Showa L2D | japońska Dakota
Video from the channel Balszoi about Douglas DC-3, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 17:05. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
A Polish-language documentary about the Showa L2D, the Japanese licensed version of the Douglas DC-3 and its military derivative, the C-47. It covers why Japan turned to the American aircraft, how it manufactured it, its variants and its use during the Second World War.
Historical context
In the mid-1930s the Japanese army planned to make large-scale use of airborne troops but lacked suitable transport aircraft: in 1940 it could only deploy 750 paratroopers. After building DC-2s from imported parts, Japan acquired 22 DC-3s through intermediaries in Hong Kong and Canada to get around Western sanctions. The first arrived on 6 December 1937. The manufacturing licence was signed on 24 February 1938 and went to Showa, part of the Mitsui group, because Nakajima was under sanctions as a weapons manufacturer.
Key facts
The first DC-3 assembled in Japan dates from 1939, and the first one built entirely there from June 1941. The navy designated it L2D1. Nakajima had to join production and fitted Mitsubishi Kinsei engines. The L2D2 flew on 15 July 1941. The L2D2-L added a double cargo door and a winch, and the L2D4 added defensive armament. Parts of the wood-and-steel L2D5 were found near Tokyo, but none is known to have been completed. Production is usually cited as 416 units from Showa, plus 71 from Nakajima and 27 imported. The Allies codenamed it "Tabby". Ace pilot Nishizawa died as a passenger on an L2D shot down by F6F fighters. After the war some examples served in French Indochina, and one served Sukarno.