Type 2 Ho-I

Infobox Weapon
name=Type 2 Ho-I


caption=Type 2 Ho-I gun tank
is_vehicle=yes
origin= flag|Empire of Japan
length=5.73 meters
width=2.33 meters
height=2.58 meters
weight=16.1 tons
suspension=Bell crank
speed=44 km/hr
vehicle_range=100 kilometers
primary_armament=75 mm Type 99 Gun
secondary_armament=1 x 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun
armour=12-50 mm
engine=Mitsubishi Type 100 air cooled
V-12 diesel
engine_power=240 hp (179 kW)
pw_ratio=
crew=5

The nihongo|Type 2 Ho-I|二式砲戦車|Ni-shiki hōsensha Infantry Support Tank was an improvement over the Type 1 Chi-He medium tanks of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. It was designed less than a tank, and more of a self-propelled howitzer or tank destroyer for the close fire support role to provide Type 97 Chi-Ha equipped Japanese tank regiments with additional firepower against enemy armored fighting vehicles. [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_type_2_ho_i.html History of War ]

History and development

Design work on the Type 2 Ho-I began in 1937, after experience in Manchukuo taught Army planners that an armored vehicle with a larger weapon would be useful. The Army began work on mounting a Type 41 75 mm Mountain Gun onto the chassis of the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank. In April 1941, the choice of the main gun was changed to the Type 99 75 mm tank gun. By 1942, with the start of World War II, the Japanese army began to encouter the Allied, the M4 Sherman or the M3 Stuart tanks, for which it had nothing comparable. The design parameters on the Type 2 were changed to give it more of a tank destroyer role, with its 75mm gun equipped with armor-piercing shells. [Zaloga, Japanese Tanks 1939-45 ]

Design

The main armaments of the Type 2 Ho-I was a Type 99 75mm tank gun, and secondary armament was a single 7.7 mm Type 97 Light Machine Gun. The short barreled 75 mm Type 99 Gun was mounted in a fully rotating two-man gun turret.

The Type 2 Ho-I utilized the chassis of the Type 1 Chi-He, which was itself a modified Type 97 Chi-Ha.

Combat record

Production was hampered by material shortages, and by the bombing of Japan in World War II. All thirty existing Type 2 Ho-Is were converions from existing Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks. The Tokyo factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was unable to retool for mass production by the end of 1944, when the program was cancelled.

These units was allocated to the Japanese home islands to defend against the projected Allied Invasion. As the surrender of Japan occurred before that invasion, the Type 2 Ho-I never saw combat. [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_type_2_ho_i.html History of War ]

References

*cite book
last = Foss
first = Christopher
year = 2003
title = Great Book of Tanks: The World's Most Important Tanks from World War I to the Present Day
publisher = Zenith Press
location =
id = ISBN 0760314756
*cite book
last = Foss
first = Christopher
year = 2003
title = Tanks: The 500
publisher = Crestline
location =
id = ISBN 0760315000
*cite book
last = Zaloga
first = Steven J.
year = 2007
title = Japanese Tanks 1939-45
publisher = Osprey
location =
id = ISBN 1-84603-091-8

External links

* [http://www.wwiivehicles.com/japan/tanks_medium/type2.html WWII vehicles]
* [http://www.onwar.com/tanks/japan/ft2hoi.htm Specifications at OnWar]
* [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_type_2_ho_i.html History of War.org]
* [http://www3.plala.or.jp/takihome/ho-i.htm Taki's Imperial Japanese Army page]
* [http://ww2drawings.jexiste.fr/Files/1-Vehicles/Axis/3-Japan/02-MediumTanks/Type2/Ho-I.htm WWII drawings]

Notes