Ha-Go (mod. 1)

Ha-Go (mod. 1)

Type 4 (mod. 2)

Type K-8 No.13 late

Ha-Go (mod. 1)

Type 4 (mod. 2)

Type K-8 No.13 late

Japan

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.7	1.7	1.7

Class:

Motor gun boat

Boat

Research:14 000

Purchase:32 000

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This page is about the Ha-Go (mod. 1). For Light tanks with a similar name, see Ha-Go and Ha-Go Commander.

Description

The Ha-Go (mod. 1) is a rank II Japanese armoured gun boat with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy".

General info

Survivability and armour

The hull of the Ha-Go is made up of 6 mm steel, with no additional armour protection. In addition, it only has a crew of 10, which overall does make it a fairly weak vessel. It is quite low down in the water, which may cause enemy boats to miss the hull at the longer ranges but this really is the only passive advantage the Ha-Go has in terms of survivability. At the closer ranges though the vast majority of enemy vessels will be able to tear through the hull of the Ha-Go fairly easily, it's also very vulnerable to high calibre cannons as well, and can be hull broken if it takes a shot from one of these cannons.

Mobility

The speed and mobility of this vessel is notably one of its weakest assets, it can reach 34 km/h in AB and 25 km/h in RB. It's fairly unresponsive to changes in speed but not necessarily changes in direction, it takes a long time to accelerate and decelerate but it can turn and change direction fairly easily, which is useful for maintaining angles of attack for the weaponry. The main detriment relative to the speed though is in regards to its survivability, as this vessel is relatively unarmoured, large and slow for its battle rating, it accumulates a lot more damage due to the slow speed, this unfortunately makes it a very easy vessel to hit and critically damage.

Armament

Primary armament

The Ha-Go Fighting Boat Model 1

This boat is equipped with the 57 mm Type 97 cannon, which is functionally very similar to that found on the I-Go Ko and Chi-Ha tanks, though it has some slight ballistic differences. For the Ha-Go though it's a fairly underwhelming weapon for a primary. It will do significant damage to smaller boats when the shot lands but landing a shot is the hardest part. It comes with three different rounds-

• HE - Decent damage output over a fairly wide area
• HEAT - Decent damage output over a condensed area, slightly lower velocity
• APHE - Very little damage potential

Overall the stock HE round is the most consistent, it deals a fairly effective amount of damage, and will black out compartments on smaller boats with a single hit. The HEAT contains a lot of explosive filler, but it doesn't spread damage over a wide area, and it's fairly ineffective when compared to the HE, it does have some viability against more armoured vessels though. The APHE is close to useless functionally, it contains less than half the explosive filler compared to the HE and does a very little amount of internal damage, the HEAT will be a better option against armoured targets.

Secondary armament

The Ha-Go is equipped with twin 20 mm Type 98 cannons for its secondary weapon. These cannons perform very well against aircraft and boats alike, however they can't fire directly forwards, as the cabin blocks the line of sight. All in all, its a modestly powerful weapon and more reliable than the primary 57 mm gun. It works well at close range, and can function adequately up to around 1500 meters, but at this distance it will struggle to do a lot of damage. The magazine for each cannon contains 20 rounds and reloads very quickly, allowing for a steady stream of fire against enemy vessels or aircraft. It comes with three belts-

• Universal - A mix of high explosive and armour piercing rounds.
• HET - Majority high explosive rounds
• APT - Majority armour piercing rounds

Overall, the HET type rounds do the most damage consistently to most of the vessels you'll be coming across, so it's best to take a lot of HET belts, though also consider bringing some armour piercing belts in case you come across some more heavily armoured boats.

Special armament

The Ha-Go can carry eight Type 95 depth charges, which can be dropped to maim other naval targets, they have rather limited viability though as most MTBs will be able to outrun the explosion. However they are useful in the event of being rushed by a smaller naval vessel, as if the drop is timed right the depth charges can easily take out enemies performing this manoeuvre.

Usage in battles

Ha-Go Fighting Boat engaging an enemy LS class vessel

A very important aspect of staying afloat in the Ha-Go is to not actively make yourself a target, if this boat is caught out in the open it will be very easy for enemy vessels to hit, as it's so slow and unarmoured, a single high calibre cannon round will break the hull, and autocannon fire will steadily chew through the hull and crew members. Open water is a very dangerous place to be in this vessel, it works best around the terrain where it can use the environmental cover. It's a good idea to hug the various terrain on most maps, be it islands or shipwrecks, this way the vessel has some form of constant cover.

It's also possible to play a bit more defensively with this boat, the twin 20 mm cannons still make for a decent versatile weapon, and to maintain cover, it's possible to stick the rear of the vessel out of cover so only the rear compartment and the twin cannons are visible, this way the majority of the vessel is protected from taking fire, and the most effective weapon has a wide area it can cover, and if a dangerous enemy boat appears or you're taking too much fire, you can simply accelerate off out of sight. This vessel has no active defensive qualities, so to make it work effectively, you'll need to negate the negatives of its lack of armour and lack of mobility, staying somewhat sedentary around hard cover from the terrain is one of the most effective ways to do this.

The main 57 mm cannon will do substantial damage to smaller craft if the round connects, but it has very low velocity and is close to unusable in rough seas, on more placid water it can be used somewhat effectively, but most of the time the secondary 20 mm guns will be more effective, and can also tackle enemy aircraft fairly well. The time it takes to range in the 57 mm cannon, isn't really worth its potential damage output, the twin 20 mm guns will deal a constant stream of damage, and are much easier to aim accurately over distance, or for hitting weakspots.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Effective secondary weapon
• Versatile armament options

Cons:

• Very slow compared to other boats of the rank
• Poor survivability
• Inadequate primary weapon performance

History

Ha-Go Fighting Boat Model 1 (波號戦斗艇一型), also known Se-Ha (せは艇) was one of the first prototypes of small escort boats (小護衛艇) by the Imperial Japanese Army. It was designed to escort "Daihatsu"-class landing crafts that were transporting munitions to offshore islands.

In January 1944, the Imperial Japanese Army 10th Technical Research Institute ordered Hitachi Zosen Sakurajima shipyard to make two types of small escort craft. The first, called Ha-Go Fighting Boat Model 1 "Se-Ha" (Ha-Go meaning "Mark A"), was to be equipped with two 150 hp engines, and a second named the Ha-Go Fighting Boat Model 2 "Se-Ni" equipped with two 60 hp engines.

The Se-Ni was completed in October 1944 but the top speed was only 9 knots so the plan was cancelled. Se-Ha was eventually completed in December 1944, but after trials the engineers decided to try to modify the design to get more speed.

A third design, "Se-Ha Kai" was completed in July 1945. In a trial cruise during October 2-5, its speed reached 13 knots so research ended. By the surrender of Japan, it had not been formally adopted, but would have been officially named the Type 5 Small Escort Boat. ("Type 5" already in game is Large Escort Boat.)

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the ship;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the ship;
• other literature.