Design and Development
In 1932, the Imperial Japanese Navy issued a requirement for a new carrier-borne attack aircraft. Aichi, Mitsubishi and Nakajima responded to this requirement and each built a prototype. Neither of these aircraft were deemed satisfactory, and the service thus issued in 1934 a new requirement, 9-Shi, for a more capable aircraft to replace the obsolescent Yokosuka B3Y.
The B4Y was designed by Sanae Kawasaki at the First Naval Air Technical Arsenal at Yokosuka. Regarded only as an interim type, the Navy wanted a torpedo bomber offering performance comparable to the Mitsubishi A5M monoplane fighter. The result was a biplane with fixed landing gear and an all-metal structure with metal or fabric skin. To speed development and production, the B4Y utilised the wings from the Kawanishi E7K. The B4Y1 was also the first Navy carrier attack aircraft to utilize an air-cooled engine, as the prototype that was equipped with the Nakajima Hikari 2 radial engine performed better than its opponents.
The crew of three occupied two cockpits. The pilot in the open front cockpit and the other two crewmen, (navigator and radio operator/gunner), in the enclosed rear cockpit.
Read more about this topic: Yokosuka B4Y
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