Ronin at War: Type 94 37mm Rapid-fire Gun

The Type 94 Rapid fire gun was an anti-tank and infantry support gun designed in 1934 (2594 in the Japanese imperial year, from where it takes its type "94"). It was the main Japanese anti-tank gun until the development of the Type 1 47mm Anti-Tank gun in 1941. However the Type 94 gun remained active in all the fronts through the end of the war, as the new Type 1 could not be produced fast enough.

Japanese Type 94 37mm anti-tank Gun abandoned in Guadalcanal, 1942 (ww2db).

The Type 94 gun was made available to the front in 1936 after some modifications were made to the 1934 design. It kept however its original Type 94 denomination. Its original design was an improvement of the former Type 11 37mm Infantry Gun, which was considered obsolete due to its short range, slow reloading time and slow muzzle velocity.

Type 94 anti-tank gun and crew. (ww2db).

The gun had a low profile and was operated in a prone position. It had a shield to cover the gunner and its spreading legs helped with the stability. It was operated by a crew of 11 men, and it could be dissembled in four loads of 100kg that allowed horse transport.

Gunners firing Type 94 anti-tank gun (wowowo262.com).

The Type 94 gun had a maximum firing range of 4500m but its effectiveness was limited to 2870m, with a elevation from -10º to +25º and a traverse mobility of 60º. It could fire a maximum of 30 rounds per minute, and it used 37x165mm, 0.64kg shells, being either high-explosive or armor-piercing.

Type 94 rapid-fire gun (vrdb.com by Yamato 1945).

Every infantry regiment was normally equipped with four Type 94 anti-tank guns, so a triangular division like the IJA 23th Division had twelve guns. During combat, they were kept close to the regimental headquarters. The armor-piercing shell could penetrate 43mm of armor at 400m (32mm at 500m). Production of the Type 94 gun was stopped in 1941, with a total production of 3400 guns.

Japanese Type 94 gun in Shanghai, 1937 (ww2db).

The Type 94 gun was highly effective against the light tanks fielded by the Chinese in the Second Sino-Japanese War. It also proved to be effective against the light Soviet BT tanks and the Soviet armored cars during the Nomonhan Incident. However, it was quite useless against the tanks that the Allies fielded in the Pacific, such as the M4 Sherman, with the exception of the Stuart light tank whom could only hurt at close range.