Yokosuka E14Y

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The Yokosuka E14Y (service designation "Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane" (零式小型水上偵察機)) was an reconnaissance seaplane designed by the Japanese defence manufacturer Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal and produced by aircraft company Watanabe. It was purpose-designed to be transported aboard and launched from Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) submarine aircraft carriers, such as the I-25. Operated during World War II, it was assigned the Allied reporting name Glen. Developed during the late 1930s to fulfil the 12-Shi specification, the design process was led by Mitsuo Yamada. Various features of the E14Y, from folding elements of its tail unit and ability to be dismantled for stowage, were to facilitate its use within a space-constrained watertight hangar of an IJN submarine. While intended to perform reconnaissance, it could also carry up to 60 kg of bombs. The prototype was competitively trialled against the Watanabe E14W; while the E14Y proved to be superior, its production was handled by Watanabe rather than Yokosuka. On 17 December 1941, the E14Y performed its first operational mission, an aerial damage assessment of Pearl Harbor following the Japanese attack. Operated from the IJN's submarines, the E14Y benefitted from limited Allied radar coverage early on in the conflict to perform numerous aerial reconnaissance flights over Allied-held territories, including in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Madagascar, and the Aleutians. One such flight performed the attack on Sydney Harbour in the summer of 1942. Furthermore, the E14Y was the only Axis aircraft to drop bombs on the mainland United States, the incident becoming commonly known as the The Lookout Air Raid.