Kawanishi H6K "Mavis", "Bouquet of the South Seas" 川西 H6K 九七式飛行艇, 南海の花束 - video

A short clip from the movie "Nankai no Hanataba" (Bouquet of the South Seas), features a majestic Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" taking off and alighting.

The particular aircraft, c/n52, was nicknamed "Sazanami" (rippling waves) and had the civilian registration J-BFOY. 

It belonged to the fleet of the Dai Nippon Koku and had a rather short career operating from Palau Islands. On February 1, 1941, after taking off from Saipan had engine trouble and was forced to make an emergency alighting at Chichijima Island. 

On March 8, 1942, a repetition of the previous incident found the flying boat having to make an emergency alighting at Chichijima Island. After fixing the plane, the crew tried to take off but the waves were strong and the plane was seriously damaged.

"Nankai no Hanataba" (Bouquet of the South Seas) is a Japanese film produced by Toho Film in 1942. Based on Ryuichiro Yagi's play "The Equator," the film depicts the branch chief and pilots who develop a civil air route across the equator in the South Seas Islands, which were under Japanese mandate at the time. With the support of Dai Nippon Airways, the film features actual aircraft such as the Type 97 flying boat (Mavis) that was actually in service on the South Pacific route, and the film also uses footage of the actual aircraft in the maintenance scenes and takeoffs and landings.

According to assistant director Kon Ichikawa, filming took place in Palau, which was under Japanese mandate just before the Pacific War began. They left Yokohama in August 1941 on a large Kawanishi four-engine seaplane, but Abe did not like the script, and filming did not progress even in November. Ichikawa, fed up with the staff's anxiety over the outbreak of war between Japan and the United States, urged Abe to quit, and filming finally began. Filming was completed on December 8, just one week before the war, on a cargo ship. Ichikawa later testified, "If filming had been delayed even a little longer, we might not have returned alive. We were lucky to escape with our lives."

Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" by Bill Bosworth

A gargantuan model scratch-built in 1:48, repeat, 1:48 with a LARGE wing span! This would not have happened without the generous help from George!

Flying Boat & Seaplane Base - video

Yet, another NARA video, in five parts, spotted in the "Showakan Digital Archive" by "Shu".

This first part starts with a "Mavis" having one of its engines started. 

More about this particular aircraft in another instalment.

Then we are treated to some amazing stills of a Kawanishi Type 2 Transport Flying Boat or H8K2-L "Seiku"(Clear Skies). Only 36 of this huge transport type, which could carry from 29 to as many as 64 passengers, were built until the end of the war, and "Seiku" images are rather rare. 

Unfortunately, no tail marking is visible so it's difficult to know which unit this particular flying boat belonged to. 

Note on the nose the fittings for H-6 radar antennae. Perhaps this one was a "normal" H8K that was modified to a passenger?

The second part starts with a most interesting "Mavis".

Half white with green surrender crosses. We first discussed this particular aircraft, VERY briefly, here.

Be patient. We have uncovered A LOT, much more interesting information which we will present in the last instalment.

After the "Mavis", it's time for one of the rarest IJNAF flying boats; a Yokosuka H5Y "Cherry" (corrected).

Here's the third part.

Starting with a beautiful Yokosuka/Kawanishi K5Y2 "Getabaki Akatonbo" (Willow) floatplane in pristine condition.

The tail marking is quite obscure.

Followed by an Aichi E13A1b "Jake". Note the fittings for "Jikitanshiki" (air-to-surface radar) on the fuselage side.

Unfortunately, the unit marking has been removed and the overcast conditions don't help. 

The fourth part starts with close-ups of the "Emily" and "Mavis" beaching systems.

The image below is a collage of different stills for the "Emily" system.

The stills below are for the "Mavis". 

In between we can see the slipway with a "Seiku" missing a portion of its port wing.  

And then the cameraman turns his attention to one of the green-cross "Mavis" getting serviced and having its engines started.

The name of the flying boat is "Makigumo" (Cirrus Cloud).

The last part of the video is dedicated to the flying boat base.

It's really incredible that the installations survived the war in such good condition.

And now it's time for the whole story.

A month after the surrender of the Empire of Japan, the government worried about the general situation in Taiwan, especially a collapse of the economy that could lead to further social unrest. In order to allay these fears, the Japanese government ordered the central bank to urgently gather and/or print currency and send it to Taiwan as soon as possible.

The mission that received the approval of the GHQ and General MacArthur, fell on the civilian "Dai Nippon Airways" and an experienced crew as well as a thoroughly inspected and maintained flying boat was chosen. Departure was to be from Yokohama, where two seaplane/flying boat bases existed at the time; one military in Tomioka used exclusively by the Yokohama Kokutai and another civilian in Negishi that was used by "Dai Nippon Airways".

On September 9,1945, boxes full of hundreds of millions of yen, weighing more than 2 tones, were loaded on a Kawanishi H5K "Mavis" named, "Kozu" (probably from Tokyo's Kozu Island, J-BPOA) and the crew of seven, including pilots Commander Ohori and pilot Koshida, took their positions and got ready for take-off. 

The first attempt, at 07:30, was not successful. The flying boat was overloaded. But it seems the engines used up enough fuel the first time, so the "Mavis" got lighter and was able to take off the second time.

The crew had received stern orders not to fly, under any circumstances, over Atsugi base, occupied at the time by US forces, and Okinawa Island, and they were to draw a flight path that had to be strictly observed; any deviation of the flight path or passes over no-fly zones would place them at risk to be shot down. Nevertheless, a little while after takeoff a crew member said: "There are some new and amazing aircraft at Atsugi where MacArthur landed! How about we fly over and take a look?" Right after they deviated from their course, they were quickly surrounded by three "Grumman" fighters, that were probably warned by radar. It was only after the elderly flight engineer Takemiya stuck his bold head with a few white hairs out the window and gestured apologies that they were allowed to continue their originally designated course. 

The crew had again the brilliant idea to attempt to fly over Okinawa to see the devastating results of the fierce battle, only to be intercepted by two reconnaissance aircraft.

"Kozu" and crew finally reached the mouth of Tamsui River in Taiwan at 15:50, where they were greeted by a lavish banquet. They returned to Japan on September 13, full of gifts and several dignitaries.

A most interesting article, in Japanese, about the whole experience can be found HERE.

  

The money transfer mission to Taiwan was repeated on September 15, and this is what is featured in the photo and video. That time the "Mavis" was "Makigumo" (J-BGOE) we saw above.       

As can be seen in the photo above and the video, there were two "Mavis" available, "Makigumo" is in front and another is in the rear. It can be either "Asahi" ("Rising Sun" J-BFOX) or more probably "Sazanami" ("Ripple Waves" J-BFOY).

The photo below features "Makigumo" (J-BGOE) having just alighted in the mouth of River Tamsui, Taiwan, on September 15-16.

Kawanishi H8K "Emily" & H6K "Mavis" - video

A short clip today from the NHK Collection, dated May 1944, featuring Kawanishi H8K "Emily" and Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boats.

According to the narrator:

"The sun has risen over our base in the South Seas. In the darkness of the dawn, the Navy's new flying boats reveal a giant body. An order is given. They escort our fleet to the southern front line in a hurry to replenish munitions. The commanding officer is explaining the meeting point with the fleet and various precautions for this escort mission. The enemy submarines that haunt our supply route should not be allowed any chance to attack the fleet. Escorting the fleet is a not a particularly The fleet escort, though lacking in splendor, has a very important mission, and the flying boat leaves the water dramatically.

At X hours X minutes, the fleet can be seen below. Immediately move in position to escort. Weapons and ammunition packed in the fleet are what our front-line soldiers have been waiting for..."

Although the video is of very low quality and the full tail markings are unfortunately not visible, these two stills... 

...reveal that it's "??2-020". The only unit equipped with "Emily" flying boats with the number 2 at the end of its tail marking is the 802 Kokutai.

The unit was organized when it changed name from 14Ku on November 1, 1942, with flying boats and seaplane fighters. At that time the "Mavis" flying boats of the unit were at Jaluit, Marshal Islands. The Nakajima A6M2-N seplane fighters, at Bougainville and Shortland.

The flying boats also used Makin as their base from where they flew patrol and reconnaissance missions. They also bombed Espiritu Santo and Kanton Island in night missions.

From January 1943 the first "Emily" flying boats started to arrive and by the summer of the same year they were the main aircraft the unit was equipped with.

On October 15, 1943, the seplane fighter unit was assigned to the 902Ku and flying boats used Jaluit as their main base. On January 29, 1944, most of the unit relocated to Saipan where they continued patrol and reconnaissance missions as well as bombing Roi-Namur Island. The unit was disbanded on April 1, 1944, and the remnants were assigned to the 801Ku. But the 801Ku was also assigned to the Takuma Ku by the end of April.

From November 1942 until February 1943 used the letter "W-" as its tail marking. The unit used "Y4-" from March 1943 until the end of the year. After that it used "802-".

We can see the cockpit of an "Emily" in the still below.

The crew member in the foreground is holding a Type2 bubble sextant.

Below is a photo of the instrument from here.

Another still shows a sign from the Awa Shrine.

And also a very short part featuring the cockpit of a "Mavis".

In the video we can also see the cruiser Yubari.

From here, we learn that Yubari on

 

22 March 1944:

Reassigned as flagship of ComDesRon 3, Rear Admiral Nakagawa Ko (42).

Tokyo Bay. Departs Kisarazu, escorting the Marianas troop reinforcement convoy Higashi Matsu No. 3, consisting of 11 transports, supply ship HAYASAKI, DesDiv 5's HATAKAZE, DesDiv 6's IKAZUCHI and DesDiv 32's TAMANAMI, torpedo boat OTORI, kaibokans HIRADO and NOMI, and subchasers CH-48, CH-51 and CH-54.

25 March 1944:

The convoy is attacked by LtCdr (later Rear Admiral-Ret) Bafford E. Lewellen's (USNA '31) old USS POLLACK (SS-180). Lewellen sinks subchaser CH-54 and claims damage to several transports.

30 March 1944:

Arrives at Saipan.

23 April 1944:

Embarks Army troops and supplies. Departs Saipan with light cruiser KINU and DesDiv 9's SAMIDARE and DesDiv 29's YUZUKI.

25 April 1944:

Arrives at Palau. Embarks 365 troops and supplies.

Another ship that appears in the video somewhere behind Yubari, is the destroyer Tamanami

This would confirm the date and events above, and therefore the most possible location of the clip is Saipan and the date some day after March 30, 1944.