Yokosuka P1Y Ginga

The Yokosuka P1Y Ginga was a medium bomber developed for the Japanses Navy during World War 2.
==Description==
Requiring a fast medium bomber for dive-bombing, low-altitude bombing or torpedo attack, the lmperial Japanese Navy instructed the Yokosuka First Naval Air Technical Arsenal in 1940 to begin design of such an aircraft.
The resulting P1Y prototype flown in August 1943 was a mid-wing monoplane of all-metal construction and powered by two Nakajinna NK9B Homare 11 radial engines. It's performance was satisfactory, but the P1Y suffered from maintenance problems that plagued its service life. All remedial attempts failed, delaying until early 1945 the entry into service of the Navy Bomber Ginga Model 11.
Production totaled 1,098, built by Kawanishi (96) and Nakajima (1,002), and if there had been adequate manpower to service these aircraft before each operational sortie, they would have proved formidable adversaries. This was not possible and as a result the Ginga (milky way), allocated the Allied codename ‘Francis’, was tried unsuccessfully in a variety of alternative roles; its brief operational life of only six months was terminated by the end of the Pacific war.
==Variants==
* P1Y (prototypes): six, with Nakajima NK9B Homare 11 engines; armament of one 0.303-in (7.7-mm) forward-ﬁring machine-gun and one rear-firing 20mm cannon
* P1Y1 Ginga: initial production version; as P1Y but forward-firing machine-gun replaced by 20mm cannon
* P1Y1a: production version with 1,825-hp (1361-kW) NK9C Homare 12 engines; 20-mm cannon in nose and one 0.51-in (13-mm) rear-firing machine-gun
* P1Y1b: production version as P1Y1a, but with two 0.51-in (13-mm) rear-firing machineguns
* P1Y1c: production version as P1Y1b, but nose cannon replaced by third 0.51-in (13~mm) machine-gun
* P1Y1-S: night-ﬁghter conversions of P1Y1; four obliquely-mounted 20-mm cannon firing forward and upward, plus one rear-firing 0.51-in (13-mm) gun
* P1Y2-S: production night-ﬁghter with two 1,850-hp (1380-kW) Mitsubishi MK4T-A Kasei 25a radials; armament of three 20-mm cannon, two obliquely—mounted and one rear-firing
* P1Y2: production bomber; powerpiant as P1Y2-S, armament as P1Y1
* P1Y2a: production bomber as P1Y2 but with armament of P1Y1a
* P1Y2b: production bomber as PiY2 but with armament of P1Y1b
* P1Y2c: production bomber as PiY2 but with armament of P1Y1c
===Notes===
===Sources===
Category:JapaneseCategory:Yokosuka Naval Air Technical ArsenalCategory:Nakajima Aircraft CompanyCategory:World War 2Category:Medium bomberCategory:Land BasedCategory:MonoplaneCategory:Multi enginedCategory:Piston engined