By July 1943 the seaplane base on Makin was completed and ready to accommodate Kawanishi H8K "Emily" flying boat bombers, Nakajima A6M2-N "Rufe" hydrofighters and Aichi E13A "Jake" Recon-hydroplanes.
It was primarily for this reason that John F. Kennedy's PT 109 was caught off guard in idle and rammed by the destroyer Amagiri, unable to maneuver out of the way in time.
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Later in the conflict the Otsu Air Group utilized the A6M2-N as an interceptor alongside Kawanishi N1K1 Kyofu ("Rex") aircraft based in Biwa lake in the Honshū area.
On April 1, 1942 the unit gained twelve Navy Type 2 Nakajima A6M2-N fighter seaplanes, which were tasked with defending Japanese bases in the same area from Allied bombing raids from June 2, 1942.
Nakajima B5N | Nakajima Ki-44 | Nakajima Ki-43 | Nakajima Aircraft Company | Miyuki Nakajima | Nakajima Ki-44 'Tojo' | Nakajima B5N 'Kate' | Nakajima A6M2-N | Yuto Nakajima | Yu Nakajima | Shigeo Nakajima | Nakajima LB-2 | Nakajima Kikka | Nakajima Ki-27 | Nakajima E8N | Nakajima E4N | Kazuki Nakajima | Hiroyuki Nakajima | Chikuhei Nakajima |