Aichi M6A Seiran

One of the not-so famous WW2 aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy was the Aichi M6A Seiran. Translated as “Mountain Haze”, the M6A Seiran was designed to be an attack floatplane which was to be launched aboard the IJN’s I-400 class submarines. Submarines were to carry two to three Aichi M6A planes in water-tight containers and the M64 planes were to be catapulted into flight before the submarines submerge. Essentially, the planes were to be ditched in the ocean after completing an attack. The plan of the IJN during that time was to use these WW2 float aircrafts in the attack of the Panama Canal. The Aichi aircraft firm was in full-production in manufacturing the M6A planes to be readied for the attack when the US Government decided to drop the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki which effectively ended the war. The Aichi M6A production was then stopped. Because of the late production of these Japanese WW2 aircrafts, only a handful of them had seen action and therefore the Allied Forces were not able to brand them with nicknames.

The design of the Aichi M6A Seiran was a typical single-engine floatplane design. It was powered by a 1400-HP Atsuta Type 32 inline piston engine that propelled a three-blade assembly. This WW2 Japanese aircraft was considered to be the best aircraft to be carried by a submarine. The design of Seiran was well-streamlined and the aircraft itself showed good performance in terms of its handling and maneuverability.

The Aichi M6A Seiran was equipped with one 12.7 mm cabin-mounted Type-2 Machine gun and had a bomb compartment that can hold one 1,760-lb torpedo or two bombs of the same weight. This WW2 aircraft can also accommodate a two-man crew which includes the pilot and the gunner.

SPECIFICATIONS