The MS was ordered into production, designated
Navy Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane Model 1 in October 1935. A total of 755 E8Ns were built by Nakajima and Kawanishi, production continuing until 1940. It was subsequently shipped aboard all the
capital ships then in service, 16
cruisers and five
seaplane tenders. It was used successfully in the Second Sino-Japanese War not only for reconnaissance, but also for
dive-bombing and
artillery spotting. One E8N was purchased in early 1941 by the German Naval Attache to Japan, Vice-Admiral
Paul Wenneker, and dispatched on board the
KM Münsterland to rendezvous with the German auxiliary cruiser
Orion at the
Maug Islands in the Marianas. The meeting occurred on 1 February 1941, and
Orion thus became the only German naval vessel of the Second World War to employ a Japanese float plane. The
Royal Thai Navy placed an order for eighteen E8Ns in 1938. After delivery in 1940, they were reclassified as the BRN-1, but did not see any combat action until 1945, responding to the Allies
Operation Livery. One BRN-1 was totally destroyed and two others were written off. The remaining fifteen served on after the war until lack of spare parts resulted in their decommissioning and scrapping. Some aircraft remained in service with the fleet at the outbreak of the Pacific War, and one flew reconnaissance from the
battleship Haruna during the
Battle of Midway. In general, though, they were soon replaced by more modern aircraft such as the
Aichi E13A and the
Mitsubishi F1M and reassigned to second-line duties, such as a seaplane trainer, communications and liaison work. ==Variants==