Role Medium bomber
Manufacturer Mitsubishi
Designer Kiro Honjo
First flight July 1935
Introduction 1935
Retired 1945
Primary user Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
Number built 1,048
General characteristicsCrew: 7
Length: 16.45 m (53 ft 11½ in)
Wingspan: 25 m (82 ft 0 in)
Height: 3.68 m (12 ft ?in)
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 Ha-45 Kinsei radial engine, 1,075 hp (791 kW) each
PerformanceMaximum 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)
ArmamentGuns:
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× aerial torpedo
VariantsKa-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, built by Yokosuka.
L3Y2 Model 12
Modification of G3M2 with Mitsubishi Kinsei engines, built by Yokosuka.
Operational historyThe 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 the G3M was able to exploit its long-range capability when, during August–November 1937, the "1st Rengo Kokutai" (a special unit) was established, operating alongside the "Kanoya" and "Kizarazu Kokutai" based in Taipei, Formosa, Omura, Ky?sh? and Jeju Island. On August 14 of that same year forty-two "Nells" and seven Hiro G2H1s, escorted by 12 Nakajima A4Ns and 12 Mitsubishi A5Ms of the "2nd Rengo Kokutai" (a unit consisting of the 12th and 13th Kokutai), departed from their bases to cross the East China Sea, for the bombing of Hangchow and Kwanteh, and performed amongst others actions of terror bombing in coastal and inland targets in China, including the bombing during the Battle of Shanghai and Nanjing. 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.
When the Pacific War erupted in 1941, after the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, the G3M was by this time considered to be antiquated but still 3 front-line units (the 22nd to 24th Koku Sentai) were operating a total of 204 G3M2s in four Kokutai (Naval Air Corps) in the central Pacific[1] and of these 54 aircraft from the Takao Kokutai[2][3] were deployed from Formosa in the opening of the Battle of the Philippines. On the 8th of December 1941, (7th across the International Date Line), G3Ms from the Mihoro Kokutai 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 from the Chitose Kokutai 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 in the sinking of two British battleships with the more advanced Mitsubishi G4M "Betty", on 10 December 1941. "Nells" from the Genzan Kokutai provided important support during the attack on the HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse (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.
A G3M of the Mihoro Air Group was involved in a dogfight with a Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat of No. 205 Squadron RAF near the Anambas Islands on 25 December 1941, in which the Catalina was shot down.[4]
The attack on Darwin, Australia on February 19, 1942, by 188 Japanese aircraft, included 27 G3Ms of the 1. Kokutai (1st Air Group) based at Ambon, in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). The "Nells" attacked alongside 27 G4Ms. These bombers followed an 81-strong first wave of Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters, Aichi D3A dive bombers and Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers.
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.
Author
Topic: G3M "Nell" (Read 8473 times)
