Type 91 10 cm howitzer

Type 91 10 cm 105 mm howitzer
300px Type 91 10 cm 105 mm howitzer
Type	light howitzer
Place of origin	Empire of Japan
Service history
In service	1931-1949?
Used by	Imperial Japanese Army Republic of China (NRA) People's Republic of China (PLA)
Wars	Second Sino-Japanese War Soviet-Japanese Border Wars World War II Chinese Civil War
Production history
Designed	1927-1931
Manufacturer	Osaka Arsenal
Produced	1931-?
Number built	1,100 + 100 (Motorized Model)
Variants	Steel tires on artillery wheels, Wheels and Tires
Specifications
Weight	1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) Firing 1,979 kg (4,363 lb) Traveling
Length	4.72 m (15 ft 6 in) Firing 8.94 m (29 ft 4 in) Traveling
Barrel length	2.54 metres (8 ft 4 in) L/24
Width	1.57 m (5 ft 2 in) Track 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Maximum
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Shell	15.7 kilograms (35 lb)
Caliber	105 millimetres (4.1 in)
Action	manual
Breech	Interrupted screw
Recoil	hydropneumatic
Carriage	Split trail, demountable spade plates, trail blocks integral to trails. Wheels and Tires or Steel tires on artillery wheels.
Elevation	-5° to +45°
Traverse	20° right,20° left
Rate of fire	15 Minutes 2 rpm Maximum 6-8 rpm Continuous 50-60 rph
Muzzle velocity	546 m/s (1,791 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	10,771 metres (11,779 yd)
Feed system	manual
Sights	panoramic

The Type 91 10 cm howitzer (九一式十糎榴弾砲, Kyūisshiki Jissenchi Ryudanho) was a 105 mm (4.13 in) howitzer used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. The Type 91 number was designated for the year the gun was accepted, 2591 in the Japanese imperial year calendar, or 1931 in the Gregorian calendar.

History and development

File:Type 91 10-cm-howizer-2.jpg

Cadets of the Imperial Japanese Army during shooting training with Type 91 10-cm-howitzer (with wooden spoked wheels) at Fuji training ground. ca. 1935

The Type 91 10 cm howitzer was an orthodox design howitzer, based largely on contemporary French Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider howitzers ordered during the late 1920s by the Japanese Army Technical Bureau for evaluation purposes. It was intended to supplement, and eventually supersede the largely obsolete Type 38 15 cm howitzer, which had been in service since the end of the Russo-Japanese War. Over one thousand units were produced beginning in 1931.

Design

File:Type 91 10-cm-howizer-1.jpg

A japanese cannoneer is taking aim

For a weapon of modern design the Model 91 (1931) 105-mm howitzer is by U. S. standards an extremely crude-looking piece. It is much smaller and lighter than the German and U. S. howitzers of the same caliber, weighing even less than the standard 75-mm guns used in Europe in World War I. Despite its lightness and its appearance of not having been quite finished, it is capable of throwing a 35-pound shell very nearly as far as can the heavier and far more formidable looking German 105-mm howitzer.

The Type 91 10 cm howitzer was a standard 105-mm artillery piece of extremely light construction relative to range and weight of projector. Identification Demountable spade plates, long cradle extending almost to muzzle end of tube, a hydropneumatic recoil mechanism, split trail, and interrupted screw breech mechanism. It was designed to be towed by a team of six horses.

The Type 91 fired a 15kg standard high-explosive shell, up to 10,500 metres and could also fire chemical, armor-piercing, and shrapnel shells. Japanese charge-system numbering is unusual, in that the numbering is reversed from American, British, German, French and Italian charge numbering systems:

• Charge 1: 11,772 yd (10,764 m)
• Charge 2: 8,502 yd (7,774 m)
• Charge 3: 6,322 yd (5,781 m)
• Charge 4: 5,123 yd (4,684 m)

Variants

File:Type 91 10-cm-howizer-3.jpg

Night practice shooting at Fuji training ground

Early models of the Type 91 had wooden spoked wheels, but later versions had steel wheels with pneumatic tires for towing behind a motorized transport at the cost of an extra 250 kilograms (550 lb).

Combat record

Type 91 10 cm howitzer was used in large numbers in front line combat service from the time of the invasion of Manchuria through the Soviet-Japanese Border Wars, the Second Sino-Japanese War and in most fronts during the Pacific War. The Type 91 was typically assigned to field artillery regiments together with 75mm field guns.

Weapons captured by the Chinese during the Second Sino-Japanese War, or abandoned in China at the time of the surrender of Japan, were placed into service by both the National Revolutionary Army of the Nationalist government and the People's Liberation Army of the Chinese communist government through the Chinese Civil War.

References

Bibliography

• Bishop, Chris (eds) The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Barnes & Nobel. 1998. ISBN 0-7607-1022-8
• Chamberlain, Peter and Gander, Terry. Light and Medium Field Artillery. Macdonald and Jane's (1975). ISBN 0-356-08215-6
• Chant, Chris. Artillery of World War II, Zenith Press, 2001, ISBN 0-7603-1172-2
• McLean, Donald B. Japanese Artillery; Weapons and Tactics. Wickenburg, Ariz.: Normount Technical Publications 1973. ISBN 0-87947-157-3.
• Mayer, S.L. The Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan. The Military Press (1984) ISBN 0-517-42313-8
• War Department Special Series No 25 Japanese Field Artillery October 1944
• 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 91 on Taki's Imperial Japanese Army page
• US Technical Manual E 30-480