healry cruisers four and the light
cruisers two. Flagships r.rsually carried
an additional Seaenrll for use by the
force commander. Production con-
tracts, totalling 304 aircraft for the US
Navy (plus three for the US Coast
Guard), had been placed by the end of
l93B within two years 279 were 1n ser
vice, including 83 aboard the bat-
tleshrp drvisions ofthe Battle Fleet and
:
FE:= USA
Cuniss SC-I Seahawk
The Cwtrss SC-1 Seahawk monoplane
was unique among American scout
seaplanes of World war 1I in being a
relatively high performance sinqle-
seater with an almost fighter-llke
speed. It was almost the last of a long
line of aircraft in the scout-observation
category built by Curtlss to serue
aboard American battleships and
cruisers. Like its immediate predeces-
sor, it featured a single large central
float with stabilizing wing{ip floats,
these being replaceable by flxed
wheel landing qear for shore base op-
eration,
Subject of Curtiss design proposals,
the SC-1 Seahawk was accepted by US
Nauy letter of intent on 30 October
1942 and prototypes were ordered on
31 March 1943. The first of two SC-l
aucraft made its first flight on 16 Febru-
ary 1944, by which time production
orders for 500 SC-ls had been placed.
Production deliveries started in the
late summer that year, the aircraft
beilg completed with wheel landing
gear for delivery to shore depots; the
Edo float assemblies, being purchased
separately, were fltted to the aircraft
according to fleet requirements; the
first aircraft were shipped aboard
trarsports to Australia late in 1944 for
delivery to warships of the US 7th
Fleet, The first aircraft was embarked
h USS Guam on 22 October.
The Seahawk saw lrttle operational
servtce other than constant air-sea res-
cue pafrols, this despite the provrsion
of a somewhat cramped bunk rn the
rear fuselage limiting such rescues to
srngrle dtched airmen, In the relatively
Straightforward recovery of Borneo,
irowever, which was regarded as
somethinq of a srdeshow at the end of
a+36
63 with the cruiser divisions of the
Scouting Force; there were also 30
SOCs with the Atlantic Squadron and
15 with Carrier Divisions One and TWo
in the Pacific,
Dwing the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor nine embarked SOCs and 13
ashore were listed as destroyed, and
although no SOC was directly involved
in the great Battle of Midway about 20
Seagulls undertook scouting sorties
before the Solomon campargn, flyrng
with Task Force 61. They were still
extremely active rn 1943, partlcularly
in the Wake, Marshalls and Gilberts
campaigns. Although by 1943 most of
the 150-odd aircraft strll surviving in
service were usually equipped with
wheel landing gear aboald Amerrcan
escort carriers, some crursers strll con-
tinued to carry the floatplanes, and
these were present at the American
landings in North Africa in November
that year, The Curtiss SO-3C Seamew
monoplane had been introduced to re-
place the SOC in 1942, but this later
machine proved drsappointing and,
although a greater number was pro- Performance: maromum speed A Cur&ss SOC S eagrull s tands r eady
duced, it was the old Seagrull that re- 253 kn/h ( 157 mph) at sea level; climb for launch on the catapult aboard the
mained in US Navy sewice longer, sur- to 1525 m (5,000 ft) in 5 minutes 54 battleshipUSS WestVirginia. /n i 940
vivmg up lo the end of i944. seconds; semce ceiling 4540 m this scout-observation seaplane was
(14,900 ft); range 1535 km(954miles) shipped aboard every battleship,
Specification Weights: empty 1591 kg (3,508 lb); cruiser and carrier in the US Navy.
Curtiss SOC- I Seagrull maximum take-off 2466 kg (5, 437 lb)
Type: two-seat scout and observation Dimensions:span 10,97 m (36 ft 0 in);
floatplane lenqth 9.65 m (3 1 ft B in); heiqht 4,29 m 7, 62-mm (0, 3-in) machine-gmn and one
Powerplant: one 447-kW (600-hp) Pratt (14 ft I in); wingarea32,33 m2 7, 62-mm (0, 3-in) trainable machine-
& Whitney R-1340-18 Wasp radial (348 sq ft) gnrn in the rear coclpit, plus two 45-kg
prston engine Armament: one fixed forward-flrinq ( 100-lb) bombs under the wings
The Seahawkwas a high-perfomance
single-seater ordered by the US Navy
in 1 942 , and entering service in 1 944
aboard USS Guam. In the event it saw
little combat andwas mainly used for
afu-seatescue patols.
the war with Japan and which was
opposed by only small numbers of
Japanese aircraft, a few Seahawks with
the 7th Fleet were used for gnrnnery
control during the preliminary bom-
bardment before the seaborne land-
ings, Some aircraft were said to have
been used in the 'attack' category, the
Seahawk being capable of carryinq a
pair of 45-kg ( 100-lb) bombs in a bay in
the central float; for anti-submarine
work the aircraft would mount an ASH
radar set in a pod under the starboard
wing and a 113-kg (250-lb) bomb
under the port wing,
Total production of the Seahawk,
before VJ-Day brought cancellation of
outstandinq orders, was 566 aircraft;
nine examples of an improved two-
seat version, the SC-2, were delivered
to the US Nalry in 1946,
Specification
CurtissSC-I Seahawk
Type: single-seat shipborne scout and
air-sea rescue fl oatplane
Powerplant: one 1007-kW ( 1, 350-hp)
Wright R-1820-62 Cyclone radial
prston engine
Performance: maximum speed
504 km/h (313 mph) at B71B m
(28,600 ft); climb to 3050 m (10,000 ft) in
4 minutes 6 seconds; service ceiling
I 1370 m (37,300 ft); ranse 1016 km (625 Dimensions: span 12.50 m (41 ft 0 in); Armament: two flxed forward-fl ring
miles) lenqrth 1 1.09 m (36 ft 4.5 in); height 1 2, 7-mm (0, S-in) machine-gmns, plus
Weights: empty 2867 ks (6,320 lb); 5,49 m (18 ft 0 in); winqarea 26,01 m2 two I 13- andtwo 45-kq (250- and lOO-
maxmum take-off 4082 kg (9, 000 lb) (280 sq ft) ]b) bombs
 %usht OS2U Kinsfisher
=
)rsplaying many of the traditional fea-
:ures of the American naval observa-
jon and scouting biplanes of the 1930s
.radial engine, deep spacious cockpit,
-arge 'glasshouse'over the rear cock-
pit and central main float), the Vought
OS2U monoplane was the first military
:rrcraft to employ spot welding in its
primary structure,
Ordered in prototype form in 1937,
:he first XOSzU-l made its matden
]lght on 20 July of the following year,
:utial sewice deliveries being made
:n Augrust 1940. The first aircraft to
serve aboard an Amerrcan battleship
;as embarked in USS Coiorado, Of the
tr4 OS2U-I floatplanes completed in
--rat year the majorrty was distributed
between the Pearl Harbor Battle
: crce, Alameda NAS Battle Force and
:.e Pensacola naval air station. AVoughtKingfisherMk l of No. 107 Squadron,RoyalAustralianAirForce,in 1942.Kingtishers akosewedwiththe
Progressively improved OS2U-2 and F|eetAir Arm aboard armed merchantcruisers.In the US Navy mostKingifishers were catapultedfrom the fantaik
O;52U-3 aircraft were delivered up to of battleships and cruisers.
-342, the latter being the most wtdely
:sed version with increased fuel
:apaclty and improved armour pro-
:=ction for the crew; a total of 1,306 was
produced (including 300 OS2N-I air-
::aff built by the Naval Atrcraft Factory
:: Philadelphia). Apart from ships of
:e US Narry, the type equipped the
:shore Patrol Squadrons (which be-
:=rne exclusively equipped with the
.,;pe), and OS2U-3s also served at Pen-
--:ola and Jacksonville naval air sta-
:::x; therr operattonal tasks included
=,::uting for the fleet, gmnnery spottinq,
-,:--submarine patrol, ship{o-shore
:::rmunciations and rescue of ditched
=-:nen, of whom Captarn Eddle Rick-
=:backer (forced down in the South
?-=:frc) was the most famous, The ln-
:=::hanqeable float/wheel landing
;:ar enabled them to operate from
.:-:re bases when necessary. There
T:re even occasions when OS2U float-
;-=es were flown into action as dive-
- -*L^-^

-re OS2U-3 was selected by the

::--h Purchasing Mission in 1941, and
--- aircraft (FN650-FN749) entered
-=:;ce wlth the Fleet Air Arm joined
as the
{ngfisher Mk L Some of these
l': 103 Squadron and, equipped with
':-=. sewed aboard British armed
::::hant crursers for sea patrol during
::e:ations to combat Cerman block-
.l: :.:nners, Most aircraft were deli-
';=:=d direct to the Middle East and
,L =-:: Aftrca, where they found limited
Sdow: Over 1,300 Kingfishers were
and became the
=anufactured
ez clus ive equipment of the Inshore
?==ol Squadrons, aswell as serving
s:th the fleet invarious rofies.
use for coastal patrol and air-sea res-
cue, Fourteen aircraft were also used
as trainers in Jamaica; 20 others in-
tended for British use were in fact deli-
vered to the US Na\ry,
Specification
VoughtOS2U-3
Type: two-seat shipborne observation
and scout floatplane
Powerplant: one 336-kW (450-hp) Pratt
& Whitney R-985-AN-2 or -B Wasp
Junior radral piston engine
Performance: maximum speed
264 km/h (164 mph) at 1675 m (5,500 ft);
climb to 1525 m (5,000 ft) in 12 minutes
6 seconds; servrce ceiling 3960 m
(13,000 ft); range IBSI km (1,150 miles)
Weights: empty 1870 kg (4, 123 1b);
maximum take-off 2722 kg (6, 000 lb)
Dimensions:span 10.95 m (35 ft 11 rn);
lengrth 10.24 m (33 It 7,25 in), height ^
4.60 m ( 15 ft I in); wing area24 34 m'
(262 sq ft)
AKingrfisher catapults from
Texas in lft e Me ditenanean,
USS
I 944.
Texas raras lhelirstUS battleship to
launch aircraft after being fittedwitk
a flying-off platform while serving
with the British G rand Fieet in I 9 I 8.
Armament: one frxed forward-ir-::;
7.62-mm (0.3-in) machine-qn.m a:.: ::=
7,62-mm (0.3-jn) machine-gnm;- ::
rear cockpit. plus 295 kq 1650 l-c ::
bombs

*
Armed Forces of the World
M41A2 and '141 M4143 Bulldog light tanks deli-
vered in the mid- to late '1 960s from surplus US
Army stocks has been reduced by attrition and can-
nibalization to some 200 vehicles, with most vehi-
cles either now in reserve or in second-line units.
Similarly, the 20 or so survivors of the 100 M24
Chaffee light tanks delivered in the 1950s and the
M3 halftracks displaced from the infantry by the
M 1 1 3 APCs are no longer in the f ront llne. The place
of the M41 s and the M24s has been taken in combat
units by 148 British Scorpion tracked reconnaiss-
ance vehicles equipped with a 76-mm (3-in) gun. A
full list of the army's equipment includes:

armour:M4BA5 MBTs; M24,M41 , M41A'1 , M4143

and Scorpion light tanks; EE-9 Cascavel armoured
cars; M3 halftracks; Saracen, V-1 50 Commando,
M1134l and M113A2APCsand Shorland Mk3
patrol cars;
aftillery:ftawed) 75-mm (2.95-in) M116 pack
howitzers, 105-mm M10l howitzers, 155-mm
(6.1-in) M1 14 howitzers and 155-r-nm M198
howitzers;
(mortars) 60-mm (2.36-in) M 1 9. 8'1 -mm (3, 1 9-in)
M'l , 81-mm M29. '1 07-mm (4.2-in) M30 and 1 20-
mm (4,72-in) unidentlfied model;
anti-tankweapons:66-mm (2 6-in) M72 LAW
rocket-launcher; 57-mm \2.24-in) M 1 B, 75-mm
M20, 90-mm M67 and 106-mm \4.17-in)M4OA2
recoilless rifles and Dragon and TOWATGWs;
air-defence weapons: (towed) 1 2.7-mm (0.5-in)
M55, 20-mm M1 67, 40-mm M'1 Bofors and 40-
mm L/70 Bofors guns;
(self-propelled) 20-mm M 1 6341 and 40-mm
M42A1 guns; (SAM) Redeye and Blowpipe
shoulder-launched missiles; and
smallarms:9-mm Browning pistol; 9-mm Madsen
SMG; 5.56-mm (0.219-in) HK33, 5.56-mm
M1641 and 7.62-mm (0.3-in) G3 assault rifles;
7.62-mm M60 LMG and 12.7-mm M2HB HMG.
To support the army in the field there are some
60,000 national police, 2,000 border police, 1,700
marlne police and a 33,000-strong volunteer de-
fence corps with small arms and some light
armoured vehicles.
There is also an army aviation service with air-
mobile aviation companies and a number of inde-
pendent helicopter flights. These fly some 117
fixed-wing ligh,t aircraft and 113 helicopters, of
which the most important are B0 Cessna O-1 E Bird
Dogs and 76 Bell UH-1 B/H Hueys. Army reserves
total 500,000 men with four divisional HOs.
The Air Force
The 43,1 00-man Thai air force ref lects its primary
counter-insurgency role in having seven squadrons
of COIN aircraft: one with 22 North American T-28D
Texans, one with 15 Cessna A-37B Dragonf lies, two
with 25 Rockwell OV-10C Broncos, one with
Fairchild AU-23A Peacemaker gunships, one with
14 AC-47D Spooky gunships and one with 14 Lock-
heed T-33A armed trainers and three RT-33A recon-
naissance jets.
The single squadron of fighter-bombers f lying the
survivors of 12 Northrop F-SAs and '14 F-SBs has
been flown in recent months with the two Sidewin-
der-equipped squadrons of 40 F-5E and five F-5F
Tiger ll jets on air-to-ground strikes against Viet-
namese positlons located inside the Thai border.
There is also a tactical reconnaissance squadron
with four RF-5As, two RF-5E Tigereyes, five piston-
Fairchild C-1 238 Providers, five Lockheed C-130H/
H-30 Hercules, 20 N22B Missionmasters, five Nur-
tanio-built CASA CN-212 Aviocars, 17 BAe 74Bs and
three miscellaneous aircraft. These are backed up
by two helicopter squadrons (with 1B Sikorsky S-
SBTs, 27 UH-1Hs, four Sikorsky UH-60As and two
Bell 412s) and three light observation/liaison squad-
rons (with 23 O-1E Bird Dogs and four Helio U-10s).
To maintain sufficient aircrew to f ly all its alrcraft
and helicopters, Thailand has expanded its training
fleet to a strength of some 64 jet and 54 piston-
engined trainers of six different types. Further to
improve combat capabilities an order has been
placed for 12 General Dynamics F-l 6 Fighting Fal-
cons to match the latest Soviet types in the Viet-
namese air force's inventory. More F-16s will be
procured as soon as funds permit. For airfield de-
fence against sapper attacks the four main Thai air
bases have a battalion of air force troops equipped
with Blowpipe SAMs, mortars and small arms.
The Navy
The 10,000-man Thai navy is undergoing some
modernization to enable it to match the capabilities
25 of its warlike neighbours, and the purchase of sub-
marines to reform its underwater-warfare force is a
real possibility. Of the new orders placed in recent
years the most significant are those for two Har-
poon-equipped Tacoma-built missile corvettes, and
forthe procurement of more missile boats and large
patrol craft to join the existing force of light vessels.
There is a 500-man naval air arm which flies a
squadron of 1 0 Grumman S-2F tracker ASW aircraft,
with another performing the SAR/maritime patrol
and transport missions with four Fokker F.27MPAs,
'our GAF N22 Searchmasters, two Canadair CL-
2'1 5s and five Douglas C-47s. To support the marine
re?#Aee?:
11t,rl:ii1,,Frr'j:.1g",4,,'
ii,J,:rer:tl#.liA ;ilLi...:
RoyalThai border police are seen in action in
northernThailand against drug suppliers. After a
vicious firefight with the owners , a heroin factory
valued at over two million US dollars was overrun.
units and has a strength of some 20,000. The main
strike force is a marine brigade of two infantry reg-
iments, an artillery brigade and an amphibious
assault battalion. The last is equipped with 22 LWPT
and one LWRT amphibious assault tracked APCs,
whilst the artillery regiment has four six-gun batter-
ies of 23500-m (25,700-yard) range lsraeli '1 55-mm
MOB howitzers and two six-gun batteries equipped
with the SRC GC45 '1 55-mm gun-howitzer that can
fire a base-bleed round to a maximum sea-level
range of 38000 m (41,555 yards). The navy has also
procured a number of MM.3B Exocet coastal SSM
batteries.
The actual composition of the navy is:
British'Yarrow' type, two American
f rigates : one
'PF103'type, one ex-American 'Cannon' class,
and two ex-American 'Tacoma' class;
corveftes: two Tacoma design building (a third to be
ordered);
light forces : three' B M B23O' class missile boats
with lvlM.38 Exocet SSMs, three 'TNC45' class
missile boatswith Gabriel SSMs, three'MV40O'
fast attack craft, four'PSMM Mk 5' large patrol
craft, six'PC461'large patrol craft, three ex-USCG
'Cape' class large patrol craft, 10 ex-US 'PGM71'
large patrol craft, seven'T91' large patrol craft, 24
coastal patrol craft and 40 river patrol craft;
mine warfare forces. one support shlp, four coastal
minesweepers and five minesweeping boats;
a m phibious wa rfare forces : five LSTs, three LSMs,

engined photo-survey aircraft and 1 2 RC-47D Dako-
tas equipped with Elint systems. These continually
monitor the Vietnamese incursions into Thailand
and the various offensives within Kampuchea itself
The transport fleet comprises three squadrons
and a royal flight with some 10 C-47 Dakotas, 16
corps there is a helicopter squadron of 14 Bell 2121
UH-1 H Hueys, and a light aviation squadron with 13
Cessna U-l7s, 10 O-1 E Bird Dogs, two Lake LA4s
. and seven Cessna O-2As used in the FAC, artillery
observation, liaison and transport roles.
The marine corps is one of Thailand's elite f ighting
two LSiLs, one LCG, '1 0 LCUs. 26 LCMs, 12
LCVPs, 10 plus LCAs and three armoured troop
carriers; and
support sh i ps : Ihree training, six oceanographic,
one tanker. two harbour tanker, two water tanker,
two transport and six miscellaneous vessels.

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