Yokosuka P1Y

The Yokosuka P1Y Ginga (銀河, "Milky Way") was a twin-engine, land-based bomber developed for the Japanese Imperial Navy in World War II. It was the successor to the Mitsubishi G4M and given the Allied codename "Frances".

The P1Y was designed by the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal to Navy specifications calling for speed matching the Zero, range matching the G4M, a 1-ton bomb load, and the ability to dive-bomb as well as carry torpedoes. As a result, the construction suffered from excess complexity, difficulty of manufacture, and poor serviceability. Problems with the Nakajima Homare engine led to its replacement by the Mitsubishi Kasei.

The first flight was in August 1943. Nakajima manufactured 1,002 examples.

A night-fighter version, the P1Y2-S Kyokko (極光, "Aurora") was equipped with radar and upward-firing, as well as forward-firing, 20 mm cannon. A total of 97 were produced by Kawanishi, but due to inadequate high-altitiude performance against B-29s, many were converted back to Ginga bombers.

Specifications (P1Y1a)

General Characteristics

• Crew: three
• Length: 15.00 m (49 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 20.00 m (65 ft 7 in)
• Height: 4.30 m (14 ft 1 in)
• Wing area: 55 m² (592 ft²)
• Empty: 7,265 kg (16,017 lb)
• Loaded: 13,500 kg (29,762 lb)
• Maximum takeoff: kg ( lb)
• Powerplant: 2x Nakajima Homare 12 18-cylinder radial engines, 1,361 kW (1,825 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 547 km/h (340 mph)
• Range: 5,370 km (3,337 miles)
• Service ceiling: 9,400 m (30,840 ft)
• Rate of climb: 2,212 m/min (7,254 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 245 kg/m² (50 lb/ft²)
• Power/Mass: 0.20 kW/kg (0.12 hp/lb)

Armament

• 1x flexible, nose-mounted 20 mm Type 99 cannon
• 1x flexible rear-firing 13 mm Type 2 machine gun
• up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of bombs or
• 1x torpedo

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Designation sequence: P1Y

ja:銀河 (爆撃機)