Our friend Danny Jackett notified us of an interesting photo he spotted on the net, so we paired it with another featuring the same Aichi E13A "Jake" seaplanes found at the end of the war at Tateyama. They actually belong to the Tateyama Kokutai, as indicated by the katakana "タ-" (TA-) on the tail.
Tateyama Kokutai was one of the oldest IJNAF units, organized on June 1, 1930, in Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, to ease the congestion of Yokosuka Ku and to protect Tokyo Bay, as well as the areas near the coastline of East Japan. It could operate land-based aircraft and seaplanes, and when established, it had in its strength carrier fighters, carrier attackers, reconnaissance seaplanes, and flying boats; eight of each. It was nicknamed "Tateku." On December 15, 1944, all the Eastern Japan patrol kokutai, including Tateyama Ku, were merged into the 903 Ku. A second Tateyama Ku was organized on May 15, 1945, with carrier attack-bombers and patrol seaplanes.
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