During the Second World War, American troops on the island of Luzon captured eight vehicles of quite interesting configuration. These were Soukou Sagyou armored engineering vehicles armed with two flamethrowers and a 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun. There have been no recorded cases of the Japanese using vehicle-mounted flamethrowers against their troops. All captured vehicles were found buried or camouflaged in a wooded area. Upon closer examination of the vehicles, it turned out that the body was made in 1939, but the internal parts (engine, flamethrowers) were created a little later - in 1940-1941. This means that the vehicle was originally created for other purposes, but was later converted into a mobile armored flamethrower.
The Japanese army, preparing for war with the Soviet Union, ordered the development of a specialized vehicle, which was supposed to be used to destroy defensive positions near the border with Manchuria. The Japanese, as often happens, treated this issue unconventionally and added a few more useful, in their opinion, functions. In particular, it was assumed that the future machine would be used for digging trenches, demining the area, destroying wire fences, disinfecting and dispersing poisonous gases, and also used as a crane, a bridge layer and a flamethrower tank. Thus, the most versatile engineering machine should have turned out.
Some sources indicate that the design of the Type 89 tank served as the basis for the SS-type vehicles. However, the chassis design of the Soukou Sagyou armored engineering vehicle only bore a resemblance to the chassis of this tank. Eight road wheels of the undercarriage were blocked on the bogies in pairs. The bogies were attached to the ends of semi-elliptical springs. The guide wheels were located at the front, and at the rear, the drive wheels of the toothing. The upper branch of the track was supported by two upper rollers on each side. The caterpillar was single-crest, fine-link, and consisted of steel tracks.
The Soukou Sagyou machines of the first series received a body that was almost completely borrowed from the more modern Type 94, with developed over the tracked niches and a characteristic high frontal part. True, there were some changes in the hull design. A double door was made in the frontal sheet, and a machine gun was also fixed (in a gimbal support). A fixed commander's dome was installed on the roof. An observation device was mounted in the dome.
Soukou Sagyou was equipped with a folding plow trawl, as well as a towing device. The power supply to the winch mechanisms was carried out from the engine. The folding track bridge was tinkering on the roof, the feed was carried out using a roller device.
Since the Soukou Sagyou machines were not supposed to be used in direct combat clashes, they decided to reduce the thickness of the armor plates. The forehead of the hull had the greatest thickness - 28 mm, the sides of the hull and stern - 13 mm each, the bottom and roof - 6 mm each. The power plant was based on a Mitsubishi 6-cylinder in-line diesel engine, whose power at 1800 rpm was 145 hp. This power plant allowed the engineering vehicle to reach speeds of up to 37 km / h on the track.
The prototype, which entered trials in 1931, turned out to be cumbersome. The most effective of all the functions were only engineering ones. However, the Japanese somewhat strengthened the composition of the armament - now it consisted of two Type 97 machine guns of 7, 7 mm caliber and 2-3 flamethrowers.
One of the machine guns was located in the upper part of the frontal armor plate in the center. Another machine gun was housed in a similar mount on the left side of the hull. Both machine guns have a horizontal firing angle of 10 degrees in both directions, the vertical firing angle is from –5 to +10 degrees. Although these machine guns made it possible to fire at a speed of 500-700 rounds per minute, they did not have a wide field of fire.
Two flamethrowers of an unknown type were mounted in the hull - one in the frontal armor to the right of the machine gun, and the other to the right in the rear armor plate. Some vehicles of this type were armed with a third flamethrower located on the left side of the hull towards the front. The other vehicle had mounts for five flamethrowers, one in front and two on each side. In both types, flamethrowers were installed in flexible mounts, like machine guns. On one of the SS captured by the Americans, the volume of the flamethrower fuel tanks was 504 liters.
The ignition was carried out with an electric current, probably from the engine generator. According to experts, the zone of destruction of the flamethrower was 30-45 meters.
After some deliberation, the army signed a contract for the supply of a small batch of vehicles, which received the designation SS-Ki. The first four Soukou Sagyou engineering vehicles were delivered to the First Mixed Tank Brigade, which was sent to China. On July 28, 1937, in the battle of Beijing, these vehicles were used as flamethrower tanks, but later they did not participate in open battles, but served exclusively for engineering purposes. Later, Soukou Sagyou, as part of an engineering regiment, was sent to the Soviet-Manchurian border. Since the use of these engineering vehicles was generally recognized as successful, the army expressed interest in buying a larger batch of vehicles.
In total, in the period from 1931 to 1943, 98 machines of the "SS" type were manufactured in three series. The engineering vehicle was produced in six modifications:
SS-Ki - main modification;
SS Kou Gata - had a modified chassis (4 support rollers were introduced from each side);
SS Otsu Gata - a bridgelayer with a modified chassis (new driving and steering wheels were introduced, with three supporting rollers on each side);
SS Hei Gata - trencher with mounted armored screens and undercarriage from Otsu Gata;
SS Tei Gata - engineering armored vehicle (chassis from Otsu Gata);
SS Bo Gata is a bridgelayer based on the basic modification.
Several dozen SSs were transferred to the Philippines in December 1941, where they were used as part of the Second Panzer Regiment (mainly as bridge layers) until the end of the war. Unfortunately, there is no more detailed data on their combat use.
Tactical and technical characteristics:
Combat weight - 13000 kg.
Crew - 5 people.
Length - 4865 mm.
Width - 2520 mm.
Height - 2088 mm.
Clearance - 400 mm.
Armament - 7, 7 mm machine gun (up to 3 flamethrowers were additionally installed).
Aiming devices - machine gun optical sights.
Reservation:
The forehead of the body is 28 mm.
The side and rear of the hull - 13 mm.
Roof and bottom - 8 mm.
Engine - Mitsubishi, diesel, power at 1800 rpm - 145 hp
The transmission is mechanical.
Undercarriage (on one side) - front steering wheel, 8 road wheels (interlocked in four bogies in pairs), 4 supporting rollers, rear drive wheel, fine-link caterpillar with steel tracks.
Road speed - 37 km / h.
The power reserve is 150 km.
Prepared based on materials:
www.aviarmor.net
www.lonesentry.com
shushpanzer-ru.livejournal.com
strangernn.livejournal.com
