Type 5 75 mm tank gun

Type 5 75 mm tank gun Mark I

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

Type 4 Chi-To medium tank with the Type 5 75 mm tank gun

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.[6][7]

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][8]

Incomplete prototype of the Type 5 Chi-Ri

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 used a lengthened version of the Type 4 Chi-To chassis and had thicker sloped welded armor. Only one incomplete prototype was produced by the end of the war.[2][9]

Notes

References

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