The 320mm Type 98 Mortar of WW2

A brief over on the Japanese Type 98 320mm Mortar of WW2

Movies/Video Games Featured:

Flags of our Fathers 2006
Letters from Iwo Jima 2006

#ww2 #warhistory

[FlyWithMe_]

Just when I thought the Sturmtiger had an extremely low rate of fire…

[hepsaint]

My good friend Daniel Vasquez (RIP) was with the 23rd / 4th Mar Div on Iwo Jima D+1. He remembered this spigot mortar well and referred to it jokingly as the "Flying Shithouse"... I vividly remember him laughing out loud as he mentioned their nickname for this mortar to me as he said he had not said that mortar's name in over 70 years and just saying the name brought back great memories of his old friends and the trying times on Iwo. Mr Vasquez would be WIA several days later but still remembered how cold it was upon landing on Iwo which was not the tropical climate he thought it would be. The most striking description he gave me was that he often saw wounded marines having "steam" coming out of their bodies as I assume the warm blood was hitting the chilly February air that was prevalent at this time was in that part of the north pacific.

[JimmySailor]

It’s a good thing thermoberic explosives weren’t available at the time, such a delivery mechanism is ideal as the outer casing is thin and can rapidly aerosolize.

[Ginrei_Ginrei]

Excerpt from Japanese Wikipedia Machine translation

Type 98 mortar
It was also called "mu-mun" or "artillery shell-less" because it had only a bullet body and a firing platform but no barrel.

In the 1930s, this gun was conceived and developed to destroy and bury the robust tochka that posed a threat to the Imperial Army's hypothetical enemy, the Soviet Red Army's North Manchurian border position (in the Dongning area).

In 1938, this cannon was issued to the Kwantung Army, which was in charge of the war against the Soviet Union in Manchuria, and a secret unit was formed to study it as a high-powered surprise weapon. The weapon was not deployed in the Nomonhan Incident in 1939 for the purpose of maintaining secrecy.

In the Pacific War (Greater East Asia War), it was used for the first time in the initial stages of the Southern Campaign (Battle of Singapore, Battle of Bukit Timah Highlands, Battle of the Philippines, and Second Battle of Bataan Peninsula), and was also used with its great firepower and psychological effects in the Battle of Iwo Jima, Battle of Okinawa, and Battle of Ujimori Island in the latter stages.

九八式臼砲

[liltoaster]

Some of the first precursors to these massive mortars were naval shell launchers, used in a limited fashion during the battle of Peleliu. They were basically naval shells with a crude rocket motor and a launch tube. It was just as inaccurate as the later spigot mortar iteration, as the rocket would tumble end over end. It proved however, to have a pretty devastating explosive effect when used correctly.

[skull]

I never heard this project before. Thanks Johnny keep up the amazing content!

[uwillnevahno]

0:06 Yes yes yes that thing had pinpoint accuracy uh huh ok right sure yes totally

[natejones]

The Sherman Tank you see in the clip getting knocked out, I got to ride in it back in 2001. To put it how much money movies dump into vehicles, that Sherman is located in Virginia at the tank farm. It was repainted and marked up for USMC for the film and flags of our fathers. It was shipped to Greenland only to be used for a few seconds in each film.

[ideadliftkg]

Btw it was just under 5ft tall so those soldiers assembling it are pretty darn tiny lmao. (Not mocking height just insane how much us humans have grown on average with time)

[josedorsaith]

Looks similar to the buried Livens projector mortars, in the way they were used at the end of the war.

Great work, as always. I'm always impressed by how you manage to get such rare and interesting footage in such a short amount of time!

[VersusARCH]

That crew deserved an interview with the emperor for managing to hit and knock out a moving tank with that thing...

[inductivegrunt]

Man, so many videos in such a short time. Please keep it up Johnny, we very much appreciate it.

And as for the Mortar. Man that is big, shame it's effectiveness didn't match the size. Maybe if it was mounted on a chassis like with the Sturmtiger it could have been somewhat more effective. But Japan was in a bad state by then, so it did what do. Much like the entirety of the Japanese arsenal at the time.

[Ginrei_Ginrei]

The Type 98 mortar also appears in the movie 激動の昭和史 沖縄決戦(Battle of Okinawa)

[JakeWDavis]

you are pumping these out, always look forward to them!

[callsigntonks]

Wow many uploads in a few days keep it up johnny :)

[Pkller]

You are spoiling us with this upload rate. Keep up the good work, love your content.

[gooraway]

You must have had a lonely Christmas/ holiday period or are you trapped in the snow, you are putting out so much good content.

[therookieanimations]

Glad to finally see some coverage about this thingy lol, I remember watching letters from Iwo Jima and seeing that I was like wtf lol.

[dejectedfrogcat]

It's good at creating instant cover for your enemy to utilize as they advance.

[infantryattacks]

There is a monument at the Peace Park Memorial on Okinawa that honors the IJA regiment that employed these weapons in that battle. The IJN lacked spigot mortars on Okinawa, but it did use depth-charge throwers on the Oroku Peninsula against the 6th Marine Division.