Yokosuka D4Y
| D4Y | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Yokosuka D4Y3 Model 33 "Suisei" in flight | |
| Role | Dive bomber |
| Manufacturer | Yokosuka |
| First flight | December 1940 |
| Introduction | 1942 |
| Retired | 1945 |
| Primary user | Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service |
| Produced | 1942–1945 |
| Number built | 2,038 |
The Yokosuka (横須賀?) D4Y Suisei (彗星 "Comet"?) Navy Carrier Dive bomber was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Its Allied reporting name was "Judy". The D4Y was one of the fastest dive-bombers of the war and only the delays in its development hindered its service while its predecessor, the slower fixed-gear Aichi D3A, remained in service much longer than intended. Despite limited use, the speed and the range of the D4Y were nevertheless valuable, and the type was used with success as reconnaissance aircraft as well as for kamikaze missions.
Development of the aircraft began in 1938 at the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal as a carrier-based dive bomber to replace the Aichi D3A. The aircraft was a single-engine, all-metal low-wing monoplane, with a wide-track retractable undercarriage and wing-mounted dive brakes. It had a crew of two: a pilot and a navigator/radio-operator/gunner, seated under a long, glazed canopy which provided good all-round visibility. The pilot of bomber versions was provided with a telescopic bombsight. The aircraft was powered by an Aichi Atsuta liquid-cooled inverted V12 engine, a licensed copy of the German DB 601, rated at 895 kW (1,200 hp). The radiator was behind and below the three-blade propeller, as in the P-40 Warhawk.
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