Type 2 Ho-I
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| Type 2 Ho-I | |
|---|---|
 Type 2 Ho-I gun tank |
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| Place of origin |  Empire of Japan |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 16.1 tons |
| Length | 5.73 meters |
| Width | 2.33 meters |
| Height | 2.58 meters |
| Crew | 5 |
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| Armor | 12-50 mm |
| Primary armament |
75 mm Type 99 Gun |
| Secondary armament |
1 x 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun |
| Engine | Mitsubishi Type 100 air cooled V-12 diesel 240 hp (179 kW) |
| Suspension | Bell crank |
| Operational range |
100 kilometers |
| Speed | 44 km/h |
The Type 2 Ho-I (二式砲戦車 Ni-shiki hōsensha) Infantry Support Tank was an improvement over the Type 1 Chi-He medium tanks of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. It was designed less than a tank, and more of a self-propelled howitzer or tank destroyer for the close fire support role to provide Type 97 Chi-Ha equipped Japanese tank regiments with additional firepower against enemy armored fighting vehicles. [1]
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[edit] History and development
Design work on the Type 2 Ho-I began in 1937, after experience in Manchukuo taught Army planners that an armored vehicle with a larger weapon would be useful. The Army began work on mounting a Type 41 75 mm Mountain Gun onto the chassis of the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank. In April 1941, the choice of the main gun was changed to the Type 99 75 mm tank gun. By 1942, with the start of World War II, the Japanese army began to encouter the Allied, the M4 Sherman or the M3 Stuart tanks, for which it had nothing comparable. The design parameters on the Type 2 were changed to give it more of a tank destroyer role, with its 75mm gun equipped with armor-piercing shells.[2]
[edit] Design
The main armaments of the Type 2 Ho-I was a Type 99 75mm tank gun, and secondary armament was a single 7.7 mm Type 97 Light Machine Gun. The short barreled 75 mm Type 99 Gun was mounted in a fully rotating two-man gun turret.
The Type 2 Ho-I utilized the chassis of the Type 1 Chi-He, which was itself a modified Type 97 Chi-Ha.
[edit] Combat record
Production was hampered by material shortages, and by the bombing of Japan in World War II. All thirty existing Type 2 Ho-Is were converions from existing Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks. The Tokyo factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was unable to retool for mass production by the end of 1944, when the program was cancelled.
These units was allocated to the Japanese home islands to defend against the projected Allied Invasion. As the surrender of Japan occurred before that invasion, the Type 2 Ho-I never saw combat. [1]
[edit] References
- Foss, Christopher (2003). Great Book of Tanks: The World's Most Important Tanks from World War I to the Present Day. Zenith Press. ISBN 0760314756.
- Foss, Christopher (2003). Tanks: The 500. Crestline. ISBN 0760315000.
- Zaloga, Steven J. (2007). Japanese Tanks 1939-45. Osprey. ISBN 1-84603-091-8.
[edit] External links
- WWII vehicles
- Specifications at OnWar
- History of War.org
- Taki's Imperial Japanese Army page
- WWII drawings
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_type_2_ho_i.html History of War
- ^ Zaloga, Japanese Tanks 1939-45
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