Type 3 Ka-Chi
| Type 3 Ka-Chi | |
|---|---|
|
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 5-7 men |
| length | 10.30 m |
| width | 3.00 m |
| height | 3.82 m |
| Dimensions | 28.7 tons |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 50 mm armor steel |
| Main armament | 1 × Type 1 - 47mm cannon |
| Secondary armament | 2 × 7.7 mm type 97 -MG |
| agility | |
| drive | Mitsubishi-type 100 V12 cylinder diesel engine 240 hp (179 kW) |
| suspension | Torsion bar |
| Top speed | 32 km / h (land), 10 km / h (water) |
| Power / weight | 8.57 hp / ton |
| Range | 320 km (road) |
The Type 3 Ka-Chi ( Japanese 特 三 式 内 火 艇 カ チ , toku-san-shiki uchibitei ka-chi , German “Special Type 3 Motorboat Ka-Chi”) was a Japanese amphibious tank from World War II .
History and stakes
Type 3 Ka-Chi was the heavy version of the Type 2 Ka-Mi swimming tank . At the end of 1943 (corresponds to the year Kōki 2603, hence the type designation) the first vehicles were put into service and used for the first time in January 1944 at Kwajallein Atoll . There the vehicles were used as static coastal fortifications, albeit differently from their original purpose. The US soldiers managed to capture one of the vehicles. They recognized the suitability of the Type 3 for its original task. Some components were carried over and were found to be extremely effective on vehicles participating in the Normandy landings . In total, due to a lack of production capacity, only 19 vehicles were built and scattered across the entire Pacific region.
technology
The chassis and landing gear were largely borrowed from the Type 1 Chi-He tank . However, as usual for floating tanks, a boat bow was built in. The tower also corresponded by and large to that of Type 1. However, it had a dome-shaped elevation above the tower hatch so that the commander could also act from his position when navigating in the water. The exhaust was mounted above the rear of the tank and protruded vertically to prevent water from entering the engine compartment. The tank had internal buoyancy chambers. In addition, steel floats were attached to the outside to generate additional buoyancy. The latter were dropped after landing.
See also
literature
- Robert Jackson, tank. Models from around the world from 1915 to today . Paragorn Books, Bath 2007, p. 133, ISBN 978-1-4075-0670-8 (German translation: Scriptorium Cologne).