Type 5 Ke-Ho light tank

The Type 5 light tank Ke-Ho (五式軽戦車 ケホ, Go-shiki keisensha Keho) was a prototype light tank developed by the Imperial Japanese Army at the end of World War II.

Type 5 Ke-Ho
Type 5 Ke-Ho light tank
Type	Light tank
Place of origin	Empire of Japan
Production history
Designed	1942
Produced	1945
No. built	1 (prototype)[1]
Specifications
Mass	10 tons
Length	4.38 meters[2]
Width	2.23 meters
Height	2.23 meters
Crew	4
Armor	8-20 mm[2]
Main armament	Type 1 47 mm tank gun[1]
Secondary armament	Type 97 7.7mm machine gun[2]
Engine	Type 100 straight six-cylinder supercharged air cooled diesel[2] 150 HP[2]
Suspension	Bell crank
Maximum speed	50 km/h[2]

History and development

In 1938, development began for a new light tank for the Japanese Army.[3] While the Type 95 Ha-Go had performed well against the National Revolutionary Army of the China in the Second Sino-Japanese War and successfully engaged United States M3 Stuart light tanks on the Bataan Peninsula in December 1941,[4] it was quickly growing obsolete. Although its 37mm gun was adequate for most light armor designed and built in the 1930s, the Ha-Go, like the tanks of the US Army prior to 1941, was not designed to fight enemy tanks, but rather to support the infantry.[5] The Type 95's light armor made it vulnerable to .50 caliber machine gun fire[3] and attempts to address these shortcomings via the Type 98 Ke-Ni and Type 2 Ke-To were steps in the right direction, but were still insufficient.[6] Therefore, a complete design review was held and a prototype for a new standard light tank was completed by 1942.[2] At this point the project was shelved, as the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff had to concede to the Imperial Navy's needs of raw materials necessary for the production of warships and warplanes. Mass production was finally authorized in 1945, by which time it was too late. Production was impossible due to shortages of materials such as steel, and the bombing of Japan.[7] Only a single prototype was completed by the Hino Jido Sha company by the end of World War II.[1]

Design

Armor

The Type 5 Ke-Ho had armor of up to 20 mm, and a Type 1 47 mm main gun, an improvement over existing Japanese light tanks.[2] The tank weighed 10 tons due to increased armor thickness and a bigger engine. The two-man turret layout drew on previous design experience from the Type 1 Chi-He.[1]

Mobility

The tank was powered by a Type 100 air cooled diesel engine yielding 150 HP, for a top speed of 50 km/h.[2] Details about the engine design still remains unknown. One theory indicates it was an improved version of the Chiyoda EC engine manufactured by Tokyo Gas and Electronics Industry in 1937. The tank also had a fuel tank capacity of 130 L.[8]

Notes

1. Tomczyk 2005, p. 30.
2. Hara 1973, p. 13.
3. Zaloga 2007, p. 18.
4. Hunnicutt 1992, p. 395.
5. Zaloga 2008, p. 18.
6. Foss 2003.
7. Zaloga 2007, pp. 15, 22.
8. 九五式軽戦車 ハ号

References

• Foss, Christopher (2003). Great Book of Tanks: The World's Most Important Tanks from World War I to the Present Day. Zenith Press. ISBN 0-7603-1475-6.
• Hara, Tomio (1973). Japanese Combat Cars, Light Tanks, and Tankettes. AFV Weapons Profile No. 54. Profile Publications Limited.
• Hunnicutt, Richard (1992). Stuart, A History of the American Light Tank Volume 1. Novato, California: Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-462-2.
• Tomczyk, Andrzej (2005). Japanese Armor Vol. 4. AJ Press. ISBN 978-8372371676.
• Zaloga, Steven J. (2007). Japanese Tanks 1939–45. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-8460-3091-8.
• Zaloga, Steven J. (2008). Armored Thunderbolt, the US Army Sherman in World War II. Mechanicsville, PA (USA): Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-0424-3.

External links

• World War II Tanks
• World War II Drawings