World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

The Type 3 12 cm Anti-Aircraft Guns replaced the Type 88 75 mm AA Guns when they were introduced in 1943, and became some of the few weapons that could reach the altitudes frequently traveled by American B-29 Superfortress horizontal bombers. As production picked up in 1944, they were mainly retained in the Japanese home islands to defend major cities and major war manufacturing centers such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, and the Yawata Steel Works in Kitakyushu against American air raids. The few that were deployed outside of Japan went to oil fields in the Dutch East Indies such as those near Palembang, Sumatra. Those deployed near Tokyo, Japan were credited with downing at least ten B-29 bombers. Toward the end of the war, production of new Type 3 guns became extremely limited due to the lack of raw materials and the frequent disruption to factories. Between 1943 and 1945, 120 units were built.

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