Operational History
The G4M was similar in performance and missions to other contemporary twin-engine bombers such as the German Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 medium bombers, and also the American North American B-25 Mitchell and Martin B-26 Marauder bombers. These were all commonly used for antiship roles. The G4M Model 11 was prominent in attacks on Allied shipping in the 1941 to early 1944 time frame, but after that time, it was increasingly easy prey for Allied fighters.
The G4M's baptism by fire occurred on 13 September 1940 in Mainland China, when 27 "Bettys" and Mitsubishi C5Ms of 1st Rengo Kokutai (a composite force including elements of the Kanoya and Kizarazu Kokutais (Air Groups)) departed from Taipei, Omura, and Jeju City to attack Hankow. The bombers and reconnaissance aircraft were escorted by 13 A6M Zeros of 12st Kokutai led by the I.J.N. lieutenant, Saburo Shindo. A similar operation occurred in May 1941. In December 1941, 107 G4Ms based on Formosa of 1st Kokutai and Kanoya Kokutai belonging to the 21st Koku Sentai (Air Flotilla) crossed the Luzon Strait en route to bombing the Philippines, and this was the beginning to widespread invasion of the islands of the Southwest Pacific Theater.
As a torpedo bomber, the G4M's most notable use was in the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse off the eastern coast of British Malaya on 10 December 1941. These carried out the attacks alongside the older Japanese bombers, the Mitsubishi G3M "Nells" which were doing high-level bombing runs. The battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Repulse were the first two capital ships ever to be sunk exclusively by air attack during a war, while on the open ocean. Those bomber crews were a handful of selected Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force (IJNAF) aviators in prewar Japan, who had skills not only in torpedo-attacks at an altitude of less than 30 ft (9 m), but also in being able to navigate long-range flight over the ocean to pinpoint naval targets moving quickly on the sea. This same squadrons in Kanoya Air Group of Kanoya Kokutai (751 Ku), Genzan Air Group of Genzan Kokutai (753 Ku), and the Mihoro Air Group of Mihoro Kokutai (701 Ku). These sank the British capital battle ships, and they later carried out an extended series of attacks against U.S. Navy and Allied ships, and on land targets during the six-month-long Battle of Guadalcanal (in the Solomon Islands), in late 1942.
On 8 August 1942, the second day of the U.S. Marines landing on Guadalcanal, IJNAF's 23 G4M1s conducted a torpedo attack against American ships at Lunga point, Guadalcanal. A total of 18 of the attacking G4M1s were shot down, due to very heavy antiaircraft fire, and air cover from Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters based on three American aircraft carriers. In all, 18 Japanese crews – approximately 120 aviators– were missing at the beginning of the month. More than 100 Japanese G4M1s and their best pilots and crews (with no replacements or substitutes available) were shot down during the many following battles around Guadalcanal, from August through October 1942. In the two days of the Battle of Rennell Island on 29 and 30 January 1943, 10 out of 43 Japanese G4M1s were shot down during night torpedo attacks, all by the U.S. Navy's antiaircraft fire. About 70 Japanese aviators, including Lieutenant Commander Higai, were killed during that battle.
Probably the best-known incident involving a G4M during the war was the attack resulting in the death of Isoroku Yamamoto. The G4M with tail number T1-323 - which was carrying the Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto - was attacked and shot down by Lockheed P-38 Lightnings from 339th Fighter Squadron of the 347th Fighter Group, Thirteenth Air Force, USAAF on 18 April 1943.
The G4M Model 11 was replaced by Models 22,22a/b,24a/b,25,26 and 27 after June 1943, following service in New Guinea, the Solomons, and the South Pacific area, in defense of the Marianas and finally in Okinawa. Others had field modifications resulting in the Model 24j which carried suicide flying bombs Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka Model 11 beginning on 21 March 1945, with disastrous results due to extensive Allied fighter opposition.
From November 1944 to January 1945, G4Ms were one of the main types of aircraft used in the Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands, and plans to use converted G4Ms to land commandos on the islands were developed in mid-1945 and cancelled only at the end of the war.
Following the loss of Okinawa, G4Ms constituted the main weapon of the land-based Japanese naval bomber force, consisting of 20 Kokutais at the end of the war, including the testing air group equipped in 1944–'45 with the latest version G4M3 Model 34 and 36 which arrived too late to have an impact on the war.
As part of the negotiations for the surrender of Japan, two demilitarized G4Ms, given the call-signs Bataan 1 and Bataan 2 were sent to Ie Shima carrying the first surrender delegations as the first leg of their flight to Manila, the Philippines.
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