Nakajima B3N

The Nakajima B3N was a prototype Japanese carrier-based torpedo bomber of the 1930s, a single-engined biplane with a crew of three that proved unsuccessful, with only two built. In April 1932 the Imperial Japanese Navy ordered prototypes from Mitsubishi and Nakajima to replace the Mitsubishi B2M and B1M aboard its carriers. Nakajima chose a slender steel-tube fuselage and single-bay metal and fabric wings with an unusual gulled X-shaped arrangement, powered by the new 700 hp Nakajima Hikari engine driving a three-bladed fixed-pitch propeller. Two prototypes, internally the Y3B, were built in 1933, but the Hikari engines proved unreliable and the navy did not accept the type.