39M Csaba

39M Csaba
39M Csaba armored scout car
Type	Armored car
Place of origin	Kingdom of Hungary
Service history
In service	1939 -
Used by	Hungarian Army
Wars	Second World War
Production history
Designer	Nicholas Straussler
Designed	1930s
Manufacturer	Weiss Manfred, Csepel
Produced	1939 - 1944
Specifications
Weight	5.95 tonnes
Length	14 ft 8 in (4.52 m)
Width	6 ft 10 in (2.1 m)
Height	7 ft 4 in (2.27 m)
Crew	3

Armour	9 mm
Main armament	20 mm cannon
Secondary armament	2 x 8 mm MG
Engine	Ford, 8-cylinder 90hp
Operational range	93 mi (150 km)
Speed	40 mph (65 km/h)

The 39M Csaba was an armoured scout car produced for the Royal Hungarian Army during World War II.

Development

Rear view of a 39M Csaba, showing the reverse, driving position

Hungarian expatriate Nicholas Straussler designed several armoured cars for Britain while living there between the two world wars. Straussler came to an agreement with the Weiss Manfred factory of Csepel, Budapest to produce vehicles from his designs for use in his home country - the most prominent was the Csaba (named after the son of Attila the Hun) which was designed based on his experience of the Alvis AC2 armoured car.

After successful trials in 1939, the Hungarian Army placed an order for 61, and a further order for an additional 40 vehicles was placed in 1940. Of these, twenty were used as actual fighting vehicles, with the remainder serving as armoured command cars and reconnaissance vehicles.

The Csaba had a 20 mm cannon and an 8 mm machine gun fixed on a centrally mounted turret, with 9 mm armoured plating. The vehicle was also equipped with a detachable 8 mm light machine gun fired through the rear hatch in the anti-aircraft role. The crew could dismount and carry this MG when conducting reconnaissance on foot. It also had two driving positions - one at the front as normal, and an additional one at the rear.

The 40M Csaba was a command version armed only with the turret-mounted 8 mm machine gun. This vehicle was fitted with a second R-4T radio, which had a large lattice radio mast.

References

Notes

Bibliography

J C M Probst. "Hungarian armour during WW2". Airfix Magazine (September 1976).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 39M Csaba.

"Hungarian Tanks". Archived from the original on 24 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
"Hungarian Army in Russia". Retrieved 2007-08-02.
"WW2 in Color". Retrieved 2007-08-02.

Hungarian armored fighting vehicles of World War II
Tanks	35M Tankette 38M Toldi 40M Turán Panzer 38(t) Panzer III Panzer IV Tiger I
Assault guns	43M Zrínyi Sturmgeschütz III Hetzer
Half-tracks	37M
Armored cars	39M Csaba
Self-propelling anti-aircraft	40M Nimród
Prototypes	Light Tank V4 44M Tas 44M Tas Rohamlöveg

Weapons and military equipment designed or licence-manufactured in Hungary

Firearms

Service rifles	M88 rifle M95 rifle 35M rifle 48M inf. rifle and carbine AK-63 assault rifle AKM-63 and AMD-65 assault rifles
Pistols	Frommer Stop 37M pistol FEG PA-63 P9RC Tokarev 48M VD-01
Submachine guns	Danuvia 43M submachine gun 48M Kucher Model K1 KGP-9
Machine guns	Schwarzlose 07/31M heavy machinegun Solothurn 31M light machinegun RPK PK
Artillery pieces	40mm 40M anti-tank gun 80mm 5/8M 100mm 14M 149mm 14/31M Bofors 80 mm Bofors 40 mm
Other	20 mm Solothurn 36M anti-tank rifle Gepard anti-materiel rifle

Armour and other
land based vehicles

Tanks and SP guns	Light Tank V3 Light Tank V4 38M Toldi 40M Turán 40M Nimród 43M Zrínyi 44M Tas 44M Tas Rohamlöveg
APCs	D-442 FÚG armoured scout car
Other	38M Botond truck 39M Csaba armoured car

Aircraft

Other

Stahlhelm
Hungarian hand grenades
Schießbecher as 43M rifle-grenade launcher

Notable foreign-
made weapons
used by Hungary

List of equipment used in the World War II era

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.