Type 19 Medium Tank
Type 19 | |
---|---|
A Type 19 in exercises at the Apasiri Royal Army Depot, 1940 | |
Type | Medium tank |
Place of origin | Chisei |
Service history | |
In service | 1938 - 1945 |
Used by | Chiseian Royal Army |
Wars | Second Escar-Varunan War |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Chiotanne |
Produced | 1938 - 1940 |
Number built | 6,208 |
Variants | See variants |
Specifications | |
Weight | 27 t |
Length | 5.64 m |
Width | 2.72 m |
Height | 3.12 m |
Crew | 7 |
Armour | 51 mm (hull front, turret front, sides, and rear) 38 mm (hull sides and rear) |
Main armament |
1 × 75 mm Chiotanne Type 14 Gun in hull (46 rounds) 1 × 37mm Gun M5/M6 in turret (178 rounds) |
Secondary armament |
2–3–4 × 7.62 mm Type 12 machine guns (9,200 rounds) |
Engine | Kendou 128-C 300 kW (400 hp) |
Suspension | vertical volute spring |
Operational range |
193 km |
Speed | 42 km/h (road) 26 km/h (off-road) |
The Type 19 was a Chiseian medium tank used during the Second Escar-Varunan War. It was unofficially nicknamed the Furukame (古亀, 'Old Turtle') by its crews.
Design began in 1937, and the first vehicles were operational by late 1938. Faced with superior Yamataian armoured forces, the Royal Army was in urgent need of a tank with a 75mm armament, leading to a number of compromises in the design to facilitate rapid production. Based off the earlier Type 17, the Type 19 had excellent armour and firepower, but at the cost of a high silhouette, a riveted construction, poor off-road performance and an archaic sponson mounting for the main armament that prevented the vehicle from taking a hull down position. Early units also suffered from frequent mechanical issues due to manufacturing inexperience and material shortages.
Despite these issues, Chisei's desperate strategic situation meant the Type 19 would remain in service in large numbers throughout the entirety of the war, surpassed only in production by the more refined Type 21. Yamataian accounts generally consider it to be equal or superior to most early war Yamataian designs.