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...interest the Navy Command in ship-borne airplanes. In 1929, the utter lack of experience in creating and exploiting ship-based airplanes, obliged the command to purchase two German K-a catapults and thirty Heinkel H.D. 55 two-seater, ship-based reconnaissance planes. The Soviets redesignated the German planes as KR-1 (Korabelnyi Razvedchikpervy/ship-based reconnaissance number one).
Subsequently, the Soviets upgraded the German technology to develop a native catapult ship-borne airplane. Shipboard catapult subunits were designated BCh-6 (Boevaya Chast/battle unit). In 1935, the OKB MS (Opytnoe Konstructorskoe Byuro morskogo samoletostroeniya/Experimental Design Bureau of Naval Aircraft Construction), headed by Georgy Beriev directed the construction of an experimental, ship-based reconnaissance plane--the KOR-1--at the Taganrog aircraft factory No. 31.
In 1937, the KOR-1 seaplane was built and its flight testing began. The two-seater, single-float biplane, powered by an M-25A engine, was intended for reconnaissance, aerial spotting for ship's bombardment, dive bombing, communication, and air combat. Transverse stability was ensured by two small wingtip floats on the lower wing. The airplane structure was all-metal, with fabric covering the wings, fuselage, and tail unit. The airplane had dual controls. Its wings could be folded back for more convenient stowage on hoard ship. The main float had fixtures for the launching trolley of the catapult. The airplane's armament consisted of two ShKAS machineguns at the center wing section of the upper wing and one ShKAS machinegun on king pin mounting for the observer.
The combat loaded version envisaged the external stores of two FAB-11 bombs, each weighing 100 kg. The KOR--1 was equipped with an airborne radio and special aerial camera. While undergoing its tests, the airplane achieved a maximum speed of 245 km/hr near the water and 277 km/hr at 2,000 meters. Flight performance advantages over the flying boat KR-1 were offset by its unseaworthy qualities. Engine cooling was so inadequate that the engine overheated while taxiing. Although the KOR--1 failed to meet official tests, there were no other aircraft of that type and it was decided to...
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