Japanese beehive mine

[ewag2]

Here is a Japanese WW2 beehive mine. It has a heavy cast-iron body. This example used the same fuse as the type 93 mine.

I have not found much historical information about these mines, so any info would be appreciated. I hope people like the pictures anyway.

Regards, Rob

 

[MINENAZ16]

Hello,

Maybe "BOUGAINVILLE" could give more details.

Regards

 

[JCB99]

Nice. I believe these are of Chinese origin, captured and reissued along with Type 10 Chinese/Japanese grenades. Do you own this, did you get it at the SOS show?

Jim

 

[ewag2]

Nice. I believe these are of Chinese origin, captured and reissued along with Type 10 Chinese/Japanese grenades. Do you own this, did you get it at the SOS show?

Jim

That is interesting information, thanks. I had not heard this before. It might explain why it's less common than the other Japanese mine types and why there seems to be less documentation about it. When you mentioned the type 10 grenade, did you mean the type 23? I know the type 23 is of Chinese origin, but I had not heard this about the type 10.

I do own this, but I bought it from a fellow collector a few years ago. I have not been to the SOS show, as it is far from where I live. Did you see one like this there?

Rob

 

[US-Subs]

Jim,
Why do you say Chinese origin? China had munitions during the war which were roughly similar in appearance, but were most typically round or oblong, and functioned differently, not normally used as mines. While it is completely possible that they could have been used in China and therefore carried forward like many other munitions, I have never seen one at a recovery site, and none reside in the Chinese Military Museum - and they are very happy to display all Japanese ordnance that they can find. Likewise I have seen none in documents on recovered ordnance in Korea, of which a significant amount was re-issued Japanese as you mention. Aside from the very few in US collections the only ones I have seen reside in Okinawa and mainland Japan.

 

[JCB99]

JO, good to hear from you. I have some period pictures of captured chinese ordnance and some of the pictures show this type of mine. There are several different sizes and variation but it seems they are the same type. Some time ago I also asked our friend in China about obtaining one of these. In his reply email he describes knowing someone with one but it wasn't for sale and the size and weight would have been a shipping problem. I will go through my photos and find those period pictures of this mine. I have no actual reference that describes these as Chinese made but looking at period China Id'd photos of these mines I think we can safely assume some of these were captured and reissued to the Pacific. I have two pictures handy, I need some time to find the others.



Period photo from a Chinese blog clearly showing what seems me to be Beehive mines.



This picture from a Japanese blog showing a beehive mine with adapter ring in place. I think the owner mentions it having come from china. I will try to find that blog to verify the origin of the piece.The blog is in Japanese so I wonder about my translation software accuracy.

More pictures come later. I need some time,
Jim

 

[JCB99]

Found the Chinese blog page with the above period picture. The information is in Chinese and after running it through translation it still leaves questions unanswered. Clearly, mines with this appearance were used in China, the question is are they of Chinese or Japanese manufacture. I am of the opinion they are Chinese made. I will continue to post pictures and info as I dig it up.

http://www.cchere.com/article/3457702

Also found the Japanese blog with beehive mine pic: correction, the poster does not claim ownership of the mine or Id the origin of the piece but here is the link to the page I got the photo from:

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ak277301/19642991.html

Jim

I have a beehive mine fuze adapter ring with modified type 88 artillery fuze altered for mine use. Here is the BOCN link, Post number #10.

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threa...e-mortar-fuzes-revisited!?p=171286#post171286

My beehive adapter ring is shorter, having only 5 rings of threads. A Type 93 fuze does fit into the adapter but it fits deeper in the opening and feels loose. Possibly different adapters were used with differrent types of Japanese fuzes. I know modified type 88 fuzes, Type 93 mine fuzes and the Type 3 fuze were used with this mine.

 

[JCB99]

I need to reorganize my picture files but here are a few more beehive pictures. I have not found any type of reference as to ID. The first image I actually own. It is a period Photograph I bought through ebay. The auction description mentions Japanese and Manchuria. The photo clearly shows these types of mines with Japanese troops in the background. Unfortunately, the photograph does not actually ID the mines as either Japanese made or Chinese captured. You won't see Japanese troops dressed this way with fur hats in the Pacific theatre. The mystery continues...


The third picture shows a color photograph of a Okinawa recovered beehive mine. This came from UXO eod work and I can't find the link to the page I got the photo from.

Jim

BOCN members are invited to comment. Reference and period photographs are appreciated!

The only information I have is this: two sizes, large diameter 37cm, 24cm high, weighing about 50kg. Small diameter 28cm, 24cm high, weighing about 30kg

 

[US-Subs]

The problem with so many historic photos is that you are stuck with questionable information. Who, what, when, where - if I had a dime for every bullshit story that was given to me with photos....

Here are some shots from Chinese museums, as mentioned they display some items roughly similar, but always oval. Normally these were extremely rough, with little or no industrial capacity. Many were simply carved from rock or case in ceramic. The ones that were cast iron were typically very rough, never saw any set up for mines.

The typical use was to load them with black powder and roll them down hills into convoys, etc. Very crude. This is described many times, at the resistance museum they even have a life-sized diorama depicting it - photo attached and you can see the balls and how they carried them.

I've also attached a photo from one of the recovery sites. Very typical, no beehives.

 

[JCB99]

re

Jo. Nice pictures, lets hope new information will come to light.

Jim

 

[ewag2]

I wonder if this mine did originate in China, but was of Japanese design and manufacture? I have been told by a knowledgable source in China that the Japanese made many types of ordnance there during the occupation that never appeared in any official Japanese documentation. (One example would be the "Manchukuo" grenade, of which a few examples came up for sale a few years ago.)

To me, this mine looks Japanese. The quality of manufacture is better than the Chinese pieces I've seen from the period. It has machined features, which seems unlikely for a Chinese mine, although the Japanese could have modified existing mine castings. Also, the physical appearance of these mines is fairly consistent, while Chinese ordnance from the period tended to vary a great deal, as if the design was only an approximation. The casting is rougher than on Japanese grenades, but this could be because they were using the resources available to them in China. The black finish on it looks the same to me as the black (lacquer?) finish that I've seen on Japanese grenades. The Chinese had been involved in a civil war well before the Japanese invaded, so I don't see why they'd bother putting a nice finish on a mine.

My guess is that these are Japanese-made mines, made in China. I look forward to finding out the answer.

Rob