Type 1 Ho-Ha
{{distinguish|Type 1 Ho-Ki}}
{{Infobox weapon
|name=Type 1 Ho-Ha
| image=Type 1 Ho-Ha, front view.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption= Type 1 Ho-Ha
|origin= Empire of Japan
|design_date=1941{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=57}}
|type= half-track armoured personnel carrier
|is_vehicle=yes
|service=
|used_by=
|wars= World War II
|manufacturer= Hino Motors
|production_date=1944–?
|number=150-300 (estimated)[https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/jap/type_1_ho-ha WW 2 Japanese Other Vehicles Type 1 Ho-Ha]
|spec_label=Type 1 Ho-Ha[https://takihomepage.web.fc2.com/ho-ha.htm Taki's Imperial Japanese Army: Type 1 "Ho-Ha"]
|weight={{convert|6.5|tonne|}}
|length={{convert|6.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=64}}
|width={{convert|2.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=64}}
|height={{convert|2.51|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|crew=2 + 13 passengers{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=63}}
|armour=max 8 mm{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=64}}
|primary_armament=3 × 7.7 mm Type 97 light machine guns
|engine=diesel
|engine_power={{convert|134| PS|abbr=on}} at 2,000 rpm{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=64}}
|transmission=
|pw_ratio=
|vehicle_range={{convert|300| km|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=64}}
|speed={{convert|50|km/h|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=64}}
}}
The {{nihongo|Type 1 Ho-Ha|一式半装軌装甲兵車 ホハ|Ichi-shiki han-sōki sōkō-heisha hoha}} was a half-track armoured personnel carrier (APC) used in limited numbers by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II.
Development and history
The Type 1 Ho-Ha was developed in 1941 as a result of a request from the army for a vehicle that could be used to transport a squad of infantry to the battlefield protected from enemy small arms fire. Despite experiences of the Second Sino-Japanese War, armored personnel carriers were viewed as too slow compared to wheeled trucks and there was not much effort for their development in the army.{{citation |url=http://www.honved.com/senshansupport.html |work=Japanese Armored Vehicles of the Second World War |title=Support Vehicles in Japanese Service |date=2008-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828140526/http://www.honved.com/senshansupport.html |archive-date=2008-08-28 }}{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=57}}
Mass production began in 1944 with the Type 1 Ho-Ha being an addition to the Type 1 Ho-Ki, an unrelated, yet similarly named armored tracked personnel carrier. The half-tracked Type 1 Ho-Ha was built by Hino Motors. An exact total number of units completed is unknown.{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=57}}
Design
The Type 1 Ho-Ha was based on the German Sd.Kfz. 251/1 (known popularly as Hanomag), the main armoured personnel carrier of the German Army, but did not use the overlapped and interleaved road wheels of the German design's suspension.{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=57}} Further, it had a "vertical rear plate with a door", akin to the American M3 half-track; however, the door itself was a copy of the German "two-leaf" design.{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|p=57}}
The Type 1 Ho-Ha had a pair of road wheels in front, supported by a pair of short caterpillar tracks to the rear. It was equipped with a tow coupling in the front and a towing hitch at the rear to haul artillery or a supply trailer. The maximum armor thickness was 8 mm with sloping armor plates. As with the Type 1 Ho-Ki, the hull was welded construction and it was "open-topped".{{sfn|Tomczyk|2003|pp=58, 65}}
The Type 1 Ho-Ha carried three Type 97 light machine guns as standard armament, one on each side, just to the rear of the driver's compartment and a third mounted to the rear as an anti-aircraft weapon. All of these weapons had constricted firing arcs, which made firing directly forward or directly rearward impossible.
Combat record and post-war
The Type 1 Ho-Ha was initially deployed to China for operations in the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War, but never in any great numbers. It was later deployed with the Japanese reinforcements in the Battle of the Philippines in 1944. Post-war, some Type 1 Ho-Ha half-tracks were modified by cutting off the rear armored section and replacing it with a flat bed. They were then used for reconstruction work in areas of Japan.{{sfn|Zaloga|2007|p=45}}
Footnotes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{cite book | last = Foss | first = Christopher F | year = 2002 | title = The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles: The Comprehensive Guide to over 900 Armored Fighting Vehicles from 1915 to the Present Day | publisher = Thunder Bay Press | isbn = 1-57145-806-9 }}
- {{cite book | last = Tomczyk | first = Andrzej | year = 2003 | title = Japanese Armor Vol. 3 | publisher = AJ Press | isbn = 978-8372371287 }}
- {{cite book | last = Zaloga | first = Steven J. | author-link = Steven Zaloga | year = 2007 | title = Japanese Tanks 1939–45 | publisher = Osprey | isbn = 978-1-8460-3091-8 }}
External links
- [https://takihomepage.web.fc2.com/ho-ha.htm Taki's Imperial Japanese Army Page - Akira Takizawa]
{{WWIIJapaneseAFVs}}
{{Half-tracks}}
Category:Tracked armoured personnel carriers
Category:Armoured personnel carriers of Japan
Category:World War II half-tracks