From the Land of the Rising Sun we have this unique specimen:
The Japanese "Horned" Flamethrower...
I kid you not!
Horned Flamethrower
When this vehicle was found abandoned in northern Luzon US Marines wondered if they had to fight it would they have needed a bazooka or red cape.
Inspection showed this the hull of this Japanese full-tracked, armored vehicle
was constructed in 1939, but that the interior parts, such as the flame-throwing equipment and the motor, were built in 1940 and 1941.
With an over-all length of 19 1/2 feet, and width of 7 feet, the vehicle was approximately 5 feet high. This low silhouette was broken only by a small "conning tower" which rose about 5 inches above the otherwise completely flat top. Perhaps the most outstanding feature, which was found on some of the vehicles, is a horn-like fork arranged over the tracks on each side of the tank front. These forks, gave the tank a weird and distinct appearance and were presumably intended for uprooting mines or tearing down barbed wire in advance of the tank.
The armament examined was not particularly formidable, consisting of two Type 97 7.7-mm tank machine guns in addition to the flame-throwing apparatus.
The vehicle was entered by two hatches—one in the top of the conning tower, and the other on top of the tank hull at the right rear corner.
The thickest armor plate—1 inch—was found on the front surface of the tank hull, while the sides, rear, and engine covers were 1/2 inch thick. The hatch covers and the top armor, except for the engine covers, were only 1/4 inch thick. This hull armor has the appearance of being face hardened.
This tank, unlike other Japanese models, was mounted on a leaf-spring suspension, with four springs on each side of the tank hull, mounted in pairs parallel with the length of the vehicle. Each side of the tank had eight boggie wheels mounted in pairs, two pairs on each end of a pair of leaf springs. The drive sprocket is at the rear of the tank, and the idler wheel at the front.
The tank was powered by an air-cooled, 6-cylinder, in-line, Diesel engine. Highest reading on the speedometer was approximately 25 miles per hour, indicating a top speed somewhere under that figure.
[Side view of the flame-thrower tank which mounts five flame guns.]