WW2 Type 97 Chi-Ha (Shinhoto) color footage - 九七式中戦車 新砲塔チハ.

Footage is all AI colorized by computers and actual color footage was extremely rare in 1940-45.

The Japanese Type 97 Chi-Ha was developed by the Japanese in the 1930's, as a replacement for the Type 89 Medium tank which could not keep up with the motorized infantry, which could move at 40 km/h by truck.
The new medium tank was intended to be a scaled-up four-man version of the Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, although with a two-man turret, thicker armor, longer suspension system and more power to maintain performance.

A prototype designated Chi-Ha was completed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and a second prototype was completed in June 1937.
Although the requirement was for a 47 mm gun, it retained the same short-barreled 57 mm gun as the Type 89B tank.
The project was almost canceled for the Type 97 Chi-Ni prototype proposed by Osaka Army Arsenal, which had the same 57 mm main gun, but because of the out-break of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, it was accepted as the new Type 97 medium tank by the army.

Because of the low budget for tank development the Type 97 was still equipped with a Type 97 57 mm gun, it did great as infantry support, but the shortcomings of the Type 97, with its low-velocity 57 mm gun, became clear during the 1939 Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union.
The 45 mm gun of the Soviet BT-5 and BT-7 tanks out-ranged the Japanese tank gun, resulting in heavy Japanese losses.
This would result in the development of a new 47 mm weapon began in 1939 and was completed by 1941.
The new version, designated Type 97-Kai or Shinhoto Chi-Ha, used the 47 mm main gun in its new, larger three-man turret. It replaced the original model in production in 1942.

The Chi-Ha would do great in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, during the Battle of Malaya and the Battle of Singapore, the Chi-Ha would be superior on the small roads and forcing the defending British forces to abandon much of northern Malaya.
One key to the overall Japanese military successes in Malaya and Singapore was the unexpected appearance of their tanks in areas where the British did not believe tanks could be fielded. The thick and wet jungle terrain did not turn out to be a decisive obstacle for the generally light Japanese tanks.

The Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha tanks were first used in combat in the battle of Corregidor in 1942. The updated 47 mm gun was easily capable of dealing with the armor of the American M3 Stuart light tanks, although in later combat service it was shown only to be effective against the sides and rear of the M4 Sherman medium tank.
In the late stages of the war the Japanese Army seldom made major armored attacks during the Pacific War due to the limited maneuvering areas that prevailed on islands in the South Pacific ocean, so they would be forced to do senseless banzai charges, like the one at Battle of Saipan on the night of 16–17 June, which led them to lose 44 tanks in one night without really any real result.

After the war the Republic of China and the later People's Liberation Army would use the Chi-Ha tank in there army.

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■ Information obtained from several sites.
■ Wikipedia
■ tanks-encyclopedia
■ the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_Panzers
■ preservedtanks
■ pantser.net
■ the.shadock.free.fr/Tanks_in_France

■ Some music is from the YouTube Audio Library.

■ Music used:
EpidemicSound.com


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