Mitsubishi G3M

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 used during World War II, mostly against the Chinese.

Design and development

The bomber had a crew of five, and had its first flight in July 1935. The aircraft was armed with three 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns. Maximum speed was 348 km/h (216 mph) and had a range of over 3,541 km (2,200 mi). The G3M was also designed to carry an 800 kg (1,760 lb) torpedo for anti-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 Isoroku 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 was also 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.

File:G3M Type 96 Attack Bomber Nell G3M-18s.jpg

Two G3M2 bombers - the nearest Model 22 and the other a Model 21

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 flak guns 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 fighters. Even in the low-speed, low-level role of torpedo bomber, the envisagement of superior fighter escort - combined with the G3M's high speed - was considered sufficient against any form of ship-based flak guns or carrier-based fighters.

The lightweight 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 lightweight structure and lacked any form of defensive armour or 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 fighters and ground/surface gunfire earned it the unofficial nickname of "one shot lighter" by Allied fighter pilots, and "Hamaki" ("[flying] cigar") by its own Japanese crews.

The bombsight 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. 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 transport versions, G3M-L and L3Y.

Operational history

File:G3M Type 96 Attack Bomber Nell G3M-26s.jpg

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 12th 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 front-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.

File:G3M Type 96 Attack Bomber Nell G3M-28.jpg

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 Template:HMS and Template:HMS (Force Z) near the Malayan coast. Prince of Wales and 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.

Variants

Ka-15

Prototype with either Hiro Type 91 (559 kW/750 hp), Mitsubishi Kinsei 2 (619 kW/830 hp), or Mitsubishi Kinsei 3 (679 kW/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 (802 kW/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.

Operators

Template:JPN

• Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

Template:Country data 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.

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 kn, 233 mph)
• Cruise speed: 280 km/h (151 kn, 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 × 20 mm Type 99 cannon in rear dorsal turret
  • 4 × 7.7 (.303 in) Type 92 machine gun in cockpit, left and right side positions, and in retractable forward dorsal turret.
• Bombs
  • 800 kg (1,764 lb) of bombs or 1 × torpedo

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Mitsubishi G3M

Related development

• Mitsubishi G4M

Comparable aircraft

• B-25 Mitchell

Designation sequence
G1M - G2H - G3M - G4M - G5N - G6M

References

Bibliography

• Bridgwater, H.C. and Scott, Peter. Combat Colours Number 4: Pearl Harbor and Beyond, December 1941 to May 1942. Luton, Bedfordshire: Guideline Publications, 2001. ISBN 0-9539040-6-7.
• Bueschel, Richard M. Mitsubishi:Nakajima G3M1/2/3, Kusho L3Y1/2 in Japanese Naval Air Service. Canterbury, Kent, UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1972. ISBN 0-85045-136-1.
• Francillon, René J. Imperial Japanese Navy Bombers of World War Two. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Hylton Lacy Publishers Ltd., 1969. ISBN 0-85064-022-9.
• Francillon, René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6.
• Francillon, René J. PhD. The Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" (Aircraft in Profile Number 160). Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd.,1967.
• Horodyski, Joseph M. "British Gamble In Asian Waters." Military Heritage. December 2001. Volume 3, No. 3: 68-77 (sinking of the British battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse by Japanese on 10 December 1941 upon U.S. entry into World War Two).
• Thorpe, Donald W. Japanese Naval Air Force Camouflage and Markings World War II. Fallbrook, California; Aero Publishers Inc., 1977. ISBN 0-8168-6587-6. (pbk.) ISBN 0-8168-6583-3. (hc.)

External links

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

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mitsubishi G3M".