World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe B5M torpedo bombers built by Mitsubishi was designed as a response to the 1935 request for a new carrier-based attack aircraft. Although Nakajima's B5N design eventually became the standard aircraft, Mitsubishi's B5M was nevertheless adopted as well, placed in production as a back-up to Nakajima's winning design. They were designated Navy Type 97 No. 2 Carrier Attack Bombers. They first took flight in 1937, and later that year participated in the war in China from airfields. Early in the Pacific War, they saw action in Southeast Asia. Toward the end of the war, they served mostly as trainer aircraft, while a number of them were used in special attack suicide missions. During the production life of the design, 125 B5M and 145 B5M1 aircraft were built.

ww2dbaseThe Allied codename for the B5M design was "Mabel".

SPECIFICATIONS

B5M1

Machinery	One Mitsubishi Kinsei 43 engine rated at 1,000hp
Armament	2x7.7mm forward Type 97 machine guns, 1x7.7mm rear flexible Type 89 machine gun, 1,000kg of bombs
Crew	3
Span	15.30 m
Length	10.23 m
Height	4.32 m
Wing Area	37.95 m²
Weight, Maximum	4,000 kg
Speed, Maximum	379 km/h
Service Ceiling	8,260 m
Range, Normal	2,350 km

Photographs