Observation seaplane
Their primary purpose was to observe and report enemy movements or to spot the fall of shot from naval artillery, but some were armed with machineguns or bombs.
The United States Navy 30 ft (9.1 m) catapult used a smokeless powder charge to accelerate the plane to 80 mi (130 km) per hour.
[3] On 5 November 1915 Mustin pioneered United States Navy catapult operations piloting an AB-2 seaplane launched from the cruiser USS North Carolina.
In the absence of gunnery engagements with other warships, capital ships' observation seaplanes were used to spot naval gunfire support; but they proved so vulnerable to land-based fighters during the amphibious invasion of Sicily that their pilots flew conventional fighters spotting gunfire for the invasion of Normandy.
A few Curtiss SC Seahawks remained operational into the late 1940s until helicopters became reliable enough to replace observation seaplanes.
This design was improved as the Supermarine Walrus serving aboard capital ships of the Royal Navy through the second world war.
Royal Navy preference for the flying boat fuselage was unusual among the shipboard observation seaplanes of the major naval powers.
The F class planes were required to fly and climb fast with a level of defense including armament and in-combat maneuverability.
Ministry of Navy issued a design request based on the F requirement in 1935, and comparative evaluation was carried out among F1A(Aichi), F1M(Mitsubishi) and F1K(Kawanishi) in flight testing.
The Yokosuka E6Y, Watanabe E9W and Yokosuka E14Y were specially designed to be carried and launched by submarines,[8] and this series was further developed into submarine launched dive bomber / torpedo attacker Aichi M6A with maximum speed of 474 kilometres per hour (295 mph) and over 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) range, that was more than capable of observation/reconnaissance roles.
