Type 5 75 mm Tank Gun
The Type 5 75 mm Tank Gun was used as the main armament of the Imperial Japanese Army Type 4 Chi-To prototype medium tank. It was one of the largest tank guns to be fitted on a World War II Japanese tank.[1][2] Due to late war shortage-induced delays only two were ever mounted in a completed Type 4 Chi-To, neither of which saw combat.[2]
Use
The Type 5 75 mm Tank Gun was intended as the main armament of the Type 4 Chi-To medium tank, a planned improvement over the Imperial Army's most powerful production tank, the Type 3 Chi-Nu.[3] The first prototype Type 4 Chi-To was delivered in 1944. Though the most advanced and powerful Japanese tank to leave the drawing board, late war industrial and material shortages resulted in only two being completed.[2]
The Type 4 Chi-To was manned by a crew of five[2] and fielded the long-barreled 75 mm L/56.4 (4.23 m) gun. A variant of the Japanese 1943 Type 4 75mm AA Gun,[4][5] it was mounted in a large, hexagonal turret and capable of being elevated between -6.5 to +20 degrees. Its 850 metres per second (2,800 ft/s) muzzle velocity gave it an armor penetration of 75 millimeters at 1,000 meters.
Intended Type 4 Chi-To production was 25 tanks per month spread over two Mitsubishi Heavy Industries factories. Late war shortage-induced delays resulted in only 6 chassis being built by 1945 and just two of which were completed. Neither completed tanks saw any combat prior to the end of the war in the Pacific.[2][6]
The Type 5 Tank gun was also fitted into the Type 5 Chi-Ri prototype medium tank as its main gun.[2] However, eventually an 88 mm gun (based on the Type 99 88 mm AA Gun) was planned for its turret.[2] The Type 5 Chi-Ri had a lengthened version of the Type 4 Chi-To chassis with thicker sloped welded armor. Only one incomplete prototype was produced by the end of the war.[2][7]
Notes
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- Taki's Imperial Japanese Army Page
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- ↑ Tomczyk 2005, pp. 18-22, 30.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Zaloga 2007, p. 22.
- ↑ Tomczyk 2005, pp. 3, 5.
- ↑ Taki's Imperial Japanese Army: "Tank Guns"
- ↑ Tomczyk 2005, pp. 19, 22, 30.
- ↑ Tomczyk 2005, pp. 19, 22.
- ↑ Tomczyk 2005, p. 30.
