Shinhoto Chi-Ha Type 97 Medium Tank (improved)
The Type 97 (1937) medium tank (improved) was the most effective Japanese armored vehicle met by US forces. The full name of this tank is the Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha. This can be translated as follows. The Type 97 refers to the 2597 Imperial Year (1937 in Gregorian terms). Shinhoto stands for ‘new turret’ . Chi is a shortened version of Chu-sensha which means medium tank and the Ha comes from a number from an old Japanese alphabet (iroha) with ‘Ha’ being three. So it is the Type 1937 model 3 medium tank.
The Shinhoto was originally intended as a sort of stop-gap measure until the replacement for the Type 97, the Type 1, could be produced in sufficient number. In the event, however, the Shinhoto became a front line tank for the Japanese, and continued to be produced through early 1944.
This 15-ton tank mounting a high-velocity 47-mm gun as its chief armament, which first appeared in the Philippines in 1942, was since encountered in Burma and the Pacific theaters. A number of Type 97 mediums (improved) constituted a sizable part of the Japanese armored division which operated on Luzon in January and February 1945.
Although this tank was considered a superior fighting vehicle, Japanese armor on Luzon never mounted an attack with more than 16 tanks at any one time, and never employed the principle of mass. Instead of making use of the mobility of its tanks, the Japanese division chose, instead, to fight from fixed defenses and emplacements and to make piecemeal counterattacks. As a result, the Japanese armored effort resulted in little more than delay.
The Type 97 medium (improved) is readily recognized by its elongated turret, slightly offset to the right. The generally circular turret of the original version has been changed to a rectangular, over-hanging type, long and low in appearance. The turret is 76 inches long and 56 inches wide at its widest point. There is no provision for a hand ring, like the one provided on the original Type 97 medium tank.
The Type 97 medium tank (improved) is a modification of a 15-ton tank first produced in 1937. The Japanese classed both as mediums although they fight at about the same weight as the U.S. light tank M5A1. As far as can be determined, the hulls of the original and improved versions of the Type 97 medium were identical, and both were powered by a V-12 cylinder, air-cooled Diesel engine with overhead valves. The chief modifications introduced in the improved version of the Type 97 medium are changes in the turret and the substitution of a high-velocity 47-mm gun in place of the original version's low-velocity 57-mm gun, a weapon unsuited for tank-versus-tank fighting. Although the substitution of this weapon necessitated redesigning the turret, the armor thickness (maximum of l inch to possibly 1.29 inches) was not increased, nor was any other major improvement effected.
The Type 97 medium tank (improved) is a modification of a 15-ton tank first produced in 1937. The Japanese class both as mediums although they fight at about the same weight as the US light tank M5A1. As far as can be determined, the hulls of the original and improved versions of the Type 97 medium are identical, and both are powered by a V-12 cylinder, air-cooled Diesel engine with overhead valves. The chief modifications introduced in the improved version of the Type 97 medium are changes in the turret and the substitution of a high-velocity 47-mm gun in place of the original version's low-velocity 57-mm gun, a weapon unsuited for tank-versus-tank fighting. Although the substitution of this weapon necessitated redesigning the turret, the armor thickness (maximum of l inch to possibly 1.29 inches) was not increased, nor was any other major improvement effected.
Some of the design features of this tank are directly due to lessons learned from tankette and light tank construction. The four central bogie wheels are paired and mounted on bell cranks resisted by armored compression springs. Each end bogie wheel is independently bell crank mounted to the hull in a similar manner. There are three return rollers, the center one carrying the inside half of the track only. Backing plates are used to reinforce hull joints and corners. Numbers of these tanks are known to have been used in Burma. Other specimens were encountered on Guadalcanal.
In 1941, the new medium tank was adopted by the Japanese army under the designation "Shinhoto Chi-Ha" (middle third, with a new artillery turret) type "97" and was soon put into serial production. The very first samples of the new tank were quickly sent to the Philippines, where, although they did not have the opportunity to take part in the hostilities, their guns were tested by shooting at the captured American light tank M 3 "Stuart". The relatively thick frontal armor of this tank was penetrated by Japanese cannon with great difficulty, but on the tests of “Shinhoto Chi-Ha” it pierced the armor of tank M 3 with three of six hits from a distance of 1000 meters and six of nine hits at a distance of 800 meters.
In 1942, on the basis of the "Type 97" was created the tank "Shinhoto Chi-Ha", which differed from the original model of the new gun. 47-mm gun "Type 1" allowed to increase the ammunition to 102 rounds and at the same time increase armor penetration. The barrel length of 48 calibers dispersed the projectile to such speeds at which it could penetrate up to 68-70 mm of armor at a distance of up to 500 meters. The renewed tank proved to be more effective against armored vehicles and enemy fortifications, in connection with which mass production was begun. In addition, a considerable part of the more than seven hundred and more made "Shinhoto Chi-Ha" was re-equipped during the repair of simple tanks "Type 97".
Mitsubishi was able to expand the full production of Shinhoto Chi-ha tanks only in 1942. And from the same year, a new 47-mm anti-tank gun type “1” with a barrel length of 62 caliber, which had an even higher armor penetration capability, was mounted on the Shinhoto Chi-ha tank. Her armor-piercing projectile weighing 1.53 kg with an initial speed of 830 m/s at a distance of 500 m punched through 68-mm armor at a meeting angle of 90°. The ammunition of this gun also included shots with an armor-piercing fragmentation projectile weighing 1.4 kg. In 1943, Mitsubishi’s factories produced 427 Shinhoto Chi-ha tanks, after which their assembly was discontinued.
The sudden advent of war with the Western Allies, and the general lethargy of a military infrastructure more interested in warships and aircraft at the time, found the Type 1 completely unready for war. Near 1,000 turrets, however, had already been produced, and it was decided to pull nearly all of the Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks ordered for completion in 1941-42 from the production line and to equip them with the newer 47mm turret instead. This became known as the Type 97B Shinhoto, or "Type 97, New Turret ". The new design was rushed into the field with admirable efficiency, with the first examples seeing combat on Corregidor in early 1942.
Allied intelligence reports indicated a number of successful armor penetrations, immobilizations, and kills with the new Shinhoto tank at ranges upwards of 1,000 meters, but this could not completely overshadow the extremely poor protection with which it had been provided. Unfortunately, the Shinhoto was built upon the Chi-a chassis, and armor protection was only marginally improved in the area of the turret. Beyond this, all armor plating remained the same. While useful against heavy machine guns, this armor was not proof against anti-tank rounds, and a great many Type 97B tanks were destroyed as a result. Nevertheless, the Type 97B Shinhoto was arguably the best commonly encountered Japanese tank of the war.
In total, in 1942 - 1943, 757 tanks of the Shinhoto Chi-Ha modification were produced. In addition, another 300 medium tanks "Chi-Ha" was brought to the level of a medium tank "Shinhoto Chi-Ha" by installing new turrets and turret boxes with a modified upper hull sheet without hatch arrow. On the basis of the tank "Shinhoto Chi-ha" was produced and the commander tank "Shi-Ki." It differed from the linear tank in a wider turret with an enlarged commander's turret. Since the radio equipment in the turret took up too much space in the early modifications of the Shi-Ki tank — almost the entire left half of the turret — the 47-mm guns were not mounted on them. Instead of a machine gun in the rear sheet of the turret mounted 37-mm cannon. The gunner’s place in the crew was taken by the radio operator.
The very first combat experience prompted the Japanese to camouflage these tanks under conventional machines by installing a fake 47-mm wooden barrel and replacing the handrail antenna with a whip, since the enemy always tried to destroy the command tanks first. With the advent of more compact samples of radio stations, it became possible to install the type “90” in the usual place of the 57mm gun, since the 47mm gun type “1” still required too much space.
For the first time, medium tanks "Shinhoto Chi-Ha" type "97" were used in 1942 in the Pacific theater of operations. Despite the fact that their body armor was still insufficient, these vehicles were able to fight American light and medium tanks. Tanks "Shinhoto Chi-Ha" were actively used by the Japanese army until the end of the Second World War. 20 tanks of this type were also part of the Japanese 11th Tank Regiment stationed on the island of Shumshu. They took part in the battles with the Soviet troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, which conducted the Kuril landing operation.
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