Type 95 Ha-Go light tank


The Type 95 Ha-Gō was a light tank used by the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. It proved sufficient against infantry but was not effective against other tanks. Approximately 2,300 were produced, making it the most numerous Japanese armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War.

History and development

From early 1930s, the Japanese army began experimenting with a mechanized warfare unit combining infantry with tanks. However, the Type 89 Medium tank could not keep pace with the motorized infantry, which could move at by truck. For transport, tanks could be loaded on train platforms like in any other army of the time. To solve this problem, Tomio Hara of the Army Technical Bureau proposed a new light tank capable of 40 km/h speed and started development in 1933.
The prototype of the tank was begun in 1933 and completed in June 1934 at the Army's Sagami Arsenal. Initial tests were positive, but it was too heavy at and was reworked to bring the weight down to. Due to doubts by the infantry as to its capability for infantry support it was tested in Manchuria in the winter of 1934–1935. The reports were favourable and a second prototype built, which was started in June and completed in November 1935.
In 1935, at a meeting in the Army Technical Bureau, the Type 95 was proposed as the main tank for mechanized infantry units. The infantry had concerns that the armor was insufficient but the cavalry indicated that the improved speed and armament compensated for thin armor. The infantry eventually agreed, as the Type 95 was still superior to the alternatives of the Type 92 cavalry tank and Type 94 tankette.
The name Type 95 was based on the year since the beginning of the Empire that the tank was produced ; with only the last two digits of the year being used. Sometimes a surname was used to supplement or replace the naming ideograms used for Japanese armored fighting vehicles. The Type 95 had the surname "Ha-Go" that was given by the designer of the tank, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries started production of the tank in 1936. Mass production began in 1938 with the tank and parts made by several companies; besides Mitsubishi, that included, Niigata Tekkoshō, Dowa Jido Shō, Sagami Arsenal, and Kokura Rikugun Jiohei Shō, as the main contributors.

Design

The Type 95 was a 7.4-ton vehicle with a complement of 3 crewmen: a commander, a hull machine gunner, and a driver. Only the commander was seated in the turret, hence he was responsible for observation, loading, aiming, firing the main gun, as well as decision-making and commanding the crew. The hand-operated turret was small and extremely cramped.
The primary armament of the most produced version was a Type 94 37 mm tank gun with a barrel length of 46.1 calibers. It elevated between −15 and +20 degrees. The tank carried two types of 37 mm ammunition, the high-explosive and armor-piercing. For the latter, muzzle velocity was and armor penetration was at a distance of.
Secondary armament was originally two 6.5 mm Type 91 machine guns, but these were replaced with two 7.7 mm Type 97 light machine guns, one mounted in the hull front and the other in the back of the turret, facing to the rear right.
The most characteristic feature of the Type 95 tank was its simple suspension system. Army officer Tomio Hara designed the bell crank scissors system. This suspension system became standard on the majority of the subsequently designed Japanese tanks. For the Type 95, two paired bogie wheels per side were suspended on a single bell crank and connected to a coil spring mounted horizontally outside the hull. The tracks were driven through the front sprockets. There were two return wheels. The suspension had troubles early on, with a tendency to pitch on rough ground, and so it was modified with a brace to connect the pairs of bogies. Despite this, the tank continued to give its users a rough ride across any uneven ground. It was provided with an interior layer of asbestos padding separated from the hull with an air gap, to isolate the crew from the sun-heated armor plates, and to protect the crew from injury when the tank moved across rough terrain.
The Type 95 was fitted with a 120 hp Mitsubishi A6120VDe air-cooled 6-cylinder diesel engine. It was located in the rear compartment on the right side. The power unit gave it good mobility. Some tanks were fitted with two reflectors in the front of the vehicle for night operations.

Variants

  • Type 95 Ha-Go
  • Type 95 Ha-Go
  • Type 95 Ha-Go
  • Type 95 Ri-Ki crane vehicle
  • Type 95 So-Ki armored railroad car
  • Type 2 Ka-Mi amphibious tank
  • Type 3 Ke-Ri prototype
  • Type 4 Ke-Nu conversion
  • Type 4 Ho-To prototype
  • '''Type 5 Ho-Ru prototype'''

    Combat history

The tank was considered one of the best of its type in 1935, being armed with a 37 mm cannon, and powered by a diesel engine, a fuel considered by some to be superior due to its low volatility. As with most armies in the 1930s the tank, and the light tank in particular, were used primarily to support infantry or serve as cavalry reconnaissance and to a lesser extent, as raiding vehicles. Its speed was about cross country, which was comparable to the M3 Stuart's nearly six years later in 1941. In armor, road speed, and weaponry, the Type 95 was far inferior to the American M3 Stuart light tanks, but the environment of the Philippines largely minimized these disadvantages and allowed the Type 95 to be competitive, as its off-road speed and turret rotation were comparable.
Type 95 proved sufficient against opposing infantry in campaigns in Manchuria and China, as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions consisting of Vickers export tanks, German PzKpfw I light tanks, and Italian CV33 tankettes to oppose them. However, the Type 95, like the US M3 Stuart, was not designed to fight other tanks, but for infantry support. Due to the IJN's priority in receiving new technology and steel for warship construction, tanks for the IJA and the IJN's SNLF detachments were relegated to receiving what was left. By 1942, Japanese armor remained largely the same as it did in the 1930s, and new tank development was "stymied".

Khalkhin Gol (Nomonhan) 1939

Under the mistaken belief that the Red Army was retreating from the area of the Khalkhyn Gol river, the IJA command in Manchuria transferred the 1st Tank Corps, under the command of Lt. Gen. Yasuoka Masaomi to the village of Nomonhan to cut off the retreating Soviets at Khalkhyn Gol. After a two-day journey by rail, the 1st Tank Corps began unloading its 3rd Tank Regiment and 4th Tank Regiment from their trains at Arshaan in Manchuria on 22 June 1939. While the 3rd Tank Regiment was composed primarily of the nearly decade-old Type 89 medium tanks, the 4th Tank Regiment, commanded by 48-year-old Col. Tamada Yoshio, consisted of 35 Type 95 light tanks, eight Type 89s, and three Type 94 tankettes.
From the beginning of Soviet General Zhukov's assumption of command at Nomonhan in June 1939, he had deployed his BT-5 and BT-7 light tanks and incorporated them into all of his combined artillery, infantry and armor attacks. Although in the same light tank category as the Type 95, also with three-man crews, and similar dimensions, the BT tanks were nearly twice as heavy, at 13.8 tons but were highly susceptible to close-quarter teams using fire bombs ; that was primarily due to their gasoline engines. This being so, Japanese tank crews held a generally low opinion of the Soviet Red Army tanks, but the BT tank's 45 mm gun was a different matter. With a velocity of over, Soviet tanks could penetrate the Japanese tanks at a range of over ; as one Type 95 tank officer put it, "...no sooner did we see the flash, than there would be a hole in our tank! And the Soviets were good shots too!"
On 2 July 1939, at approximately 6:10 pm, Col. Tamada's 4th Tank Regiment of more mobile Type 95 tanks took the lead in front of the medium tanks of the 3rd Tank Regiment, as the 1st Tank Corps launched its first offensive against the Soviet forces at Khalkhin Gol. While the 3rd Tank Regiment passed through Soviet artillery fire, becoming decisively engaged by about 20:00 pm during their movement forward, the 4th Tank Regiment, while avoiding Soviet artillery barrages had advanced in a southeast direction instead of due south, engaging Soviet forces southwest of Uzuru pond. Observing a Soviet artillery battery between himself and his objective, a "junction", Tamada ordered an attack in the darkness. At about 11:00 pm, the 4th Tank moved towards their objective with about between tanks and between companies and platoons. Just after midnight, a thunderstorm struck, conveniently exposing the Soviet positions while at the same time masking the advancing 4th Tank Regiment. While at close range, the lightning storm suddenly illuminated the advancing Type 95s, and the Soviet defense line immediately opened fire with heavy machine guns, artillery, BT-7 light tanks, and anti-tank guns. However, since the range was so close, the Soviet artillery could not depress their barrels low enough to hit the tanks, and their shells flew wildly over the advancing tanks. At about 12:20 am Tamada ordered the 4th Tank Regiment to "charge", and by 02:00 am his light tanks had penetrated over through Soviet lines and knocked out 12 artillery guns.
Japanese losses consisted of one Type 95 light tank, one officer and one enlisted man killed and eight wounded; the 4th Tank had expended approximately 1,100 37 mm and 129 57 mm tank shells, and 16,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition. After the action, the Soviet command acknowledged that 1st Tank Corps armor had reached the Soviet guns.