Text taken from the dzen.ru page of Yuri Pasholok.
by Yuri Pasholok
[Dzen] A story about a 149mm Type 96 fortress gun located on Shushmu Island in the Kuril Islands
Japanese artillery is not a particularly studied topic for the majority of fans of this topic. Partly, this is a problem of the language barrier. The Japanese themselves have written quite a few books on artillery. But not everyone can read them. One way or another, but this topic is very interesting.
At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese design school was able to move from copying foreign ideas to their own developments. In places, they were quite original. This was especially true for heavy artillery, in which the Japanese were quite successful.
In August 1945, Japanese artillery was used for the last time. This also concerned high-power guns. Of these, two (or rather, one and a half) guns have survived to this day, which took part in repelling the Kuril landing on August 18, 1945. We are talking about the 149-mm fortress guns Type 96 (officially called Type 96 15 cm Cannon). This was the most advanced example of Japanese fortress artillery, which, however, did not help the Shumshu garrison repel the attack of Soviet troops.
The Japanese army traditionally paid much attention to heavy artillery. They were used as a means of coastal defense and as siege artillery. The 280 mm L/10 howitzers, developed in England, were successfully used by Japanese troops during the Russo-Japanese War. Later, their own 240 mm howitzer Type 45 appeared, which was successfully used in World War I, this time against the Germans (they shelled Qingdao). The Type 45 was also used during World War II, together with the 305 mm Type 7 howitzers.
However, large-caliber howitzers alone were not enough. As early as the years of World War I, experiments began to create large-caliber fortress guns capable of firing over long distances. As a result, the most widespread of the Japanese fortress guns of modern design was born - Type 89.
Initially, the Japanese created their own analogue of the French Canon de 155 GPF gun, but the final version of the gun turned out to be original. It turned out to be lighter, had a higher muzzle velocity and, in general, looked like a more successful system.
When creating a gun with an unusual for the Japanese caliber of 149.1 mm (the Germans pretended that it had nothing to do with it), a number of compromises had to be made. For example, the gun had to be disassembled, or rather, the barrel had to be removed, as it was too long for transportation. However, such a system became common for many heavy guns around the world.
Due to its large mass, the gun was transported exclusively by mechanical traction, fortunately the Japanese already had tracked artillery tractors of the required power. A total of 150 such guns were built, and they were very actively used starting with the battles at the Khalkhin-Gol River.
At the same time, by the mid-1930s, there was a need for a more powerful weapon capable of firing at a greater distance. For this, the Japanese military was ready to sacrifice the mobility of the weapon. When creating a new fortress gun, the experience of creating the Type 89 gun was taken into account, although it was obvious that a more powerful system would be noticeably heavier.
In addition, such a gun, due to its specificity, was clearly intended for small-scale production. Here, the Japanese military was not alone. The closest analogues, the German 15 cm Kanone 18 and the Soviet 152 mm BR-2 gun, were also not numerous.
Officially accepted into service in 1936, the 149-mm fortress gun Type 96 turned out to be a typical example of a siege weapon. It should be said that the Japanese military developed three guns at once - a 149-mm gun, a 240-mm howitzer (also Type 96), and a 305-mm mortar.
True, the mortar remained experimental, and the howitzer was built in a very small edition - either 6 or 7 pieces. At the same time, the Japanese did not develop a triplex, as was often done at that time. The guns had different carriages, rather the concept became common. Somewhat specific, but generally working.
Since the guns were designed as siege (or fortress) guns, the issue of rapid deployment was, one might say, secondary. The issue of fire maneuverability was considered much more important. For this purpose, the gun carriage received special guides (a turning circle), thanks to which it was possible to quickly turn the gun in a sector of 90 degrees to the left or to the right.
Such fire maneuverability had its price: in order to completely transfer the gun from the marching position to the combat one, 4-5 hours of work were required by the crew. But since the gun was supposed to be a siege and long-range one, this was not a huge problem.
The Type 96 was almost one and a half times heavier than the 149 mm Type 89 gun. The combat weight of the gun was 24.31 tons, which is more than the combat weight of its analogues. However, for the Japanese military, such a mass of siege weapons was not at all surprising. The 240 mm Type 45 howitzer weighed 33 tons, and the 240 mm Type 96 howitzer reached a mass exceeding 37.5 tons.
And this is still the heaviest siege weapons of the Japanese army. In order to transport these guns, 13-ton Type 95 Ho-Fu tracked tractors were used. At the same time, the 149 mm Type 96 gun was partially disassembled, the barrel (its length was an impressive 7860 mm) was transported on a special cart.
Only 30 of these guns were produced. It seems like not many, but it is worth repeating once again - this is a specific gun for specific tasks. The Type 96 had a firing range of 26.2 kilometers, which more than compensated for all the problems associated with disassembly and towing. This gun could (and was very actively used) as a means of counter-battery combat. The Japanese first used it in the Philippines in 1942. Two such guns were used in the 2nd separate artillery division. Its task was, among other things, to suppress enemy artillery.
As a rule, units armed with 149-mm Type 96 fortress guns had 2 such guns. This was due to their small number. Towards the end of World War II, Type 96 were used as fortress guns. Our troops encountered them during battles in Manchuria. As for the Kuril Islands, the 2nd division of the Kuril Fortress Regiment was stationed there.
There is a theory that there were 4 such guns, but there are serious doubts about this. According to documents, in 1944, 2 certain 200-mm mortars were taken from Shumshu to Hokkaido (possibly, we are talking about 240-mm mortars). Most likely, these are the same 2 missing guns.
By August 1945, one gun was located on Paramushir, next to the airfield (not far from the Kashiwabara base, now Severo-Kurilsk). This gun has partially survived to this day. True, part of the barrel was cut off with a gas cutter, plus non-ferrous metal is being slowly cut off. According to the command's plan, the gun fired at ships entering the strait between Shumshu and Paramushir. The second gun was located in a position next to Height 165 (aka Height 168, aka Malaya Vysota, aka Otaizan), in the north of Shumshu. The idea was that the gun could cover Soviet batteries at Cape Lopatka.
Judging by the fact that there are four prepared positions in the Chetyrekhgorye area, there were initially four guns in the area of ​​Height 165. Then only one remained, and overall it was not in the most advantageous position. Shumshu is often covered by fog, which greatly reduces visibility. As a result, the combat career of the gun, commanded by Lieutenant Yoshitaka Kunio, turned out to be extremely dubious.
During the Kuril landing operation, the gun crew could do little. When the shelling of Shumshu began from Cape Lopatka, the gun began to conduct counter-battery fire, but without much result. On August 18, 1945, the crew managed to fire 61 shots, and then the landing forces arrived. That was the end of it.
The gun was taken warm, so to speak. Together with the tractor (its remains are lying nearby), as well as the barrel carriage. Since the gun is quite impressive, and the turntable was partially concreted, no attempts were made to take it from there. They decided to make the gun an element of the memorial, and it still has this status. Naturally, the fact that it stands in the open air does not make the gun any more intact. But there are no alternatives.
The gun is not only of historical value, but is also, one might say, a monument to technical thought. It is the largest and heaviest Japanese gun system of those that have survived. It is enough to process it and paint it regularly. However, it is obvious that no one has used paint there for a long time. With this approach, and in this climate, soon only thick metal parts will remain of the gun.
The material is dedicated to the memory of Vyacheslav Mysov (Ust-Kamchatsk), who did a lot in terms of research into military operations in the Kuril Islands