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Type 2 Ka-Mi (Light amphibious tank)

Louis

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Throughout the 1930s, Japan experimented with amphibious tank designs. In 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy tasked Mitsubishi with developing a special version of an existing light tank that could move through water and transition onto land. Designers started with the suspension of the Type 95 Ha-Go tank, used an all-welded hull with rubberized seals to keep out water, and fitted two large, detachable pontoons at both ends of the vehicle for buoyancy. The Ka-Mi went on to perform admirably in the water, but once it came ashore, it was no match for Allied weaponry. The Japanese deployed Ka-Mi tanks against U.S. Marines on Saipan, but American bazookas and 37 mm antitank guns quickly knocked them out. In the Philippines, American forces once again devastated Ka-Mi tanks, which, like other Japanese armored vehicles, were thereafter relegated to static defensive roles.

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Around 184 were produced for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It weighed 12.3 tons and 9.15 tons without the floatation pontoons. It had a crew of five, sometimes six. They were protected by armour that ranged in thickness from 6 mm to 13 mm. This was only just enough to stop small arms fire and shrapnel from high explosive artillery shells.

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It was armed with one Type 1 37 mm gun and two Type 97 7.7 mm machine guns: one in the hull and another in the rear of the turret. It was powered by a Mitsubishi A6120VDe air-cooled inline 6-cylinder diesel engine that produces 115 hp. Its maximum road speed was 37 km/h (23 mph).

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Floating Pontoon
 
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