Mitsubishi G3M

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Mitsubishi G3M
Type	Long-range bomber
Manufacturer	Mitsubishi
Designed by	Kiro Honjo
Maiden flight	July 1935
Introduced	1935
Retired	1945
Primary user	IJN Air Service
Number built	1,048

The Mitsubishi G3M (九六式陸上攻撃機: Type 96 land-based attack aircraft; Allied reporting name Nell) was a Japanese bomber aircraft used during World War II, mostly against the Chinese.

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational history 3 Variants 4 Operators 5 Specifications (Mitsubishi G3M2 Model 21) 6 See also 7 References 7.1 Notes 7.2 Bibliography 8 External links

[edit] Design and development

The bomber had a crew of five, and had its first flight in July 1935. The aircraft was armed with three 7.7mm machine guns. Maximum speed was 188 knots and had a range of over 2,200 miles. The G3M was also designed to carry an 800 kg torpedo for ship attacks.

The G3M has its origins in a specification submitted to the Mitsubishi company from the Imperial Japanese Navy requesting a heavy bomber aircraft with chiefly a range figure unprecedented at the time. This stemmed from principally Admiral Yamamoto's influence in the Naval High Commission of the necessity of a long range heavy bomber capable of encompassing the enormous ranges of the arenas where Imperial Japan sought to conquer in the years to come, including those outlined in the expansionist Tanaka Memorial -- namely China, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Isles and vast Far East Russia. The requirement for payload too, was unprecedented in Japanese military aviation history, though necessary to accommodate the aerial torpedo envisaged to combat the armoured battleships of the Allies in the geographical broadness of the Pacific front. The speed requirement submitted by the Naval Department was also unprecedented in not only Japanese but also international heavy bomber aviation, where in relation to the envisaged Japanese battlegrounds of China and the Pacific, the bomber would need to not only cover lengthy range, but necessarily feature the exceptional speed to strike distant targets with a minimum attack time. Thus the G3M was an embodiment of Japanese military aircraft design in the brief period leading to the Pacific War, with great offensive armament (in this case in the form of bombs/torpedoes), range and speed emphasised over protection and defensive capabilities.

In terms of the latter, the G3M was originally designed as a model without any form of defensive weaponry or machine guns, but purely as a bomber craft, with its high-altitude performance being regarded sufficient to evade enemy anti-aircraft fire and its high speed in combination with the planned high performance Mitsubishi A5M fighter envisaged as an armed escort being considered sufficient to counter any form of enemy fighter interdiction. Even in the low-range, close support role of anti-shipping torpedo bombing, the envisagement of superior fighter escort, combined with the G3M's high speed was considered sufficient against any form of ship-based fire or carrier-based fighter interception.

The light-weight structure and complete lack of defensive machine guns and thus the additional crew necessary to operate them (features in the early prototype design) were naturally considered essential to maintain the speed and high altitude performance of the G3M with a heavy payload. Even after the modified final prototype, which included defensive machine gun emplacements, the G3M kept its light-weight structure and lacked any form of defensive armour or heavier self-sealing fuel tanks as these were considered to retard speed and altitude. This trait in Japanese bomber/fighter design manifested in its successor, the G4M, which was so heavily designed to accommodate fuel and bombing armament for long range strikes at the expense of defence, its vulnerability to armed interdiction and fire earned it its unofficial nickname as the 'one shot lighter' to Allied fighter pilots, and 'Hamaki', or '(flying) cigar' to its own Japanese crews.

The bomb aiming sight used in the G3M was primitive compared to the mechanisms used in the G3M's contemporaries such as the B-24 and Heinkel He 111, indeed, aside from the limited precision necessary in its naval role as a long range torpedo bomber against Allied naval fleets, the G3M frequently operated with other G3M units in massive 'wave' formations, thus this became a numerical strategy to eliminate the opposed need for singular precision-based bombing, this alternative tactic resulting in horrendous damage and death figures to civilians and civilian population centres from the aerial bombing campaigns against metropolitan targets in China and the Allied Asia-Pacific region.

Later the Nakajima Company redesigned the G3M into the improved G3M3 (Model 23) with more powerful engines and increased fuel capacity. This version was only manufactured by Nakajima, being the most rapidly produced in wartime. This version entered service in 1941, and was maintained in service for two years, and later used in 1943 alongside the G3M2s for long-range maritime reconnaissance with radar due to its excellent long range performance. Other G3M derivations were the transports G3M-L and L3Y, used for transport duties.

[edit] Operational history

The G3M flew for first time in 1935, taking off from a Nagasaki airfield belonging to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and landing at Haneda Airport on the outskirts of Tokyo. The G3M first saw combat in Japan's expansionist campaigns on the Chinese mainland in what became known as the Second Sino-Japanese War, where as part of a pre-emptive strike plan designed by Admiral Yamamoto (the very authority that had demanded the designing of such a bomber), the G3M was able to exploit its long range capability,when August-November,1937 if established the "1st Rengo Kokutai" a special section conformed with "Kanoya" and "Kizarazu Kokutai" based in Taipei,Formosa, Omura,Kyūshū and Jeju Island.in August 14 of same year ones 42 "Nells" and 7 Hiro G2H1s scorted by 12 Nakajima A4Ns and 12 Mitsubishi A5Ms of "2nd Rengo Kokutai" (unit conformed by 12nd and 13th Kokutai),departing from bases for effectively crossing the East China Sea,for bombing Hangchow and Kwanteh,among others actions of terror bombing in coastal and inland targets in China, including the infamously treacherous bombing of the Battle of Shanghai and Nanjing. Thus while it was the first transoceanic bomber in air war history, it also had the dubious distinction of being the first mass-produced bomber aircraft to wage terror bombing indiscriminately on civilians. Later, from bases in occupied Chinese territories, it took part in the strategic carpet bombing of the Chinese heartland, its combat range being sufficient to cover the elongated distances involved. Most notably, it was involved in the round-the-clock Bombing of Chongqing, a campaign that resulted in what would now be considered massive collateral damage. When the Pacific War erupted in 1941 after a similarly Japanese-style pre-emptive strike in the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, although antiquated, 200 first line units were operated in the central Pacific and the Philippines. On the 8th of December 1941, (7th across the International Date Line), G3Ms struck Singapore City from bases in occupied Vietnam as one of many air raids during the Battle of Singapore, resulting in thousands of British and Asiatic civilians dead. Wake Island was similarly bombed by G3Ms on the first day of the war, with both civilian and US Navy infrastructure being heavily damaged on the ground.

The G3M was famous for taking part of the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse with the more advanced Mitsubishi G4M "Betty", on 10 December 1941. "Nells" provided important support during the attack on the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse (Force Z) near the Malayan coast. The Prince of Wales and the Repulse were the first two battleships ships ever sunk exclusively by air attack while at sea during war.

From 1943, the majority of "Nells" served as glider tugs, aircrew and paratroop trainers and for transporting high-ranking officers and VIPs between metropolitan islands, occupied territories and combat fronts until the end of the war.

[edit] Variants

Ka-15

Prototype with either Hiro Type 91 (750 hp), Mitsubishi Kinsei 2 (830 hp), or Mitsubishi Kinsei 3 (910 hp) engines and glass or solid nose, 21 built.

G3M1a/c

Redesignated prototypes powered by Hiro Type 91 or Mitsubishi Kinsei engines, glass nose.

G3M1 Model 11

Land-based attack bomber Navy Type 96 first series model. Major extension of the cabin with a revised cover, some with fixed pitch propeller, 34 built.

G3M1-L

G3M1 converted into an armed or unarmed military transport version and powered by Mitsubishi Kinsei 45 (1,075 hp) engines.

G3M2 Model 21

More powerful engines and increased fuel capacity, dorsal turret. 343 constructed by Mitsubishi, 412 G3M2 and G3M3 manufactured by Nakajima.

G3M2 Model 22

Upper and belly turrets substituted for one upper turret, glass side positions, 238 built.

G3M3 Model 23

More powerful engines and increased fuel capacity for longer range, constructed by Nakajima.

L3Y1 Model 11

Transport Navy Type 96, advanced conversion of G3M1 armed transport.

L3Y2 Model 12

Modification of G3M2 with Mitsubishi Kinsei engines.

[edit] Operators

 Japan

• Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

 Indonesia

• In 1945, Indonesian People's Security Force (IPSF) (Indonesian pro-independence guerrillas) captured a small number of aircraft at numerous Japanese air bases, including Bugis Air Base in Malang (repatriated 18 September 1945). Most aircraft were destroyed in military conflicts between the Netherlands and the newly proclaimed-Republic of Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution of 1945-1949.

[edit] Specifications (Mitsubishi G3M2 Model 21)

General characteristics

• Crew: 7
• Length: 16.45 m (53 ft 11½ in)
• Wingspan: 25 m (82 ft 0 in)
• Height: 3.68 m (12 ft ⅞in)
• Wing area: 75 m² (807 ft²)
• Empty weight: 4,965 kg (10,923 lb)
• Loaded weight: 8,000 kg (17,600 lb)
• Powerplant: 2× Mitsubishi Kinsei 45 radial engine, 1,075 hp (791 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 375 km/h (203 knots, 233 mph)
• Cruise speed: 280 km/h (151 knots, 174 mph)
• Range: 4,400 km (2,730 mi)
• Service ceiling 9,200 m (30,200 ft)
• Rate of climb: 6 m/s (1180 ft/min)

Armament

• Guns
  • 1 x Type 99 20mm cannon in rear dorsal turret
  • 4 x Type 92 7.7 mm machine gun in cockpit, left and right side positions, and in retractable forward dorsal turret.
• Bombs
  • 800 kg of bombs or 1 torpedo

[edit] See also

Related development

• Mitsubishi G4M
  

Comparable aircraft

• B-25 Mitchell
  

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

• http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijna/g3m.htm
• http://avia.russian.ee/air/japan/mitsubishi_g3m.php

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