Chiyoda armored car

The Chiyoda armored car was the first domestic Japanese armored car which was officially introduced by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and used in large numbers.

History and development

Design started in 1930 at the Chiyoda Motor Car Factory of Tokyo Gasu Denki K. K. (Tokyo Gas and Electric Industries, today Hino Motors Ltd.) based on their Type Q 6-wheeled truck under the development designation "Type QSW". The basic armor scheme and wheel arrangement was similar to the Wolseley Armoured Car which had been used by the IJA. The spoked wheels of the Wolseleys were replaced by disk wheels with solid rubber tires. The turret had a cylindrical base with a sloped (in the driving direction) right upper part. A standard MG mount was placed in this sloped part for air defense. Another MG mount was placed in the turret front and a third in the left bow. In addition three gun / visor ports were placed along each side of the fighting compartment. The standard crew consisted of a driver, three gunners and a commander. Armament was three Type Taisho 11 6.5 mm MGs, and later three Type 91 6.5 Tank MGs.

Development was finished in 1931 and the vehicle was officially adopted as the "Chiyoda Armoured Car". In western literature the vehicle is often designated incorrectly as "Aikoku Armoured Car" which is a misinterpretation of the writings on a vehicle used during the 1932 Shanghai Incident. This writing refers to "Aikoku -Koto" = "Public Party of Patriots", a nationalistic and militaristic political party which donated money and military material to IJA (as Hokoku did for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)).

Around 200 Chiyoda Armoured Cars were produced and used during several early and mid-1930s IJA operations in northern China for infantry support and security duties in captured regions. They were effectively replaced after 1937 by the Type 97 Tankette Te-Ke.

Technical details

• Vehicles built: approx. 200
• Battle weight: 5,6 t
• Crew: 5 men
• Armor: Up to 6 mmm
• Length: 5000 mm
• Width: 1900 mm
• Height: 2600 mm
• Engine: 4 cylinder gasoline
• Power: 75 hp
• Maximum speed: 60 km/h
• Power/weight ratio: 13,4 hp/t
• Armament: 3 X Type Taisho 11 6,5 mm MG, later 3 X Type 91 6,5 mm Tank MG

External links

• Chiyoda Armored Car at Taki's Homepage