The was an

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

used by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Type 14 number was designated for the year the gun was accepted, the 14th year of

Emperor Taishō was the 123rd Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and the second ruler of the Empire of Japan from 30 July 1912 until his death in 1926. The Emperor's personal name was . According to Japanese custom, while reigni ...

's reign, 1929 in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

.War Department TM-E-30-480 ''Handbook on Japanese Military Forces'' September 1944 p 400 Only a small number were produced, and it was superseded by the

Type 88 75 mm AA gun The was an anti-aircraft gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. The Type 88 number was designated for the year the gun was accepted, 2588 in the Japanese imperial year calendar, or 1928 in th ...

in production before the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History and development

Due to combat experience at the

Battle of Tsingtao The siege of Tsingtao (or Tsingtau) was the attack on the German port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China during World War I by Japan and the United Kingdom. The siege was waged against Imperial Germany between 27 August and 7 November 1914. ...

against the German Luftstreitkrafte’s fledgling squadron of

combat aircraft A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equipm ...

, planners on the

Imperial Japanese Army General Staff The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing the Imperial Japanese Army. Role The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Affairs ...

quickly realized that this new technology posed a threat which required countermeasures. This evaluation was further reinforced by reports from military observers on the European front in World War I. After the introduction of the Type 11 75 mm AA gun into front-line combat service, the Imperial Japanese Army quickly realized that it was underpowered and lacked the range necessary for

civil defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

of Japanese cities from enemy air raids. A larger version, designated the Type 14 10 cm AA gun was placed into production in 1925. However, it was expensive to produce and lacked accuracy. Only 70 units were completed before production was terminated.

Design

The Type 14 10 cm AA gun had a single piece

gun barrel A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure ...

with a horizontal sliding

breechblock A breechblock (or breech block) is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a breech loading weapon (whether small arms or artillery) before or at the moment of firing. It seals the breech and contains the pressure generated by th ...

, and a hydro-pneumatic recoil system mounted on a central pedestal. The firing platform was supported by six legs, each of which (along with the central pedestal) had adjustable screwed foot for leveling. The gun came with detachable wheels for transport, which were removed when in the firing position. Thirty to 45 minutes were required to prepare the gun for action. It fired a projectile to an effective altitude of , which was a dramatic improvement over the Type 11 75 mm AA gun, but its rate of fire was still slow, and units were later retrofitted with an

autoloader An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ordnance into crew-served weapons without being an integrated part of the gun itself. The term is generally only applied to larger weapons, such as naval ...

Combat record

All of the Type 14 10 cm AA guns were assigned to the IJA 4th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division, based in

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

during the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. Some units were based in Kyūshū cities for defense against American air raids, but most were based at the

Yawata Steel Works The is a steel mill in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Imperial Steel Works was established in 1896 to meet increasing demand from the nation's burgeoning shipbuilding, railway, construction, and armaments industries. The site chosen ...

Kitakyūshū is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one of ...

city.Chant, Artillery of World War II.

References

* Bishop, Chris (eds) ''The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II''. Barnes & Nobel. 1998. * Chant, Chris. ''Artillery of World War II'', Zenith Press, 2001, * McLean, Donald B. ''Japanese Artillery; Weapons and Tactics''. Wickenburg, Ariz.: Normount Technical Publications 1973. . * War Department TM-E-30-480 ''Handbook on Japanese Military Forces'' September 1944

External links

Taki's Imperial Japanese Army

Notes

{{Imperial Japanese Army artillery Artillery of Japan 100 mm artillery World War II anti-aircraft guns 1 1 Military equipment introduced in the 1920s