[b]H6K[/b], or [b]Kawanishi H6K[/b], was a flying boat produced by the Kawanishi Aircraft Company and used during World War II for maritime patrol duties by Imperial Japanese Navy. The Allied reporting name for the type was [b]Mavis[/b]; the Navy designation was "[b]Type 97 Large Flying Boat[/b]" (九七式大型飛行艇).

The aircraft was designed in response to a Navy requirement of 1934 for a long-range flying boat and incorporated knowledge gleaned by a Kawanishi team that visited the Short Brothers factory in the UK.

H6Ks were deployed from 1938 onwards, first seeing service in the Sino-Japanese War and were in widespread use by the time the full-scale Pacific War erupted, in December 1941. At that time of the war, four [i]Kōkūtai[/i] (air groups) operated a total of 66 H6K4s.

The type had some success over South East Asia and the South West Pacific. H6Ks had excellent endurance, being able to undertake 24-hour patrols, and were often used for long-range reconnaissance and bombing missions. From bases in the Dutch East Indies, they were able to undertake missions over a large portion of Australia.

However, the H6K became vulnerable to a newer generation of more heavily armed and faster fighters. It continued in service throughout the war, in areas where the risk of interception was low. In front-line service, it was replaced by the Kawanishi H8K.

h4. See also

* [[List of airplanes]]

h4. External links

* Wikipedia (JP): "Kawanishi H6K":https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9D%E4%B8%83%E5%BC%8F%E9%A3%9B%E8%A1%8C%E8%89%87
* Wikipedia (EN): "Kawanishi H6K":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawanishi_H6K
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