Japanese AT rocket launcher (Bazooka)

[genkideskan]

Here is part 2 of my less known japanese ord request.
It is a japanese AT rocket launcher similar to the Bazooka.

There are several calibers known and mentioned about in reports.
60mm, 70mm, 75mm, 90mm, 105mm.
May be mostly pure trial ammo and launchers.
The launcher itself is a simple tube using a hammer mechanism at the rear.
The ammo is a spin stabilizes rocket with a central percussion primer.
The hollow charge head is similar to the 75mm gun shell.
There is a take down version for paratroopers,too The barrel could be dismantled in two parts by a bajonet type coupling.
Any more informations?

A single rocket shell was shown in the japanese Panzerfaust thread

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/japanese-panzerfaust-t74193.html?t=74193

Here is annothe rocket shell in comparison to the 75mm hollow charge gun shell.









.

 

[genkideskan]

More pics of launcher, note the big firing hammer and simple trigger system




Launcher crew in action




.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Type 4 70 mm at rocket launcher

Hi all,
Here is a wee bit of information. I feel quite shamed that I don't have anymore than this. Even for this amount I had to do a quick scurry around to dig something up.

TYPE 4 70 MM AT ROCKET LAUNCHER


The Type 4 70 mm AT Rocket Launcher was a Japanese Rocket launcher used during the last year of WWII. They were used in the Japanese mainland in case of an invasion by the Allies.


It is comparable to the German Panzerschreck and the American Bazooka.

History
By 1944 the Americans were using the M1 Bazooka anti tank rocket launchers in the Pacific Theatre against the Japanese. The Japanese military commanders decided that they needed a similar weapon. In 1944 they adopted the Type 4 70mm rocket launcher. A total number of approx. 3,500 were produced. Unlike the US rocket that used fins to stabilize it in flight, the Japanese rocket had angled ventures in the base to spin the rocket for stabilization. The 200 mm (8 inch) HE Spin Stabilized Rocket was its predecessor.

Development
The launcher was made in two parts that were joined in the middle similar to the US 3.5” Rocket Launcher and was 1.5 meters long, weighed 8 kilograms, with an actual calibre of 74 mm. It was made to be fired from a soldier while prone. The weapon itself had a bipod similar to the one on the Type 99 LMG. The gunner lay with his body at approximately a 45 degree angle to the bore on the left side while the loader was positioned similarly on the other side. The pistol grip & trigger mechanism are attached to the rear half of the launcher. A cable runs from the trigger to the rear of the launcher where the hammer is located. The hammer with firing pin is mounted on an arm that looks like a mouse trap mechanism. The arm is above the bore and out of the way of loading the rocket when it is in the cocked position. Pulling the trigger pulls the pin holding the arm in position and the arm swings around under spring pressure striking the primer and igniting the rocket.

The 70mm rocket, like the 20 cm one, used a Type 100 Selective Instantaneous Short Delay Mortar Fuze. There would be no set back when the rocket was fired to arm an artillery fuze. The Japanese mortar fuse for the 81mm and 90mm use a simple shear wire to make it bore safe. The wire goes through the brass body and aluminum firing pin plunger. Upon impact the plunger is forced back shearing the wire and freeing the plunger to strike the firing pin to detonate the round. This system would work well with a rocket & was an already available item in the Japanese supply system.

The explosive component was Cast TNT and the propellant was Smokeless powder B which is a mixture of 27.71% nitro glycerine, 63.50% nitro-cellulose, 0.45 percent graphite, 0.34% ash, 3.81% ethylcentrate, 3.68% diphenyl formamide, and 1.30% volatiles. The ignition charge was black powder in two blue lacquered silk bags.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[botcheg]

More pics of launcher, note the big firing hammer and simple trigger system




Launcher crew in action




.

I went back East this July and visited the Udvar Hazy Annex of the Air and Space and found this. Question is "Experimental Japanese used in Vietnam or North Vietnamese copy ?" The pictures deleted from genkideskan's post came from a Japanese language magazine and showed actual Japanese soldiers posing with this weapon. I have pointed out to an A&S curator mislabeled artifacts that came from Aberdeen and mislabeled by ABERDEEN (!) (go figure) and this may be another. I pointed this out to them when I got back but haven't heard anything back.
The thing is this example looks to me exactly like the one in genkideskan's pictures. How 'bout that !!!!
Regards,
Bill

 

[ogreve]

Hi Bill,

Most often, Japanese weapons were marked. If you can get pictures of the markings (if any) on it, I can tell if they are Japanese.

Cheers,
Olaf

 

[US-Subs]

There is one of these floating around the south part of MI as well. I've met the current owner, he brought it by one day to show it off. Got photos somewhere -

 

[botcheg]

Hi Bill,
Most often, Japanese weapons were marked. If you can get pictures of the markings (if any) on it, I can tell if they are Japanese.
Cheers,
Olaf

Hi Olaf,
Well, I'm 3,000 miles away from it so I won't be checking it out any time soon, but I took another look at the pix I did take and thought they had high-lited some markings with white paint but another pic showed what the markings were. . . NOT Japanese ! There was very low general lighting coming in and my digital camera was having fits trying to focus. I've gotta go back to film, IF I can find some ! Anyway, I don't think there were any markings on it. Maybe someone can track that FMAR number.
Regards,
Bill

 

[botcheg]

I just got pictures of another example from Mr. Mike Lebens
Curator of Collections
The National Museum of the Pacific War
340 East Main Street
Fredericksburg, TX 78624 that shows markings. We hope you can shed light on what they mean.Bill

Hi Bill,

Most often, Japanese weapons were marked. If you can get pictures of the markings (if any) on it, I can tell if they are Japanese.

Cheers,
Olaf

 

[weberoed]

Could have sworn I blew a couple of these up in Viet Nam, along with some other 122 Rocket and B-50 launchers. But I seem to remember a hand grip just rear of the trigger which had been blow off

 

[botcheg]

Could have sworn I blew a couple of these up in Viet Nam, along with some other 122 Rocket and B-50 launchers. But I seem to remember a hand grip just rear of the trigger which had been blow off

That's what I'd like to find out, if these WERE in Vietnam ! If the NVA or Chinese copied the Japanese version developed at the end of the war for homeland defense. The "trigger" is a ring pull at the end of a cable that loops back to the hammer release visible on the top rear of the launcher. You can just see the hammer in the cocked position at the back end of the launcher. The ring is just visible in the rectangular guard in the underneath portion of the launcher and the only handgrip just to the right of that. Bill

 

[botcheg]

Oh and someone's wife has identified the characters as being Chinese. I was thinking it might be Japanese Kanji which looks, to me, very similar Bill

 

[US-Subs]

They probably are Chinese. During WWII and earlier the Japanese used many Chinese characters, especially for military materials. Working with Japanese ordnance overseas we frequently had to go to Chinese translators for characters that our Japanese guys could no longer read.

 

[botcheg]

They probably are Chinese. During WWII and earlier the Japanese used many Chinese characters, especially for military materials. Working with Japanese ordnance overseas we frequently had to go to Chinese translators for characters that our Japanese guys could no longer read.

Thank you for the post. Is there anyone who is familiar with weapons made by the NVA or Vietcong that could say what kind of markings could be found. I'm trying to show that one similar to this is NOT a Vietnam bringback. Bill

 

[US-Subs]

Cannot answer your question, but I can muddy the water a little more. There have been many claims over the years of Japanese ordnance coming out of VN in small numbers. I've never been able to confirm the rumors to my satisfaction, but it makes some sense. Immediately after WWII the Chinese were left with thousands of tons of Japanese materials following 10 years of occupation across the entire country. Most of this was usable equipment and for a number of years it became part of the standard material for their forces. If you go to the US National Archives Photo Division and look up "captured enemy equipment" in the Korean War section, you will find better photos of Japanese ordnance than in the WWII section. Much has been remarked, but it is Japanese. So what did China do with the materials when they became outdated? Probably the same as us, we give our old stuff to our friends, or people we want to be our friends. So whether you can prove it is a VN bring back or not does not necessarily mean it is not Japanese.

 

[botcheg]

See this before it's gone on 5 May 2014 on gunbroker, GREAT details, Japanese 70mm Type 4 for sale !!!!!
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=413058147
Bill