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The Turán was a Hungarian medium tank of World War II. It was inspired by and used the technology-based solutions found on the design of the Czechoslovak Škoda T-21 medium tank prototype, it was produced in two main variants: the 40M Turán (or Turán I) with a 40 mm gun and the 41M Turán (or Turán II) with a 75 mm gun. A total of 424 were made.

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2009)

40M/41M Turán
40M Turán in 1943
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)  First Czechoslovak Republic
Service history
Used by	Kingdom of Hungary  Kingdom of Romania
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Škoda Works, Institute of Military Technology of the Hungarian Army (HTI), DIMÁVAG factory[1][page needed]
Designed	1938
Produced	1940–1944
No. built	424
Variants	40M Turán 41M Turán 43M Turán
Specifications
Mass	18.2 tonnes
Length	5.55 m (18 ft 3 in)
Width	2.44 m (8 ft 0 in)
Height	2.39 m (7 ft 10 in)
Crew	5
Armor	50 mm (2.0 in) maximum
Main armament	40 mm 41M L/51 (40M Turán) 75 mm 41M L/31 (41M Turán)
Secondary armament	2× 8 mm Gebauer 34/40.M machine guns
Engine	gasoline Weiss Manfréd Z-V8H-4 260 hp (195 kW)
Power/weight	14 hp/tonne
Suspension	leaf-spring bogie
Operational range	165 km (103 mi)
Maximum speed	47 km/h (29 mph)

A prototype variant, the 43M Turán (or Turán III) was also turned out but did not go into production. Prototypes were manufactured, but work on the project stopped in 1944 when the mass-producing terminated in the country.

History

In December 1937 the Škoda workshops prepared a prototype of a medium tank, the Škoda T-21, based on the earlier successful LT vz. 35 project. Two prototypes were started and designated S-IIc, but their construction was never finished. The tank weighed 16.5 tonnes (16.2 long tons; 18.2 short tons), was armed with a 47 mm Škoda A9 vz. 38 gun, two 7.92 mm machine guns and its maximum armour was extended to 30 mm. The S-II-c was to have a better 13.8 liter engine giving 250 hp; this increased the maximum speed to roughly 50 km/h (31 mph)

After German annexed Czechoslovakia, the prototypes were finished under the new designation of T-21, which in turn was a predecessor of a new prototype; the T-22. Two of the latter type were given to Hungary in 1941. The Hungarian engineers decided to replace the original 47mm gun with a Hungarian-produced 40mm gun for both economic and military reasons. Military experts stated that the armor penetration of the 47mm gun was not better than the homemade 40mm's because the latter had a much higher muzzle velocity. The modifications of the tank gun were carried out by the Škoda factory - they used the original Czech gun cradle and placed a Hungarian made barrel in it. The frontal armor was increased too, the engineers riveted a 20mm armor plate onto the original 30mm thick frontal armor for a 50mm in total. The turret armor was also 50mm; formed from a single armor plate. The Czech machine guns were changed to Hungarian 8 mm Gebauer 34/40.M guns. The overall weight was also increased to over 18 tonnes.

Variants

The Turán was produced in three versions - Turán I, II and III. The Turán I was the original medium tank with the 40 mm gun.[2] The gun, the standard Hungarian light anti-tank gun, could fire the same ammunition as the Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. The turret was of riveted construction.[2] Between 1941 and 1943 a total of 285 tanks were produced.

The combat experiences of 1941 made Hungary realize that the 40.M Turán which was at the time still under development and construction would not meet the expectations of modern medium tanks. The General Staff of the Hungarian Army changed the second order of 309 medium tanks to 87 medium and 222 heavy tanks armed with a 75mm gun. This order was later changed again in 1941 to 55 medium and 254 heavy tanks. The General Staff also declared that the new heavy tank must be constructed from those Turáns already built without changing the engine and the weight of the new tank must be equal or close to the heavy tank.

The prototype of the heavy tank and the new 75mm gun was ordered from the Institute of Military Technology of the Hungarian Army (HTI) in 1941. The HTI did not have any gun designer nor production departments so they had to choose from an already existing gun and try to modify it. The engineers chose the 18.M field artillery gun - 8 cm Feldkanone M.18 - which had been in service since World War I. The HTI ordered the modification of the gun by the Swedish Bofors company which willingly accepted.

Both the modifications of the chassis - armor thickening to 50mm by riveting extra 20mm armor plates on the frontal armor and lower glacis, changing the driver's hatch from a single door which opened to the right to a two-piece folding door which opened to the front - and the prototype of the new gun and turret were finished in January 1942, the new turret was finished in February 1942. The new 75mm gun was the first Hungarian tank gun with a horizontal semi-automatic sliding block.

During the installation, the gun cradle cracked and repairs delayed the production of the vehicle even further. On May 6, 1942, all the preparations were done for ground testing, the gun cradle was repaired. The test was successful and the new heavy tank was put into service as the 41.M Turán (also known as Turán II or "Turán 75 short"). The first Turán IIs arrived with the troops in September–October 1943 because the production of gun optics and ammunition were delayed.

By that time the Turán II became obsolete as well, but it was still lethal to T-34 medium tanks within 500 meters which was still huge progress compared to previous Hungarian achievements. According to records from 1944, 129 Turán IIs were issued to combat effective units; factory notes recorded that 182-185 41.M Turán heavy tanks were manufactured.

Aside from tank production, the chassis was the basis for the Zrínyi II assault gun. This mounted a 105 mm short gun in the hull and lacked the traversable turret of a tank. A total number of 66-72 Zrínyi IIs were made in the war. The only other vehicles known based on this chassis were the Turán III and the Zrínyi I, both of which used the 7.5 cm 43.M tank gun. Only two 7.5 cm 43.M tank guns were manufactured. The 43.M was developed from the blueprints of the PaK 40, converted in a Hungarian style. Both vehicles were produced as prototypes only. The Turán III's prototype with an actual turret was finished in February 1944. Unlike the frontal armor of the superstructure which was thickened by riveting two armor plates together the 75mm thick armor plate of the turret was made of only one. Ground and shooting test were done after it and the prototype was accepted for mass-production. However, no more 43.M Turáns (a.k.a. Turán III or Turán 75 long), or Zrínyi I's were constructed because of the lack of materials and the fact that after the occupation of Hungary in March 1944 Germany did not allow further tank and gun productions, restricted the Hungarian industry to only spare part manufacturing level.

It is not known if the prototypes of the Zrínyi I and Turán III were put into service and the fate of the Turán III and the Zrínyi I is unknown.

In combat

The Turáns were employed by the 1st and 2nd Hungarian Armored Divisions, as well as the 1st Cavalry Division, in 1943 and 1944.

A number of Turán tanks were captured after the 1944 Royal Coup by the Kingdom of Romania, along with some Toldis and a Zrínyi assault gun.[3]

Survivors

There is only one known surviving Turán tank. It is a Turán II on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia.[4]

See also

Tanks of comparable role, performance, and era

• Panzer III – German medium tank
• T-34 – Soviet medium tank
• T-28 – Soviet medium tank
• V-8-H – Czechoslovak prototype medium tank competing with Škoda T-21
• R-3 – Romanian project, also based on the Škoda T-21

Notes

References

• Axworthy, Mark (1995). Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945. London: Arms and Armour. ISBN 978-1-85409-267-0.
• Bernad, Dénes & Kliment, Charles K. (2015). Magyar Warriors: The History of the Royal Hungarian Armed Forces, 1919–1945. Vol. 1. Solihull, UK: Helion. ISBN 978-1-906033-88-0.
• Csaba, Becze (2007). Magyar Steel: Hungarian Armour in WWII. Sandomierz, Poland: STRATUS for Mushroom Model Publications. ISBN 978-83-89450-29-6.
• Kliment, Charles K. & Francev, Vladimír (1997). Czechoslovak Armored Fighting Vehicles 1918-1948. Atlgen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 0-7643-0141-1.
• Mujzer, Péter (2018). Operational History of the Hungarian Armoured Troops in World War II. Lublin, Poland: Kagero Publications. ISBN 978-83-66148-07-9.

На других языках

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[de] Turan (Panzer)

Der 40M Turán war ein ungarischer Panzer des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Von ihm wurden insgesamt 424 Stück in zwei Varianten hergestellt: der Turán I mit einer 40-mm-Kanone und der 41M Turán II mit einer 75-mm-Kanone. Er entstand auf der Basis des ex-tschechischen Panzerkampfwagen 35(t).

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- [en] 40M Turán

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[ru] Туран (танк)

40M «Туран» (венг. 40M Turán) — венгерский средний танк периода Второй мировой войны. Создан в 1940 году на основе чехословацкого танка T-21, разработанного фирмой «Шкода». «Туран» выпускался серийно с марта 1942 по осень 1944 года; всего было выпущено 2 прототипа и 459[1]серийных танков. «Туран» стал наиболее многочисленным венгерским танком Второй мировой войны и составлял основу венгерских танковых дивизий во второй половине войны, активно используясь в боях 1944—1945 годов.

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