Yokosuka P1Y Ginga


The Yokosuka P1Y Ginga is 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 reporting name Frances.

Design and development

The P1Y was designed by the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal to Navy specification 15-Shi, calling for a fast bomber with speed matching the Zero, range matching the G4M, a 907 kg bombload, and the ability to dive-bomb as well as carry torpedoes. As the result, the construction suffered from excess complexity, difficulty of manufacture, and poor serviceability. Problems with the availability of enough reliable Nakajima Homare engines led to their replacement by the Mitsubishi Kasei in the P1Y2-S night-fighter version.
The streamlined design of the Ginga is attributed to Miki Tadanao, an engineer who, after World War II, went on to create a similar aerodynamic design for Japan's earliest bullet trains while working with the Japan National Railways (JNR).

Operational history

The first flight was in August 1943. Nakajima manufactured 1,002 examples, which were operated by five Kōkūtai, and acted as land-based medium and torpedo bombers from airfields in China, Taiwan, the Mariana Islands, the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. During the last stages of the War, the P1Y was used as a kamikaze aircraft against the United States Navy during the Okinawa Campaign in Operation Tan No. 2.
A night fighter version, the P1Y2-S Kyokko, with Mitsubishi Kasei engines was equipped with radar and a Schräge Musik-style upward-firing, as well as forward-firing, 20 mm cannon. A total of ninety-six were produced by Kawanishi, but, due to inadequate high-altitude performance against the B-29 Superfortress, many were converted back to Ginga bombers.

Variants

;P1Y1 Experimental Number 15 land-based bomber
;P1Y1 Ginga Model 11
;P1Y1 Ginga Model 11 Night-fighter variant
;P1Y1-S Provisional name Ginga Model 21
;P1Y1 Ground attack variant
;P1Y2-S Provisional name Ginga Model 26/Test production Kyokkō
;P1Y2 Provisional name Ginga Model 16
;P1Y2 Ginga Model 16 Night-fighter variant
;P1Y3 Provisional name Ginga Model 13
;P1Y4 Provisional name Ginga Model 12
;P1Y5 Provisional name Ginga Model 14
;P1Y6 Provisional name Ginga Model 17
;Provisional name Ginga Model 33
;Test production Yokosuka Tenga
;MXY10 Yokosuka Navy Bomber Ginga''

Operators

  • Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
  • * 302nd Kōkūtai: Equipped night fighter variant only.
  • * 521st Kōkūtai
  • * 522nd Kōkūtai
  • * 523rd Kōkūtai
  • * 524th Kōkūtai
  • * 701st Kōkūtai
  • * 706th Kōkūtai
  • * 752nd Kōkūtai
  • * 761st Kōkūtai
  • * 762nd Kōkūtai
  • * 763rd Kōkūtai
  • * 765th Kōkūtai
  • * 1001st Kōkūtai
  • * 1081st Kōkūtai
  • * Miyazaki Kōkūtai
  • * Toyohashi Kōkūtai
  • * Yokosuka Kōkūtai
  • * Kogeki 262nd Hikōtai
  • * Kogeki 401st Hikōtai
  • * Kogeki 405th Hikōtai
  • * Kogeki 406th Hikōtai
  • * Kogeki 501st Hikōtai
  • * Kogeki 708th Hikōtai

Surviving aircraft

A P1Y1 survives at the Smithsonian's Paul Garber Facility of its National Air and Space Museum. While only the fuselage has been photographed several times and can be found on the internet, the wings and engines are confirmed to exist. This was one of three P1Ys that were brought back to the United States after World War II for evaluation.