County of display: Lee County
Location of display: Main St. & Water St., Victory Park, Keokuk
There is no plaque or marker near this display
"The 75mm Type 38 "Kai" Field Gun (????? Sanhachi-shiki yaho?) was a 1905 German design which was purchased by the Empire of Japan as the standard field gun of the Imperial Japanese Army at the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
Although Japan had extensive experience with artillery, as the result of its war with Russia in 1904-05, and had the technology and industrial infrastructure to construct medium or large caliber naval weapons prior to World War I, planners at the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff turned to Krupp in Germany, for the latest trend in artillery design. Initial units were imported, and then eventually over 2000 units, which were designed “Type 38” in Japan, were produced under license by the Army’s Osaka Arsenal. After World War I, these weapons were considered largely obsolete. However, by this time, Japanese production capabilities had improved, and the Type 38 underwent a re-design in Japan to improve the carriage, with a corresponding increase in elevation, range and rate of fire to 10-12 rounds per minute.
The Type 38 75 mm Field Gun was a thoroughly conventional design for its day, complete with crew seats on the gun shield and a solid box trail. It had a hydrospring recoil system, interrupted screw type breechblock, and 1/16-inch gun shield.
At some point prior to the Second Sino-Japanese War (sources differ as to when) the Type 38 was extensively modified. It was given a hollow box trail and the gun mounting was revised to improve performance. The new version was called the "Improved Type 38". Some 400 units were produced in Japan, and it is unclear exactly how many Type 38s were upgraded to the improved version: however, but both types were still in service in limited numbers by the start of World War II, despite efforts to replace the design with the Type 90 75 mm Field Gun. The Type 38 75 mm Field Gun (improved) was capable of firing High-explosive, armor-piercing warhead, shrapnel, incendiary, smoke and illumination and gas shells." ~ fhsw.wikia.com
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