Japanese 75mm Unknown

[RichardB]

Hi, can anyone excel themselves and identify this...

Overall Height of round - 492mm
length of projectile excluding fuze - 240mm
length of case - 292mm
diameter of projectile - 74.5mm




Case headstamp markings


Projectile body markings



any help appreciated...
Rich

 

[Tony Williams]

See: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/ammotable8.htm

Type 38 Field and Type 94 Mountain guns.

 

[RichardB]

Hi Tony,
Thanks for that....I had already looked at your site and came to the same conclusion, however the projectile looks very different from pictures ive seen of the field/mountain gun etc.

Do your anyone else have any drawings..

Also, can anyone decypher the headstamp markings.

Richard.

 

[Tony Williams]

Hi Tony,
Thanks for that....I had already looked at your site and came to the same conclusion, however the projectile looks very different from pictures ive seen of the field/mountain gun etc.

There is of course always the problem with uncrimped rounds that you can't be certain that the projectile is the right one for the case.

 

[ogreve]

Hi Rich,

Nice round!

The headstamp is straightforward, the case looks like a 75x294R case and it was made at Nagoya arsenal, in December 1937. I'll explain how to read the headstamp: The '12' represents "month 12" in Arabic numbers, i.e. December, and the '=+' is Kanji for '2' and '10', hence forming '12', followed by the Kanji to indicate that this is a Showa date, meaning that the 12 is relative to the base of 1925, i.e. 1925 + 12 = 1937.
The arsenal can be read from two bits of information, being the arsenal mark (at the 6 o'clock position), in this case a big circle, with two smaller ones on top of one another on the inside, being Nagoya. It is also reflected in a single Kanji, appearing around the 8 o'clock position. Often, but not always, one finds a single Katakana symbol around the 7 o'clock position, which I think (but I'm not certain) may be an acceptance mark or so. Also, not shown in your image, but typical on Japanese army cases (such as this one) is the letter 'F' at the 12 o'clock position.

Though you didn't ask for it, I can also explain (most) of the markings on the projectile. It was made at the Osaka arsenal (reflected by the crossed cannons, and a single Kanji, being the second to the left of the crossed cannons (I'm not quite certain what the symbol is that appears in between those two symbols), in February of Showa year 17, i.e. 1942.

Cheers!
Olafo

 

[Investment]

Excellent write up explaining the Kanji characters.

 

[ogreve]

Hi again,

Very busy times, so it took a while before I could browse a bit through my documentation. I checked OpNav 1667 against the 75mm army projectiles, as that document (despite several errors etc.) covers the complete range pretty well.

Obviously from the shape of your projectile, as well as the fact that it has a bottom fuse, it is of the APHE type. When looking that up in OpNav 1667, I came across only very few candidates. Attached to this reaction are 3 pages from OpNav 1667 (spread over 3 files, due to PDF file size restrictions imposed by the forum software), covering those types. The first type you'll encounter doesn't fit the bill, as it's taller and all sorts of other details are different. The second type comes in two flavours: one with double driving bands for high velocity guns and one with a single driving band for low velocity guns. Your projectile has got only one driving band, so that would be the latter kind. If you check the 3rd page (attached) you'll see that the length of 240mm matches nicely, as does the used colour scheme. The crimp and overall shape also match perfectly.
Note: It is listed as AP, but the drawing right above it clearly shows the explosives, hence making it definitely an APHE type -- a fine example of the type of errors one encounters frequently in this document!

The JIA used several types of 75mm ones, out of which I'd say the only two that classify as "low velocity" would be the 75x185R and (to a much lesser extent) the 75x294R. OpNav 1667 states that basically all 75mm projectiles are interchangeable between the various guns, but that some of their specific uses rule out many of the theoretically possible combinations.

Chances are very good that the projectile currently is matched to the proper case type, or that it should go along with the substantially shorter 75x185R case...

I'll delve a bit deeper in other documents I have, but be advised that documentation on Japanese ammo can be flaky: mismatches in sizes, drawing details, complete omissions, etc.
In a way, making the study of Japanese ammo somewhat of a nightmare, but also making it an exciting field to study if you're brave/foolish enough to pick up the gauntlett; I'm still cursing myself somewhat for having done so...:tinysmile_cry_t2:

Cheers!
Olafo

 

[Tony Williams]

In a way, making the study of Japanese ammo somewhat of a nightmare, but also making it an exciting field to study if you're brave/foolish enough to pick up the gauntlett; I'm still cursing myself somewhat for having done so...:tinysmile_cry_t2:

I'm very pleased that you've done the research, Olaf, it helps all of us - well done!