Type 41 75 mm Mountain Gun

Type 41 75 mm Mountain Gun
A Type 41 at the Yasukuni Shrine
Type	Mountain gun
Place of origin	Germany
Service history
In service	1908-1945
Used by	Empire of Japan
Wars	World War I, Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II
Production history
Designer	Krupp
Manufacturer	Osaka Arsenal
Specifications
Weight	544 kg (1,199 lb)
Length	4.31 m (14 ft 2 in)
Barrel length	1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) L/19.2
Width	1.219 m (4 ft)
Crew	13
Caliber	75 mm (2.95 in)
Breech	interrupted screw
Recoil	hydro-spring
Carriage	box trail
Elevation	-18° to +40°
Traverse	6°
Muzzle velocity	435 m/s (1,427 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	7,022 m (7,679 yd)

The Type 41 75 mm mountain gun is a Japanese license-built copy of the Krupp M.08 mountain gun. The Type 41 number was designated for the year the gun was accepted, the 41st year of Emperor Meiji's reign, 1908 in the Gregorian calendar. Originally it was the standard pack artillery weapon. After it was superseded by the Type 94 75 mm mountain gun, it was then used as an infantry "regimental" gun, deployed 4 to each infantry regiment, and referred to as "Rentai Ho" (regimental artillery). Two gun shields were produced for the weapon, an early type, which folded into thirds, and a late type, which folded in half.

In Japanese service the gun was crewed by thirteen men, twelve gunners and a squad leader. When the weapon was being fired there would be one aimer, one loader, one firer, one person to swing the guns aim left or right, a man inserting the fuzes into rounds and handing them to the loader, two gunners lying in reserve to the left and right of the gun position, and the squad leader sitting a little distance to the rear of the weapon. The remaining five men would ferry ammunition in relays from the ammunition squad, which would typically be in cover a few hundred meters behind the gun's position.

The weapon could be transported complete by its thirteen-man squad, or broken down into parts and carried on six pack horses using special harnesses, a seventh horse was used to carry ammunition.

Two types of impact fuze were available for the Type 97 75 mm High Explosive round, one with a delay of 0.05 seconds, the second with a delay of 1 second. U.S. Army testing of the weapon at a range of 3,200 yards resulted in 75 percent of the rounds falling in a rectangle 20 by 30 yards. At maximum range (7,800 yards) 75 percent of the rounds fell within a rectangle 10 yards wide and 200 yards long.