Japanese 47mm Anti-Tank Gun
Type 1 (1941)
Technical Information
Background
After the Nomonhan Incident, the Imperial Japanese Army started the development of a new anti-tank gun, considering that the Type 94 37 mm Anti-Tank Gun would likely be ineffective against the new Soviet tanks. The design was the first completely indigenous anti-tank gun design completed in Japan, and production was assigned to the Army's Osaka Arsenal. In terms of performance, the design was still somewhat inferior to advanced contemporary designs in western nations.
The Type 1 47 mm AT Gun was a relative modern design compared to other Japanese Second World war designs, being relatively light and easy to handle. As with many Japanese designs, it had a very low profile and was intended to be operated from a squat or prone position. The carriage appears to have adopted a number of design features from the Soviet ZIK 45 mm anti-tank gun, a number of examples of which were captured by the Japanese during the Soviet-Japanese Border Wars. It used a semi-automatic breech block with a horizontal sliding wedge. When the gun was fired the spent shell casing was automatically ejected, and upon loading a fresh shell, the breech block closed automatically. A hydrospring recoil mechanism was housed under barrel. The weapon had a split trail which opened to an angle of 60 degrees for firing to improve stability. Transport was by towing behind a truck or horse, via two steel disc wheels fitted with sponge rubber filled tires.
Wartime History
Introduced to service in 1943, and up until that time Japanese infantry had considerable difficulty even against the Allied M3 Stuart light tank in the Pacific War. However, by the time the Type 1 was available in any quantities, the M3 had been superseded by the M4 Sherman, against which it was only marginally effective.
The Type 1 47 mm AT Gun was issued to armored units as well as independent anti-tank units and was fielded in a wide variety of areas and continued to be used with diminishing effectiveness until the end of World War II. This gun was also used as the main gun in the Type 97 Chi-Ha Shinimoto.
Production
Introduced in 1942. Approximately 2,300 were produced.
