Nakajima B5N ‘Kate’ and B6N ‘Jill’ Units

Mark Chambers · Tony Holmes

Jun 2017 · Combat Aircraft Book 119 · Bloomsbury Publishing

About this ebook

Entering service during the Sino-Japanese War, the Nakajima B5N (code-named 'Kate') excelled and went on to achieve surprising and dramatic successes in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It also contributed to the sinking of the US aircraft carriers USS Lexington at the Battle of the Coral Sea, USS Yorktown at the Battle of Midway, and USS Hornet at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Its replacement, the Nakajima B6N 'Jill', while a marked improvement over its illustrious predecessor, was never able to achieve its full potential in combat due to advances in Allied aircraft, finding itself relegated to the dreaded Kamikaze strikes in the latter part of the war.
Using previously unpublished photographs as well as colour illustrations, this book will cover the history of the 'Kate' and 'Jill' torpedo/attack bombers, including their design and development, as well as the combat highs and lows of the Imperial Japanese Navy's premier torpedo-bombers.

About the author

Mark Chambers is an avid World War 2 aviation enthusiast and aviation history author. He has studied World War 2 military aviation, with a keen interest in the air war in the Pacific, extensively. He is the author of Arcadia Publishing's Images of Aviation: Flight Research at NASA Langley Research Center (2007) and Images of Aviation: Naval Air Station Patuxent River (2014). In addition, he is the author of The Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society's Engineering Test Pilot: The Exceptional Career of John P. 'Jack' Reeder (2007) and NASA Langley's From Research to Relevance: Significant Achievements in Aeronautical Research at NASA Langley, 1917 – 2002 (2002). He also co-authored with his father, Joseph R Chambers, a detailed book covering the history of radical aircraft designs and wind tunnels tested at the NASA Langley Research Center entitled Radical Wings and Wind Tunnels (Specialty Press Publication) (2008). He works as a government contractor technical editor for the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Jim Laurier is a native of New England, growing up in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He has been drawing since he could hold a pencil and throughout his life he has worked in many mediums creating artwork on a variety of subjects. He has worked on the Osprey Aviation list since 2000, and in that time he has produced some of the finest artwork seen in these volumes.