The japanese type 97 medium tank and his variants

Hi.

The japanese type 97 medium tank and his variants.


In 1935 the Independent Mixed Brigade required a new medium tank to replace th slow type 89 medium tank. The type 95 light tank was found useful but he was not able to act as a main battle tank. Main armament should be a 57 mm gun. The Chief-of-Staff Operations saw no real necessity for such a vehicle as no war was in sight and the etat of the War Department could only provide only small amounts of money for new equipment.

In late 1935 th Engineering department suggested the development of a new standardized suspension for future tracked vehicles. Two pairs of bogies were sprung horizontally for a very good ground performance.





To test this new suspension Osaka Army Arsenal developed a small 3 men tank with a weight of 10 t and an armour of 20 mm. Mitsubishi developed a 4 men tank with a weight of 13,5 t and an armour of 25 mm parallel. Both tanks used sloped armour which was welded wherever possible.
In 1936 new specifications were given to both developers. The maximum armour should have a thickness of 25 mm and the speed should be 30 km/h or more. In 1937 both prototypes were ready for trials.

Osaka Arm Arsenal built a vehicle with a weigt of 9,8 t, a one-man-turret and a maximum speed of 30 km/h with his 135 HP aircooled diesel engine. The turret was placed in the left behind the driver to maximise the room in the fighting compartment for the hull gunner/technician. With a tail extension a trench crossing ability of 1500 mm was reached. the total length was 5260 mm. The tank was named type 97 medium tank Chi-Ni (from Chiu Ni = fourth medium model).





The mitsubishi prototype had a 4 men crew with a 2 men turret, installed on the right behind the driver. A machine gun was installed in the rear of the turret, another one in the hull. The tank was named type 97 medium tank Chi-Ha



Both vehicles had a large turret ring for future upgunning. Trials showed that both prototypes matched the requirements. The Osaka model was cheaper and so the Army High Command prefered these type. The decision was almost made when on July 7, 1937 the Sino-Japanese War started. This meant the end to all budget problems and the Mitsubishi model with its higher speed and the 4 men crew was adopted. The Chi-Ni was scraped although he would have been a very good light tank with a larger gun than the type 95.

Before the type 97 was standardized some inprovements were made. The wheels were upgraded with rubber rings, a panoramic optical device for the commmander and a reflection sight for the gunner were added and a wireless communication set was installed. The antenna for the wireless communication was installed arround the turret top.



The abbrevation Chi-Ha (from Chiu Ha = third medium model) was added to the tanks name.

The type 97 medium tank Chi-ha was the main battle tank of the japanese Army during the war. Used with the type 97 57 mm tank gun he was a good tank for infantry support but limited in the use against tanks. Until 1945 the suspension was superior to all other tank suspensions for tanks of this weight. A total of 2208 Chi-ha were built.



Data:

Built by:
Mitsubishi

- Weight:
15 t

crew:
4 men

armour:
superstructure: frontal 25 mm, sides 22 mm, back 22 mm, top 11 mm, floor 8 mm
turret: frontal 25 mm, sides/back 25 mm


lenght:
5520 mm

width:
2330 mm

height:
2230 mm

track ground contact:
3708 mm

track width:
305 mm

ground clearance:
400 mm

fording:
1000 mm

trench crossing:
2500 mm

gradient:
34°

engine:
Mitsubishi type 97 6-cylinder diesel

Power:
170 HP at 2000 rpm

speed on road:
38 km/h

range:
210 km

power/weight ratio:
11 HP/t

armament turret:
1 X type 97 tank gun
1 X 7,7 mm mg type 97

hull armament:
1 X 7,7 mm mg type 97


The Normonhan-Incident (small town in northern Manchuria) in early 1939 was a major defeat for the japanese Kwantung Army. The type 95 light tanks and type 97 medium tanks inflicted heavy losses on the soviet infantry but were no match for the BT 7 and T 26 tanks. Main problems were the thin armour and the weak ap-abilities of the 37 mm and 57 mm tank guns. The first point wasn´t of interest for the japanese High Command as it was a honour to die for the emperor. The focus was laid on the guns. Before the peace treaty with the Soviet Union was signed the development for a new anti tank gun was initialised. This gun should also be usable as tank gun. Parallel to that a new 57 mm long barreled tank gun was developed. Newarmour piercing shells for all avaliable guns up to a caliber of 15 cm were also developed.

In 1940 the first trials were made with the new 47 mm and 57 mm tank guns. As both guns had equal ap abilities (The ap abilities were acceptable but for future tanks a 75 mm tank gun was found necessary) the 47 mm tank gun was introduced as type 1 47 mm tank gun in 1941 becaus the new anti tank gun used the same ammunition.

The new type 1 tank gun couldn´t be installed in the standart turret of a Chi-Ha and so an new 2 men turret was designed. Existing type 97 tanks were upgraded with this turret, new tanks were built with this turret. Until the wars end not all type 97 Chi-Ha could be upgraded. The tank was renamed as type 97 medium tank Shinhoto (= new turret) Chi-Ha.



The first Shinhoto Chi-Has were sent to the Philippines in May 1942 to face the US light M3 tanks. Trials showed that the frontal armour of the M3 could be penetrated at 1000 m.



The 47 mm gun was found insufficient against the Infantry tanks Mathilda II and the US medium M4 which could only be penetrated on close ranges from the sides or the back.

In 1941 a version was built with a additional frontal armour of 25 mm but no serial production was started.



Data:

Built by:
Mitsubishi

- Weight:
15,8 t

crew:
4 men

armour:
superstructure: frontal 25 mm, sides 22 mm, back 22 mm, top 11 mm, floor 8 mm
turret: frontal 30 mm, sides/back 25 mm


lenght:
5520 mm

width:
2330 mm

height:
2380 mm

track ground contact:
3708 mm

track width:
305 mm

ground clearance:
400 mm

fording:
1000 mm

trench crossing:
2500 mm

gradient:
34°

engine:
Mitsubishi type 97 6-cylinder diesel

Power:
170 HP at 2000 rpm

speed on road:
38 km/h

range:
210 km

power/weight ratio:
10,8 HP/t

armament turret:
1 X type 97 tank gun
1 X 7,7 mm mg type 97

hull armament:
1 X 7,7 mm mg type 97


The chassis of the type 97 Chi-Ha was used for a lot of other projects like self propelled guns (=> link) and special purpose vehicles.

In 1937 four tanks were rebuilt as high voltage dynamo vehicles named Ka-Ha. The turret armament and the hull mg were removed and wooden dummys were installed instead. A generator for 10.000 V AC was placed in the fighting compartment. The main purpose of this vehicle was to destroy telegraph and telephone equipmnet and personnel. Enemy´s telecommunication cables were conducted with the generator and the 10.000 V destroyed the attached telegraph equipment. The vehicles were used in China by the 27th Independent Engineer Regiment.





In the late thirties some vehicles were converted to armoured lumberjacks and wood removing vehicles. The turret was removed and the superstructure was hightened. A special nose was attached. By driving through the woods the nose felled the trees. the removing vehicle cleares the place after that. The vehicles were used by the 12th Independent Engineer Regiment in Manchuria in 1941 when a war with the Soviet Union was near. After signing the non aggression pact the vehicles were sent to New Guinea to clear the jungle for airstrip building.





Another vehicle based on type 97 was the armoured recovery vehicle Se-Ri. A small one man turret with a type 97 machine gun was installed. Further equipment was a 3 t crane and a winch. Only few vehicles were built and mainly used as recovery vehicle during test trials of new vehicles.





Another version was the command tank Shi-Ki. The tank gun was removed and a type 100, later type 1 37 mm tank gun was installed in the hull instead of the machine gun. Additional wireless equipment made a slightly higher fighting compartment necessary. Observation equipment was installed in the turret and two additional searchlights were also put on the turret. As the frontline commanders prefered standard Chi-Ha as command tanks only few were built and used in tank school units.





There were also some trials with type 97 tanks with increased armour used as mineclearing tanks with a Mine clearing device.





Some type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha were equipped with a modified turret and a short barreled 120 mm naval gun by the Imperial Japanese Navy for close support.





In 1945 some long barreled 120 mm guns were also mountet on Chi-Ha tanks with the superstructure cut off. The total numer of these conversions is unknown.





There were also some trials with a 20 mm aa-gun in a closed turret but the bad results of the gun against modern aircraft stopped further trials.



Yours

tom

edit:
I reorganised my picture database so the links are not working anymore, sorry

 

Excellent article tom!

Thank you very much indeed !

 

How reliable was the Type-97 series?

 

Hi.

The suspension was a little bit complex but showed a very good reliability compared to other tanks of that age.

Yours

tom!

 

Thats a nice article, I just started working on my article on the KV-2.
how do you get pictures in your post? I cant do it

 

It's been a while since someone asked! :lol:

See here:
http://www.fun-online.sk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1219

If you want the pictures to be in your text, use hyperlinked pictures. If you add them as attachments they will appear at the bottom of your post (in the reverse order you added them!).

 

it looks like a peice of crap just like the other japenese tanks

 

Every machine had it's purpose, Sherman.