Yokosuka P1Y Ginga

Yokosuka P1Y Ginga
Yokosuka P1Y
Version	P1Y1a
Built by	Yokosuka , Nakajima, Kawanishi
Total Built	1,102
Length	15 m (49 ft 3 in)
Wingspan	20 m (65 ft 7 in)
Height	4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Wing Area	55 m2 (590 sq ft)
Empty weight	7,265 kg (16,017 lb)
Full weight	Gross: 10,500 kg (23,149 lb), Max takeoff: 13,500 kg (29,762 lb)
Engine	2 × Nakajima NK9C Homare 12 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,361 kW (1,825 hp) each for take-off
Speed	Maximum: 547 km/h (340 mph, 295 kn) at 5,900 m (19,400 ft), Cruise: 370 km/h (230 mph, 200 kn) at 4,000 m (13,000 ft)
Range	5,370 km (3,340 mi, 2,900 nmi)
Ceiling	9,400 m (30,800 ft)
Armament	1× flexible, nose-mounted 20 mm (0.787 in) Type 99 cannon, 1× flexible rear-firing 13 mm (0.512 in) Type 2 machine gun and up to 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) of bombs or 1× 800 kg (1,764 lb) torpedo
Crew	3
Usage
Role(s)	Attack bomber
First Flight	August 1943
Introduced	October 1944
Retired	1945
Used by	Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
[Source]

The Yokosuka P1Y Ginga was a medium bomber developed for the Japanses Navy during World War 2.

Description

Requiring a fast medium bomber for dive-bombing, low-altitude bombing or torpedo attack, the lmperial Japanese Navy instructed the Yokosuka First Naval Air Technical Arsenal in 1940 to begin design of such an aircraft.

The resulting P1Y prototype flown in August 1943 was a mid-wing monoplane of all-metal construction and powered by two Nakajinna NK9B Homare 11 radial engines. It's performance was satisfactory, but the P1Y suffered from maintenance problems that plagued its service life. All remedial attempts failed, delaying until early 1945 the entry into service of the Navy Bomber Ginga Model 11.

Production totaled 1,098, built by Kawanishi (96) and Nakajima (1,002), and if there had been adequate manpower to service these aircraft before each operational sortie, they would have proved formidable adversaries. This was not possible and as a result the Ginga (milky way), allocated the Allied codename ‘Francis’, was tried unsuccessfully in a variety of alternative roles; its brief operational life of only six months was terminated by the end of the Pacific war.

Variants

• P1Y (prototypes): six, with Nakajima NK9B Homare 11 engines; armament of one 0.303-in (7.7-mm) forward-firing machine-gun and one rear-firing 20mm cannon
• P1Y1 Ginga: initial production version; as P1Y but forward-firing machine-gun replaced by 20mm cannon
• P1Y1a: production version with 1,825-hp (1361-kW) NK9C Homare 12 engines; 20-mm cannon in nose and one 0.51-in (13-mm) rear-firing machine-gun
• P1Y1b: production version as P1Y1a, but with two 0.51-in (13-mm) rear-firing machineguns
• P1Y1c: production version as P1Y1b, but nose cannon replaced by third 0.51-in (13~mm) machine-gun
• P1Y1-S: night-fighter conversions of P1Y1; four obliquely-mounted 20-mm cannon firing forward and upward, plus one rear-firing 0.51-in (13-mm) gun
• P1Y2-S: production night-fighter with two 1,850-hp (1380-kW) Mitsubishi MK4T-A Kasei 25a radials; armament of three 20-mm cannon, two obliquely—mounted and one rear-firing
• P1Y2: production bomber; powerpiant as P1Y2-S, armament as P1Y1
• P1Y2a: production bomber as P1Y2 but with armament of P1Y1a
• P1Y2b: production bomber as PiY2 but with armament of P1Y1b
• P1Y2c: production bomber as PiY2 but with armament of P1Y1c

Sources

Template:Japanese Bombers