armor.wikisort.org - Tank

The M 14/41 was a four-crew medium tank that served from 1941 in the Royal Italian Army. The official Italian designation was Carro Armato M 14/41. The tank was first employed in the North African Campaign where its shortcomings quickly became apparent.

Carro armato M. 14/41
M 14/41 in the Bovington Tank Museum
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	Kingdom of Italy
Service history
Used by	Kingdom of Italy Nazi Germany Australia United Kingdom
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Ansaldo
Manufacturer	Ansaldo
Produced	1941–42
No. built	752
Variants	Carro Comando Semovente M41, M14/41 Centro Radio (M14/41CR), Semovente Controcarro M41M
Specifications
Mass	14.5 t (32,000 lb)
Length	4.915 m (193.5 in)[1]
Width	2.280 m (89.8 in)[2]
Height	2.370 m (93.3 in)[2]
Crew	4 (commander/gunner, radio operator/machine gunner, loader, driver)[3]
Armour	Front: 30 mm (1.2 in)[1] Sides/rear: 25 mm (0.98 in)[1] Floor/roof: 6–14 mm (0.24–0.55 in)[1] Turret front: 42 mm (1.7 in)
Main armament	1 × 47 mm cannone da 47/32 AT gun 87 rounds[4]
Secondary armament	4 × 8 mm Breda mod. 38 machine guns (1 × coaxial, 1 × AA, 2 × in hull) 2,664 rounds[4]
Engine	SPA 8 TB M41 11,980 cc V8 diesel 145 hp (108 kW) at 1,900 rpm[5]
Suspension	Semi-elliptic leaf springs
Ground clearance	41 cm (16 in)[1]
Operational range	200 km (120 mi)
Maximum speed	33 km/h (21 mph) on road[5]

History

Development

The M 14/41 was a slightly improved version of the earlier M 13/40 with a more powerful diesel engine. It was produced in limited numbers as it was already considered obsolete by the time of its introduction. The M 14/41 used the same chassis as the M13/40 but with a redesigned hull with better armour. The M 14/41 was manufactured in 1941 and 1942. Nearly 800 had been produced by the time production ended.

In combat

The tank was first employed in the North African Campaign. The vehicle was unreliable and cramped, and caught fire easily when hit. Following the withdrawal of Italian forces from North Africa the M14/41 was rarely encountered, though many captured vehicles were pressed into service by British and Australian forces to fill the serious shortage of Allied tanks in 1941. These vehicles did not remain in Allied service for long.

Units

The first unit to receive the M14/41 was the X Tank Battalion "M" of the 133rd Tank Infantry Regiment. The other units assigned the tank were the following:

• IV Tank Battalion "M", 31st Tank Infantry Regiment (later transferred to the 133rd Tank Infantry Regiment)
• X Tank Battalion "M", 133rd Tank Infantry Regiment (later transferred to the 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment)
• XII Tank Battalion "M", 31st Tank Infantry Regiment (later transferred to the 133rd Tank Infantry Regiment)
• XIV Tank Battalion "M", 31st Tank Infantry Regiment
• XV Tank Battalion "M", 1st Infantry Division "Superga"
• XVI Mixed Tank Battalion, in Sardinia
• XVII Tank Battalion "M", 31st Tank Infantry Regiment
• XVIII Tank Battalion "M", reserve unit based in Italy, disbanded 8 September 1943
• LI Tank Battalion "M", 31st Tank Infantry Regiment (later transferred to the 133rd Tank Infantry Regiment)

Variants

The M 14/41 chassis served as the basis for the far more successful Semovente da 90/53 tank destroyer.

The prototype Carro Armato Celere Sahariano was developed on the M 14/41 chassis in 1943.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• M13/40, M14/41 Medium Tanks at wwiivehicles.com
• Polish site about Fiat M14/41 with many pictures
• Tanks encyclopedia: Carro Armato M14/41

На других языках

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- [en] M14/41 tank

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[ru] M14/41

M14/41 (итал. Carro armato M14/41, в немецкой классификации Pz.Kpfw 736(i)) — итальянский средний танк времён Второй мировой войны. В итальянской национальной классификации боевых машин считался средним танком. Наименование танка M14/41 отражало классификацию, массу и год разработки машины — литера М означала «средний» от соответствующего прилагательного Medio в итальянском языке, цифровой индекс расшифровывался как 14-тонный танк обр. 1941 г. На немецкой службе они обозначались как PzKpfw M14/41 736(i) и использовались не только на итальянском театре военных действий, но и для подавления Варшавского восстания в 1944 году.

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