Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha

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Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha

Specifications
Weight 3.5
Length 3.95
Width 1.63
Height 1.86
Crew 3
Armor 6-22
Primary
armament		 Type 92 13 mm gun
Secondary
armament		 1 x 7.7 mm Type 91 gun
(hull)
Engine Mitsubishi/Ishikawajima In6 air cooled 6 cylinder gasoline (petrol)
45 hp (34 kW)
Suspension Bell crank
Operational
range		 200
Speed 40

The Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha (Heavy Armoured Car) was Japan's first indigenous light tank. Designed for use by the cavalry of the Imperial Japanese Army by Ishikawajima Motorcar Manufacturing Company, the Type 92 was designed as a reconnaissance tankette. There were four variants of the Type 92: an early wheeled prototype, an early production model, a late production model and an experimental amphibious variant called the 'Type 92 A-I-Go'. After some initial problems with the running gear, the Type 92 proved well suited for the rough terrain and poor roads of China and was able to attain a speed of 40 km/h.

After WWI, European countries attempted to mechanize their cavalry. The introduction of industrial warfare negated any use for non-mechanized forms of warfare. Knowing this tendency in Europe, Japanese cavalry also tried some armored cars for their mechanization. However, the wheeled armored car was not fit for operations in China, due to the poor roads there. Japan along with England were unique in that they continued to use cavalry side by side with armored cars. Thus, the Japanese began work on the Type 92 Heavy Armoured Car in earnest.

They gave up the wheeled armored car and studied the tracked armored car. First, they experimented with amphibious cars. The first amphibious armored car was a curious vehicle having both tracks and wheels and able to run in the opposite direction on the water and on the ground. After this, some amphibious cars were experimented with, but no car could satisfy the cavalry. At last, they gave up the amphibious car and decided to make a new tracked vehicle for ground use only.

The Type 92 suffered from a defective and thinly welded armour hull and a light armament (the Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun\Type 92 13 mm heavy machine gun was a licensed built Hotchkiss). Production was also plagued by technical problems and in total only 167 where built between 1932 to 1934. The Type 92 was eventually replaced by the Type 94 Te Ke during Japan's lengthy war in China.

Production was initiated by Ishikawajima Motorcar Manufacturing Company and it was finished in 1932. It is Type 92 Combat Car. It was called "Sokosha"(Armored Car) in Japanese, but it was actually a light tank. Type 92 was thin-armored and light-armed, but it was able to run at 40 km/h. It was a vehicle fit to the cavalry spirit. Type 92 was used in China by cavalry.

Areas where units with the Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha operated

  • Jehol Province, China - (1st Special Tank Company)

Contents

[edit] Variants

Type 92 A-I-Go was an experimental Japanese amphibious tank developed by the Imperial Japanese Army that had a watertight hull, floats and propellers. With these additions, the A-I-Go was slightly larger then the Type 92. Only two prototypes where built.

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[edit] Reference

[edit] See also


Japanese armoured fighting vehicles of World War II
Tankettes
Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha | Type 94 Te-Ke | Type 97 Te-Ke
Light Tanks
Type 95 Ha-Go | Type 98 Ke-Ni/Type 2 Ke-To
Amphibious Tanks
Type 2 Ka-Mi | Type 3 Ka-Chi
Medium Tanks
Type 89 Chi-Ro | Type 97 Chi-Ha | Type 1 Chi-He | Type 2 Ho-I | Type 3 Chi-Nu
APCs
Type 1 Ho-Ha | Type 1 Ho-Ki | Type 98 So-Da | Type 4 Ka-Tsu
Self-propelled artillery (including AA guns)
Type 98 20 mm | Type 98 20 mm AA Half-Track | Type 1 Ho-Ni | Type 4 Ho-Ro
Japanese armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II