The was a derivative of the

Type 97 Chi-Ha The was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and the Second World War. It was the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of World War II. ...

medium tank A medium tank is a classification of tanks, particularly prevalent during World War II, which represented a compromise between the mobility oriented light tanks and the armour and armament oriented heavy tanks. A medium tank's classification ...

s of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Similar in concept to the early variants of the German

Panzer IV The IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, is a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. The Panzer IV was the most numer ...

, it was designed as a

self-propelled howitzer Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

to provide the close-in fire support for standard Japanese medium tanks with additional firepower against enemy anti-tank fortifications.History of War: Type 2 Ho-I Gun Tank
/ref>

History and development

Design work on the Type 2 Ho-I began in 1937, after experience in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

taught Japanese war planners that an armored vehicle with a larger weapon would be useful against fortified enemy positions such as pillboxes, against which the standard low-velocity 57mm and high-velocity 47mm tank guns were ineffective. Since this vehicle was to be able to keep up with the rest of an armored formation, the Japanese began work on mounting a

Type 41 75 mm mountain gun The Type 41 75 mm mountain gun is a Japanese license-built copy of the recoiling Krupp M1908 mountain gun. The gun was introduced in 1908 and was in service until the end of World War II. History The Japanese Army obtained the license right ...

onto the chassis of the

Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank The was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and the Second World War. It was the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of World War II. T ...

. The adapted mountain gun, known as the Type 99 75 mm tank gun, was completed in 1940. The gun could fire an assortment of ammunition, including a 6.6 kg (14.5 lb) armor-piercing shell and had a muzzle velocity of 445mps. By 1942 the Type 99 75 mm gun was fitted into a modified Type 97 Shinhōtō Chi-Ha turret, which resulted in the designated Type 2 Ho-I gun tank. The Type 2 Ho-I gun tank was intended to be part of a fire support company in each of the tank regiments.

Design

The 1941 prototype model, known as the Experimental Type 1 Ho-I, used the Type 97 Chi-Ha chassis. The production model utilized the chassis of the Type 1 Chi-He medium tank, which was itself a modified Type 97 Chi-Ha hull.Taki’s Imperial Japanese Army: Type 2 "Ho-I"
/ref> The main armament of the Type 2 Ho-I was a Type 99 75 mm tank gun, and secondary armament was a single 7.7 mm

Type 97 light machine gun The was the standard machine gun used in tanks and armored vehicles of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, and as a heavy machine gun by infantry forces. This weapon was not related to the Type 97 aircraft machine gun used in several ...

in the hull. The short barreled 75 mm Type 99 gun was mounted in a

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...

of the type used for the Type 97 Shinhōtō Chi-Ha tank with modifications to accommodate the gun used and the addition of a large rear hatch.

Service history

As with other tanks and self-propelled guns, production was hampered by material shortages, and by the bombing of Japan in World War II. All 31 Type 2 Ho-I tanks produced were conversions from existing Type 1 Chi-He medium tanks. There is no record of a Type 2 Ho-I being used in combat prior to the end of the war.

History and development

Design

Service history

Notes

References

External links

Further reading