Hi.
During the innitial stages of an amphibious assault the landing craft are very vulnerable to enemy defence fire. So in 1924 IJA started the development of an armoured gunboat armed with machine guns and small infantry guns. In 1927 the first gunboats were delivered and named „Army-type armoured gunboat“ or „AB-Tei“ (not sure about the correct meaning, „Tei“ = boat):
length: 17,10 m
width: 3,50 m
displacement: 30 t
engine: 1 X gasoline, later 1 x diesel at 350 hp
maximum speed: 13 kts
armament: 1-2 X british 57 mm tank gun, later 1-2 X type 90 or type 97 57 mm tank gun; 1-2 X type Taisho 3 7,7 mm double-mount heavy machine gun, later type 92 double-mount 7,7 mm heavy machine gun
At bow a turret with a gun was placed. The early gunboats had a second turret placed elevated behind the first turret with a MG or gun. A third turret with a gun or MG was placed on the superstructure at stern. Later the second turret was placed above an enlarged bridge. Due to weight limitations this turret was armed with MG only.
These boats were transported to the landing zones aboard landing craft motherships or transport vessels. During the innitial stage of the landing they provide direct fire support for the landing forces. After a successful landing they were used to cover the operation at the flanks.
A lot of gunboats were also used as river gunboats in the occupied countries
The total production number is unknown
A special thanks to
Taki, who gives at least basic informations on these types of equipment on his website.
Yours
tom!
