World War II/Asian Theater/Weapons

Infantry Weapons

The U.S. infantry used weapons such as the M1 Garand, browning automatic rifle,Thompson, and colt m1911

Tanks

The Sherman and Stuart tanks were used a lot during the war.

Planes

Fighters

Mitsubishi Zero

Thought of as the most advanced fighter in its time, the Mitsubishi Zero broke many records and it could out-maneuver most of the allied fighter planes at the beginning of the war, although it was outclassed by later model allied fighters. It proved its worth, during the attack on Pearl Harbor in which it destroyed U.S. aircraft on the ground and closely guarded the slow moving Aichi D3A "Val"

Bombers

Boeing B-29

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a major development of the B-17 Flying Fortress. Design started in 1937 and the prototype flew five years later. B-29s were mainly used to bomb Japan in the later stages of the war. On August 6, 1945, a Superfortress of the 509th Bombardment Wing dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The B-29 was the mainstay of the US bomber fleet for several years after WWII, and many were used in Korea.

Ships

Yamato-Class Battleships

The Yamoto under construction in September of 1941

The Japanese superbattleships Yamato and Musashi were the largest battleships ever launched. They were intended for use in a major fleet engagement not unlike Jutland or Tsushima. The main armament of these leviathans were nine 18-inch naval cannon that could hurl a shell up to twenty-five miles. The Yamatos were not used until the later stages of WWII, when Japan launched a massive counterattack in the Battle of Letye Gulf. Musashi was sunk by US carrier planes in this engagement. In April 1945, Yamato was fitted out for a suicidal strike against the US fleet gathering around Okinawa. Her mission was to shell and possibly ram American carriers and transports supporting the Okinawa invasion. Two hundred miles from her goal, US carrier planes attacked and sank her.