3rd Tank Regiment (Japan)

Last updated

The 3rd Tank Regiment was an armored regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. It served in the China/Manchuria theater throughout the war.

Contents

History

The 3rd Tank Regiment was created in 1937 by upgrading the 3rd Tank Battalion.[ citation needed ] At the end of January 1939, Lieutenant Colonel Kiyotake Yoshimaru took command of the regiment; Yoshimaru was promoted to full colonel in March, and under him the regiment participated in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union in 1939, [1] :351 as part of the 1st Tank Corps. The other regiment of the 1st Tank Corps was the 4th Tank Regiment, which was equipped mostly with light tanks, and the 1st Tank Corps was part of the Yasuoka Detachment under Major General Masaomi Yasuoka.

At this time the 3rd Tank Regiment had the following order of battle: [1] :349

Japanese armor fared poorly in these battles, the low-velocity guns being unable to penetrate Soviet armor, while being themselves vulnerable to Soviet high-velocity tank guns. Colonel Yoshimaru himself was killed when his command tank was destroyed by Soviet gun fire on 3 July 1939. During the action of 2 and 3 July, the 3rd Tank Regiment was badly mauled by the Soviet army forces. [1] :401–403

3rd Tank Regiment was included in 1st Tank Division when the division was formed at Ningan in Manchukuo in June 1942. [2]

The 3rd Tank Regiment was detached from the 1st Armored Division and attached to 11th Army for Operation Ichi-Go against China in 1944. It remained in China while the rest of the 1st Armored Division returned to Japan for the defense of the home islands, and was disbanded with the rest of the 11th Army in 1945.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battles of Khalkhin Gol</span> 1939 border clashes between Imperial Japan and the Soviet Union

The Battles of Khalkhin Gol were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhin Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident after Nomonhan, a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria. The battles resulted in the defeat of the Japanese Sixth Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 94 tankette</span> Japanese tankette

The Type 94 tankette was a tankette used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in World War II. Although tankettes were often used as ammunition tractors, and general infantry support, they were designed for reconnaissance, and not for direct combat. The lightweight Type 94 proved effective in China as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions to oppose them, and those tank battalions were equipped only with some British export models and Italian CV-33 tankettes. As with nearly all tankettes built in the 1920s and 1930s, they had thin armor that could be penetrated by .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun fire at 600 yards (550 m) range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 97 Te-Ke tankette</span> Japanese tankette

The Type 97 Light armored car Te-Ke was a tankette used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in World War II. It was designed as a fast reconnaissance vehicle, and was a replacement for the earlier Type 94 tankette.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank</span> Medium tank

The Type 97 Chi-Ha was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and the Second World War. It was the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 95 Ha-Go light tank</span> Light tank

The Type 95 Ha-Gō was a light tank used by the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. It proved sufficient against infantry but was not effective against other tanks. Approximately 2,300 were produced, making it the most numerous Japanese armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks of the interwar period</span>

Tanks were initially deployed in World War I, engineered to overcome the deadlock of trench warfare. Between the two world wars, tanks were further developed. Although they had demonstrated their battlefield effectiveness, only a few nations had the industrial resources to design and build them. During and after World War I, Britain and France pioneered tank technology, with their models generally serving as a blueprint for other countries. However, this initial advantage would slowly diminish during the 1930s, shifting in favor of the Soviet Union and, to a lesser degree, Nazi Germany.

A tank corps was a type of Soviet armoured formation used during World War II.

The order of battle for the Nanchang Campaign

The Type 97 57 mm tank gun was originally the main armament of the Imperial Japanese Army Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 4 Ke-Nu light tank</span> Light tank

The Type 4 Ke-Nu was a light tank of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. It was a conversion of existing Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks, re-fitted with the larger turret of the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 89 I-Go medium tank</span> Medium tank

The Type 89 medium tank I-Go is a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1932 to 1942 in combat operations of the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. The Type 89B model was the world's first mass-produced diesel engine tank. The tank was armed with a short-barrel 57 mm cannon for knocking out pillboxes and masonry fortifications, and proved effective in campaigns in Manchuria and China, as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions to oppose them, which consisted primarily of Vickers export models, German Panzer Is, and Italian CV33 tankettes. The Type 89 was a 1920s design medium tank, built to support the infantry, and thus lacked the armor or armament of 1940s generation Allied armor; it was regarded as obsolete by the time of the 1939 battles of Khalkhin Gol, against the Soviet Union. The code designation "I-Go" comes from the katakana letter [イ] for "first" and the kanji [号] for "number". The designation is also transliterated Chi-Ro and sometimes "Yi-Go".

The 1st Independent Mixed Brigade or 1st Mixed Brigade (獨立混成第1旅團) was an experimental combined arms formation of the Imperial Japanese Army. In July 1937, at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the brigade was known as the Sakai Brigade, for its commander, Lt. General Koji Sakai. The brigade participated in Battle of Taiyuan in late 1937. After being promoted lieutenant general Masaomi Yasuoka took command from 1938 to 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 97 ShinHōtō Chi-Ha medium tank</span> Medium tank

The Type 97 Shinhōtō Chi-Ha was a Japanese medium tank used in World War II that was an upgrade to the original Type 97 Chi-Ha. The new version was designated Type 97-Kai ("improved"), Shinhōtō Chi-Ha or simply "Type 97/47". Armed with a Type 1 47 mm tank gun, this design was considered to be the best Japanese tank to have seen combat service during the Pacific War. It first saw combat service at Corregidor Island in the Philippines in 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light tank</span> Class of tank

A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of transport and logistics. They are primarily employed in the screening, armored reconnaissance, skirmishing, artillery observation, and supplementing landing operations in a fire support role of expeditionary forces where larger, heavier tanks are unavailable or have difficulties operating safely or efficiently.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks in the Japanese Army</span>

This article deals with the history and development of tanks of the Japanese Army from their first use after World War I, into the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks of China</span> Aspect of military history

This article on military tanks deals with the history of tanks employed by various military forces belonging to the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) within China. From the early half of the 20th century, tanks were initially obtained from other countries; eventually indigenously designed Chinese tanks started manufacture and became used during the Cold War and towards the modern era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks of the Polish Armoured Forces</span>

This article deals with the history and development of tanks of the Polish army from their first use after World War I, into the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era.

The Reconnaissance regiment in the Japanese language was a type of military establishment within the Imperial Japanese Army during the 1940-1945 period. Derived from the Cavalry regiment, the Reconnaissance regiment was tasked with combat scouting. In Japanese military literature, the term reconnaissance regiment is commonly abbreviated as SO. These regiments were often attached to numerous Japanese divisions during the initial stages of the Pacific War. In contemporary Japan, these regiments are analogous to Reconnaissance battalions within the divisions of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

The 4th Tank Regiment was a unit of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Coox, Alvin (1985). Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939. Stanford University Press. ISBN   978-0804711609 . Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  2. Rottman, Gordon L.; Takizawa, Akira (2008). World War II Japanese Tank Tactics. Peter Dennis (illustrator). Osprey. p. 16. Retrieved August 3, 2016.

Notes

  1. Nominally; due to production shortages, most Type 97 tankettes were fitted with the Type 97 heavy tank machine gun instead.