Type 4 Chi-To medium tank

The Type 4 medium tank Chi-To (四式中戦車 チト, Yonshiki chūsensha Chi-To) ("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 material shortages resulted in only a few chassis being manufactured and only two known to be completed. Neither Type 4 Chi-To tank saw any combat.[1]

Type 4 Chi-To
Type 4 Chi-To medium tank
TypeMedium tank
Place of originEmpire of Japan
Production history
Designed1943–1944
No. built2 (completed)[1][2]
Specifications
Mass30 tonnes (30 long tons; 33 short tons)[3]
Length6.42 m (21 ft 1 in)[3]
Width2.87 m (9 ft 5 in)[3]
Height2.87 m (9 ft 5 in)[3]
Crew5[3]
Armor12–75 millimetres (0.47–2.95 in)
Main
armament
Type 5 75 mm tank gun (L/56.4)
Secondary
armament
2 × Type 97 heavy tank machine guns[2]
EngineMitsubishi AL Type 4 37.7 litre air-cooled V12 diesel engine with supercharger
400 hp at 2,000 rpm[3] (13.73 hp/tonne)
SuspensionBell crank
Operational
range
250 kilometres (160 mi)[3]
Maximum speed 45 kilometres per hour (28 mph)[3]

Design
Interior side view of planned production model
Type 5 75 mm tank gun Mark I

The Type 4 Chi-To was a thirty-ton, all-welded medium tank with a maximum armor thickness of 75 mm (3.0 in) on the frontal plates.[1] Manned by a crew of five, it was 6.42 m (21.1 ft) long, 2.87 m (9 ft 5 in) high, and 2.87 m (9 ft 5 in) wide.[3] Main armament was a turret-mounted long-barreled (4.23 m) Type 5 75 mm tank gun capable of being elevated between -6.5 to +20 degrees. An 850 metres per second (2,800 ft/s) muzzle velocity gave it an armor penetration of 75 mm (3.0 in) at 1,000 m (3,300 ft).[4][5] The tank had a Type 97 heavy tank machine gun mounted in the hull and a ball mount on the side of the turret for a second one.[2][6]

The Type 4's 400 hp (300 kW) gasoline engine was significantly more powerful than the 180 kW (240 hp) engine of the 19-tonne Type 3 Chi-Nu,[7] giving it a top speed of 45 km/h (28 mph) on tracks supported by seven road wheels on each side. The tank had a range of 250 km (160 mi).[8]

Development

Development of the Type 4 Chi-To began in 1943 as an intended successor to the Type 97-Kai Shinhoto Chi-Ha.[1] The Army Technical Bureau had been working on the Type 4 Chi-To as the counter to the M4 Sherman, but there were problems and delays in the program. As a result a stopgap tank was required. The Type 3 Chi-Nu medium tank was developed to cope with the M4 Sherman.[9] Finally, the first prototype Type 4 Chi-To was delivered in 1944. Similar in appearance but significantly larger than the Type 97, it was the most advanced Japanese tank to reach the production stage.[1]

Intended Type 4 Chi-To output was 25 tanks per month; with 20 to be made at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and 5 to be produced at Kobe Seiko-sho.[1] Late war shortage-induced delays caused by the severing of supply lines with conquered territories and U.S. strategic bombing of the Japanese mainland resulted in a total of six chassis being built. According to "The National Institute for Defense Studies, Ministry of Defense, Military Administration of Munitions Mobilization, Production Chart of January to April of 1945", the plan was to produce a total of 6 Type 4 Chi-To tanks in the first three months of 1945.[10] Two Type 4 Chi-To tanks are known to have been completed in 1945 and neither saw combat.[1][2]

At the end of World War II, two completed Type 4 Chi-To tanks were dumped into Lake Hamana in Shizuoka Prefecture to avoid capture by Allied occupation forces. One was recovered by the US Army, but the other was left in the lake. In 2013, there were efforts to locate the remaining tank, but it was not found.[11]

Variant
  • Ka-To SP AT Gun
Drawing of Ka-To 105 mm SP AT Gun

Another 105mm SP gun planned was the Ka-To or Ka-To Sha 105 mm SP AT Gun. Ka-To's development was ordered in 1943. The engine placement was forward, while the gun placement was in the rear section of the hull. The open top superstructure was based on the Type 5 Na-To.[12] Two main guns for the Ka-To were completed in 1945. According to several sources, the Ka-To hull was based on the Type 4 Chi-To, which needed to be extended in length to accommodate the main gun. An extra road wheel was added to each side of the chassis.[13][14][15] However, according to another source, the incomplete Ka-To hull was based on the Type 5 Chi-Ri medium tank.[12]

  • Front angle view of Type 4 Ho-Ro SPG and Type 4 Chi-To
  • Front angle close-up of Type 4 Chi-To with Type 5 75 mm tank gun
  • Type 4 Chi-To, side view with turret reversed
  • Type 4 Chi-To, with turret reversed

Tanks of comparable role, performance and era

References

Notes
  1. Zaloga 2007, p. 22.
  2. Taki's Imperial Japanese Army: Type 4 Medium Tank "Chi-To"
  3. Tomczyk 2005, p. 30.
  4. Taki's Imperial Japanese Army: "Tank Guns"
  5. Hara 1972, p. 18.
  6. Miller 2000, p. 187.
  7. Zaloga 2007, pp. 20–22.
  8. Tomczyk 2005, pp. 20, 27, 30.
  9. Taki's Imperial Japanese Army: "Tanks after Chi-Ha"
  10. "The National Institute for Defense Studies, Ministry of Defense, Military Administration of Munitions Mobilization, Production Chart of January to April of 1945"
  11. Takagi, Shogo Lake Hamana searched for WWII sunken tank April 17, 2013 The Japan Times Retrieved April 3, 2016
  12. Tomczyk 2007, pp. 36, 37.
  13. 日本語: 光人社、2002年、佐山二郎 著 『機甲入門』, 2002, p. 278.
  14. 「帝国陸軍 戦車と砲戦車」学習研究社, 2002, p. 128.
  15. Taki's Imperial Japanese Army: 105mm SP AT Gun "Ka-To"

Bibliography
  • Hara, Tomio (1972). Japanese Medium Tanks. AFV Weapons Profiles No. 49. Profile Publications Limited.
  • Miller, David (2000). The Illustrated Directory of Tanks of the World. Zenith Imprint. ISBN 978-0-7603-0892-9.
  • Tomczyk, Andrzej (2005). Japanese Armor Vol. 4. AJ Press. ISBN 978-8372371676.
  • Tomczyk, Andrzej (2007). Japanese Armor Vol. 5. AJ Press. ISBN 978-8372371799.
  • Zaloga, Steven J. (2007). Japanese Tanks 1939–45. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-8460-3091-8.

Further reading
  • Foss, Christopher (2003). Great Book of Tanks: The World's Most Important Tanks from World War I to the Present Day. Zenith Press. ISBN 0-7603-1475-6.
  • Foss, Christopher (2003). Tanks: The 500. Crestline. ISBN 0-7603-1500-0.
  • Gander, Terry J. (1995). Jane's Tanks of World War II. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-470847-4.
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