Type 4 40 cm rocket launcher
Type 4 40 cm rocket launcher | |
---|---|
Type 4 40 cm rocket | |
Type | Rocket artillery |
Place of origin | Empire of Japan |
Service history | |
In service | 1943–1945 |
Used by | Imperial Japanese Army |
Wars | World War II |
Specifications | |
Mass | 220 kilograms (490 lb) |
Barrel length | 3.22 metres (10 ft 7 in) |
Shell | 508 kilograms (1,120 lb) |
Caliber | 400 mm (16 in) |
Elevation | 40° to +65° |
Muzzle velocity | 220 m/s (720 ft/s) |
Maximum firing range | 3,700 metres (4,000 yd) |
The Type 4 40 cm rocket mortar (四式四〇糎噴進, Yonshiki yonjū-senchi funshinhō) was a 400 mm (16 in) rocket used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the final stages of World War II.
Development and design
The Type 4 rocket mortar was developed in the final stages of World War II by the Imperial Japanese Army Technical Bureau, as a relatively low-cost, easy to produce weapon, which had an advantage of greater accuracy over conventional mortars in that it fired a spin-stabilized projectile. The first units were deployed in 1943, and were used in limited numbers in combat during the Battle of Iwo Jima and Battle of Okinawa. Due to its ease of construction, it was produced in limited numbers and distributed to hidden arsenals for use as last-ditch weapons during the projected Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands.
Unlike the Type 4 20 cm rocket, which could be launched from an ordinary pipe or culvert with sufficient diameter, wooden rails, or even directly from a slope in the ground,[1] the Type 4 40 cm rocket required specially designed launch rails.[2]
References
- Bishop, Chris (eds) The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Barnes & Nobel. 1998. ISBN 0-7607-1022-8
- Chamberlain, Peter and Gander, Terry. Heavy Field Artillery. Macdonald and Jane's (1975). ISBN 0-356-08215-6
- McLean, Donald B. Japanese Artillery; Weapons and Tactics. Wickenburg, Ariz.: Normount Technical Publications 1973. ISBN 0-87947-157-3.
- US Department of War, TM 30-480, Handbook on Japanese Military Forces, Louisiana State University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8071-2013-8
External links
- Type 4 on Taki's Imperial Japanese Army page
Notes
- v
- t
- e
- 28 cm howitzer
- Type 41 8 cm coast defense gun
- Type 11 12 cm coast defense gun
- Type 3 12 cm coast defense gun
- Type 41 15 cm/40 coast defense gun
- Type 41 15 cm/45 coast defense gun
- Type 41 15 cm/50 coast defense gun
- Type 45 15 cm cannon
- Type 41 12 cm coast defense gun
- Type 3 14 cm coast defense gun
- Type 41 20 cm coast defense gun
- 25 cm artillery mortar
- 70 mm barrage mortar
- Type 11 70 mm infantry mortar
- Type 2 12 cm mortar
- Type 3 81 mm mortar
- Type 93 150 mm infantry mortar
- Type 94 90 mm infantry mortar
- Type 95 15 cm mortar
- Type 96 and Type 97 150 mm infantry mortar
- Type 97 81 mm infantry mortar
- Type 97 90 mm infantry mortar
- Type 98 320 mm mortar
- Type 98 50 mm mortar
- Type 99 81 mm mortar
- 7 cm mountain gun
- Type 31 75 mm mountain gun
- Type 41 75 mm mountain gun
- Type 94 75 mm mountain gun
- Type 99 10 cm mountain gun