Mitsubishi A5M Claude

An A5M

The A5M Claude was a Japanese fighter aircraft made by Mitsubishi. It first flew in 1935 and was introduced in 1937. It was the first monoplane (fixed-wing aircraft with one set of wings) that could work from an aircraft carrier. It was similar to the P-26 Peashooter, an American monoplane fighter. It fought in the second Sino-Japanese War. After the Pearl Harbor attacks, it was not good enough to fight against American fighters like the Curtiss P-40 and the F4F Wildcat, so it was replaced by the A6M Zero.

Near the end of WW2, many A5M’s were pulled out of retirement to be used as suicidal kamikaze aircraft.

Mitsubishi A5M Claude Media

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  First prototype with inverted gull wing

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  An A5M from the aircraft carrier Akagi in flight with an external fuel tank (1938 or 1939)

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  Mitsubishi A5M4-K, a two-seat training version of the Mitsubishi A5M4, aka Mitsubishi Navy Type 96 Carrier-based Fighter, Mitsubishi Navy Experimental 9-Shi Carrier Fighter and company designation Mitsubishi Ka-14, 103 constructed by Naval Ohmura Arsenal.

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  Mitsubishi A5M 3-view drawing

Related pages

• A6M Zero