Type 2 Ka-Mi

Infobox Weapon
name=Type 2 Ka-Mi


caption=A Type 2 Ka-Mi being tested by Australian soldiers in 1945
is_vehicle=yes
origin= flag|Empire of Japan
length=7.42 meters (4.80 meters without floatation pontoons)
width=2.79 meters
height=2.34 meters
weight=9.15 tons (12.3 tons without floatation pontoons)
suspension=Bell crank
speed=37 km/h
vehicle_range=200 kilometers
primary_armament=Type 1 37 mm gun
secondary_armament=2 × Type 97 7.7 mm machine guns
armour=6-13 mm
engine=Mitsubishi air-cooled 6-cylinder diesel
engine_power=115 hp (86 kW)
pw_ratio=
crew=5-6The ingenious nihongo|Type 2 Ka-Mi |特二式内火艇|Toku-ni-shiki uchibiteikami was the Imperial Japanese Navy's first amphibious tank. The Type 2 Ka-Mi was based on the Imperial Japanese Army's Type 95 Ha-Go light tank with major modifications, and was a capable armoured fighting vehicle on both land and at sea. [Foss, Great Book of Tanks]

History and development

As early as 1928 the Japanese Army had been developing and testing amphibious tanks and created several experimental models such as the SR-II, the Type 1 Mi-Sha and the Type 92 A-I-Go which either never made it off the drawing board or were produced only as one-off prototypes for concept testing. In 1940, The Navy took over development of amphibious vehicles and two years later came up with the Type 2 Ka-Mi. The Type 2 Ka-Mi was designed for the Navy's Special Naval Landing Forces for the amphibious invasion of Pacific Islands without adequate port facilities, and for various special operations missions.

Only 184 units of the Type 2 Ka-Mi were built, beginning in 1942, due to the number of complex components and due to the fact that it had to be nearly completely hand-built. [Zaloga, Japanese Tanks 1939-45]

Design

The Type 2 Ka-Mi was based on the Army's Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, but with an all-welded hull with rubber seals in place of the riveted armor. It was intended to be water-tight. Large, hollow pontoons made from steel plates were attached to the front glacis plate and rear decking to give the necessary buoyancy. The front pontoon was internally divided into eight separate compartments to minimize the effects of damage from flooding and shellfire. These floatation devices could be jettisoned from inside the tank one the tank landed and commenced ground combat operations.

The Type 2 Ki-Mi's gun turret with a high-velocity Type 1 37 mm gun and a coaxial Type 97 light machine gun was able to rotate 360°. A second Type 97 light machine gun was located in the tank's bow. Occasionally Type 2 Ka-Mi's were armed with a pair of naval torpedoes; one either side of the hull. The Type 2 Ka-Mi could also be launched from the deck of a submarine. [ [http://www.onwar.com/tanks/japan/data/t2kami.htm] Tank specs at OnWar.com]

The Type 2 Ka-Mi was capable of attaining speeds of 10 km/h in the water with a range of 150 kilometers through two propellers situated at the rear of the hull, powered by the tank's engine. Steering was in the control of the tank commander, who operated a pair of rudders from the turret through cables. That the crew included an onboard mechanic is an indication of the complexity of the design.

Combat Record

The Type 2 Ka-Mi came into active service after the initial successful campaigns of World War II, and was thus too late to be used in its original design mission of amphibious landings. Many units were assigned to naval garrison detachments in the South Pacific Mandate and in the Netherlands East Indies.

The Type 2 Ka-Mi was encountered by the United States Marine Corps in the Marshall Islands and Mariana Islands, particularly on Guam, where it was dug into the ground and misused in static defense positions. [Zaloga, Japanese Tanks 1939-45]

urviving Vehicles

The Kubinka Tank Museum in Moscow, Russia has a Type 2 Ka-Mi on display, complete with its front and rear pontoons.

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 = Zaloga
first = Steven J.
year = 2007
title = Japanese Tanks 1939-45
publisher = Osprey
location =
id = ISBN 1-84603-091-8

External links

* [http://www.onwar.com/tanks/japan/data/t2kami.htm OnWar.com]
* [http://www.wwiivehicles.com/japan/tanks-amphibious/type-2.asp WWII vehicles]
* [http://ww2drawings.jexiste.fr/Files/1-Vehicles/Axis/3-Japan/04-AmphibiousTanks/Type2-KaMi.htm WWII Drawings]

ee also

*DD tank - World War 2 British tank floatation system.
*T-38 - World War 2, Soviet amphibious tank.