P40 tank
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Carro Pesante P40 |
|
| Carro Pesante P26/40 | |
|---|---|
| General characteristics | |
| Crew | 4 (Commander/gunner, loader, driver, radio-operator) |
| Length | 5.75m (18 ft 10 in) |
| Width | 2.75m (9 ft 2 in) |
| Height | 2.5m (8 ft 2.5 in) |
| Weight | 26 tonnes |
| Armour and armament | |
| Armour | front: 60 mm side: 50 mm |
| Main armament | 75 mm L/34 75 rounds |
| Secondary armament | 8 mm Breda 38 576 rounds |
| Mobility | |
| Power plant | V-12 diesel (prototypes) SPA 25 liters 420 hp (313 kW) |
| Suspension | vertical volute spring |
| Road speed | 40 km/h (25 mph) |
| Power/weight | 16 hp/tonne |
| Range | 275 km (170 miles) |
The P40 was an Italian World War II tank design. Its formal name was Carro Pesante P26/40, meaning heavy tank, 26 ton, designed in 1940.
[edit] History
Although designed in 1940 the first prototype was not completed until 1942. The initial plan was for a 25 ton tank with a 75 mm gun and hence named P75. The development work procedeed quickly except for the engine; the Italian military staff, the Stato Maggiore, wanted a diesel engine, while the builders favoured a petrol engine. However, in Italy at the time there were no new engines available, diesel or petrol, capable of delivering the necessary 300 hp required, and the Italian tank industry (i.e. the duopoly Fiat-Ansaldo) didn't think to use easily available old aircraft engines for its tanks as the contemporary U.S., British and Russian tank manufacturers had done. The design of a new engine was very slow and in the end a 420 hp petrol engine was eventually tested. The main weapon selected was a 75/34 cannon (in lieu of the shorter barrelled original 75/18 gun). The tank's armor was sloped and 60 mm thick at the front. The P40 was the first Italian tank design that was comparable to Allied medium tanks.
Of the 1,200 tanks ordered, only five pre-production models were completed before the Italian surrender in September 1943 when they were taken over by the German troops. About a hundred P40 tanks were built by Ansaldo from then until the end of the war although most were not entirely completed because of a lack of engines. A few were used in combat, under the German designation of Panzerkampfwagen P40 737(i), for example at Anzio. Some, without engines, were used as static strongholds.
Armament consisted of a 75 mm main gun and an 8 mm Breda machine gun.
[edit] References
- C. Falessi and B. Pafi, "Il carro armato P. 40", Storia Illustrata #150, May 1970.
- http://www.wwiivehicles.com/italy/tanks_heavy/p26_40.html
[edit] External links
| Italian armoured fighting vehicles of World War II |
|---|
| Light Tanks and Tankettes |
| L3/35 | Fiat L6/40 |
| Medium Tanks |
| Fiat M11/39 | Fiat M13/40 | Fiat M14/41 | M15/42 |
| Heavy Tanks |
| P 40 |
| Armoured Cars |
| AB 40 | AB 41 | Lince scout car |
| Self propelled guns |
| Semovente 47/32 | Semovente 75/18 | Semovente 75/34 | Semovente 90/53 | Semovente 105/25 | Semovente 149/40 |
| Italian armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II |
