An illustrated study of the land-based Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force (IJNAF) long-range twin-engined bomber and its fight against the US Navy for domination of the Pacific theater.
Developed as a means of compensating for the modest number of warships Japan was permitted to build under the strictures of interwar naval limitations treaties, the land-based attack bomber was the IJNAF’s response. Mitsubishi’s G3M "Nell" and G4M "Betty" demonstrated their effectiveness in this role during the first week of the Pacific War by sinking the Royal Navy battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse. Yet their main opponent proved to be the US Navy, in large part due to its greater numeric presence in the waters over which Japan fought.
In this eventful volume, Pacific War specialist Mark Lardas examines how the IJNAF employed its twin-engined bombers against US Navy warships in a series of engagements from 1942–44, and details how the Americans responded to these low-level, frequently nocturnal, attacks. Newly commissioned artwork, maps and tactical diagrams combine with specially selected photographs to bring to life clashes from during the Battle of Makassar Strait, the Battle of Rennell Island, and other key events, vividly demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of both sets of combatants, aircraft, and warships.