damortis wwii december 22 1941 us army first tank on tank battle

By 1943, the SNLF, or Navy Armored Force, received its first amphibious tanks, like the Ka-Mi. In Burma, engaging second and third rate light tanks, and a few Stuarts from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, the Japanese proved deadly.

The 57 mm (2.24 in) gun of the Chi-Ha, then the best frontline IJA tank, proved useless against their armor.

They were opposed to M3 and M2A4 light tanks of the American 192nd Tank Battalion. On December 22, near Damortis, on Luzon island (Philippines) the first clash between Japanese and US tanks occurred. These include China, the Philippines, Burma, Indonesia (Java), while some were dispersed in support of infantry units on Okinawa, Iwo Jima and several other islands. Also, due to the nature of the Pacific theater, were operations mostly involved small islands ill-suited for tanks, these were deployed only in several large scale operational areas, were they could be effective in blitzkrieg-style tactics. The tank force was primarily under the command of the IJA, and not the navy.

Damortis wwii december 22 1941 us army first tank on tank battle