B2M
| Country | Japan |
| Manufacturer | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Primary Role | Torpedo Bomber |
| Maiden Flight | 28 December 1929 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseIn 1927, Mitsubishi commissioned the British aircraft manufacturer Blackburn to develop a new carrier-borne torpedo bomber design, meant to be used to enter a Japanese Navy competition for a new generation of such aircraft. Blackburn developed the T.7B design for Mitsubishi based on the existing Ripon design (which was being developed for the British Fleet Air Arm), which won the competition. The prototype aircraft took flight on 28 Dec 1929 at Blackburn's factory at Brough, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, and that aircraft was shipped to Japan in Feb 1930. Subsequently designated B2M, Mitsubishi built three additional prototypes with small modifications before the Japanese Navy officially accepted the design; the final production design was designated B2M1 by Mitsubishi and Navy Type 89-1 Model 1 Carrier Attack Plane by the Japanese Navy. B2M1 entered service in Mar 1932 aboard carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Hosho. The B2M2 variant design arrived subsequently (Navy Type 89-2 Carrier Attack Plane), which enjoyed a slight performance gain from reduced wingspan and modified tails. They remained in service through the 1930s and saw action during the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began in 1937, as light bombers.
ww2dbaseDuring the design's production life, 206 B2M1 and B2M2 aircraft were built.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Oct 2010
SPECIFICATIONS
B2M1
| Machinery | One Hispano-Suiza 12Lbr V-12 engine rated at 650hp |
| Armament | 1x7.7mm forward machine gun, 1x7.7mm rear flexible machine gun, 1x800kg torpedo or 800kg of bombs |
| Crew | 3 |
| Span | 15.22 m |
| Length | 10.27 m |
| Height | 3.71 m |
| Wing Area | 55.00 m² |
| Weight, Empty | 2,260 kg |
| Weight, Loaded | 3,600 kg |
| Speed, Maximum | 213 km/h |
| Service Ceiling | 4,500 m |
| Range, Normal | 1,779 km |
Photographs
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Visitor Submitted Comments
Bill says:22 May 2016 10:18:40 PM
The B2M2 was an improvement over the B2M1
operated by the Imperial Navy. B2M's were operated in both high and low-level bombing in China and at the start of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War 1937...
23 Oct 2020 11:28:58 PM
It's generally agreed upon that 12 B2Ms were launched from Kaga in the early morning of 15 August 1937 to attack Chinese Air Force assets primarily at the target of Jianqiao Airbase, but were intercepted by Colonel Gao Zhihang's 4th Pursuit Group, claiming "17 Type 89s shot down, when in reality, 11 of the 12 B2M/Type 89s were shot down, which was the worst battle outcome for fleet carrier Kaga until another semi-debacle on 13 April 1938, when John Huang Xinrui a.k.a. John "Buffalo" Wong and his 5th PG scored about 1/2 dozen of Kaga planes including at least one A5M... the next "disaster" for Kaga was Pearl Harbor; suffering 15 of the 29 aircraft lost that day, 07 December 1941.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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20 Jan 2016 08:53:06 AM
My dilemma is about Mitsubishi B2M2 Type89-2 Carrier Attack Aircraft...particularly about operational usage.
More I read about B2M2 I am less convince that was used in 2nd Sino-Japanese War!? I been able to find just a few short texts about B2M and much less about B2M2 Type89-2 particularly! Everywhere says then B2M saw great deal of action in war, but I have impression that it refers only on B2M1 Tupe89-1, not B2M2 Type 89-2!?
So, you understand my dilema-WAS B2M2 USED OR NOT IN 2nd SINO-JAPANESE WAR? And if it was used can anybody tell me in which extend?