M39 Pantserwagen
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| M39 Pantserwagen | |
|---|---|
| Type | Armoured car |
| Place of origin |  Netherlands |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Netherlands Nazi Germany |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | DAF |
| Unit cost | 44,133 guilders per hull |
| Produced | November 1939 — May 1940 |
| Number built | 12 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 5800 kg |
| Length | 4,75 m |
| Width | 2,08 m |
| Height | 2,16 m |
| Crew | 5 |
|
|
|
| Armor | 10 mm |
| Primary armament |
37 mm Bofors cannon |
| Secondary armament |
three 7.92 mm modified Lewis machineguns |
| Engine | Ford Mercury V8 95 hp |
| Power/weight | 16.4 |
| Ground clearance | 43 cm |
| Fuel capacity | 100 liters |
| Operational range |
300 km |
| Speed | 75 km/h |
The Pantserwagen M39 or DAF Pantrado 3 was a Dutch 6x4 armoured car produced in the late 1930s for the Royal Dutch Army.
[edit] Development
In 1937 the quickly deteriorating international situation urged the Dutch government to speed up its 1936 modernisation programme for the Dutch armed forces. In view of the limited budget available for armoured vehicles, Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Isaac Reynders decided that most funds should be dedicated to the acquisition of tanks. Therefore the existing number of twelve Swedish Landsverk 181 (named M36 in Dutch service) armoured cars, equipping a single squadron, should only be expanded with a dozen more for a second squadron, two additional vehicles to function as command cars for each squadron, twelve vehicles to equip the reconnaissance unit of each of the four infantry corps and finally ten vehicles to be used as matériel reserve and for training: 36 new armoured cars in total.
Fourteen Landsverk 180 (M38) vehicles were received between 16 March and 11 November 1938 to equip the second squadron and as command cars; however the Dutch in 1937 also tried to reduce their dependency on foreign manufacturers — especially Sweden, the armour industry of which country was known to have close ties with Germany — by employing their own small truck industry, the DAF company. The army first suggested to DAF to produce some British type under licence. Although officially the Netherlands adhered to a policy of the strictest neutrality, it was hoped that by secret negotiations it could be arranged that the British would send an expeditionary force in case of a German attack and that some communality of equipment would facilitate such future cooperation. Also the army considered British armoured cars to be the best available. However it transpired that DAF had already developed an indigenous design, which it claimed to be more advanced then any British armoured car.
From 1935, the co-founder of DAF Hubertus van Doorne and captain engineer Piet van der Trappen had started a number of AFV paper projects based on their Trado suspension system. The Trado, named after themselves (Trappen — Doorne), consisted of a leaf-springed bogie with two actuated road wheels that could be easily attached to, driven by and rotate on the back axis of any commercial truck, thus adding a "walking beam" to the vehicle that significantly improved its cross-country performance. The Trado III suspension system, an improved version, was a considerable commercial success and applied to many existing and new civilian and military truck types. The armoured vehicle projects had the designation Pantrado in common, a contraction of the Dutch word for "armoured car", Pantserwagen, and Trado.
The Trado III supsension could be fitted with a track on the lines of the Kégresse track, changing a vehicle into a half-track. The first project, the Pantrado 1, envisaged a very long type with a good trench-crossing capability, brought about by applying the principle of the articulated vehicle: it was to consist of two fully tracked truck hulls attached back to back, connected by a large horizontal articulated cylinder. The full track was to be achieved by extending the track over the rubber-tired front wheels. The cylinder could be split, creating two tanks, each with the engine in front and the fighting room, crowned by a gun turret, at the back. The second project, the Pantrado 2, was in the form of a single half-track; the third, the Pantrado 3, dispensed with the track option entirely and was a pure armoured car. In view of the intended reconnaissance rôle of the vehicles to be procured, the army was only interested in the third type. In the autumn of 1937, it ordered a single prototype to be built; Van Doorne and Van der Trappen had indicated this could be finished quickly as they had already prepared the manufacture of a demonstrator vehicle. The claim to superiority to British design was based on the use of a welded monocoque construction combined with a consistent use of the sloped armour principle, which was predicted to lead to a much improved weight-efficiency. The type would thus not utilise an existing truck chassis, as was common for contemporary armoured cars.
Both Van Doorne and Van der Trappen had no experience whatsoever with building armoured vehicles. Besides employing a small DAF-team, they had the assistance of their personal friend, wachtmeester (a Dutch cavalry rank equivalent to sergeant) and mechanic J. Addink. He was very sceptical of the monocoque design, predicting that without reinforcement the thin plates would crack at their connections welds. Van Doorne however, deciced against compromising a main design principle.
In the summer of 1938, after a construction time of just eight months, the prototype was finished, made of boiler plate. It was intended to use the Swedish Landsverk turret as there was no Dutch manufacturer capable of producing light guns in the 25 - 40 mm range and it would be more efficient to have a single armoured car gunnery training programme. As no turret was at the moment available, DAF had made a dummy, an almost exact replica of both armour and weaponry. The prototype was presented to the Commissie Pantserautomobielen that ordered tests to be carried out between July and September 1938 comparing it with the Landsverk M36. The results were very favourable for the Pantrado 3. Whereas the M36 was incapable of crossing ditches, would get itself stuck on dry sand roads and had great trouble climbing steep slopes, the Pantrado 3 effortlessly overcame these obstacles. Its suspension system allowed for a much smoother cross-country ride. The main drawback was that the gasproof monocoque hull trapped both heat and noise, reducing crew comfort; it was impossible for the crew members to hear each other. A minor negative point was that the exhaust pipe had been fitted on the bottom and easily was damaged in terrain. Nevertheless the commission, clearly impressed by the general performance and the modern exterior, judged the type to be "very acceptable".
When fighting broke out in May 1940, only 12 vehicles had been manufactured, assigned to the 3rd Armored Car Squadron stationed at The Hague. They were partially deployed in the front line, and took part in the fierce fighting around The Hague and north of Rotterdam. At least eight cars were salvaged by the Germans and as such used in their service. The recon-squad of the 227.ID received at least four cars, which were all lost during the Russia campaign.
After the Dutch surrender, the Germans pressed the cars into service under the designation Pz. SpWg L202 (h), for anti-partisan duties in the Western and Eastern fronts.
The vehicle weighed 6.9 tons (6000 kg) and was armed with one 37 mm gun and three machineguns. No examples of the car survived the war.
