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

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2014)

39M Csaba
39M Csaba armored scout car (1940)
Type	Armored car
Place of origin	Kingdom of Hungary
Service history
In service	1939 - 1945
Used by	Hungarian Army
Wars	Second World War
Production history
Designer	Nicholas Straussler
Designed	1930s
Manufacturer	Weiss Manfred, Csepel
Produced	1939 - 1944
No. built	102-137
Specifications
Mass	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	20mm Solothurn anti-tank cannon
Secondary armament	2 x 8 mm MG
Engine	Ford, 8-cylinder 90hp
Operational range	93 mi (150 km)
Maximum speed	65-85 km/h (40-53 mph)[1]

Development

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 Solothurn anti-tank rifle[2] 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 2 August 2007.
• "Hungarian Army in Russia". Archived from the original on 30 March 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
• "WW2 in Color". Retrieved 2 August 2007.

This military vehicle article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

This Hungary-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

На других языках

[de] 39M Csaba

[ru] Чабо (бронеавтомобиль)