During the later stages of World War 2 (1939-1945), the United States Navy (USN) began an active search for a new long-ranged maritime patrol bomber to succeed an aging fleet of Consolidated PB4Y "Privateer" aircraft in same role. Two potential candidates emerged from the competing firms of the Glenn L. Martin Company (Martin) and Lockheed and these became the P4M "Mercator" and P2V "Neptune", respectively. In the end, however, the latter was selected for serial production and frontline service while the P4M was taken only into limited service to satisfy a long-ranged electronic reconnaissance role for the USN - this resulted in just nineteen aircraft being built.
The aircraft that would become the "Mercator" was known in-house as the "Model 219" and work began as soon as 1944 on the type (World War 2 ended in 1945). In its prototype form the aircraft recorded a first-flight on October 20th, 1946 and flew with 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-4360-4 "Wasp Major" air-cooled radial piston engines providing necessary power and performance to go along with the range required of maritime types (often operating over swathes of uninhabited, landless terrain).
At this stage during the "age of the jet engine", it proved somewhat common for American warplanes to feature a "combination" propulsion scheme so 2 x Allison J33 series turbojets were added to augment performance for the aircraft - either to reduce the runway take-off length required or escape from pursuing enemy interceptors. The jet systems relied on the same fuel as the prop-driven radials so only a common fuel supply was necessary.
Standard installed armament became 2 x 20mm autocannons in the nose, an additional 2 x 20mm autocannons at the tail, and 2 x 0.50 caliber Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) in a dorsal turret. In this fashion, the aircraft would defend itself from most any position an enemy was approaching from (save the underside). The optional bomb load could be made up of conventional drop bombs, naval mines, depth charges, or torpedoes up to a 12,000lb total war load.
The aircraft was given a very slim top-down profile, its fuselage glazed at both nose and tail. The cockpit was seated aft and above the nose section as in a typical "stepped" arrangement so this elevated position could improve pilot vision over the aircraft and towards each engine. The engines were underslung at each mainplane, extending noticeably forward from the leading edges. The bomb bay buried within the fuselage was equal in length to the engines. Instead of fitting the main landing gear into the engines, the legs were positioned outboard of the nacelles and recessed into the wings (folding outwards from centerline). The nosewheel was positioned under the mass of the nose section to complete the tricycle arrangement needed for ground-running. The tail unit incorporated an elegantly-shaped single rudder fin with low-mounted, upward-canted horizontal planes. The wing mainplanes were situated directly at midships and were slim in their own right, tapering from centerline to wing tip along both the leading and trailing edges.
As finalized, the P4M-1 would go one to carry a complete crew of nine and, structurally, it had an overall length of 85.1 feet, a wingspan of 114 feet and a height of 26 feet. Empty weight was 48,535lb with a Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) of 88,380 feet. Power was from 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" air-cooled radial piston engines of 3,250 horsepower each and these were aided by 2 x Allison J33-A-23 turbojet engines of 4,600 thrust each. Performance included a maximum speed of 410 miles-per-hour, a range out to 2,850 miles, and a service ceiling up to 35,000 feet. The aircraft was fitted with the AN/APS-33 search radar.
Even as Lockheed's Neptune design went on to win the original USN requirement, the value of the Mercator was not overlooked by authorities as a mine-laying platform so a production order for the design followed in 1947 leading to service entry in 1950. As soon as 1951, the fleet was converted for the SIGINT role and operated under the aforementioned P4M-1Q designation - these flew with additional mission support equipment and more crewmembers for the revised role.
In this guise, Mercators undertook daring, often dangerous, spying missions around communist territories near the likes of the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, and Vietnam. On August 22nd, 1956, a Mercator was shot down by Chinese interceptors, killing all aboard, and another such incident followed with the Soviet Union over Mediterranean waters after the Mercator was caught near Ukraine. Similarly, North Korean interceptors met a Mercator with gunfire though the American warplane managed to survive the encounter and limp home.
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(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
✓Ground Attack (Bombing, Strafing)
Ability to conduct aerial bombing of ground targets by way of (but not limited to) guns, bombs, missiles, rockets, and the like.
✓Maritime / Navy
Land-based or shipborne capability for operating over-water in various maritime-related roles while supported by allied naval surface elements.
✓Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR), Scout
Surveil ground targets / target areas to assess environmental threat levels, enemy strength, or enemy movement.
Length
85.3 ft (26.00 m)
Width/Span
114.8 ft (35.00 m)
Height
26.2 ft (8.00 m)
Empty Wgt
48,535 lb (22,015 kg)
MTOW
88,405 lb (40,100 kg)
Wgt Diff
+39,871 lb (+18,085 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Martin P4M Mercator production variant)
Installed:
2 x Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" air-cooled radial piston engines developing 3,250 horsepower; 2 x Allison J33-A-23 turbojet engines developing 4,600lb of thrust each.
(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Martin P4M Mercator production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)
STANDARD:
2 x 20mm automatic cannons in nose turret.
2 x 20mm automatic cannons in tail turret.
2 x 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) heavy machine guns in dorsal turret.
OPTIONAL:
Up to 12,000lb of conventional drop stores including bombs, torpedoes, depth charges and naval mines.
Supported Types
(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
Hardpoint Mountings: 0
P4M "Mercator" - Base Series Designation
XP4M-1 - Prototype aircraft with 2 x R-4360-4 series engines fitted; two examples completed.
P4M-1 - Production-quality aircraft; fitted with 2 x R-4360-20A series engines; 19 examples completed.
P4M-1Q - Radar CounterMeasures (CM) conversion model; based on existing P4M-1 framework.
General Assessment
Firepower
Performance
Survivability
Versatility
Impact
Values are derrived from a variety of categories related to the design, overall function, and historical influence of this aircraft in aviation history.
Overall Rating
The overall rating takes into account over 60 individual factors related to this aircraft entry.
78
Rating is out of a possible 100 points.
Relative Maximum Speed
Hi: 500mph
Lo: 250mph
This entry's maximum listed speed (410mph).
Graph average of 375 miles-per-hour.
City-to-City Ranges
NYC
LON
LON
PAR
PAR
BER
BER
MOS
MOS
TOK
TOK
SYD
SYD
LAX
LAX
NYC
Martin P4M Mercator operational range when compared to distances between major cities (in KM).
Max Altitude Visualization
Design Balance
The three qualities reflected above are altitude, speed, and range.
Aviation Era Span
Showcasing era cross-over of this aircraft design.
Unit Production (21)
21
36183
44000
Compared against Ilyushin IL-2 (military) and Cessna 172 (civilian).
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Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.
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