Imperial Japanese Navy Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” Type 97 carrier bomber’s bombing computer.
This was standard equipment in the cockpit of the Nakajima B5N2 ‘Kate’
carrier attack bomber. This may be one of the few surviving examples of
this piece of equipment. Complete and functional, this Type 97 computer
uses a Seikosha timer to calculate the dropping of up to six bombs at
one of three pre-set intervals. The aircraft commander also served as
the bombardier in the B5N and set in the middle of the pilot and rear
gunner/radio operator. Time to target would be calculated using an
optical sight, then the computer set to run and drop the bombs upon the
commander’s flip of a switch on this box – designed to be swiped with a
gloved hand. The timer started and the computer-controlled the dropping
of the bombs.