How did they know what it was called?

[pbehn]

Yes BUT how many three engine float planes did the Japanese operate?

Who says it has 3 engines? Pilots see things and a relatively long time later try to recount what they saw. If they actually saw what they saw and not what they expected to see then things like the battle of Barking Creek wouldn't happen.

 

[GreenKnight121]

Just to clear up one point, the factory designation of the Lancaster was Lancaster, just as Spitfire was Spitfire.

British aircraft were built to specifications (alpha-numeric, the Lancaster started off as P.13/36) which could be modified or changed. Sometimes a new specification was issued with a production contract, and the letter designator was left off. Once a production contract had been issued the company could ask the Air Ministry to accept a name for the aircraft. There was a set of guidelines which had to be followed for the naming and, when followed, the Ministry usually agreed the name. The Lancaster was subject to the 1939 naming conventions which, for bombers, required that they be named after 'Place names - an inland town of the British Empire or associated with British history'. Lancaster clearly ticks both boxes. The Wars of the Roses were long forgotten, which maybe why the transport version was called the York.

Actually, British aircraft also had internal factory-only model designations (as did many US aircraft, see the B-25 etc).

The Avro Manchester (powered by 2 RR Vulture engines) had the internal designation Avro 679, and was to meet Specification P.13/36.
When modified to 4-engine merlin-powered configuration, the new factory designation was Type 683 Manchester III. This name was quickly replaced by Lancaster! As this was an AVRO factory project, it had no Air Ministry specification number.

 

[stona]

Actually, British aircraft also had internal factory-only model designations (as did many US aircraft, see the B-25 etc).

Yes, but these were manufacturer designations, NOT Air Ministry designations. The Air Ministry specifications to which aircraft were built were quoted in correspondence, whether the aircraft was originally a private venture or not. The Lancaster was not developed in a vacuum, there was a constant stream of communications between the company, the MAP and the representatives of the Air Ministry.

In November 1940, Avro was instructed by the Air Ministry to stop referring to the four engine Manchester as the Lancaster and to use the name Manchester III in all communications.

The name 'Lancaster' was approved by the Air Ministry in a letter to Dobson, at Avro, shortly before the first prototype (BT308) left the factory in January 1941.

All service aircraft had an Air Ministry approved name, by which they were known in all correspondence and other documentation. The factory designations accorded by the manufacturers were utterly irrelevant.

The Spitfire was designated the Type 300 by Supermarine, until it got a name. After K5054 received its Air Ministry Certificate of Design on 6 March 1936 the company wrote to the Air Ministry (on 10 March), requesting a name.

"We refer to our conversation of this morning with A.E.Slater. Would you be good enough to reserve the name 'Spitfire' for our fighter to Specn: F 7/30 modified."

It was Slater who replied, following protocol.

"It has been noted for consideration when, and if, an order is placed for this aircraft."

It wasn't until 10 June that the Air Ministry wrote again to Supermarine informing the company that the name was now approved for "F 7/30 (F37/34 modified)"

From that moment the Spitfire became officially the Spitfire. All future correspondence would refer to the type as Spitfire (except the Aussies who called it by the code word 'Capstan').

Notice anything missing from the correspondence? The internal company designation 'Type 300'. This was only relevant to Supermarine and its various offices.

 

[nuuumannn]

except the Aussies who called it by the code word 'Capstan'

Ah yes, the Capstan, the worst kept secret in Australia in 1942.