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World War II Wiki

The Type 2 Ho-I was a self-propelled gun used by Japan during World War II.

Description[]

The Ho-I was more of a mix between a self-propelled gun and a medium tank. It had an air-cooled, diesel powered, Mitsubishi Type 100 engine capable of propelling the Ho-I at speeds of up to 44 km/h.[1] The armor protection was between 12 and 50 mm and the Ho-I required a crew of five. The length was 5.7 meters and the weight was 16,100 kg. The height of the Ho-I was 2.5 meters and the width was 2.3 meters.[2] The Ho-I was armed with a 75 mm main gun and a 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun. It also had a Bell Crank suspension system and it had an operational range of 99.7 kilometers. The turret was based on the Type 97 Chi-Ha and it only fired HE rounds.

The turret of the Type 2 could also fit two crew members and the chassis of the Type 2 was based on that of the Type 1 Chi-He. The Type 2 could even carry about 4,000 rounds for its machine gun and about fifty-five for its main gun. There were no variants of the Type 2 and the reliability testing of the Ho-I showed that the platform chosen and modifications worked well together and overall the Ho-I would have been a solid weapon in the Japanese arsenal.

History[]

The Type 2 Ho-I's development began in 1937 and it became clear that a larger caliber gun would be helpful in certain situations. The 47 mm main guns of the armored vehicles of the time were too small and so a Type 41 75 mm mountain gun was added. The Type 2 began production in 1942 and since Allied tanks had much thicker armor than Japanese tanks, the Type 2 Ho-I was appointed to a tank killing role. The thirty models that were produced were all sent to the Japanese Home islands to protect from an Allied invasion and as such, they never saw combat.

References[]


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