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The was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1932 to 1942 in combat operations of the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. The Type 89B model was the world's first mass-produced diesel engine tank.〔Zaloga (2007) p. 6〕 The tank was armed with a short-barrel 57 mm cannon for knocking out pillboxes and masonry fortifications, and proved effective in campaigns in Manchuria and China, as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions to oppose them, which consisted primarily of Vickers export models, German Panzer Is, and Italian CV33 tankettes.〔Zaloga (2007) p. 12〕 The Type 89 was a 1920s design medium tank, built to support the infantry, and thus lacked the armor or armament of 1940s generation Allied armor; and was regarded as obsolete by the time of the battles of Khalkhin Gol, against the Soviet Union, in 1939.〔Foss. The Great Book of Tanks〕 The code designation "I-Go" comes from the ''katakana'' letter () for “first” and the ''kanji'' () for “number”.〔http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_japanese_tank_designations_World War II.html〕 The designation is sometimes transliterated “Yi-Go”〔Zaloga, ''Japanese Tanks 1939–45'', p. 90.〕 ==History and development== The Type 89 evolved from Japan's first domestic light tank project initiated by the Japanese Army's Osaka Technical Arsenal in 1925. However, the growing weight of the initial prototype and its low speed did not impress the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office, and a new requirement was issued for a lighter tank, with a nominal weight. The new design was modeled closely after the Vickers Medium C which had been bought by the Japanese Army in 1927. By April 1928, the new light tank design was finished and designated as the Type 89. The prototype of the was completed in April 1929. Later, the Type 89 was re-classified as a "medium tank" because the weight increased to over 10 tons due to several improvements.〔 As the Army's Sagami Arsenal lacked the capacity for mass production, a contract was awarded to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which built a new factory next to the Sagami Arsenal specifically to produce this model.〔 Production of the Type 89 began in 1931 and it soon became the main tank of the Imperial Japanese Army. Although the Type 89 was well regarded by the Japanese army, there were several small problems to be rectified, notably a gap under the mantlet on early models that allowed rifle fire to enter the turret. Work continued on improving the Type 89 after the production started, and as a result many variants were developed.〔Foss. ''The Great Book of Tanks''〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Type 89 I-Go」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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