Type 97 150mm infantry mortar

Type 97 150mm infantry mortar
A US Marine stands next to a captured Type 97 mortar
General Information
Military designation:	九七 式 中 迫 撃 砲
Manufacturer country:	Japan
Production time:	1937 to 1945
Number of pieces:	about 110
Weapon Category:	mortar
Technical specifications
Pipe length:	Long pipe 1.935 m Short pipe 1.325 m
Caliber :	150.5 mm
Weight ready for use:	Long tube 342 kg Short tube 232.5 kg
Elevation range:	+ 45 ° to +80 degrees
Furnishing
Ammunition supply:	individually

The Type 97 150 mm infantry mortar ( Japanese 九七 式 中 迫 撃 砲 , Kyūnana-shiki chūhakugekihō ) was a mortar used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War from 1937 to 1945. The designation Type 97 indicates the year the troops were introduced, the year Kōki 2597 or 1937 according to the Gregorian calendar.

history

In 1937 the Type 97 150 mm infantry mortar was introduced as the successor to the Type 96 150 mm infantry mortar in two different versions: one version with a short barrel and one with a long barrel. The mortar with a short barrel weighed 232 kg and the mortar with a long barrel 342 kg and was therefore only about half as heavy as its predecessor. The Type 97 was a smooth barrel mortar that could fire high-explosive shells with a weight of 23.8 kg in steep fire. The grenades had an explosion radius of around 20 meters, and shrapnel could be thrown up to 30 meters. During the Battle of the Palau Islands , at least one Type 97 150 mm infantry mortar was in use in a bunker position on Peleliu .

Technical specifications

Above: Type 97 with a long barrel
Below: Type 97 with a short barrel

• Caliber: 150.5 mm
• Gun length:
  • Long: 1,935 m
  • Short: 1.395 m
• Elevation range: + 45 ° to + 80 °
• Gun weight:
  • Long: 342 kg
  • Short: 232.5 kg
• Bullet weight: 23.8 kg
• Muzzle velocity V ₀ = 212 m / s
• Maximum range: 3900
• Number produced: 110

literature

• Philip Jowett: "The Japanese Army 1931-45 (1): 1931-42", Osprey Publishing, 2002, ISBN 978-1-84176-353-8 .
• Japanese Mortars and Grenade Dischargers. US Army Military History Institute.

Web links

• Type 97 150 mm Infantry Mortar. Taki's homepage, accessed January 5, 2015 . 
• The 150mm Mortar. Lone Sentry, accessed January 5, 2015 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Type 96 150 mm Infantry Mortar. Taki's homepage, accessed January 5, 2015 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} U.S. Army Military History Institute, p. 67