Helmets and body armor in modern warfare by Dean Bashford 1867-1928

Author:Dean, Bashford, 1867-1928
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Arms and armor, Helmets
Publisher: New Haven Yale University Press
Published: 1920-11-18T05:00:00+00:00

steel. It is very probable that the Chiba shields have improved in quality; this is noted in a Japanese paper (Jiji-Shimbun) and of similar testimony is the information lately received that a large number of these shields (one half million'?) were to be manufactured in Tokyo by the French Government and that the Chinese had also placed an order (10,000).* Jiji states that these shields had lately passed the official test made at Omori near Tokyo.

For a general review of armor matters in Japan, the reader should consult the monograph of Professor Shozo Arisaka of the Department of Engineering, published by the University of Tokyo in July, 1916, vol. 7, no. 1, entitled "Illustrated History of Improvements in Arms and Armor."

* Note from the Japan Society, New York:

Further information regarding the work of Mr. Chiba, in Tokyo, shows that he is the holder of three patents which concern armor. The first covers his body armor, patented June 17, 1905, the second his portable shield, the third his "defense cart," patented October 26, 1915, defenses all of which are said to have passed successful tests.

The first of Mr. Chiba's defenses was given a practical trial by the Japanese Government during the Russo-Japanese War, when three hundred specimens were placed in actual use. In 1908 four hundred were purchased by the Government of Formosa. This armor weighed thirteen pounds, and was formed of ^ inch (chrome-nickel) steel. They cost 25 yen ($12.50) each. It is this armor in which Mr. Chiba is pictured in Fig. 13OA.

The second defense illustrates the type of shield which has been referred to in this report on p. 179. (See also Fig. 13OC.)

The armored cart appears to have been purely experimental. No details are at hand concerning its usefulness (Fig. 13OD).

In addition to the defenses described above, Mr. Chiba has designed a pistol-proof jacket, which can be worn under the ordinary Japanese costume, and it is now being developed by the inventor. It weighs seven pounds, and is y% inch thick.

It may be mentioned that Mr. Chiba's interest in bullet-proof defenses arose from his study of old Japanese armor. His bullet-proof cart is said to be a device developed from an early Chinese model, fide Dr. Naohide Yatsu, of the Imperial University of Tokyo, who was so kind as to visit Mr. Chiba in Tokyo, at the instance of the present writer, and to send him a report on the work of the Japanese inventor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.