Aviation of World War II
Soviet Union | Lend - Lease | Facts | Forum | Germany | Japan | R A F | U S A A F | Other | Photos
Aircraft | Combat Use | Aichi | Kawanishi | Kawasaki | Kokusai | Kyushu | Mansyu | Mitsubishi | Nakajima | Tachikawa | Yokosuka | Photos & Drawings |
|Wing span, m||19.92|
|Wing area, m²||49.2|
|2×PE radial Nakajima Kotobuki 41, h.p.||2×710|
|Maximum speed, km/h||360|
|Cruising speed, km/h||310|
|Service range, km||1,200|
|Service ceiling, m||7,000|
Ki-34. Combat Use
The unit's first combat operation was the deployment of three sabotage squads to the rear of Chinese troops in Changsha in October 1941. And on February 14, 1942, the 1st Teishin Sentai, which was based on Ki-34s, which were equipped with 3 of the five squadrons, were involved in the largest landing operation of the Japanese army - the capture of the city of Palembang in Sumatra. Thanks to the brilliant preparation of the operation, the Sentai materiel suffered practically no losses. Later, this operation formed the basis of propaganda films, after which the characteristic profile of the Ki-34 became well recognizable, despite the fact that by that time the aircraft was already considered obsolete and was discontinued. It was after the landing on Palembang that Ki-34 received the codename "Thora" from the allies.
Later, Ki-34 aircraft as part of the 1st Teishin Sentai took part in the drop of assault forces during the capture of the Philippines, in Burma. But the rapidly aging machine was less and less satisfied with the Japanese military, gradually giving way to more advanced, roomy and high-speed aircraft Mitsubishi Ki-57, Kawasaki Ki-56 and Tachikawa Ki-54.
Ki-34s were gradually withdrawn from the first line by the end of 1942. Some of them entered service with individual liaison squadrons of Yusô Hikô-Chûtaï, some were enrolled in flight schools, in particular in Ushonomiya, Gifu and Hamamatsu. Some of the machines were transferred to civil aviation, where they were operated even after the war. At least 12 Ki-34s were delivered to the Manchzhou Guo aviation, where they were used for their intended purpose precisely as transport aircraft until September 1945, when the surviving old men, along with earlier civilian AT-2s, were captured by Soviet troops in Harbin.
A number of Ki-34 aircraft were in service with Wang Zi Wei's allied Chinese collaborationist government. After the war, the surviving Ki-34s were also operated in China.
The fate of one of the L1N1 naval aircraft is curious. When, in May 1941, Japanese naval pilots mistakenly shot down a French transport aircraft Dewoitine 338 over the Gulf of Tonkin, as compensation, the fleet handed over to the French one of its aircraft, which turned out to be L1N1. The vehicle survived the war and was used by the French in Saigon back in 1947.