Tank v. Tank fighting rose again at Saipan, especially so as Americans were reorganizing their tank structure in the Pacific to focus on the medium tank instead of the light tank. So instead of landing with 54 light tanks in a battalion, they had 46 M4 Shermans and a supplement of flamethrower tanks. And so the invasion of Saipan commenced. On June 17, the largest tank v. tank battle of the Pacific started, pitting the Japanese 9th Tank Regiment 44 tanks among its companies against the US Marines 762nd Tank Battalion. Though the result was one-sided as Japanese tanks charged open ground at night, the Japanese were starting to get better anti-tank equipment in the form of the Chi-Ha “Kai” (Below, next to Sherman) that had a more capable 47 mm Type 1 gun that could penetrate the M4 Sherman on the side armor at a fair distance, a better prospect than the Ha-Go’s 37 mm and the Chi-Ha’s earlier 57 mm howitzer armament.
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