The Imperial Japanese Navy ordered development of the Kyūshū Q1W as the
Navy Experimental 17-Shi Patrol Plane in September
1942, and the first test flight took place in September
1943. It entered service in January
1945. The Q1W carried two, low-power engines, allowing for long periods of low-speed flight. In same period, Kyūshū built the
K11W1 Shiragiku, a bomber training plane (also used in
Kamikaze strikes) and the Q3W1 Nankai, a specialized antisubmarine version of the K11W. The latter was of all-wood construction and was destroyed during a landing accident on its first flight. Another specific anti-submarine airplane was the
Mitsubishi Q2M Tai'yō, which was derived from
Mitsubishi Ki-67 "Hiryū" torpedo-bomber, but this did not progress beyond the preliminary design stage. ==Variants==