Drought in the USSR (1972). The mysterious death of a schoolboy

If you were at least a little interested in the history of the Russian army, then you can probably remember at least a couple of examples of foreign weapons. The first one that comes to mind is the Maxim machine gun, some may remember the Lewis, and this also includes the English Vickers. But the Arisaka, a Japanese-made rifle, is not known to everyone. Nevertheless, these weapons played an important role in the formation of modern Russian statehood.

The Arisaka system rifle is one of the notable examples. Using its example, the excess power of classic rifle cartridges was indirectly proven, and Vladimir Fedorov created the world’s first automatic rifle using its cartridge. Arisaka was used not only by the Japanese. Finns, Albanians, and even Russians used it - they purchased Arisaki for the first time world war our government compensated for the shortage of three-rulers.

Arisakami, in particular, were used to arm the famous Latvian riflemen, who played a significant role in the history of the revolution and civil war.
Stocks of Arisaka rifles were used in the Battle of Moscow to arm the militia. But not only Russia bought Arisaka - the British fleet also used it until 1921. The Chinese had it in service even during the Sino-Vietnamese War. Due to its high combat accuracy, it was used as a sniper.

However, let's start from the beginning. History of Japanese rifled small arms began in 1877, when Japanese Major Tsuniyoshi Murata arrived in France with the aim of purchasing a batch of Gra rifles to suppress the Satsuma Uprising of Japanese samurai that broke out in Japan.
The choice of France was not accidental - in those years, European countries tried to preserve the backwardness of Japan, caused by long-term self-isolation, so that it would remain only a market for colonial goods. That's why they refused to supply the Japanese modern weapons. The only exception was France, which, even during the Japanese civil war, Boshin Senso (戊辰戦争, literally “War of the Year of the Dragon”) supplied the latest Shaspo rifles to the shogun’s army. Returning to Tokyo, Murata proposed establishing the production of Namban guns in Japan itself. Nambans, that is, southern barbarians, have been called in Japan for centuries since Europeans sailed to Japan in the 16th-17th centuries from the south.
As a result of Murata's efforts, already in 1880 the Japanese Imperial Army received the Type 13 rifle, so designated after the 13th year of the reign of the then emperor.
The rifle was a synthesis of design ideas embedded in the French Gras rifle and the Dutch Beaumont rifle.

Murata Rifle Type 13

Murata Type 13, created for an 11-mm metal cartridge with a sleeve length of 60 mm, had a length of 127.6 cm with an 813-mm barrel length and weighed 4.09 kg. 5.28 gram charge smokeless powder threw out a 27.2-gram bullet at a speed of 437 m/s. Another modification of the cartridge with a 26-gram bullet provided a 455-meter initial velocity. There was also a carbine, the barrel of which was 459 mm long. A special cartridge was used for it with a lightweight 24-gram bullet fired at a speed of 400.2 m/s.
The Murata Type 13 suffered from many childhood ailments and, after going through two improvements, eventually evolved into the Murata Type 18 rifle by 1885.

The Japanese closely followed military innovations in civilized countries, and in 1889 they adopted the Murata Type 22 rifle.

The rifle had a caliber of 8 mm and was equipped with an under-barrel magazine of the Kropachek system for eight rounds.

The barrel length of the new rifle was 750 mm. From this barrel, a 15.9-gram bullet ejected by a 2.4-gram charge of smokeless powder flew at a speed of 612 m/s. The carbine, which had a 500 mm barrel, had an initial bullet speed of 590 m/s.

Carbine based on the Murata Type 22 rifle

The Sino-Japanese War became a test for Murata, and although Japan emerged victorious, the joy of victory did not overshadow the identified shortcomings.
The Murata Type 22 had all the disadvantages inherent in rifles with under-barrel magazines. Firstly, filling such a magazine took time and, having quickly fired the entire magazine, the shooter was forced to manually insert each cartridge separately, turning the rifle into a single-shot one. Secondly, as the cartridges were consumed, the center of gravity of the rifle shifted, which negatively affected accuracy. But a third problem also emerged, which turned out to be specific to Japan. The fact is that the height of the average Japanese conscript was only 157 centimeters, and weight, as a rule, did not exceed 48 kilograms. Years of great changes and associated civil wars, which accounted for the birth and childhood of the soldiers of the 1890s, did their job - almost all of them suffered from dystrophy before the army, and Murata, created by European standards, turned out to be too heavy for many soldiers, and her return was irresistible.
That is why, when switching to a rifle with a middle magazine, the new head of the rifle department of the Tokyo Arsenal, Colonel Naryakira Arisaka (有坂 成章), who replaced Major General Murata in this post in 1890, decided to abandon the 8-mm cartridge.
The weakest cartridge at that time was the Italian 6.5 mm cartridge from the Carcano rifle. It contained 2.28 g of Solemit brand smokeless powder. Such a charge made it possible to push a 10.45-gram bullet out of a 780-mm barrel at a speed of 710 m/s. True, there is evidence that sometimes this cartridge was equipped with 1.95 grams of ballistic nitroglycerin powder, which made it possible to increase the initial speed to 745 m/s.

Japanese soldier with a Murata Type 22 rifle

Arisaka decided that the cartridge could be made even weaker, and poured only 2.04 g of nitrocellulose flake powder into it. At the same time, to prevent gunpowder from falling into its lower part when manipulating the cartridge, without contacting the primer, a cardboard wad was placed in the cartridge, which was later abandoned. The sleeve had a length of 50.7 mm, which made it possible to designate its parameters as both 6.5 × 50 and 6.5 × 51 mm.
In those years, there was a serious debate between gunsmiths about which cartridge case was better, with a flange or with a groove. Without waiting for the end of this dispute, Arisaka equipped the sleeve with both a groove and a flange. At the same time, the flange protruded beyond the dimensions of the cartridge by only 0.315 mm, while for our rifle this figure was 1.055 mm.
The capsule socket of the sleeve had a central anvil and two seed holes. The Berdan type brass capsule usually had a convex surface. Occasionally he made two radial strokes.
A blunt-nosed bullet weighing 10.4 g with a spherical tip consisted of a lead core and a cupronickel silver shell and developed a speed of 725 m/s in an 800-mm-long barrel.
The long barrel length combined with a small powder charge led to an almost complete absence of muzzle flash and a significant reduction in the sound of the shot

Arisaki cartridge with blunt bullet

The rifle, adopted for service in 1897, received the designation Infantry Rifle Type 30 (三八式歩兵銃) - this was the 30th year of the reign of Emperor Mutsuhito, who ruled under the motto of Meiji (明治) - enlightened rule (mei 明 = light, knowledge; ji 治 = rule).

The Arisaki barrel had six right-hand rifling, and along the outer surface the barrel had a variable cylindrical cross-section, decreasing towards the muzzle. In the rear part there was a thread cut into which the receiver was tightly screwed onto. The latter was of the same type as the receiver of the Mauser rifle, but had one notable feature - a cover that moved with the bolt.
On the rear jumper of the receiver there was a cranked cutout to accommodate the bolt stem handle, and on the left there was a boss with windows for the bolt stop with a reflector.
The bolt stem had three lugs, two of which were symmetrically located in the front, and the third, additional, was the base of the handle. To lock the barrel, you need to move the bolt forward and turn the barrel handle to the right. Inside the bolt stem there is a channel for placing the firing pin with a mainspring, which passes in the front part into a hole for the firing pin to exit. In the rear part of the stem there is a screw section that interacts with the firing pin cocking, and a socket for placing the firing pin when the bolt is open.

The magazine box of a vertical type rifle with a staggered arrangement of cartridges was filled with cartridges from the clip. when squeezing cartridges from the clip, the lower cartridge lay on the plane of the feeder and, compressing its spring, jumped over the right edge of the lower window of the receiver. The second cartridge pressed on the first and, pressing the feeder inside the magazine box, jumped over the left edge.
The fifth cartridge, having entered under the right edge of the receiver window, could not fall out, since it was pressed against the edge by the fourth cartridge.

When the bolt moved forward, the lower part of the bolt stem sent the cartridge into the chamber. The cartridge was guided by the slope of the cartridge case along the oval bevels of the receiver. When the barrel bore was locked, the ejector hook jumped over the rim of the cartridge case. The next cartridge, under the action of the feeder spring, rose up all the way to the lower plane of the bolt stem, pressing against the left wall of the lower window of the receiver.

Arisaki's frame sight consisted of a sighting block, which is integral with a tubular base, fitted onto the barrel with an interference fit and, in addition, reinforced with a screw: a sighting frame; springs of the sighting frame and clamp with a latch.
The sighting frame, connected to the sighting block with a pin, had three sighting slots, two of which were on the sighting frame itself, and the third on the movable clamp. Divisions sighting ranges applied to front side sighting frame hundreds of meters away.

The transition of some armies to cartridges with a pointed bullet did not go unnoticed by Arisaki, and in 1905, at the height of the Russo-Japanese War, a new cartridge of the 38 model of the Meiji era was adopted.

Arisaki cartridge with a pointed bullet. A green border means the bullet is a tracer.

The rifle was converted to a cartridge with a pointed bullet that had a mass of 8.9 gamma. The smokeless powder charge, increased to 2.15 g, developed pressure in the barrel to 3200 kg/m2 and accelerated the bullet to 760 m/s. Improvements also affected the bolt and safety. Now, to turn on the fuse, you had to press the coupling from behind, turn it slightly to the right, and to turn it off, press and turn it to the left.
In addition to the infantry rifle, a carbine was also created, which was used in cavalry, artillery and sapper units. The length of its barrel was reduced to 480 mm.

Arisaka type 38 served the Japanese militarists faithfully for three decades. With its help, they held ours in 1918-22. Far East. With its help, they occupied Manchuria and started the war with China.
Its last improvement was the introduction of a sniper modification, designated Type 38 - by that time two emperors had changed and a new chronology from the founding of Japan was introduced. Its starting point was the year 660 AD, when, according to legend, Emperor Jimmu founded the Japanese state. According to this calculation, 1938 was 2598 or simply 98. It was in this year that the sniper rifle was introduced.

However, the following year the Arisaku Type 38 was awaiting replacement. The fact is that in China the Japanese encountered Chinese tankettes (more precisely, English ones supplied to China) that had bulletproof armor. The bullet from Arisaka did not penetrate it, but when the Japanese tried to shoot at them from our three-line guns, the armor of the wedges began to crack like eggshells.

Weapons of the Japanese army, the bulk of the Arisaka type 99

Not wanting to waste armor-piercing shells on Chinese tank-types, the Japanese decided to equip their infantry with rifles chambered for a stronger cartridge. As a result, a 7.7x58mm wafer rifle cartridge was developed. During development, the British cartridge .303 British was taken as a basis, but, firstly, it was deprived of the flange, and secondly, it was equipped with a 3.1-gram powder charge instead of 2.58-gram. The barrel length was shortened to 650 mm, and the 11.3 gram bullet flew out of it at a speed of 741 m/s. The rifle chambered for this cartridge received the designation Type 99, and in memory of the late Arisaka, who died in 1915, it was finally officially named after him.
Shortening the barrel made it possible to replace both long infantry rifles and carbines with one modification. The Type 99 rifles were produced in this form until 1945; their total production amounted to over three and a half million units. By the end of the war, Japan's resources were seriously depleted, and the quality of the Arisaka rifles, initially very high, had dropped dramatically. The design of late-release rifles used low-grade steel and parts without heat treatment, so such rifles were often dangerous not only for the enemy, but also for the shooters themselves.

In 1942, based on the Arisaka Type 99, a collapsible Arisaka Type 02 rifle was created, intended for arming paratroopers. In it, the barrel was attached to the receiver using a massive transverse wedge, inserted from the side through the fore-end, below the barrel bore. Often such rifles were also equipped with a folding wire bipod under the forend. All Arisakas were equipped with a detachable blade-type bayonet, worn in a sheath. Arisaka took aim without a bayonet.

Colonel Nariake Arisaka

Arisaka's grave at Yanaki Cemetery

Russian soldiers with foreign rifles: on the left is a Japanese Arisaka, on the right is an old Italian Vetterli rifle.

Parade of Red Army troops in Kharkov, 1920.

Arisaka Type 38 rifle

A number of samples of Japanese small arms of the first half of the 20th century are a very original mixture of some influence of peculiar folk traditions Japanese and the significant influence of Western models, which follows from a number of features of the Japanese so-called. “national character” - features of the perception of the world and reactions to it, namely, adherence to traditions and ethnocentrism, a highly developed aesthetic sense and a tendency to borrow. All this clearly demonstrates the relationship between the design ideas of gunsmiths of a particular race and the hereditary mental qualities of its representatives.

Here we consider only the most widely used models of Japanese repeating rifles and carbines in World War II: Type 38 and Type 99 rifles; sniper rifles Type 97 and Type 99; Type 38 carbine; Cavalry rifle Type 38; Type 44 carbine; Type 2 rifle. We will limit ourselves only to them, since the review of previous models, such as the Type 30 rifle, various prototypes, small-scale samples and weapons developed by the end of the war " the last frontier" will go beyond the scope of this material.

Arisaka Type 38 rifles

In the 27th year of the reign of Emperor Meiji (1894 according to European chronology), the Imperial Japanese Army initiated design work to replace outdated Murata rifles. The project was led by the Army's Koishikawa Arsenal in Tokyo. Colonel Nariakira Arisaka, who became the head of the rifle department of the arsenal in 1890, was appointed head of the commission responsible for the development of the new rifle. In 1897 (the 30th year of the reign of Emperor Meiji according to Japanese chronology), the Type 30 rifle and the 6.5x50mmSR Arisaka cartridge (6.5x50mm Arisaka) for it were adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army.

Arisaka Type 38 rifle and Type 30 bayonet

The Arisaka Type 38 is a modification of the Type 30 rifle of the 1897 model, carried out taking into account the experience of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. and improvements in the design of rifles of a number European countries. The Type 30 rifle had a number of significant shortcomings, including frequent misfires, delays, problems with the extraction of spent cartridges, spontaneous opening of the magazine cover, “drawdown” of the feed spring and difficulty in maintenance.

In 1906, Kijiro Nambu, then still with the rank of major, redesigned the rifle bolt, reducing the number of parts from nine to six. As a result, disassembling and assembling the shutter has become much easier. Nambu was able to do such a good job of improving the bolt based on the Gewehr 98 system that disassembling the bolt of a Type 38 rifle is much faster and easier than disassembling the bolt of the original German Paul Mauser system.

In addition, the labor intensity and duration of the shutter production cycle have decreased, thereby reducing the cost. At the same time, the bolt of the Type 38 rifle is not inferior in reliability to the bolt of the Gewehr 98. The design of the bolt of the Arisaka Type 38 rifle became the basis for subsequent models of Arisaka rifles and carbines. Probably the most successful weapon system ever developed by Kijiro Nambu is the Type 38 rifle bolt.

Arisaka Type 38 rifles have a Mauser-type sliding bolt with two forward lugs and a non-rotating massive ejector. The bolt is made without a separate combat cylinder; the lugs are made integral with the bolt stem. The stem of the handle, which fits into the L-shaped groove of the receiver, serves as a safety stop. The bolt handle has a characteristic, easily recognizable ellipse shape.

The mainspring is located inside the firing pin, thanks to which it is reliably protected from contamination. The firing pin is cocked when the bolt is locked. Behind the shutter stops there is an annular groove in which a split spring ring is placed for attaching the ejector. The bolt has a window to allow powder gases to escape if they break through the capsule. The bolt stop with the Mauser system reflector is located on the left side of the receiver.

A cylindrical coupling with a notch connects the parts of the valve and serves as a fuse. The clutch has a pointer to determine the fuse position visually and tactilely. To engage the safety of the Type 38 rifle, you need to press the clutch forward with your palm and turn it to the right so that the pointer points up. To turn off the fuse, press the clutch and turn it to the left.

The safety of the Type 38 and later Arisaka rifles is one of the most comfortable safeties ever produced on a bolt action repeating rifle. In terms of convenience and ease of handling, the fuse developed by Kijiro Nambu, as in the case of disassembling and manufacturability of the shutter, is superior to the German original. It makes no sense at all to compare the bolt and safety of the Arisaki Type 38 in terms of convenience and ease of handling and disassembly and assembly with the bolt and safety of the Mosin-Nagant rifle.

The magazine in the Type 38 remained the same, but its spring was replaced with a more reliable plate spring. To load a rifle with a clip, you need to place the clip with cartridges in the grooves of the receiver, squeeze the cartridges out of the clip into the magazine box. It is not necessary to remove the empty clip manually, since when the bolt is sent forward, the combat cylinder, when it rests on the clip, will throw it out of the grooves of the receiver. Once the cartridges were used up, the magazine feeder did not allow the bolt to move forward. The stock, receiver, rings, bayonet and other parts are identical in design to the Type 30 rifle.

The Arisaka Type 38 received a movable dustproof bolt cover made of sheet steel, which moved back and forth with the bolt. For the first time, the previous Type 35 model was equipped with a dust cover, but its cover was not connected to the bolt, was installed only in the stowed position and was removed when firing was necessary.

The purpose of the dust cover of the Type 38 rifle was to protect the bolt from dirt, moisture and, in fact, dust in the harsh climate of South and Southeast Asia, but it made a strong unmasking noise when reloading. In addition, this design tended to jam in the rear position of the bolt when rusted or carelessly manufactured (at the end of the war). The same potential reason for the delay applied to the Type 99 rifle. As a result, Japanese soldiers often removed the dust cover, especially in combat situations.

A special feature of the Type 38 rifles is their very long barrel, which, combined with a low-power cartridge, resulted in virtually no muzzle flash when fired. This gave rise to a number of myths about “flameless” Japanese gunpowder, but the same gunpowder in short-barreled carbines gave a completely ordinary muzzle flash.

The 6.5×50mmSR Arisaka cartridges used were lighter in weight than larger-caliber ammunition from other systems, which allows for a slight increase in portable ammunition, and due to the lower recoil impulse, shooting from the Type 38 rifle and its modifications is more comfortable compared to systems chambered for more powerful cartridges. The 6.5x50mmSR Arisaka cartridge was adopted in 1897, along with the Type 30 rifle and Type 30 Cavalry carbine. The new rifle and cartridge replaced the Murata rifle and the 8x52mm Murata cartridge, respectively.

The Arisaka Type 38 rifle was adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1906. Based on the standard Type 38 rifle chambered for the 6.5 mm cartridge, the following models were developed: Type 38 carbine; Type 44 carbine with permanent folding bayonet; carbine with folding stock Type 1 "Teishin Rakkasan Shyoujyu" for airborne troops"Teyshin shuden"; Type 97 sniper rifle.

The production of the Type 38 rifle and its modifications was carried out by the Japanese imperial arsenals Koshikawa, Kokura, the arsenal in Nagoya, after the capture of Korea, Manchuria and part of China - the Korean arsenal "Jensen", the Manchurian in Mukden and the Chinese in Nanjing and Tienching. In total, about three million rifles and 270,000 carbines of this system were produced. In addition to Great Britain, Mexico and Russia, they were supplied to Indonesia and Thailand, and along with the advancement of units of the Imperial Japanese Army during the fighting, they spread throughout Asia.

Gunsmith designer Vladimir Grigorievich Fedorov in 1914 conducted a full cycle of tests of the Arisaka rifle and became convinced of the safety, rationality and thoughtfulness of the design of this weapon. Fedorov noted that despite the excessive accuracy indicators, the rifle is cheaper than a three-line rifle of the 1891 model. The cartridge is fixed in the barrel chamber not according to the profile of the cartridge case neck, as in the Mauser, but along its rim, which made it possible to manufacture both the cartridge case and the barrel chamber with greater tolerances.

The Arisaka Type 38 rifle is very accurate and well-balanced, reliable and easy to maintain. In order for a Type 38 rifle or carbine to start malfunctioning and malfunctioning, you need to try hard, not cleaning it at all, or using low-quality ammunition of unknown origin. The Arisaka Type 38 is one of the finest bolt action repeating rifles to serve in both World Wars. This weapon and the samples created on the basis of its design are probably the best of Japanese small arms of the first half of the 20th century.

Transition from 6.5 mm cartridge to 7.7 mm cartridge

Use of 6.5 mm caliber cartridges for machine guns in Manchuria and China during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. and until 1931 revealed the insufficient penetrating ability of bullets at distances over 1000 meters against protected targets (earthen parapets more than 25–30 cm, brickwork more than 10–20 cm, metal shields more than 6–8 mm thick, etc.). Purchased during the Russo-Japanese War, French heavy machine guns Hotchkiss Mle 1897 chambered for 8x51mmR French (8mm Lebel) made it possible to change infantry tactics when firing at distant and group targets.

Previously, salvo firing was practiced by an infantry unit (platoon, company, battalion) with adjustments and at the command of an officer at a distance of 1000 to 2500 meters. This task was now performed by an easel machine gun in a stationary position with a heavy bullet, allowing fire both at visible group targets (infantry units or cavalry squadrons), and at targets located behind defensive structures (fortress walls and embankments) and metal shields (machine guns and individual shooters).

With the advent of the Type 3 Taisho 14 machine guns of the 1914 model (Hotchkiss Mle 1914), ammunition was unified under one 6.5 mm Type 38 cartridge, and special bullets were adopted - tracer and armor-piercing with a steel core.

But the armored targets that appeared in combat in the 1920–1930s on mainland China (armored cars, trucks with sewn-on sheets of boiler iron and armored trains) showed that at distances above 500 meters, even armor-piercing bullets do not have the desired effect - the armor either did not penetrate under sharp meeting angles, or the blocking action was not enough to defeat manpower and damage equipment mechanisms. The tracer bullets were noted to have a small amount of tracer composition and difficulty in manufacturing.

In addition, at distances above 1000–1500 meters with a side wind above 16 m/s, the drift of bullets increased (from 2.5 meters and above), so it was impossible to talk about targeted destruction of small targets. Thus, the actual fire range (2000 meters) of the Chinese 7.92 mm Type 24 machine guns, which are an exact copy of the German MG 08 machine gun, covered the capabilities of Japanese 6.5 mm machine guns.

Japanese 7.7×58mm cartridges (left) and 6.5×50mmSR cartridge

Despite the fact that the Type 38 cartridge, when fired from rifles and carbines (Type 38), as well as light machine guns (Type 11) at distances of up to 1000 meters, fully complied with the requirements for defeating manpower, the technical management decided to develop a machine gun cartridge for mounted heavy machine guns.

Initially, a cartridge copying the British .303 British (7.7×56mmR) was considered, but it turned out to be impossible to reliably feed it from a cassette tape into a Type 3 machine gun. The cartridge remained in supply to the Japanese Imperial Navy and Marine Corps for Type 89 and Type 92 machine guns ( aviation and infantry copies of the Lewis machine gun).

By adding a groove at the flange to the .303 British Type 89 cartridge, a semi-flange 7.7x58mm SR Type 92 cartridge was obtained (with heavy, armor-piercing, tracer and incendiary bullets), the geometry of the British prototype case was changed. The Type 92 machine gun was tested under this cartridge, which showed fairly high reliability at a somewhat low rate of fire, mainly due to the 30-round cartridges used.

In order to unify the ammunition used, Type 38 rifles and carbines, adapted for the 7.7 mm Type 92 cartridge, were tested. When firing from the carbines, an increased muzzle flash and strong recoil were noted. When carelessly or hastily loading both rifles and carbines from clips, the cartridges in the magazine overlapped and were caught by the welts. Rifles and carbines chambered for the Type 92 cartridge were not mass-produced and were used in single experimental units.

This drawback could be eliminated by switching to a single-row magazine or changing the design of a double-row magazine (the shape of the feeder and the magazine body). In both the first and second cases, the store ended up protruding from the stock. Measures were required to increase the area of ​​the supporting surfaces of the bolt lugs and to strengthen the ejector hook.

Completely abandoning the flange, the Japanese developed the 7.7x58mm Arisaka Type 99 weltless cartridge (with heavy, regular, armor-piercing, tracer, incendiary and explosive bullets, as well as a blank cartridge). This cartridge is widely used as a rifle and machine gun cartridge. Existing and new machine guns were converted to fit it.

Arisaka Type 99 rifles

The Arisaka rifle of the 1939 model chambered for the new 7.7 mm cartridge was named Type 99 and was produced in four versions - the basic Type 99 short rifle, the Type 99 long rifle (limited edition), the collapsible Type 2 for landing and the Type 99 sniper rifle. Initially, two versions of the Type 99 rifle were developed - long (for infantry) and short - for cavalry, sappers, artillery, signalmen and other branches of the military in need of a compact weapon. They differed in the length of the barrel and the mounting of the swivels - for the long version at the bottom, for the short version - on the left side of the stock.

After the failure of experiments with the Type 38 carbines chambered for the Type 92 cartridge, the carbine was not developed. Shooting from barrels 480–490 mm long turned out to produce painful and hard-to-bear recoil, high level sound and flame interfered with the shooter, firing up to 50 shots was characterized by a decrease in effectiveness and increased fatigue of the shooter.

Soon after the start of production, having become acquainted with the practice of foreign armies, which were moving from different-sized models of rifles and carbines, dividing them by types of troops (infantry, cavalry, gendarmerie, mountain rifle, etc.) to universal combined arms rifles chambered for a rifle-machine-gun cartridge with a barrel length 550–650 mm (for example, Springfield M1903, Mauser K98k and Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk1), the Japanese decided to abandon the production of the long version of the Type 99 in favor of the short version for all branches of the military.

The modified rifle chambered for the 7.7x58mm Type 99 unworn cartridge (model 1939) is an Arisaka Type 38 rifle redesigned for the new ammunition.

In addition to the new barrel and chamber, the weapon received an improved bolt with larger stops, a reinforced ejector, a full-size barrel lining (for a short rifle, since the long Type 99, like the Type 38 rifle, had it for half the length of the barrel), a reinforced front stock ring with mount for Type 30 bayonet, frame sight up to 1500 meters (for the long version Type 99 up to 1700 meters) with aperture (ring) rear sight and folding sights for shooting at air targets, as well as with a folding wire bipod monopod, which in later releases was not installed.

It should be said that the usefulness of the folding slats when firing at American carrier-based fighters Grumman F6F Hellcat or Chance-Vought F4U Corsair was more than doubtful, so their benefit was more mental than real.

The Type 99 rifle could be equipped with a Type 100 rifle grenade launcher to fire the Type 91 and Type 99 universal anti-personnel fragmentation grenades, suitable for both hand throwing and launching from a grenade launcher or firing as a rifle grenade.

The production of Type 99 series rifles from 1940 to 1945 was carried out by the Japanese arsenals in Nagoya and Kokura, the private arms factories Dai Nippon Heiki Koge, Kayaba Koge and Tokyo Yuki, Toyo Yuki, and the Korean arsenal Jensen. During this time, more than 3.5 million Type 99 of all modifications were produced.

The troops in the metropolis were the first to receive the new 7.7 mm rifles, followed by units in China. The Arisaka Type 99 rifle was characterized as convenient and easy to use, with light weight, moderate recoil and excellent shooting accuracy, resistant to contamination with careless or lack of cleaning. The Type 99 remained in service until Japan's surrender in September 1945, after which the Japanese Army's weapons were stored under the control of the US occupation forces.

After the Japan Self-Defense Forces were formed in 1954, they were issued approximately 126,500 short and 6,650 long Type 99 rifles. In 1951–1952, these rifles were overhauled and converted to fire American .30-06 Springfield cartridges at the Tokyo Arsenal. Such rifles, known as "Kai Ki", were used as training rifles until the early 1970s. After World War II, Japanese rifles large quantities used in China and North Korea.

The Type 38, with its overall length of 1280 mm, was the longest rifle of World War II, and with the Type 30 bayonet attached, the length of the Type 38 rifle increased by 400 mm. This was due to the requirements of bayonet combat, taking into account the average height of a Japanese soldier at that time, which was 160 centimeters.

In fact, with the attached bayonet, the Arisaka Type 38 became a semblance of an ancient polearm and was often used by the Japanese during the famous banzai attacks, for the most part as a spear rather than as a small weapon. Along with armed rifles with a bayonet, in a number of cases soldiers with various types of bladed weapons ran towards the enemy shouting “banzai”, among which were the army sword Shin-Gunto Type 98, Kyu-Gunto, cavalry saber Type 32, bayonet Type 30 and small infantry shovel. Some Japanese even went on the attack with impact weapons in the form of a large stone.

Japanese banzai attack on American positions

Ordinary soldiers, most of whom came from ordinary backgrounds peasant families who previously could not even dream of owning and carrying combat edged weapons, while serving in armed forces ah received a bayonet, which they perceived as a kind of similarity to a samurai sword.

After the adoption of the law banning the wearing of swords by former samurai on March 28, 1876, during the Meiji Restoration, the sword in Japanese culture and popular consciousness did not go down in history as a symbol of feudal Japan, becoming only the service weapon of officers. It still remained not only a means of combat, but also an object of veneration and admiration, symbolizing nobility and military honor. Taking into account this circumstance, owning a bayonet and the ability to fight with such a weapon significantly strengthened the morale of the soldiers.

In addition, surviving photographs from those years indicate that Japanese soldiers often tied the “Flag of Fortune” (寄せ書き日の丸 yosegaki hinomaru) to their rifles, which was their most popular talisman. When recruits or reservists were called up to military service, almost always their family members bought a Japanese flag for them, usually made of fine silk.

On it, the soldier’s relatives, friends or work colleagues wrote their names with wishes of good luck or patriotic calls and instructions, such as “Serve the Motherland devotedly,” “Together we will certainly win,” “Pray for continued success in the war,” “ Let's defeat England and America" ​​or "When you reach the enemy, kill him without hesitation."

The soldier carried this flag throughout his entire combat career, usually keeping it in his breast pocket next to his heart. These flags, which Americans called "Good Luck Flags", were very popular trophies from battles in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

The Japanese love of flags and mounting them on their weapons echoes the Sengoku Jidai period, when samurai attached a lacquered pole to the back of their armor with a vertical flag panel for identification and visual organization. large detachments. High-ranking samurai could wear such a flag with personal heraldic insignia, despite the fact that in hand-to-hand combat the flag behind the back could seriously interfere with its owner.

Like the bayonet, the flag on their own weapons greatly contributed to the soldiers’ determination to fight to the last for their Motherland and the Emperor.

Type 97 and Type 99 sniper rifles

On the basis of the Type 38, in 1937, the Type 97 sniper rifle was developed and adopted for service under the same cartridge, which differed from the standard Type 38 by the presence of a 2.5 × 10 optical sight, a downward-curved bolt handle, a lightweight stock and a mount for a monopod bipod. Samples of late release do not have a mount for a monopod. The optical sight is shifted to the left, which is explained by the desire of the designers to maintain high fighting qualities weapons.

Type 97 (top) and Type 99 sniper rifle with 4x scope, scope case and bayonet

With this arrangement of the optics, it remains possible to load the magazine from a standard clip, rather than one cartridge at a time. The sights were equipped with rubber eyecups. For the manufacture of Type 99 sniper rifles of 7.7 mm caliber, serial rifles were used, selected for the best accuracy characteristics. The bolt was polished and chrome-plated (in late-release weapons it was oxidized). The trigger mechanism was debugged to ensure smooth movement of the trigger.

In the hands of an experienced shooter, the Type 99 sniper rifle made it possible to confidently hit an enemy wearing a helmet or behind an armored shield (8 mm thick) at a distance of 500–600 meters. At the Battle of Iwo Jima, 7.7 mm bullets were reported to have penetrated an M1 steel helmet, but it was impossible to say for sure whether these hits were the result of snipers or machine gunners.

A striking feature of the Japanese Type 96 and Type 99 sniper rifles was the presence of a bayonet mount. Here the Japanese gunsmiths were ahead of the Russians with their SVD bayonet-knife kit in terms of providing the sniper with the ability to participate in bayonet combat. In general, in relation to the use of a bayonet, the Japanese went the furthest, providing this type of bladed weapon light machine guns.

Japanese sniper with Arisaka Type 99 rifle

In 1942, arsenals in Nagoya and Kokura began supplying the troops with the Type 99 sniper rifle of 7.7x58mm Arisaka caliber, based on the Type 99 infantry 7.7mm rifle. At first, 2.5x magnifications were installed on the weapon optical sights, then - 4x. Having a higher lethal effect of the bullet of the cartridge used, the Type 99 rifle was no longer as invisible when fired as the 6.5 mm Type 97.

At the same time, Japanese snipers often used cartridges with a reduced weight of gunpowder, developed for the Type 11 machine gun, which, in combination with a very long 797 mm barrel, created virtually no muzzle flash and smoke when fired, which at distances over 150 yards (137 meters) significantly reduced the risk detecting the sniper's position. On the Type 99 sniper rifle, the bayonet mount was retained.

Type 38 carbine

Developed from the Type 38 infantry rifle, this carbine was adopted at the same time as the Type 38 infantry rifle in 1906 and was used by cavalry, engineer and other non-front-line units. Production was carried out at arsenals in Tokyo, Kokura, Nagoya and Mukden. The total volume was just over 416,000 copies. The length of the Type 38 carbine was 966 mm, the barrel length was 487 mm, the weight without cartridges was 3.3 g, and the magazine capacity was 5 rounds.

Type 38 Cavalry Rifle

In the late 1930s - early 1940s, an unspecified number (researchers put the figure on the order of 100,000 units) of Type 38 rifles were converted into the Type 38 Cavalry Rifle by the Nagoya Arsenal. The barrel was shortened from 794 mm to 635 mm, and the forearm was made shorter accordingly. . The result was a Type 38 rifle, corresponding in size to the 7.7 mm Type 99 rifle. The name “Cavalry Rifle” was somewhat strange due to the fact that cavalry at that time was practically not used in combat.

Type 44 carbine

The Type 44 carbine was developed for the needs of cavalry, which required a shorter weapon than the Type 38 rifle, while retaining the Type 32 saber. Production of the Type 44 carbine (Meiji 44), developed from the same Type 38 rifle, began in 1911, and adoption into service the following year, 1912. The Type 44 carbine was produced until 1942 and remained in service until the very end of World War II.

In addition to its shorter length and weight, the Type 44 carbine differs from the Type 38 rifle in the presence of an integral folding needle bayonet. Its fastening allows two positions: the bayonet is folded to the front position and is ready for action in hand-to-hand combat, and traveling - the bayonet is folded down. The hook, located under the front sight, on the right side, is used for use in bayonet fighting according to the fencing technique that was taught to Japanese soldiers at that time.

The wooden stock and metal fastening parts have been modified - the cavity for storing cleaning accessories and cleaning rods is equipped with a special retractable lid, the front part has been modified to mount a permanent bayonet and has been strengthened. There are three modifications based on minor changes in the fastening of the folding bayonet. Changes in this weapon unit were dictated by problems with shooting accuracy and service life. The carbine was produced from 1911 to 1942 at the Koishikawa arsenals in Tokyo, Kokura and Nagoya. The total quantity is estimated at 91,900 units.

Adopted at first only for cavalry, it soon gained great popularity in the Transport Forces of the Imperial Japanese Army and in the Marine Corps of the Imperial Japanese Navy, especially in units that fought during World War II in the jungles of Southeast Asia and on the Pacific Islands.

Rifle Type 2

The airborne troops of the Imperial Japanese Army and the Marine Airborne Forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy were supplied with small arms models specially designed or modified to meet the requirements of the Airborne Forces, in particular folding rifles. The design of these samples made it possible to either disassemble them into two parts or fold them.

The Japanese widely adopted the existing experience in developing similar weapons in Germany and Italy. Japanese representatives in the Third Reich got acquainted with the German models of parachutes, gliders and drop containers being developed and tested. Of great interest were the experimental versions of folding rifles from the Mauser company (works of the WaPruf2 department) “Fallschirmjager-Karabiner 98k” with a hinged butt that folds to the left and can be disassembled into two parts with a threaded connection in the receiver.

As a result, based on the 7.7 mm Type 99 rifle, the Japanese designed a collapsible Type 2 rifle, which could be disassembled into two parts. In English-language sources, this weapon is most often called the “Arisaka Type 2 Paratrooper Takedown rifle.” The front part of the weapon consisted of a barrel with a sight, a forend and a barrel lining. Rear end consisted of a receiver with a bolt and trigger mechanism, a magazine and a butt. The rifle was produced by the Nagoya Arsenal in the period from 1942 to 1943 in the amount of 21,200 units (according to known numbers 22,000).

The receiver and receiver block are connected using a transverse bolt. This method was successfully used on the quick-release connection of the overheated barrel of Type 96 and Type 99 light machine guns. In order to disassemble the rifle, a transverse wedge bolt with several turns of large thread is unscrewed from the right side (there are also samples with the bolt located on the left). A D-half ring is installed on the bolt head to prevent the bolt from being lost (by tying it to the stock with a chain or cord). The bolt is partially or completely removed from the channel in the stock. The barrel block is removed moving forward.

This type of connection has proven to be quite reliable. Some rifles could withstand up to 3000–5000 rounds with minimal damage. Wear of the bolt channel and the wedge bolt itself could be eliminated by selecting a spare one with minimal clearance. The length of the weapon was 1150 mm, barrel length - 650 mm, length with bayonet - 1515 mm, folded length - 711 mm, weight without cartridges - 4 kg, magazine capacity - 5 rounds. To save weight, we decided to abandon the dust cover. The Type 2 rifle was produced in small series. This model has not become widespread anywhere except the Airborne Forces. A total of 19,000 Type 2 units were produced from 1942 to 1944.

The limited resources of Japan and the growing needs of the army and navy due to the expansion of the theater of operations from mainland China, Burma, Indonesia to New Guinea and Guadalcanal required more and more new weapons to replace those lost (in battles or during transportation) or damaged. Since December 1943, the production of rifles has undergone a transition to a “replacement standard”, which allows the use of material (both steel and wood) that partially or completely does not comply with the originally adopted quality standard in the production of Arisaka Type 99 rifles.

Type 99 last stand

The reserve version of the Arisaka Type 99, also known as the "Type 99 Last Ditch" and "Type 99 Substitute" (in English-language sources Type 99 "Last Ditch" and Type 99 "Substitute Standard", respectively), was originally intended for training and education, but due to the deterioration of the military situation, it was supplied to the mobilized population and troops of the second line of the metropolis.

The last frontier Type 99 is characterized by low quality materials, simplified metalwork, coating and finishing of the stock. There are “Transitional Model”, Type 99/2 and Type 99/3. Although there is no particular boundary between the models, since individual parts of the stock set and the stock itself could be from high-quality workpieces or stocks, as well as the bolt parts.

The main difference between these weapons is the low quality of the final finish and the presence of traces of metalworking. The Type 99/2 rifle is equipped with a fixed ring rear sight and a plywood buttplate. The Type 99/3 rifle, assembled by the Nagoya and Kokura arsenals, is made from the lowest quality steel and has a lifespan of only 300–500 rounds. Of the total production of Arisaka Type 99, 200,000–250,000 units of the "Type 99 of the last frontier" were manufactured.

Symbols and meanings

To reduce the shame of defeat in the war, the Japanese command gave the last order to the surviving military personnel to scrape off all the marks with the image of a 16-petal chrysanthemum - the coat of arms of the ruling Imperial House - from their weapons before handing them over to the victors.

Originally a Shinto symbol of the sun, the 16-petal chrysanthemum personified the power of the emperor, and in the form of a mark on a rifle or bayonet indicated that this specimen was his property. After the chrysanthemum was removed, the weapon lost its highest spiritual meaning.

Exemplars currently in museum collections and in private ownership Japanese weapons those years with preserved marks of the imperial chrysanthemum are mainly war trophies.

Morale in the Japanese Armed Forces and the Realities of World War II

In World War II, Japanese infantry doctrine emphasized bayonet fighting, while the US Marine Corps emphasized precision and firepower. For example, M1 carbines began to be equipped with bayonet mounts only in 1945, and until the end of the war very few carbines with mounts were delivered to the front. At the same time, most samples of long-barreled small arms of the American infantry, except shotguns, were equipped with sights with aperture rear sights superior open sights in terms of speed and accuracy of aiming, as well as ease of aiming in low light conditions.

The superiority of the Americans in firepower was ensured by the M3A1 “Grease Gun”, Thompson M1 and M1A1 submachine guns of .45 ACP caliber, Winchester Model 1912 shotguns of 12/70 caliber, M1 and M1A1 carbines of .30 Carbine caliber, M1 Garand and M1941 Johnson Rifle self-loading rifles , Browning M1918A2 automatic rifles, M1941 Johnson Light Machine Guns, M1919A4 and M1919A6 machine guns in .30-06 Springfield caliber. For its time, it was a very effective automatic infantry weapon, which performed well in all theaters of World War II where they were used.

It should also be noted that the Japanese armed forces used many different types of Western weapons, both very outdated and modern at that time, whether purchased or captured. To complete the picture regarding the “diversity” of models and cartridges for them, we will list only a far from complete list of the most widely used foreign models of infantry small arms, which in one way or another ended up in the Imperial Japanese Army.

These examples include the Mauser C96, Mauser Model 1914, FN Browning Model 1910 and Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless pistols, Krag-Jorgensen M1899 repeating rifles and carbines, M1917 Enfield, Lee Enfield SMLE, Dutch Mannlicher M.95 and Standard Export Modell 98k , submachine guns Steyr-Solothurn S1-100, SIG Bergmann 1920 (BE Shiki Takinjuu), Beretta M38/43 and various Thompson variants, light machine guns ZB vz. 26, Browning wz. 1928 and Degtyarev DP, Browning M1917 and M1919 machine guns, Hotchkiss M1929 heavy machine gun (Type 93).

All this diversity required the supply of appropriate ammunition. And this is in addition to the problems with supplying troops with the right type of cartridges for weapons of their own design, due to the fact that during the Second World War, weapons with 6.5 mm and 7.7 mm cartridges were used in parallel, since Japan was not able to completely switch to new caliber.

This circumstance represented an extremely complex logistics task - supplying the armed forces in peacetime and war time associated with the acquisition, storage, movement, distribution, maintenance and location of the material part. In addition, a supply of spare parts was required, as well as training of soldiers in handling each of these models, proper periodic maintenance and repair.

As one of the strategists said Ancient China: “An army that has lost its equipment is doomed to death. An army deprived of provisions is doomed to death. An army deprived of funds is doomed to death.” From the book “The Military Canon of China” - Vladimir Malyavin, chapter seven “Military Confrontation”.

Be that as it may, in the dense tropical and subequatorial forests of New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, Burma and the Philippines, in the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa, among palms and ficus trees, bamboo and rubber trees, during the Allied capture of the Pacific islands since February From 1943 until the very end of the war, Japanese soldiers with outdated weapons confronted the overwhelmingly superior American troops, equipped with excellent automatic weapons, excellent self-loading rifles and carbines.

Here it is necessary to clarify that victory or defeat depends not only and not so much on the qualities of the infantry weapons and the presence of fighting spirit among the soldiers. All other things being equal, the success of a military operation is determined by well-functioning communication and interaction between units and branches of the military, starting from the squad level, including each individual soldier. For example, the commander of a German tank battalion, while in battle, could calmly call and coordinate the work of several squadrons in real time, while tank forces The Red Army interaction with attack aviation was usually maintained through the front headquarters or the headquarters of the air army attached to it.

In the German Armed Forces, the development of communications and the improvement of interaction was constant. The German telephone transceiver Kleinfunksprecher Kl.Fu.Spr.d "Dorette", which was launched in October 1944, made it possible to use it in combat to control both a squad and an individual soldier, and direct support aircraft ground forces. The compact Doretta, located on the left side of the soldier’s chest and providing communications at a distance of 1–2 km, is the direct predecessor of modern tactical communications systems with individual control.

There is very little information on similar means of communication and control of Japanese aircraft. The Japanese Imperial Army in World War II used a backpack HF or VHF radio set, Model 94 Type 6, model 1934, which provided a communication range of up to 2 km. The Model 94 Type 6 is characterized by an obsolete design and radio components comparable to those used in American designs of 1935–1936. The Japanese radio station was distinguished by a very unstable frequency and lack of protection against water ingress. This radio required several people to carry and operate it.

American infantryman using an M2 flamethrower against the Japanese, 1945

In the context of devotion to military duty, the Motherland and the Emperor, it is necessary to mention such a phenomenon as resistance by Japanese military personnel after Japan's surrender in September 1945, which was led by small groups of soldiers and officers of the Imperial Japanese Army, as well as individual military personnel who continued armed struggle. The few armed groups and individuals who went into the deep jungles of the Pacific Islands, Indonesia and Indochina, in the event of Japan's defeat in the war, recognized for themselves only a valiant death in battle with the enemy, and many of them continued to fight, not knowing about the surrender at all. As a result, they waged armed struggle, first with American troops and then with local military and police units, for several years and even decades after the end of the war.

In March 1974, on the Philippine island of Lubang, Japanese intelligence officer Hiro Onoda, who had been fighting since 1944, surrendered on the orders of his former commander. He was in full military uniform, carrying a serviceable Arisaka Type 99 rifle, 500 rounds of ammunition, several hand grenades and a shin gunto army sword, as well as a dagger that his mother gave him in 1944 so that he would kill himself with it if he was taken captured The commander returned Onoda's sword, calling him "a model of army loyalty." The result of the Thirty Years' War was 30 killed and more than 100 wounded Filipinos. Nothing is known about American losses, but they may even exceed those of the Philippines. Thanks to the intervention of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Onoda was pardoned and solemnly returned to Japan on March 12, 1974. Even at the airport, Hiro Onoda said the imperial greeting three times: “Glory to His Majesty the Emperor!”

As a conclusion, I will give an excerpt from the book “Iwo Jima. An island of no return. Jump to Japan":

“We literally had to shoot them individually or burn them in their holes,” said Chamberlain. “We had to direct streams of flamethrowers into their caves, blocking the entrances to connecting tunnels - if we discovered them - with explosions. Still, new enemies appeared again and again. By the way, they were by no means madmen, as the newspapers always like to describe them, no, these were soldiers who knew their craft.

When Wallace somewhat provocatively asked him if he still had respect for the Japanese, the Californian looked at him a little angrily and asked in response: “Why shouldn’t I respect them?” Already in the Philippines, I considered them seasoned soldiers. You can curse them for attacking us, you can realize that their weapons development cannot compete with ours, also that their material reserves are insufficient, you can even accuse them of being vile occupiers who would like nothing more than to take over all of Southeast Asia, mister, but I just don’t believe that their soldiers are bad. Otherwise, the outcome of the war would probably have been decided long ago. You see what Japanese soldiers can do on this hill - they don't give up until they are killed. Even if they can be accused of some nasty things, including starting the war, as soldiers they cannot be underestimated. If you want, you can call it respect...”

When Wallace quickly assured him that he did not want to give derogatory assessments to anyone, but only to listen to opinions, Chamberlain shrugged his narrow shoulders and said indifferently: “We will beat them, Mister.” But we are not fighting here with mice running away in fear, but with well-trained warriors."

For many years after the end of World War II, the Japanese army was armed with repeating rifles. Several types of Mauser rifles with cylindrical bolts were used. These included Arisaka Meiji Type 38 rifles and carbines of 6.5 mm caliber, as well as Arisaka Type 44 carbines, adopted in 1905 and 1911, respectively. The standard weapons also included Arisaka Type 99 repeating rifles, which arrived in 1939, and their modifications designed for 7.7 mm caliber.

Soon after 1945, American-made M1 Garand self-loading rifles were added to these. Radical rearmament with the gradual replacement of technically outdated weapons began only in 1964, when it was established mass production rapid-fire rifle of our own design.

The Japanese were designing rapid-fire rifles even before the Second World War, and automatic rifles even before the First World War. However, things did not go further than experiments. Conservative Japanese generals, like most military men in other countries, paid as little attention to such weapons as they did to submachine guns. Only after, shortly before the end of the war, the role of automatic small arms became clear, they supported the efforts of the designers and even insisted on its speedy introduction. However, the development of both rifles and submachine guns did not lead to any significant success.
Despite the great efforts made, until 1945 it was possible to produce only about 14 thousand model 100 submachine guns in various designs. The troops never received mass-produced automatic rifles until last day war. Only a small number of prototypes reached the fleet in March-April 1945.
Thus, it took almost 4 decades before Japanese troops received a domestically produced self-loading rifle. The first Japanese automatic rifle was manufactured back in 1908 under the leadership of Kijiro Nambu, who designed many types of weapons, including the Nambu Taisho 14 automatic pistol named after him. This rifle was reloaded under the influence of recoil. In June 1909, the rifle was presented at the military academy, but the Japanese generals showed no interest in it.

Only in 1931 did certain representatives of the military leadership take up the problems of automatic small arms. On their orders, small quantities of not only Bergman submachine guns were purchased in Switzerland, but also Pedersen rifles in the USA. Soon after this, automatic rifles were purchased for testing in Denmark, France and Czechoslovakia, and then tests of automatic and rapid-fire weapons were carried out Soviet designers Sergei Simonov and Fedor Tokarev.

According to specialized literature, in 1937, when Japan attacked China, large-scale tests of domestic rifles made according to American models took place. At the end of the thirties, several weapons were manufactured on the basis of Soviet models, operating both under the influence of recoil force and due to the pressure of powder gases. However, these tests were stopped already in 1941, when Japan entered World War II on December 7, attacking the American naval base at Pearl Harbor.