Type 91 10 cm howitzer

Type 91 10 cm 105 mm howitzer
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
Unit cost	26,000 yen ($6,986 USD) in August 1939
Produced	1931-?
No. built	1,100 + 100 (Motorized Model)
Variants	Steel tires on artillery wheels, Wheels and Tires
Specifications
Mass	1,500 kg (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) Maximum
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Shell	105 x 243mm R
Shell weight	15.7 kg (34 lb 10 oz)
Caliber	105 mm (4.1 in)
Breech	Interrupted screw
Recoil	Hydro-pneumatic
Carriage	Split trail, demountable recoil 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 m (11,779 yd)
Feed system	Manual
Sights	Panoramic

The Type 91 10 cm howitzer (九一式十糎榴弾砲, Kyūisshiki Jyūsenchi Ryūdanhō) was a 105 mm (4.13 in) howitzer used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. As the standard Japanese light howitzer of the period, it was influenced by Schneider designs and was considered to be light, robust and reliable. Type 91 howitzers were issued to artillery regiments where they would supplement 75mm field guns. 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

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

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 (3.0 in) 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 lb (16 kg) 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. It can be identified by its demountable spade plates, long cradle extending almost to muzzle end of tube, a hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism, Split trail, and interrupted screw breech mechanism. It was designed to be towed by a team of six horses.

Captured Model 91 howitzer outside Wallowa County Courthouse, Enterprise, Oregon

The Type 91 fired a 15 kg standard high-explosive shell, up to 10,500 m (11,500 yd) 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

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 75 mm 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 Nationalist government and the Communist forces during 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
• "兵器臨時定価、予価、表送付の件 Military catalogue of the Japanese military". National Archives of Japan. Ministry of the Army.
• "Banking and Monetary Statistics, 1914-1941, Part I". Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

External links

• Type 91 on Taki's Imperial Japanese Army page
• US Technical Manual E 30-480