Japanese Army

The war plunged Japan's soldiers into a bewildering variety of climates and cultures, forcing them to devise new tactics and adapt to strange environments. In northern China in the late 1930s they alternately froze and fried while chasing elusive Chinese armies across rutted roads that were converted by the weather into seas of either dust or mud. Within six months of the attack on Pearl Harbour, they were spread across a vast territory stretching 5,800 miles, from the subarctic Aleutian Islands south to tropical Java. Soldiers sent to the front found themselves lurching across Burma on elephants, skiing along the shores of the snowbound Kurile Islands, or heaving artillery through heavy jungles on tropical islands. Often troop destinations were so remote and so secret that men perished on barren or jungle - clad outposts without knowing where they were.

Units of The Japanese Army:

1932 Type 92 Tankette

Weight:   3 tons
Crew:   two
Armor:   6 to 14 mm
Armament:   one 6.5-mm machine-gun mounted in turret
Engine:   one four-cylinder air-cooled inline gasoline engine, rated at 32 hp
Dimensions:   width 5 feet, 3 inches; length 10 feet, 3 inches; height 5 feet, 4 inches
Max Speed:   25 mph
Max Range:   100 miles

1934 Type 94 Tankette

Weight:   3.4 tons
Crew:   two
Armor:   4 to 12 mm
Armament:   one 6.5-mm Type 91 machine-gun mounted in turret
Engine:   one four-cylinder air-cooled inline gasoline engine, rated at 32 hp
Dimensions:   width 5 feet, 3 inches; length 11 feet; height 5 feet, 4 inches
Max Speed:   26 mph
Max Range:   100 miles

1937 Type 97 Tankette

Weight:   4.2 tons
Crew:   two
Armor:   hull front 12 mm; hull sides and rear 10 mm; turret sides 10 mm
Armament:   one Type 94 37-mm gun or one Type 97 7.7-mm machine-gun
Engine:   one 48 hp four-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 6 feet, 4 inches; length 12 feet; height 5 feet, 11 inches
Max Speed:   28 mph
Max Range:   100 miles

1933 Type 93 Light Tank

Weight:   7.8 tons
Crew:   three
Armor:   4 to 22 mm
Armament:   one 6.5-mm Model 91 machine-gun mounted in turret; one 6.5-mm Model 91 machine-gun mounted in hull
Engine:   one 85 hp Mitsubishi air-cooled gasoline engine
Dimensions:   width 5 feet, 11 inches; length 14 feet, 8 inches; height 6 feet
Max Speed:   28 mph
Max Range:   100 miles

1935 Type 95 Light Tank

Weight:   8.1 tons
Crew:   three
Armor:   hull front, sides and rear 12 mm; turret front, sides and rear 12 mm
Armament:   one 37-mm Type 94 gun mounted in turret; one 7.7-mm Type 97 machine-gun mounted in turret; one 7.7-mm Type 97 machine-gun mounted in hull
Engine:   one 110 hp six-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 6 feet, 9 inches; length 14 feet, 4.5 inches; height 7 feet, 2 inches
Max Speed:   30 mph
Max Range:   110 miles

1929 Type 89a Medium Tank

Weight:   13 tons
Crew:   four
Armor:   6 to 25 mm
Armament:   one 57-mm Type 90 gun mounted in turret; one 6.5-mm Type 91 machine-gun mounted in turret; one 6.5-mm Type 91 machine-gun mounted in hull
Engine:   one 136 hp six-cylinder air-cooled gasoline engine
Dimensions:   width 7 feet, 1 inch; length 19 feet, 3 inches; height 8 feet, 6 inches
Max Speed:   15 mph
Max Range:   100 miles

1929 Type 89b Medium Tank

Weight:   13 tons
Crew:   four
Armor:   6 to 25 mm
Armament:   one 57-mm Type 90 gun mounted in turret; one 6.5-mm Type 91 machine-gun mounted in turret; one 6.5-mm Type 91 machine-gun mounted in hull
Engine:   one 120 hp air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 7 feet, 1 inch; length 19 feet, 3 inches; height 8 feet, 6 inches
Max Speed:   15 mph
Max Range:   100 miles

1934 Type 94 Medium Tank

Weight:   15 tons
Crew:   four
Armor:   6 to 17 mm
Armament:   one 57-mm Type 90 gun mounted in turret; one 6.5-mm Type 91 machine-gun mounted in turret; one 6.5-mm Type 91 machine-gun mounted in hull
Engine:   one 160 hp air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 7 feet, 1 inch; length 23 feet; height 8 feet, 6 inches
Max Speed:   20 mph
Max Range:   100 miles

1937 Type 97 Medium Tank

Weight:   14.8 tons
Crew:   four
Armor:   hull front 25 mm; hull sides 26 mm; hull rear 20 mm; turret front 33 mm; turret sides and rear 26 mm
Armament:   one 57-mm Type 97 gun mounted in turret; one 7.7-mm Type 97 machine-gun mounted in rear of turret; one 7.7-mm Type 97 machine-gun mounted in hull
Engine:   one 170 hp twelve-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 7 feet, 7 inches; length 18 feet, 2 inches; height 7 feet, 9 inches
Max Speed:   25 mph
Max Range:   150 miles

1942 Type 2 Amphibious Tank

Weight:   with pontoons 12.5 tons; without pontoons 10.5 tons
Crew:   five
Armor:   hull front 12 mm; hull sides 10 mm; hull rear 6 mm; turret front, sides and rear 12 mm
Armament:   one 37-mm Type 1 gun mounted in turret; one 7.7-mm Type 97 machine-gun mounted coaxially in turret; one 7.7-mm Type 97 machine-gun mounted in hull
Engine:   one 120 hp six-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 9 feet, 2 inches; length with pontoons 24 feet, 4 inches; length without pontoons 15 feet, 10 inches; height 7 feet, 8 inches
Max Speed:   on land 23 mph; afloat 6 mph
Max Range:   on land 124 miles; afloat 93 miles

Type 98 Flame-Throwing Tank

Weight:   ???
Crew:   three ???
Armor:   hull front 25.4 mm; hull sides 12.7 mm; hull top 6.35 mm
Armament:   one 7.7-mm Type 97 machine-gun mounted in hull front; one ball-mounted, carbon arc flame-thrower mounted in right front corner; two ball-mounted, carbon arc flame-throwers mounted in lateral positions
Engine:   one 120 hp six-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 7 feet; length 17 feet, 6 inches; height 5 feet, 4 inches
Max Speed:   25 mph
Max Range:   125 miles

1937 Type 98 Self-Propelled Howitzer

Armament:   one 150-mm Type 38 (1905) howitzer
Chassis:   Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha improved medium tank chassis
Crew:   four
Armor:   hull front 25 mm; hull sides 26 mm; hull rear 20 mm; gun shield front 26 mm; gun shield sides 13 mm
Engine:   one 170 hp twelve-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 7 feet, 6 inches; length 18 feet, 2 inches; height 7 feet, 9 inches
Max Speed:   25 mph
Max Range:   150 miles

1942 Type 2 Self-Propelled Field Gun

Armament:   one 75-mm Type 90 (1937) field gun
Chassis:   Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha improved medium tank chassis
Crew:   four
Armor:   hull front 51 mm; hull sides 26 mm; hull rear 20 mm
Engine:   one 170 hp twelve-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 7 feet, 6 inches; length 18 feet, 2 inches
Max Speed:   25 mph
Max Range:   150 miles

Armored Personnel Carrier

Armor:   6 mm
Armament:   one 7.7-mm Type 97 machine-gun mounted on left front of driver's compartment
Engine:   one 110 hp six-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 6 feet, 8 inches; length 15 feet, 9 inches
Max Speed:   35 mph
Max Range:   100 miles
Suspension:   four dual bogie wheels per side, mounted on bell cranks and resisted by horizontal coil springs; rear drive sprocket; front idler
Payload:   up to 24 men or 3 tons of cargo; hitch for towing artillery

Armored Prime Mover

Weight:   5 tons
Crew:   two
Armor:   hull front 6 mm; hull sides and floor 12 mm
Armament:   four flap-covered slits four small arms fire
Engine:   one four-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine
Dimensions:   width 6 feet, 4 inches; length 12 feet, 8 inches; height 5 feet, 2 inches
Max Speed:   28 mph

Navy Type 92 Armored Car

Year:   1932
Weight:   7 tons
Crew:   4 men
Armor:   8 to 11 mm
Armament:   4 to 5 light machine-guns
Engine:   one 85 hp six-cylinder liquid-cooled gasoline engine
Dimensions:   width 5 feet, 11 inches; length 15 feet, 9 inches; height 7 feet, 6 inches
Max Speed:   50 mph
Suspension:   six disc wheels with pneumatic tires; resistance provided by semi-elliptic springing

Army Type 93 Armored Car

Year:   1933
Weight:   7.5 tons
Crew:   6 men
Armor:   8 to 11 mm
Armament:   one machine-gun mounted in turret; several flap-covered slits for small arms
Engine:   ???
Dimensions:   width 6 feet, 3 inches; length 21 feet, 6 inches; height 9 feet, 8 inches
Max Speed:   on road 25 mph; on rails 45 mph
Suspension:   six flanged wheels for use on railroad tracks or six rubber-tired wheels for use on roads