Type 4 Ka-Tsu
Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
The Script error: No such module "Nihongo". was a Japanese amphibious landing craft of World War II. The first prototype was completed in late 1943 and trials were conducted off Kure in March 1944.
History
Japan's combat experience in the Solomon Islands in 1942 which revealed the difficulty of resupplying Japanese forces in such situations prompted the IJN to commence an amphibious tractor program in 1943, as the Ka-Tsu,Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". which was designed by Commander Hori Motoyoshi of the Kure Naval Yard.
Design
The Ka-Tsu's primary purpose was to transport cargo and/or troops ashore.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". It had light armored shielding with a maximum of 10 mm.[1] Its engine compartment and electric final drives were hermetically sealed, as it was intended to be launched from a submarine.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The twin drive propeller shafts were designed to retract "into their ducts" once the vehicle reached the beach.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
The first prototype was completed in late 1943 and trials were conducted off Kure in March 1944.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". By the time development had been completed, it was proposed that the Ka-Tsu be used to attack US battleships anchored in atolls (such as Ulithi), which could not readily be attacked using conventional means. It was proposed that a Ka-Tsu armed with a pair of naval Type 93 torpedoesScript error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". be dropped off by submarine away from the atoll, propel itself to the outer reef using its tracks, and then enter the lagoon on the inside of the reef. Tests were successfully carried out with a modified Ka-Tsu carrying two torpedoes on its deck, but the war ended before any such mission could be mounted and the Ka-Tsu deployed in combat.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". A total of 49 units were produced.[1]
Gallery
-
Type 4 Ka-Tsu with machine guns mounted
-
Rear-side angle view of Type 4 Ka-Tsu
-
Two Type 4 Ka-Tsu with torpedoes on the deck of a IJN submarine
See also
Notes
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
References
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
External links
Script error: No such module "Military navigation".
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with broken file links
- Pages with reference errors
- World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Japan
- Imperial Japanese Navy
- Landing craft
- Tractors
- Amphibious vehicles of World War II
- Tracked amphibious vehicles
- Amphibious military vehicles
- Military vehicles of Japan
- Blockades of World War II
- Mitsubishi
- Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944
- Armoured personnel carriers of WWII
- Tracked armoured personnel carriers