Type 94 Te-Ke

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Type 94 Te-Ke (early)

Type 94 Tankette on the engine deck of a USMC M4 Sherman tank.
Specifications
Weight 3.4 tonnes
Length 3.0 m
Width 1.6 m
Height 1.6 m
Crew 2 (commander, driver)
Armor 12 mm
Primary
armament		 6.5 mm Type 91 machine gun.
Secondary
armament		 none
Engine Mitsubishi air-cooled 4-cyl. petrol
32 hp (24 kW)
Power/weight 9 hp/tonne
Suspension 2-wheel bogie
Operational
range		 200 km
Speed 40 km/h

The Type 94 Te-Ke was a Japanese tankette which entered service in 1935. It was used as both a tractor for towing an ammunition trailer and as a light reconnaissance/patrol tank. The Type 94 arose from a requirement in the 1930s for an armoured vehicle that could tow a tracked trailer with supplies to forward areas. The design of the Type 94 was based on the British Carden-Loyd Mark VIb tankettes which Japan had purchased earlier. The engine was in the front with the driver to the right and the commander stood at the back with his own small (unpowered) turret. Like many armoured vehicles intended to operate in hot conditions it was given asbestos insulation to protect the occupants. The Type 94 led to the development of the Type 97 tankette.

Contents

[edit] History

In the late 1920s, the Japanese purchased six British Carden Loyd Mark machine-gun carriers, and two Mark Vlb carriers for testing. The Army imported two Carden Loyd Mk.VIs in 1930 and put them in the Army Infantry and Cavalry schools for evaluation. The schools tested them and reported that this sort of vehicle would be useful as the support vehicle for transport, scout and communication.

According to this report, the Army decided to develop the same kind of vehicle as the Carden Loyd. The development was given to Tokyo Gas and Electric Industry (later known as Hino Motors) in 1933. The experimental model was finished in 1934. It was a small light tracked vehicle like the Carden Loyd, but it had a turret armed with one machine gun. For cargo transportation it pulled a trailer. It was given the name Tokushu Keninsha ("Special Tractor"), abridged to TK. After trials in both China and Japan it was standardized as the Type 94 tankette. Oddly, American sources have always referred to it as the Type 92 tankette while the official title was "Type 94 Light Armoured Car"

[edit] Design

The hull of the tankette was of riveted construction, with the engine and driver at the front and the small turret at the rear of the hull. A large door was provided in the rear of the hull through which stores could be loaded. The armament consisted of a single machine-gun in manual traversed turret. The suspension was a design by Major Tomio Hara and was similar to that in use on most Japanese tanks. It consisted of four bogies - two on each side. These were suspended by bell-cranks resisted by armoured compression springs placed horizontally, one each side of the hull, externally. Each bogie had two small rubber-tyred road wheels with the drive sprocket at the front and the idler at the rear. There were two track-return rollers.

In service the Type 94 was found to be very prone to throwing its tracks when it made a high speed turn. Further redesign work was carried out on the suspension and the small idler was replaced by a larger diameter idler wheel which was now in ground contact; it did not solve the problem. An air-cooled petrol motor that developed 35 hp (at 2,500 rpm) powered the tank. Initially the armament was a Type 91 6.5 mm machine gun, although in later models this was replaced by a Type 92 7.7 mm machine gun.

A better suspension on a longer chassis appeared in later models of the Type 94. The design was also the basis for the Type 94 "Disinfecting Vehicle" and Type 94 "Gas Scattering Vehicle" amongst the "Type 97 Pole Planter" and "Type 97 Cable Layer".

[edit] Service

Japan's priority of naval shipbuilding which taxed its steel industrial capacity combined with the nature of the fighting in the Second Sino-Japanese War, (which was launched by Japan in 1937) convinced the Imperial Japanese Army not to call for production of more advanced tanks.

Although designed as an ammunition tractor it was also used as tankette in China. The lightweight Type 94 was effective in China because the roads in China were in very poor condition, combined with the fact that the Chinese had very few tanks or anti-tank weapons to oppose them. Although used in the reconnaissance role its armour was thin enough that it could be penetrated by standard small arms fire.

The Type 94 was mainly deployed in "Independent Tankette Companies". In 1936, each Japanese Infantry Division had its own Tankette Company with six Type 94s for use in the reconnaissance role.

The Type 94 Tankette was an inexpensive vehicle to build, at approximately half the price of the Type 89 Medium Tank, resulting in more Type 94's entering service. Production ran to 300 in 1935, 246 in 1936 and 200 in 1937. The Imperial Japanese Army was therefore content to retain obsolescent vehicles such as the Type 94.

A number of Type 94 were issued to each Japanese infantry division, with a tracked trailer. They saw action during the Second World War in the Burma campaign. They were still in use until as late as 1945.

  • Hebei, China - (1st Tank Battalion and 2nd Tank Battalion)
  • Quhar Province, China - (1st Independent Mixed Brigade)
  • Shanghai, China - (5th Tank Battalion)
  • Taierchwang, China - (Special Tank Company of China Detachment Tank Unit)
  • Hsuchou, China - (1st Tank Battalion and 5th Tank Battalion)
  • Nomonhan, Manchuria - (3rd Tank Regiment and 4th Tank Regiment)
  • Hsinking, Manchuria - (Manchu tank Unit of Imperial Manchu Army)
  • Timor Island - (38th Division Tankette Company)
  • Java Island - (Anai Tankette unit, 2nd, 3nd and 48th Recon Regiment, Sakaguchi Detachment, 56th Infantry Group Tankette Unit)
  • Kwajalein Atoll - (2nd Battalion of Army 1st Sea-mobile Brigade)

[edit] External links


[edit] Reference


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 I
Type 3 Ho-Ni III | Type 4 Ho-Ro
Japanese armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II