Emily would be more survivable than you guys are giving it. It had very good performance for a flying boat, and very good performance in some ways for any four engined aircraft. When was the last time you had a 1,800fpm climb rate in a B-17G, Lancaster or B-24J? It was extremely durable, well protected, armed with five 20mm Type 99 Model 1 cannons (same guns as on the A6M2) as well as an assortment of rifle calibre machine guns. Warload was two 800kg torpedoes or eight 250kg bombs or two 1,500kg bombs. Fuel endurance was 24 hours on cruise settings.
It would not, however, be very useful to defend ports with.