was looking up information on Japanese tanks in WWII and found this interesting little post on another discussion forum on the subject. Does anyone know what happened to the Stuarts that were captured in the Phillipines?
"Well, I need to kill time before I get on the plane back to the US, I thought I'll write up a article about Japanese tanks of WW2, based off a Korean magazine. So don't kill me if some of these sentences sound bad, it's kinda hard to translate. Enjoy.
I: At first, one of the finest.
Well, Japanese tanks weren't a failure from the start, they were actually pretty good. During the 1920's. Japan brought in British and French tanks(the old WWI tanks), for studying, and making their own tank. The Japanese rule was try to make the most parts of something by your self. Instead of making massive tank units, they decided to use a few British/french tank units at first, to get the hang of controlling tanks as a strategic piece. At first, this strategy worked well. In 1929, the first pure Japanese tank was revealed. The 89 type(the actual mass production began in 1931). The 89 type was good, compared to other WWI tanks. Of course, compared to WWII tanks, it was a tracked armoured car... The 89 type's armor barely stopped light MG bullets, the armor panels wire RIVETED. The main gun was useless also. A low speed 57mm cannon. So basically, this was a moving, troop support bunker. But that's compared to WWII tanks. Until atleast 1930, the most of the world didn't know how to use tanks. Japan thought the tank's role was to destory MG nests, and barbed wire. So the 89 type's armor and main gun was good enough, at the time. Plus the 89(I'll scratch off the type, to save my fingers.) had a diesel engine, a first in tanks. The 89 was a good tank for that time.
II: Victory at 89's first debut, but...
The 89 started to be placed in units in numbers, starting from 1932. Japan's invasion of China, so the newly made tank unit invaded Shanghai. So the 89 was a "fortress" in China. China had few tanks, and fewer AT weapons. The 89 was invincible, it helped lead the Japanese forces to victory in Shanghai and Nanjing. But the "invinciblity" was bad for the 89 command. They saw no need to change tactics in their "moving bunker"... After the 89, The Japanese developed the 94 type(1934), armed with only a LMG(-_-). Then came the 95 type(1935). The 95 carried a 37mm cannon(In 1935, a 37 mm was a very powerful cannon). The next tank was the start of the suffering of the Japanese tanks(Sorry, couldn't write up a better sentence...) The 97 type(1937), it had much better armor than the 89, but the main gun was same. The low power 57mm. They still had the idea that tanks were moving bunkers, supporting foot soldiers.
III: Defeat.
1939, Soviet and Japanese soldiers fighting for the Manchurian border met with tanks. The Japanese 89 and 97 types got slaughtered. Their low power 57mm s didn't do any damage on the Soviet BT tanks, while the BT's 47mm pierced the 89/97s. But the 95 type actually was better than the newer 97. It had a 37mm. The Soviet tank's armor was weak too, so the 37mm pierced them. Japanese forced faced the first tank defeat. If they shaped up from here, they might had some decent tanks in WWII. Problem is, they didn't.
IIII: Japan doesn't shape up, and they face a powerful enemy.
The Japanese forces wanted to forget the defeat, and keep the tanks the way they are. Although, they found out the 97's cannon didn't pierce anything. So they decided to upgrade to a 47mm, but the funds weren't steady enough, so the upgrade was postphoned. December 1941, the Pacific was began. The Allied forces didn't expect tanks in the jungle, so a lot of the first Allied defeats were helped by the Japanese tanks. The Allies had a few tanks, but those few tanks gave GREAT shock to the Japanese. The M3 Stuart tank. They weren't so suprised about the armor of the M3 deflecting the low power 57mm from the 89s and 97s(no upgrade yet), so they sent in 95s, with 37mm. Direct hit! But the 37mm just deflects off. The M3's 37mm pierces the weak Japanese tanks... The Japanese act like Germans who faced T-34s or KV-1s. But the M3s were overhwelmed, and captured/destroyed. To the Japanese, the M3 Light tank was a medium tank.
IIIII: The so called "solution".
The Japanese army tried to find a solution to penetrate the M3's 50mm front armot. The solution was the postphoned upgrade. They hurriedly upgraded the 97s with the 47mm cannons, and made their first debut in the Philippines. The result was good. The 47mm penetrated the M3's armor, and the Japanese army felt like invincible again. But the upgrades didn't get to that many 97's soon, there was a shortage of tanks. The masses of old tanks outnumbered the 47mm 97s. And the battlefield was about to turn into living hell for the Japanese tank crewmen.
IIIIII: The American Calvary is here!
1943, now the 47mm 97s are widely distributed, and the Japanese forces are feeling invincible. But, the next American tank they face, its not the M3... It's the M4 Sherman. The Japanese thought the M3 was a monster. They thought the M4 was a dinosaur. But, they trust their 47mm and fire at the Sherman. They think it will penetrate. It doesn't make a dent. They try using captured M3s. M4 >x9999 M3. Plus the 75mm cannon could penetrate everything. Now the Japanese tanks were on the run. American troops were now supplied with bazookas and M2HBs. The bazooka shattered them. The M2HB cut through the weak 97's armor and cut the crew up. And for the 95type and lower, a M1 rifle or a M1919 LMG could penetrate the armor at close range... And so the Japanese tanks' glory days in WWII were gone forever.
End! How'd you like this bit of info? "
http://www.totalbf2.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91491