• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Type 2587 Armored car Model 25 Vickers Crossley / Dowa(?)

Type 87 is the name given by the AIJ British armored vehicle Vickers Crossley, Model 25 - originally civilian vehicles; a vehicle that can be distinguished by the spherical armed dome that housed 2 Vickers 303 machine guns.

Twelve Crossley M25, purchased in 1926 by the Japanese military mission. These machines were immediately adopted by the army of Japan and received a new designation Type 87 and the name “Dowa”. In the early 1930s, Japanese armored vehicles were used during the invasion of China, where they were used in conjunction with Sumida tanks and armored vehicles, also built on the basis of the chassis of Crossley trucks. In particular, six vehicles of the Marine Corps Separate Armored Car Company took part in the battles in Shanghai. By the beginning of the Second World War, all the Japanese Crossley were withdrawn from the front and sent to training units, where their use ended.

This armored car was obsolete by 1941, and is readily identified by its hemispherical turret. A small domed cupola, in two hinged halves, surmounts the turret. Traverse 360°, the turret mounts only two machine guns, although there is provision for four. Each of the weapon openings is covered with a small flap, which is closed when the gun is removed. All machine guns are of the Vickers type. Guns are ball mounted and have a limited traverse independent of that of the turret. The front wheels are single, while the rear wheels are dual. The chassis is believed to be a standard commercial type weighing 2.8 tons. In the past, this armored car was incorrectly classified as the "OSAKA" model 2592 (1932).

While the Type 87 is frequently credited as a uniquely Japanese design, it was in fact a verbatim copy of the successful Vickers-Crossley armored car, such that the two would be virtually indistinguishable without the national insignia of the countries they served.

A single example of the VC was purchased from Great Britain in 1927 for the purposes of evaluation. The Japanese then proceeded to build their own, unlicensed copies of the Vickers-Crossley and classified them "Type 87" - there was, apparently, no specific nickname applied to the Type 87. The nickname "Dowa" is applied occasionally to the vehicles, but more than one source disputes this usage.

When the British learned of the unauthorized production of the vehicle, they insisted that the Japanese provide monetary restitution. The Japanese responded by purchasing "several" (numbers aren't clear here) from the Indian Army. The British were satisfied, and the matter was dropped.

The Type 87 was distinctive in that it featured a dome-topped turret equipped with dual Vickers .303 Heavy Machine Guns, one to each side of the dome. (A particularly good shot of one such vehicle can be seen in the modern film Empire of the Sun). The Type 87 was protected to about 8mm thick, with a crew of four and a top speed of around 40 mph. Even the engine was a copy of the British original, the gasoline powered four cylinder Crossley. Obviously, the originals and their components weren't copies, but the exact ratio of Vickers to Dowa type vehicles isn't immediately clear, nor is the true number produced. Probably at least one hundred examples were built and/or acquired.

In service, the Type 87 was used by both the Army and the Navy, most prominently in maintaining public order during the Shanghai Incident. It was never deployed outside mainland Asia and the Home Islands.