Fiat M16/43

Last updated
Carro Armato M Celere Sahariano
Celere-Sahariano.jpg
Type Medium tank
Place of originItaly
Service history
Used byKingdom of Italy
Production history
DesignerFiat
Produced1943
No. built1 (incomplete prototype)
Specifications
Mass16 tonnes
Length5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
Width2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)
Height2.0 m (6 ft 7 in)
Crew4
Armour 30 mm front 25 mm sides [1]
Main
armament
47 mm 47/40 L40
Secondary
armament
2 x 8 mm Breda 38 machine guns
EngineFIAT-SPA gasoline
275 hp
Power/weight17.19 hp/tonne
Suspension Christie suspension
Operational
range
300 km (190 mi)
Maximum speed 55 km/h (34 mph)

The Carro Armato M Celere Sahariano (Italian for "Saharian Fast Medium Tank") was a prototype medium tank developed by the Kingdom of Italy during World War II to match the speed and firepower of contemporary British cruiser tanks encountered by Italian forces during the Western Desert Campaign.[ citation needed ] The project was cancelled following the expulsion of Axis forces from North Africa in May 1943. Had it entered service, the tank's designation would likely have been M16/43: "M" for Medio, "16" representing the vehicle's weight in metric tons and "43" being the planned year of introduction. [2]

Contents

Development

In early 1941, the Italian Army requested that Fiat and Ansaldo develop a low profile 15 to 16 t (15 to 16 long tons) tank to counter the faster A-13 series tanks exemplified by the Crusader tank. Fiat-Ansaldo began the new tank project in June 1941 by creating a wooden mock-up on a M14/41 medium tank chassis, inclining the tank's armour plates to create a glacis. The armour remained, like other contemporary Italian tanks of the period, bolted rather than welded together and generally thinner than tanks of other countries. Many different engines, including petrol-fueled aircraft engines, were tested on the chassis before development of the Sahariano tank was halted. At the time of cancellation a 275 hp gasoline engine was being tested. An elongated M14/41 turret housing a 47 mm 47/40 L40 was tested on the Sahariano tank and would also be used by the M15/42 medium tank. There were plans to later fit a 75 mm gun on the production model of the Sahariano tank as well. The Sahariano was the first Italian tank to feature a modified Christie suspension system, [3] a more robust and faster suspension system than the leaf spring bogies used on previous Italian tank designs. Ansaldo based the Sahariano's suspension on British tanks encountered in North Africa and a captured Soviet BT-5 from the Spanish Civil War. By the time of the project's cancellation, the design looked very similar to their British counterparts but with a notably lower design profile, making the tank easier to conceal and more difficult to hit.

Several factors contributed to the project's demise: the concurrent development of the Carro Armato P 40 heavy tank; the strain of introducing a new tank model on an already weakened Italian industrial base; the potential of license production of foreign tanks such as the Czechoslovakian T-21 medium tank; and, most decisively, Italy's loss of its Libya colony and the seeming end of a need for a fast tank. [4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Diamond, J.; Dennis, P. (2012). Orde Wingate. Osprey Publishing, Limited. p. 15. ISBN   9781849083232 . Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  2. ↑ Carro Celere Sahariano Archived 2012-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ albeit without the road wheel/track conversion system
  4. ↑ "Il carro celere sahariano". utenti.quipo.it. Retrieved 2015-04-30.

Related Research Articles

Vickers 6-Ton British light tank of the 1930s and WW2.

The Vickers 6-Ton Tank or Vickers Mark E was a British light tank designed as a private project at Vickers. It was not purchased by the British Army, but was picked up by many foreign armed forces. It was licensed by the Soviets as the T-26. It was also the direct predecessor of the Polish 7TP tank.

Cruiser Mk I Type of Cruiser tank

The Tank, Cruiser, Mk I (A9) was a British cruiser tank of the interwar period. It was the first cruiser tank: a fast tank designed to bypass the main enemy lines and engage the enemy's lines of communication, along with enemy tanks. The Cruiser Mk II was a more heavily armoured adaptation of the Mark I, developed at much the same time.

Infantry tank Type of Armoured fighting vehicle

The infantry tank was a concept developed by the United Kingdom and France in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support infantrymen in an attack. To achieve this, the vehicles were generally heavily armoured to allow them to operate in close concert with infantry even under heavy fire. The extra armour came at the expense of speed, which was not an issue when supporting relatively slow-moving foot soldiers.

Carro Armato was the Italian Army's designation for tanks from 1938. This would be followed by a letter and a series of numbers. The letter would be either L, M or P meaning light, medium, and heavy tank respectively. The official Italian military tank classification differed from contemporary classifications in other countries. The numbers would follow the pattern of X/Y where X would be the weight in tonnes and Y the year of adoption. The following are some Carro Armatos that entered service:

L6/40 tank Type of Light Tank

The L6/40 was a light tank used by the Italian army from 1940 through World War II. It was designed by Ansaldo as an export product, and was adopted by the Italian Army when officials learned of the design and expressed interest. It was the main tank employed by the Italian forces fighting on the Eastern Front alongside the L6/40-based Semovente 47/32 self-propelled gun. L6/40s were also used in the North African campaign.

M13/40 tank Type of Medium tank

The Carro Armato M13/40 was an Italian World War II tank designed to replace the M11/39 in the Italian Army at the start of World War II. It was the primary tank used by the Italians throughout the war. The design was influenced by the British Vickers 6-Ton and was based on the modified chassis of the earlier M11/39. Production of the M11/39 was cut short in order to get the M13/40 into production. The name refers to "M" for Medio (medium) according to the Italian tank weight standards at the time, 13 tonnes was the scheduled weight and 1940 the initial year of production.

M11/39 tank Type of Medium tank

The Carro Armato M11/39 was an Italian medium tank first produced prior to World War II. The M11/39 saw service in Africa and Italy (1939–1944). The official Italian designation was Carro Armato M11/39. The designation for the M11/39 is as follows: "M" for Medio, followed by the weight in tonnes (11) and the year of adoption (1939).

M15/42 tank Type of Medium Tank

The Carro Armato M15/42 was the last Italian medium tank produced during World War II. It was based on the earlier M13/40 and M14/41 medium tanks, and was built with the lessons from the North African Campaign in mind. The tank was meant to be a stopgap until the heavier P26/40 tank could be produced in numbers. It did not serve in North Africa, the theatre in which it was intended to operate, but served in Italy and in Yugoslavia with the German Wehrmacht.

M14/41 tank Type of Medium tank

The M 14/41 was a four-crew medium tank that served from 1941 in the Royal Italian Army. The official Italian designation was Carro Armato M 14/41. The tank was first employed in the North African Campaign where its shortcomings quickly became apparent.

P26/40 tank Type of Heavy tank

The P 26/40 was an Italian World War II heavy tank. It was armed with a 75 mm gun and an 8 mm Breda machine gun, plus another optional machine gun in an anti-aircraft mount. The official Italian designation was Carro Armato P 26/40.

Tanks in World War II

Tanks were an important weapons system in World War II. Even though tanks in the inter-war years were the subject of widespread research, production was limited to relatively small numbers in a few countries. However, during World War II, most armies employed tanks, and production levels reached thousands each month. Tank usage, doctrine and production varied widely among the combatant nations. By war's end, a consensus was emerging regarding tank doctrine and design.

L3/35 Type of Tankette

The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian tankette that saw combat before and during World War II. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tankettes. It was the most numerous Italian armoured fighting vehicle and saw service almost everywhere the Italians fought in World War II but proved inadequate for modern warfare, having too thin armour and weak armament of only machine guns.

Semovente da 75/34 Type of Self-propelled gun

The Semovente da 75/34 was an Italian self-propelled gun developed and used during World War II. It was a 75 mm L/34 gun mounted on a M15/42 tank chassis. It saw action during the defence of Rome in 1943 and later served with the Germans in Northern Italy and the Balkans. 141 were produced during the war.

Semovente da 149/40 Type of Self-propelled gun

The Semovente da 149/40 was an Italian self-propelled artillery piece. Only a single unit was built; this vehicle is displayed at the US Army Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen, Maryland.

Auto-Saharan Company

The Auto-Saharan Companies were Italian military units specialised in long range patrols of the Sahara Desert. The units operated from the late 1930s to the Italian surrender in 1943.

Tanks in the Italian Army

This article deals with the history and development of tanks employed by military forces in Italy from their first use in World War I, the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era. The current C1 Ariete is the current main battle tank of the Italian Army.

P43 tank Type of Heavy Tank

The P43 was a proposed Italian heavy tank designed in April of 1943, it never left the planning stage and was developed parallel to the P26/40 tank.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.