TM 9-1985-4; Color markings of Japanese Navy Bombs

Japanese Explosive Ordnance – Bombs, Bomb Fuzes, Land Mines, Grenades, Firing Devices
and Sabotage Devices

Chapter 1 – Section 2

Japanese Navy Bombs

COLOR MARKINGS OF JAPANESE BOMBS

The following information is compiled from documents and from inspection of captured ordnance. In the table the nose, the body, and the tail strut color are listed. A combina-tion like "Gr/Br" indicates a nose tipped in green with an adjacent brown identifying band. Body bands are noted where present.

Bomb	Color markings		Additional information
Land	Gr Gy Gr Blue Band	Gr/Br Gy Gy	Used against land targets.
Ordinary	Gr Gy Gr	Gr/Br Gy Gy	Used against ships.
Mark 1		Gr/Yel Gy Yel	Chemical Bomb (gas).
Mark 2	Blue Gy Blue	Gr/Blue Gy Gy	Antisubmarine.
Mark 3	Silver Gy Silver	Gr/Silver Gy Red	Used air-to-air bombing.
Mark 4		Gr/Wh Gy Red	Rocket bomb. Dive bombing of capital ships.
Mark 5		Gr/wh Gy Gy	A.P. Bomb. Used against capital ships.
Mark 6		Gr/Red Gy Red	Incendiary.
Mark 7		Gr/Purple Gy Purple	Bacillus bomb.
Mark 8		Gr/Br Gy Gy	Antishipping "Skip" bomb.
Mark 19			Special bomb fired by fighters at bomber formations. Changed to Mk 28.
Mark 21		Gr/Br Gy Gy	Cluster of small bombs.
Mark 22			Cluster of "Spike" bombs. Obsolete.
Mark 23		Gr/Br Gy Gy	Time bomb.
Mark 24			Cluster of parachute bombs.
Mark 25			Cluster of "Wedge" Bombs.
Mark 26			Time bomb. Nose charge prevents penetration of remainder of bomb. Nor produced.
Mark 27		Gr/Sil Gy/Red	Phosphorus filled bomb. Rocket for use against bomber formations.
Mark 28		Gr/Br Silver Red	Rocket type bomb. 10 kg high ex- plosive.
Mark 31		Gy Gy Gy	Land targets. Use an influence fuze.
Dummy		Gr/Black Wh Wh	Used for training and release tests.
Practice	Gr Black Wh	Gr/Black Wh Wh	Used for training and practice.
Training		Black overall	Used for training in installing, loading, etc.
Smoke		Gr/Black, Gy Gy	Used for concealing ships.