Some more vehicle-related questions

[Akira Takizawa]

The official designation of Type 97 Chi-Ha with the new turret is also Type 97 Medium Tank Chi-Ha. KAI(improved) was named by a scholar of Japanese tanks after WWII. Shinhoto is the name which was used in Mitsubishi. So, there are no IJA official documents that call it as Type 97 Chi-Ha KAI, Type 97 Chi-Ha KAI Shinhoto or Type 97 Chi-Ha Shinhoto.

Taki

[tom!]

Hi.

Today a special request:

1. Is there a list of the sizes and weights of the Type 97 Chi-Ha suspension parts (Roadwheels, idle wheel springs etc.) ?

2. Were there any post-war vehicles using the suspension and/or their parts (no war relicts or remodelings , new designs) or was the system just abandoned?

Yours

tom!

[Akira Takizawa]

1. Is there a list of the sizes and weights of the Type 97 Chi-Ha suspension parts (Roadwheels, idle wheel springs etc.) ?

Diameters of Chi-Ha wheels
Sprocket wheel - 623.35mm
Idle wheel - 600mm
Road roller - 580mm

Length of Chi-Ha springs

Springs.jpg

2. Were there any post-war vehicles using the suspension and/or their parts (no war relicts or remodelings , new designs) or was the system just abandoned?

After WWII, the torsion bar suspension was introduced to Japanese AFVs. The spring suspension before WWII was abandoned.

Taki

[DCRFAN]

ChristopherPerrien,

You are right. Bulldozer is more effective. But, in those days, there was no bulldozer in Japan. And IJA required some special specifications for military purpose like protection armor, navigation device etc. So, such a vehicle like that was developed.

Taki

Thanks Taki. Now I am confused more : Because it is stuck in my brain from too many sources; US forces used Japanese "Bull-dozers", to finish Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in 1942 , . There are pictures of that Holt tractor; I just don't recall if it had a blade on the front, I think it did.

Japanese (rice + Ice plant +bull-dozers) + X = US victory Guadalcanal

Such is American History 101

Chris

Heres it the info on the Japanese equipment captured at what was to become Henderson field.

Again, however, the Marines gained from the Japanese failure to destroy their equipment before fleeing into the jungle. Already the U.S. forces were indebted to the enemy for part of their daily two meals, and now they would finish the airfield largely through the use of enemy tools. This equipment included nine road rollers (only six of which would work), two gas locomotives with hopper cars on a narrow-gauge railroad, six small generators (two were damaged beyond repair), one winch with a gasoline engine, about 50 hand carts for dirt, some 75 hand shovels. and 280 pieces of explosives.
In spite of this unintentional assistance from the Japanese, the Marine engineers did not waste any affection on the previous owners of the equipment. The machinery evidently had been used continuously for some time with no thought of maintenance. Keeping it running proved almost as big a job as finishing the airfield, and one of the tasks had to be done practically by hand, anyway. The Japanese had started at each end of the airstrip to work toward the middle, and the landing had interrupted these efforts some 180 to 200 feet short of a meeting. Assisted by a few trucks and the narrow gauge hopper cars (which had to be loaded by hand), engineers, pioneers, and others who could be spared moved some 100,000 cubic feet of fill and spread it on this low spot at midfield. A steel girder the Japanese had intended to use in a hangar served as a drag, and a Japanese road roller flattened and packed the fill after it had been spread. (http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/I/USMC-I-VI-4.html)"

[ChristopherPerrien]

TY for the info DCRFAN, I am pretty much retired from the forum and haven't posted much in the past few years.

[tom!]

Hi.

This time I need an identification:

unknown.png

Sadly I just have this blurry picture. Seems to be Type 1 Medium Tank-related:

- long frontal mudguard
- heightened engine compartment
- shape ot the armor superstructure

Yours

tom

[tom!]

Hi.

A drawing I stumbled upon lately:

unknown Chi-He type.jpg

Looks a little bit like a Typ 1 Chi-He with a 57 mm main gun and an additional periscope instead of the commanders cupola and an additional storage or tank in the rear. The source described it an experimental observation tank named Ka-So. Looks somewhat similar to the blurry pic above, especially the rear part of the vehicle.

Any thoughts or maybe additional infos about the vehicle in the drawing?

Yours

tom!

[Akira Takizawa]

Observation Tank Ka-So

Weight : 15.0 ton
Dimensions: 6.0 x 2.3 x 2.4(h) m
Armor (max) : 50 mm
Armaments : Type 97 7.7 mm x 2 (main gun is dummy)
Equipments : Large Periscope, Type 98 Range Finder, Odograph, Vehicle Radio Otsu, Vehicle Radio Hei

Taki

[tom!]

Hi.

Thx for the Infos, again...



Recently I sumbed upon some pictures around the topic "Type 95 Armored Railway Car So-Ki" and So I have some more questions:

jap unbekannter Eisenbahnpanzerwagen2.jpg

locally made or official trials?

jap unbekannter Eisenbahnpanzerwagen.jpg

Experimental Railway Car RSW prototype?

jap typ 95 So-Ki Prototyp hm.jpg

Type 95 So-Ki prototype?

The pics are from the book "開発史 九五式装甲軌道車". Sadly I can´t really read the captions..... Any further Infos are also welcome.

Yours

tom!

[Akira Takizawa]

> locally made or official trials?

It is railroad repair vehicle used in Manchuria. Probably, it was locally made in Manchuria.

> Experimental Railway Car RSW prototype?

It is supposed as Sperry Railroad Armored Car. Sperry Railroad Armored Car was imported from US and used in Siberia during WWI.

> Type 95 So-Ki prototype?

Yes

Taki