What halted production of the Aichi B7A in 1945?

Short answer

An earthquake. Production at Aichi stopped when its factory was destroyed by a quake in May 1945; the plant wiped out was the Funakata facility, where the aircraft were assembled. Aichi had completed nine B7A1 prototypes and 80 production B7A2s, with another 25 built at the 21st Naval Air Arsenal.

Published: November 1, 2026 · Updated: November 1, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

What halted production of the Aichi B7A in 1945?

Aichi B7A Ryusei

The earthquake that stopped the line

Production of the Aichi B7A Ryūsei at the Aichi factory came to a halt when the plant was destroyed by an earthquake in May 1945. The affected facility was the one at Funakata, where the aircraft were assembled, and the quake was extremely violent.

How many were built

Aichi managed to complete nine B7A1 prototypes and eighty examples of the B7A2 production version. To that figure were added twenty-five more aircraft produced at the 21st Naval Air Arsenal.

The bomber that was left unfinished

Its production version, the B7A2, appeared in Japanese naval nomenclature as Navy Carrier Attack Bomber Ryusei (Shooting Star) B7A2. The name Ryūsei is written 流星 and means "shooting star". Among the most visible features of the B7A was an inverted gull wing, similar to that of the Chance-Vought Corsair, adopted to shorten the length of the main landing gear.