G4M betty

[Beni]

I found this fantastic guncamera movie , but i have a doubt...Note the little wings under the bettys (I think betty is the right nickname for the g4m)....Is maybe some kind of guided bomb???
Could anybody tell me...thanks in advance


Sorry for the mistakes in my poor english

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Great stuff Beni! - the Bettys are carrying an "Okha Bomb" a piloted Kamikaze rocket plane. See below

 

[JCS]

Sounds good, I'll have to get these over the weekend though when I have more time....

 

[evangilder]

That's a great video, Beni!

 

[Nonskimmer]

Nice! Clear and in colour too.

 

[Royzee617]

Ohka not Okhas? Slip of the finger no doubt.... Cherry Blossom or some such. Daft and desperate.

 

[Aggie08]

Imagine the damage that they would do, a plane designed solely to be a guided bomb, not just a fighter loaded with fuel and hand grenades... not to mention the velocity it could hit at.

 

[cheddar cheese]

They werent actually that good...most got shot down whilst still being transported by the G4M's.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I read somewhere that only one hit its target, a destroyer which was cut in two and sank in 10 minutes. Anyone got the specifics?

 

[Chocks away!]

NONE were shot down by aircraft while in flight! Don't underestimate them. At the speed they travelled at after launch, even AAA could rarely hit them .

 

[Chocks away!]

Amazing video. I was whaching with a look on my face

 

[plan_D]

They had to get launched first though, and they also had to reach the target. If only one hit the target, then they were hardly worth the effort. The IJN couldn't even defend the mother-ship, G4M.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but once they were launched they were impossible to stop.....

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Found this on the Okha's combat successes;

The Baka piloted glide bomb was carried to within 12 miles of the target by a medium bomber. It would glide towards the target then activate rockets (model 11) or jet engine (model 22) to dive into the target and explode its one ton warhead. The Baka was difficult to stop, but its mother plane was extremely vulnerable.

21Mar45. Japanese make first known operational use of Baka piloted bombs in unsuccessful air attack against TF-58.
12Apr45. Off Okinawa, destroyer Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) is sunk by Baka--she is the first U.S. Navy ship to be sunk by that type of weapon. Destroyer Stanly (DD-478) is damaged by Baka. High speed minesweeper Jeffers (DMS-27) is damaged by Baka and kamikaze.
4 May45. Light minelayer Shea (DM-30) is damaged by a Baka. Minesweeper Gayety (AM-239) is damaged by near-misses of kamikaze and Baka.
10May45 --In a crash program to counter the Japanese Baka (suicide) bomb, the Navy authorized development of Little Joe, a ship-to-air guided missile powered with a standard JATO unit.
11May45. Destroyer Hugh W. Hadley (DD-774) is damaged by Baka.

It seems the Mannert L. Abele was the only ship sunk by an Okha.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

More on the Mannert L. Abele:

Mannert L. Abele resumed radar picket duty 8 April, patrolling station No. 14 about 70 miles northwest of Okinawa, accompanied by two LSMRs. Midway through the afternoon watch on 12 April, Mannert L. Abele caught the full fury of the kamikazes. Three Vals attacked at 1346, but her lethal gunfire drove off two and set fire to the third which splashed after attempting to crash an LSMR. By 1400, between 15 and 25 additional planes "had come down from the North and the ship was completely surrounded." Except for one light bomber which challenged and was damaged by the destroyer's fire, the enemy kept outside her gun range for more than half an hour.

At about 1440 three Zekes broke orbit and closed to attack. Mannert L. Abele drove off one and splashed another about 4,000 yards out. Despite numerous hits from 5-inch bursts and antiaircraft fire, and spewing smoke and flame, the third kamikaze crashed the starboard side and penetrated the after engineroom where it exploded.

Immediately, Mannert L. Abele began to lose headway. The downward force of the blast, which had wiped out the after engineering spaces, broke the destroyer's keel abaft No. 2 stack. The bridge lost control and all guns and directors lost power.

A minute later, at about 1446, Mannert L. Abele took a second and fatal hit from a baka bomb a piloted, rocket powered, glider bomb that struck the starboard waterline abreast the forward fireroom. Its 2.600 pound warhead exploded, buckling the ship, and "cutting out all power lights, and communications."

Almost immediately, Mannert L. Abele broke in two. her midship section obliterated. Her bow and stern sections sunk rapidly. As survivors clustered in the churning waters enemy planes bombed and strafed them. However LSMR-189 and LSMR-I90, praised by Comdr. Parker as "worth their weight in gold as support vessels," splashed two of the remaining attackers, repulsed further attacks, and rescued the survivors

 

[otftch]

The G4M2b carried the ohka under its belly.The bomb bay doors were removed so it could clear the ground.
Ed