Type 4 40 cm rocket launcher
Rocket artillery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Type 4 40 cm rocket (四式四〇糎噴進, Yonshiki yonjū-senchi funshinhō) was a 400 mm (16 in) rocket used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the final stages of World War II.
| Type 4 40 cm rocket launcher | |
|---|---|
Type 4 40 cm rocket | |
| Type | Rocket artillery |
| Place of origin | Empire of Japan |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1943–1945 |
| Used by | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1944[1] |
| Produced | 1945[2] |
| No. built | 1,700 wooden launchers during 1945, less than 200 rockets starting May 1945 [3] |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 220 kilograms (490 lb) |
| Barrel length | 3.22 metres (10 ft 7 in) |
| Shell | 508 kilograms (1,120 lb) |
| Caliber | 400 mm (16 in) |
| Elevation | 40° to +65° |
| Muzzle velocity | 220 m/s (720 ft/s) |
| Maximum firing range | 3,700 metres (4,000 yd) |
Development and design
The Type 4 40cm rocket was developed in the final stages of World War II by the Imperial Japanese Army Technical Bureau, as a relatively low-cost, easy to produce weapon, which had an advantage of greater accuracy over conventional mortars in that it fired a spin-stabilized projectile. Due to its ease of construction, it was produced in limited numbers and distributed to hidden arsenals for use as last-ditch weapons during the projected Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands. Unlike the Japanese Type 4 20cm rocket mortar, the Type 4 40cm rocket did not see action and stocks were confined to the mainland.[4]
The Type 4 40cm rocket was restricted to launch via standardized fixed wooden troughs which were largely constructed by Japanese Army garrison troops, and not steel tubes like the Type 4 20cm rocket mortar. During 1945 construction of the fixed wooden launchers outpaced actual production of the Type 4 40cm rocket. Range of the Type 4 40cm rocket was controlled via variable bleeding of the propellant gases.[5][6][7]