Ammo production -Desperate War of Japan in the Pacific-

Episodes - Desperate War of Japan in the Pacific - Reports aboutMe

Ammo Production

Explosive production [kton]
Year	Japan	US	Ratio
1940	26	21	123.8%
1941	37	103	35.9%
1942	44	625	7.0%
1943	45	978	4.6%
1944	44	1143	3.8%
1945	9	551	1.6%

The table shows the explosive products of Japan and US. The ratio is Japan to US. US was making 20 folds of Japan, when US started up offense. The value of raio is unbelievable to me. How IJN or IJA could combat with one 20th of US ammo? Certainly IJN could not transport supply for IJA enough as USN sank Japanese merchant ships.

A Japanese mathmatician checked QC of ammunition product at the IJA 1st Arsenal in Tokyo. IJA had used checkers to test the lenghts of more than 10 thousand cartriges for bullets daily. The checkers were made in Meiji era. He found 20% good ones in NG group on a sampling test. Oherwise 20% bad ones in OK group. So he recommend an IJA officer Kaizen. A chief of the production told him and the officer that there was no problem since 1896 in a meeting. Kimura, Senji-kenkyu

IJN aircraft were very short of ammo, when Japan began the Pacific War. The ammo adequacy of aerial bombs, 20mm shells and aerial torpedos were only 10 to 30%. Morimoto, p309 IJA soldiers of Kanto fields have adequacy of rifles (40%) and its ammo (5%) only in April 1945. Though field guns were enough, its ammo was nearly zero. Morimoto, p370 But Morimoto shows IJA divisions had ammo of 95 pitched battles per division in 1945. This shows how important logistics is. How much could IJA transport ammo in Kanto fields for 3 months?