Heavy armored car type 92
| Heavy armored car type 92 | |
|---|---|
Japanese Type 92 (1935) |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 3 (commander / gunner, driver, bow machine gunner) |
| length | Tower 12 o'clock 3.95 m |
| width | 1.63 m |
| height | 1.86 m |
| Dimensions | 3.5 t |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 6-12 mm |
| Main armament | initially Type 91 6.5 mm machine gun, later Type 92 13 mm machine gun |
| Secondary armament | initially Type 91 6.5 mm machine gun, later Type 97 7.7 mm machine gun |
| agility | |
| drive | Air-cooled Franklin / Ishikawajima Sumida C6 6-cylinder petrol engine 34 kW (45 PS) |
| Top speed | 40 km / h (road) |
| Power / weight | approx. 9.7 kW / t (12.9 PS / t) |
| Range | approx. 200 km |
The heavy armored car Type 92 ( Japanese 九二 式 重 装甲車 , Kyū-ni-shiki jūsōkōsha ), also called Type 92 Jū Sōkōsha , was a Japanese tankette in the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II , which began in 1932 ( Kōki 2592 , hence the type designation) was used by the Imperial Japanese Army until 1945 .
history
After the First World War , the Japanese army recognized the need to use armored vehicles to support their infantry . After the cavalry no longer played a decisive role in the European theater of war during the First World War, the leadership of the Japanese cavalry , which acted relatively independently of the infantry, also came to the conclusion that the age of mounted units was over. So she wanted to equip her units with armored vehicles and examined the Type 89 I-Gō , whose top speed of 24 km / h was too slow for cavalry reconnaissance missions . The British Carden-Loyd tankette seemed best suited to the task, after which some were acquired for testing. The resulting design was an amphibious tank , which bore the designation Type 92 AI-Gō . But the road and cross-country mobility of the type 92 AI-Gō was so inadequate in tests that a more conventional design was decided. The Ishikawajima engine works (today Isuzu ) were then commissioned to design a suitable vehicle. The result was the Type 92, which received heavy armored vehicles as an addition and not tanks or tankettes . The background was that tanks were not intended for the cavalry units, but only armored vehicles or armored cars. The Type 92 weighed only 3.5 tons, which was partly due to its low armor of 6 mm. The design was sufficient for its tasks, but poor workmanship of the welds and poor combat properties did not give the vehicle a good reputation. Eventually the suspension had to be revised three times so that the armored car was considered a failed design. Although the Type 92 was used extensively during the Second Sino-Japanese War , only 167 were built between 1932 and 1939.
Calls
Most of the cavalry units, and therefore most of the Type 92, were deployed in Manchuria. The heavy armored car was first used within the Kwantung and Chosen armies . The first combat use took place in 1932 during the Battle of Harbin . In 1933, two Type 92 and eleven Type 89 I-Gō of the 8th Division took part during the Battle of Rehe . The poor armor and armament turned out to be too weak in the fight against enemy tanks. The low speed in the field was also not convincing and so the Type 92 was gradually replaced by Type 97 Te-Ke tankettes in 1937 . The remaining Type 92 remained in Manchuria and were destroyed after the Red Army's Manchurian Strategic Operation .
technology
The design of the Type 92 was based on the Carden-Loyd tankette. In contrast to other tankettes of the time, the Type 92 was large enough to accommodate a tower and a crew of three. This represented a mixture of tankette and light tank. The fact that the Japanese crews were small in size made the compact design possible. When the Type 92 was built, electric welding technology was used for the first time worldwide during series production. The engine consisted of an air-cooled Ishikawajima Sumida C6 6-cylinder petrol engine with Mitsubishi - license has been built, and the vehicle was located at the back. After a diesel engine was available in the mid-1930s, the petrol engine was replaced by it.
The wheel suspension was based on leaf springs welded to the fuselage. The drive rested on three suspensions on each side for two rubberized wheels, which acted as rollers for the chains. The chain was driven via the front drive application, which received the power via a steering gear. The tensioning wheels were at the stern. In use it became apparent that the Type 92 quickly lost the chain when driving fast and changing direction, and so the wheel suspension was completely redesigned. From then on there were only two wheel suspensions on each side, each with two metal wheels. Initially, the tankette was equipped with two 6.5 mm Type 91 machine guns with spherical bezels , one of which was used by the bow machine gunner and the other by the commander standing in the tower. Later the bow MG was replaced by a 13 mm automatic cannon type 92 and the commander received a more powerful 7.7 mm machine gun type 96. The automatic cannon was also located in a spherical shutter. The driver sat on the left.
variants
In order to increase the anti-tank capabilities of the Type 92, some specimens were equipped with armor-piercing weapons, but this was the exception.
- Type 92 with a 20 mm type 98 automatic cannon
- Type 92 with 37 mm Type 94 anti-tank gun
Web links
- Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha. Tanks Encyclopedia, accessed December 7, 2014 .
- Type 92 Combat Car. Taki's Page, accessed December 8, 2014 .
- Japan's Type 94 Te-Ke tankette. WWII Vehicles, accessed December 7, 2014 .
- Type 92 heavy armored vehicle. ww2technik.de, accessed on December 10, 2014 .
literature
- Steven J Zaloga: "Japanese Tanks 1939-45" Osprey Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84603-091-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Zaloga, p. 6.
- ↑ a b c Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha. Tanks Encyclopedia, accessed December 7, 2014 .
- ↑ Zaloga, p. 7.
- ↑ THE HISTORY OF BATTLES OF IMPERIAL JAPANESE TANKS, PART I. Taki's Page, accessed December 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Type 92 heavy armored vehicle. ww2technik.de, accessed on December 10, 2014 .