Mitsubishi G4M1 “Betty” at Truk Lagoon (Chuuk)
In 1938 the Japanese Navy put out a specification for a new bomber. The result was the Mitsubishi G4M, nicknamed Betty by the Allies. This was the premier Japanese bomber of the Second World War with 2,479 being built.
The plane was powered by two 1,850hp Mitsubishi Kasei 22 14 cylinder two-row radial engines with a wing of 24.9 metres and a length of 19.6 metres. The plane was armed with one 7.7 mm gun in the nose, 20 mm guns in the tail and each beam window. It carried an internal bomb load of up to 1,000 kg or one external 800 kg torpedo. Maximum speed 455 km/h with a range of up to 5,000km
The dive
This wreck is fairly intact, save for her broken off nose and tail fin, and her engines, which lie forward of the wreckage, presumable the inertia of the crash forced them off their mountings. This is a great third dive and something slightly different. Lies in 14 metres of water and attracts nice shoaling fish.
