Nakajima C6N Saiun

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

Development and design

The C6N originated from a 1942 Imperial Japanese Navy specification for a carrier-based reconnaissance plane with a top speed of 350 knots (650 km/h) at 6,000 m and range of 2,500 nautical miles (4,960 km). Nakajima's initial proposal, designated N-50, was for a craft with two engines housed in tandem in the fuselage, driving two propellers mounted on the wings. With the development of the class Nakajima Homare engine, the dual powerplant configuration was abandoned and Nakajima decided on a more conventional single-engine layout. Unfortunately the new Homare's power output was less than expected, and the design had to be optimized in other areas. The resulting aircraft was designed around a long and extremely narrow cylindrical fuselage just large enough in diameter to accommodate the engine. The crew of three sat in tandem under a single canopy, while equipment was similarly arranged in a line along the fuselage. The C6N's low-mounted laminar flow wing housed fuel tanks and was fitted with both Fowler and slit flaps and leading-edge slats which lowered the aircraft's landing speed to ease use aboard aircraft carriers. Like Nakajima's earlier B6N Tenzan torpedo bomber, the vertical stabilizer was angled slightly forward to enable tighter packing on aircraft carrier decks.

The C6N's first flight was on 15 May 1943, with the prototype demonstrating a speed of . Performance of the Homare engine was disappointing, especially its power at altitude,

Operational history

left|thumb|A Nakajima C6N of the 762nd Kōkūtai taking off from Katori airbase for a mission, 1945.

Although designed for carrier use, by the time the C6N entered service in September 1944, there were few Japanese carriers left for it to operate from, so most were flown from land bases. Its speed was exemplified by a telegraph sent after a successful mission: "No Grummans can catch us." ("我に追いつくグラマンなし").

A total of 463 aircraft were produced.

;C6N1

:Three prototypes and sixteen supplementary prototypes produced, four-blade propeller; latter batch were equipped three-blade propeller, mounted Nakajima NK9K-L Homare 22 engine, No. 6 was mounted Nakajima NK9H Homare 21 engine. Renamed in July 1943.

;C6N1

:General production model. Three-blade propeller, mounted Nakajima NK9H Homare 21 engine.

:;C6N1-B

::Proposed torpedo bomber version. Only a project.

:;C6N1-S

::Temporary rebuilt two-seat night fighter version; this was not a regulation naval aircraft. Development code C6N1-S was not discovered in the IJN official documents. One model with a single Type 2 cannon was built in June 1945, and at least five models with ×2 Type 99-1 cannon were converted from standard C6N1 models. One surviving example of the ×2 cannon variant is stored in the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility. The version was only used to attack B-29s once, on August 1, 1945. The destructive power of the Type 2 cannon extended to twisting the skin of the Saiuns lightweight fuselage.

;C6N3

:Proposed high-altitude night fighter version of the C6N2. Dual cannons were installed. Only a project.

;C6N4

:Fitted Mitsubishi MK9A Ha 43-11 Ru turbocharged engine, one prototype was converted from C6N1, incomplete.

;C6N5

:Proposed torpedo bomber version. Only a project.

;C6N6

:Wooden aircraft model. Only a project.

Operators

;

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

Naval Air Group
Yokosuka Kōkūtai
121st Kōkūtai
131st Kōkūtai
132nd Kōkūtai
141st Kōkūtai
171st Kōkūtai
210th Kōkūtai
302nd Kōkūtai
343rd Kōkūtai
701st Kōkūtai
723rd Kōkūtai
752nd Kōkūtai
762nd Kōkūtai
801st Kōkūtai
1001st Kōkūtai
Aerial Squadron
Reconnaissance 3rd Hikōtai
Reconnaissance 4th Hikōtai
Reconnaissance 11th Hikōtai
Reconnaissance 12th Hikōtai
Reconnaissance 102nd Hikōtai
Kamikaze
1st Mitate Special Attack Group (picked from 752nd Kōkūtai)
Sairyū Unit (picked from 752nd Kōkūtai, no sorties)
Saiun Unit (picked from 723rd Kōkūtai, no sorties)

Surviving aircraft

One C6N1-S Model 11 Myrt was captured at war's end in Japan and was selected by US forces for further technical evaluation in the United States. In early November 1945, embarked aboard USS Barnes (CVE-20) as one of 145 Japanese aircraft and departed November 3, 1945, for the United States. On December 8, 1945, this Myrt arrived at Langley Field, Virginia. Later, transferred from the U.S. Navy (USN) to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF). This plane was overhauled at the Air Depot at Olmsted Field (Olmsted Air Force Base) in Middletown, Pennsylvania for flight testing. Details about any flight test are unknown. In 1949, it was turned over to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). Afterwards, disassembled and transported to the NASM Garber Facility and placed into storage where it remains to this day disassembled as the fuselage and engine. This aircraft is not currently on public display.

thumb|The Nakajima C6N1 Model 11 "Myrt" that is being restored at the Kawaguchi Motor Museum/Fighter Museum in 2025.

Another C6N (C6N1 Model 11) was abandoned at war's end at Moen No. 1 Airfield (Chuuk Airport) on Moen Island. In the early 2000s the Myrt was salvaged by a local and placed into storage on Moen Island. Later, shipped to the United States. Was later sold to Nobuo Harada and shipped to Japan and became part of the Kawaguchiko Motor Museum / Fighter Museum and is currently being restored to static display. On August 1, 2023, it was unveiled to the public at the museum.

There is also another C6N1 Model 11 that sits at the bottom of Truk Lagoon, dumped there by US forces after the war ended.

Specifications (C6N1)

Notes

Bibliography

Francillon, René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1970. (2nd edition 1979, ).
Francillon, René J. Japanese Carrier Air Groups, 1941–45. London; Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1979. .
Mondey, David. The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press, 1996. .