Military

A Japanese Type 89B I-Go Otsu Medium Tank Is On Display at Villa Escudero in Quezon, Philippines

On July 16th, 2017, I had the opportunity to visit the Villa Escudero Plantation and Resort during a trip to the Philippines. Villa Escudero (VE) is a working coconut plantation about two hours drive from Manila near Quezon and was founded in the 1880s by Don Placidio Escuderio and his wife Dona Claudia Marasigan. It was opened to the public in 1981 and is definitely worth visiting either as a day trip or overnight.

The reason I am writing this is that outside their museum they have a number of interesting WWII Japanese artifacts on display. What caught my eye immediately was the aging hulk of a Japanese Type 89 I-Go Otsu Medium Tank. I vaguely knew the Japanese had some tanks in WWII but this was my first time actually seeing one in person.

Quick History of the Type 89

The Type 89 was designed in 1928 and fielded by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1932-1942. The light tank version waas based on the 10-ton French Renault FT tank and the 2o-ton design was based on the Vickers medium tank and so underpowered that it was redesigned to 10 tons based on the Vickers Medium C.

It had a crew of four, a 57mm Type 90 gun with 100 rounds of ammo and two type 91 machine guns on the hull and rear of the turret with 2,745 rounds of ammo.

Given the 1920s design, it was intended to support infantry and lacked the armor of allied tanks. The Type 89 was consideredd a poor match for the American M4 Sherman for example. The Type 89 was regarded as obsolete by 1939 but was fielded in the Philippines.

The Japanese produced a Type89A I-Go Ko with a gas engine and a machine gun on the right side of the hull. It could only hit 15.5 Km/h and 113 were produced.

The second variety was the Type89B I-Go Otsu. Production started on these in 1934 and they had an air-cooled Mitsubishi A6120VD 120HP diesel engine. The machine gun was on the left side of the hull, the front hull was a single plate. The diesel engine was preferred because they had better fuel economy, more torque at lower RPM and diesel is less explosive than gasoline during a fire. 291 Otsus were produced.

Given some digging, I found the following Imperal Japanese Army units with Type 89 tanks were in the Philippines:

  • 7th Tank Regiment led by Colonel Seinosuke Sonoda from 1941 to 1942. The 3rd company of the 7th tank regiment advanced south along Route 5 towards Manila.
  • The 1st Tank Corps also had Type 89s
  • The 3rd Regiment had 26 Type 89s
  • The 4th Regiment had four Type 89s

Villa Escudero’s Type 89B

I am unsure of where VE obtained the Type 89B Otsu, if it was retrieved locally or just what. We can definitely say it is an Otsu because the machine gun is located on the left side of the hull (Ieft from the vantage of the crew looking forward).

Also, note the camo paint. I have seen black and white WWII-vintage photos of Type 89s with camo paint. I just can’t confirm the pattern or exact colors match.

This photo is from Wikipedia and is of a Type 89B Otsu during field trials. Note the camo pattern but we can’t tell the colors.
This fellow climbed on the track and it gives you an idea of the Otsu’s size. The Otsu is 18′ 10″ long, 7′ 1″ wide and 8′ 5″ tall. The weight is 14.09 tons (12.79 metric tons).
The main gun was a 57mm Type 90 that was lower-velocity and no match for the US M3 Lee’s 37mm cannon not to mention it couldn’t penetrate the Lee’s armor. The main gun could have helped with machine gun nests and vehicles lacking armor. It’s interesting the gun appears to be there but the machine gun is lonmg gone.
Closer view of the front. The ring is off the tow point. There’s a closed hatch on the hull. I didn’t see any welds to lock up the track. I’ve seen static displays in other countries where the goverment welded parts so there would be no moving the vehicle. Front hull is a single plate riveted on.
Closer view of the front
Notice the rear mounted machine gun cupola on the turret and the heat shield on the exhaust. Now look at that wierd attachment on the back. My best guess is it was added in to enable the tank to better back up without getting stuck or maybe even to handle barriers – going up ror down.
Here’s a better look at that rear assembly. Clearly there are rounded skid plates. I see them in some historical photos and the video below but I didn’t find details on why they are ther. In some photos, there were supplies/boxes on top of it. I did find one very informative website that called this “unditching gear” that was added around 1937.
A view of the rear drive wheels and that rear skid assembly. Rust is taking its toll. Kudos to Villa Escudero for maintaining it as best they can. The heat, humidity and being surrounded by the ocean takes its toll on anything made of steel over time.
One last photo – I found the tread pattern very interesting.

Original Video

When I see something like this, I wonder what it looked like. Here’s a black and while video with sound from Youtube that shows the Otsus and you can see they have a camo pattern and also the rear skid assembly is present.

Conclusion

If you want to see some Philippine history, great views, and have some great food then visit Villa Escudero. I’d like to thank them for trying to preserve some unique history and make it accessible to visitors.

To learn more about the Type 89 Otsu tanks, see:

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