The , officially known as the was the penultimate

tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often w ...

developed by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

in 1945, during the closing stages of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

History and development

Towards the end of the Pacific War, Japanese field commanders realized that nothing in the inventory of the Japanese Army would be able to withstand the increasingly advanced tanks and armored vehicles fielded by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, and that a more powerful version of the

Type 3 Ho-Ni III The was a tank destroyer and self-propelled artillery of Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. The Type 3 Ho-Ni III superseded the Type 1 Ho-Ni I and its variant the Type 1 Ho-Ni II in production, and gave better protection to the crew by havin ...

was necessary. Development was rushed through on a new design, which was completed in 1945. The Japanese Army immediately issued an order for 200 units to be completed in 1945. However, by that time production was impossible due to material shortages, and by the bombing of Japan in World War II, and testing was not yet completed by the end of the war.

Design

The Type 5 Na-To made use of the chassis and superstructure of the Type 4 Chi-So armored medium tracked carrier. The superstructure had an open top and rear, with an enclosed armored drivers cab. For the Type 5 Na-To there was added a "shielded platform" for its main gun. Its main anti-tank armament consisted of a

Type 5 75 mm tank gun The ''Type 5 75 mm tank gun'' was used as the main armament of the Imperial Japanese Army prototype Type 4 Chi-To medium tank. It was one of the largest tank guns to be fitted on a World War II Japanese tank. Due to late war shortage-induced ...

, which was the same gun mounted in the

Type 4 Chi-To medium tank The ("Imperial Year 2604 Medium Tank Model 7") was one of several medium tanks developed by the Imperial Japanese Army towards the end of World War II. While by far the most advanced Japanese wartime tank to reach production, industrial and mate ...

. The gun was a variant of the Japanese

Type 4 75mm AA Gun The was an anti-aircraft gun developed by the Imperial Japanese Army. They started producing the gun in 1943. The Type 4 number was designated for the year the gun was accepted, 2604 in the Japanese imperial year calendar, or 1944 in the Gregoria ...

Service record

Although the Type 5 Na-To tank destroyer was intended to become part of the defenses of the

Japanese home islands The Japanese archipelago ( Japanese: , ''Nihon Rettō'') is an archipelago of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine seas in the southwest alon ...

against the projected

Allied Invasion An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, only two units were completed by the surrender of Japan. Neither one was used in combat.

Notes

References

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External links

Taki's Imperial Japanese Army Page - Akira Takizawa
{{WWIIJapaneseAFVs

Type 5 Na-To The , officially known as the was the penultimate tank destroyer developed by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1945, during the closing stages of World War II. History and development Towards the end of the Pacific War, Japanese field commanders r ...

5 Na-To History of the tank Mitsubishi Military vehicles introduced from 1945 to 1949