Page 207 - Micronesia
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ITSUBISHI G4M - The Mitsubishi G4M (or “Type 1 land-based on many occasions, the G4M was used for low-altitude torpedo
attacks on ships during which their performance advantages
M attack aircraft” was the main twin-engine, land-based were negated. The G4M was frequently shot down by anti-aircraft
artillery fire, and even by small arms. The G4M’s relatively large
bomber used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World size made it an easy gunnery target, and the predictable ap-
War II. The Allies gave the G4M the reporting name Betty. Japanese proach path required for a torpedo run made for a generally easy
Navy pilots called it Hamaki (Cigar), due to its cylindrical shape. interception by Allied fighter aircraft. When used for medium to
The G4M had very good performance, especially range, which was high-altitude bombing against stationary land targets like supply
achieved by its structural lightness and an almost total lack of depots, seaports or airfields, “ease of interception” was another
protection for its crew, with no armor plating or self-sealing fuel matter entirely. Using its long range and high speed, the G4M
tanks. These omissions proved to be its weakness when confronted could appear from any direction, and then it could be gone before
with American fighter aircraft during the Pacific War. The G4M any fighters intercepted them. The 20 mm cannon in its tail turret
was designed for a long range and high speed at the time of its was much heavier armament than was commonly carried by bomb-
introduction. Consequently, several weight-saving measures were ers of either side, making aerial attacks from the rear quite danger-
incorporated into the design, such as dispensing with self-sealing ous for the Allied fighter aircraft. As a torpedo bomber, the G4M’s
fuel tanks and armor, which caused Allied fighter pilots to give most notable use was in the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse
it derisive nicknames such as “the one-shot lighter”, “the flying off the eastern coast of British Malaya on 10 December 1941. The
Zippo” and “the flying cigar” because of their tendency to explode G4Ms carried out the attacks along with the older Japanese bomb-
or catch on fire from any slight damage to the wing fuel tanks after ers, the Mitsubishi G3M. The battleship Prince of Wales and the
being hit by aerial machine gun fire or ground-based anti-aircraft battle cruiser Repulse were the first two large capital ships to be
fire. Similarly, pilots of the Imperial Japanese Navy despairingly sunk exclusively by air attack during a war, while in open waters.
called the G4M the “Type One Lighter”, “The Flying Lighter” or
even the “Hamaki” (“Cigar”). This was partially due to the fact that
