Type 3 Chi-Nu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Type 3 Chi-Nu (三式中戦車 San-shiki chusensha) was another improvement over the Type 97 Chi-Ha line of medium tanks of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. The Type 3 Chi-Nu mounted one Type 3 75 mm Tank Gun, one of the largest guns ever to be fitted on a Japanese tank.
Contents |
[edit] History and development
Type 3 medium tank Chi-Nu was developed to cope with the American M4 Sherman [1] after it was clear that the Type 1 Chi-He design was still inadequate. The Army Technical Bureau had been working on the Type 4 Chi-To medium tank as the counter to the M4 Sherman, but there were problems and delays in the program, and as a result a stopgap tank was required. Development on the Type 3 Chi-Nu started in May 1943 and was finished by October, just six months later. The low priority given to tank production by 1943 meant that the Type 3 did not enter actually enter production until 1944, by which time raw materials were in very short supply, and much of Japan's industrial infrastructure had been destroyed by American bombing.
A total of 166 units were produced (55 units in 1944, 111 units in 1945). The Type 3 Chi-Nu was the last tank that was fielded by the Imperial Japanese armed forces, and was still being produced at the end of the war. [2]
[edit] Design
The Type 3 Chi-Nu retained the same chassis and suspension of the Type 97 but in a large new hexagonal gun turret.
The main armament of the Type 3 Chi-Nu was the Type 3 75 mm Tank Gun with caliber of 75 mm, barrel length of 2.883 meters (L38.4). The gun could be elevated between -10 and +25 degrees. It had a muzzle velocity of 680 meters per second and an armor penetration of 90 millimeters at a range of 100 meters and 65 millimeters at a range of 1,000 meters. This gun was based on the Japanese Type 90 field gun which in turn was based on the French 1919 75 mm Schneider Mountain gun. [3]
[edit] Combat record
The Type 3 was allocated to the Japanese home islands to defend against the projected Allied Invasion. At least 6 tank regiments were equipped with Type 3 Chi-Nu tanks on Kyūshū and Honshū, including the IJA 1st Armored Division and IJA 4th Armored Division based around Tokyo. As the surrender of Japan occurred before that invasion, the Type 3 was never used in combat. [2]
A survivor is kept on display at the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Military Ordnance Training School at Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, Japan.
[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
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Type 3 Chi-Nu tank |
[edit] Notes
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
