Based on the British Vickers Medium C, the Type 89 was designed as an infantry support tank. It performed well in Shanghai in 1932 and Jehol in 1933. In 1934, a major change was made when a diesel engine was introduced (among other modifications). The new tank was designated the Type 89B Otsu while the older petrol-engined version was the Type 89A Ko. Western sources incorrectly named these the Type 94 and Type 92, respectively. The Type 89 was used in China in 1937 and the Philippines in 1941-42. They were also used in Burma. Some were still found in the Philippines as late as 1944.
The Chi-Ro showed itself to be a useful support tank – provided the opposition was poorly equipped.
The Type 89B has a crew of four. The driver and bow gunner sit in the body. The commander and loader (who also mans the rear turret LMG) are in the turret. It uses 5.7 gallons per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Medium Tank chassis with mild slope option
+3, full rotation Small AFV turret [Body:T] +2, tracks +3.
Powertrain: 86-kW diesel engine w/86-kW tracked drive
train and 62 gallons fuel in standard fuel tank [body]; 4,000-kWs batteries.
Occupancy: 2 CS Body, 2 CS Tur Cargo:
13.5 Body, 1 Turret.
| Armor | F | RL | B | T | U |
| Body | 4/65 | 4/65 | 4/40 | 4/40 | 4/40 |
| Tracks | 4/20 | 4/20 | 4/20 | 4/20 | 4/20 |
| Turret | 4/65 | 4/55 | 4/55 | 4/40 | 0/0 |
Weaponry
57mm Infantry Gun/Type 90 [Tur:F] (100).
Ground LMG/6.5mm Type 61 [Tur:B] (745).
Ground LMG/6.5mm Type 61 [Body:F] (2,000).
Statistics
| Size: 19’¥7’¥8’ | Payload: 0.96 tons | Lwt: 12.8 tons |
| Volume: 103 | Maint.: 61 hours | Price: $10,900 |
HT: 12
HP: 750 [Body], 150 [Turret], 270 [Each Track]
| gSpeed: 16 | gAccel: 2 | gDecel: 20 | gMR: 0.25 | gSR: 6 | GP: Very Low (4/5) |
Design Notes
The design purchased 105 rounds of infantry gun ammo, 2,500 rounds
of LMG ammo and 63 gallons of fuel tanks. The historical values were used.
Design speed was 26 mph. The cost, weight and HPs of the chassis were divided
by two to represent the light build (this also affected track HPs and DR).
New Weapons
57mm Infantry Gun: $880, 350 lbs, 1.2 VSP; Dam 9d-1 [4d], SS 20 Acc
12, 1/2Dam 700, Max 3,800, RoF 1/3
57mm HE ammo: $35, 240 lbs, 1 VSPs, 35 rounds