1942 medium tank (Romania)

Romanian medium tank project 1942 medium tankThe project's real name is currently unknown. Thus, the vehicle is referred to here as "1942 medium tank", based on its classification and year of design. Medium tank Yes Kingdom of Romania World War II 1942 proposal 4 16-18 tonnes 2 m or less 50 km/h 1 x gun of 50 mm or higher caliber 1 or 2 x machine guns 40-60 mm In 1942, a medium tank was proposed to be produced by the Axis-aligned Kingdom of Romania. The reason behind the proposal was the lack of a Romanian-produced armored fighting vehicle capable of challenging enemy Soviet tanks on the Eastern Front, as well as the allied Nazi Germany not being capable of supplying Romania with considerable amounts of its own tanks. For these same reasons, Romania developed and produced the Mareșal tank destroyer, but the proposed medium tank never saw production. Background From the moment the Romanians first encountered Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks in late 1941, it was obvious that not a single tank or gun in the Romanian inventory was able to tackle them on reasonable terms. Furthermore, the allied Germans were not prepared to supply such weapons as long as their own forces were short.Axworthy 1995 221 By late 1942, apart from some Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs, the Romanian army was only equipped with obsolete R-1, R-2 and R35 tanks.Scafeș Șerbănescu Scafeș 2011 17-18 This led to different proposals to produce a Romanian vehicle capable to threaten Soviet ones; one such proposal was that of a medium tank.Moșneagu Boțoghină Manolescu Stoica 2012 92 History By the end of 1942, the Romanian Army Headquarters and the Third Army's leadership definitized a set of proposals regarding the production of a tank in Romania. They wanted to avoid producing a light tank, since such vehicles proved to be "an easy prey for the enemy". Thus, the proposed Romanian vehicle was to include elements comparable to those of German armor that were considered superior to those of Soviet tanks. The 1st Armored Regiment was asked for advice regarding the tank's characteristics.Moșneagu Boțoghină Manolescu Stoica 2012 92 thumb|150px|Ion Antonescu suggested a medium tank to be built in Romania British historian Mark Axworthy states that the Romanians had planned to locally produce the Soviet T-34 with some gun technology changes incorporated from the German Panzer IV, and that wartime leader Ion Antonescu himself proposed this vehicle.Axworthy 1995 221Scafeș 2004 210–211 However, an original Romanian medium tank was also proposed, whose characteristics were partially comparable to those of the aforementioned Soviet and German tanks: Its planned weight was of 16-18 tonnes; it should have been able to reach 50 km/h; the crew would have consisted of four members; the main gun was to have a caliber of 50 mm or higher; secondary armament would have consisted of one or two machine guns; its armor was to be 40-60 mm thick; and its height of 2 m or less.Moșneagu Boțoghină Manolescu Stoica 2012 92Scafeș 2004 211 The tank never went beyond the proposal stage. Instead, a number of tank destroyers were produced in Romania: the Mareșal, TACAM T-60, TACAM R-2 and VDC R35.Axworthy 1995 221-228 According to Mark Axworthy, this was because of the Romanian industry not being able to produce a medium tank of such characteristics.Axworthy 1995 221 The idea of producing a medium tank, however, was not at all a new concept in Romania. The first such proposal came in 1926 as an offer by the Reșița works to produce a British Vickers tank under license, weighing 10.5 tonnes and reaching 24 km/hMoșneagu Boțoghină Manolescu Stoica 2012 36 (which indicates it was the Medium Mk. I). Later, in 1934, a study stated that "the production of a medium tank at the Reșița works is not out of question".Moșneagu Boțoghină Manolescu Stoica 2012 53-54 During World War II, in 1940, Romania applied to Germany for a license to build a local version of the Škoda T-21 tank in 216 examples; this planned vehicle was designated R-3. Germany refused to provide the license, since Romania was not yet part of the Axis.Axworthy 1995 37 Then, in May 1942, Germany again refused a Romanian request to locally build the Škoda T-23, since it would have required importing armor plate from the Škoda Works.Zaloga 2013 27 Both of those Škoda tanks were in some ways similar to the 1942 medium tank project – they had weaker armor and armament, however. The main gun model planned for use on this medium tank is not stated in any currently known source. During the war, the Romanian army possessed multiple anti-tank guns of the stated caliber (50 mm or higher), such as the 75 mm Reșița M1943, the 76 mm ZiS-3 or the 76 mm F-22 guns (all of which were used on the above-mentioned Romanian tank destroyersAxworthy 1995 221-228). See also Vehicles comparable in characteristics 30em American M4 Sherman Argentine Nahuel DL 43 Australian Sentinel Australian Thunderbolt British Cromwell Canadian Ram French Char G1 German Panzer III German Panzer IV Hungarian Turán Italian P26/40 Italian P43 Japanese Type 3 Chi-Nu Soviet T-34 Swedish Strv m/42 Notes References 45em Bibliography Third Axis Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945 Mark Axworthy https://books.google.com/books?id=FhawQwAACAAJ 1995 Arms and Armour London 9781854092670 Moșneagu Marian Boțoghină Iulian-Stelian Manolescu Mariana-Daniela Stoica Leontin-Vasile Șoitariu Mihai-Cosmin :ro:Marian Moșneagu 2012 Armata română și evoluția armei tancuri. Documente (1919–1945) http://amnr.defense.ro/app/webroot/fileslib/upload/files/Aparitii_editoriale_pdf/20_Armata_evolutia_armei_tancuri.pdf ro Pitești, Romania Editura Universității de Stat din Pitești 978-606-560-252-6 2021-07-03 2021-01-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20210119142153/https://amnr.defense.ro/app/webroot/fileslib/upload/files/Aparitii_editoriale_pdf/20_Armata_evolutia_armei_tancuri.pdf dead Scafeș Cornel 2004 Buletinul Muzeului Național Militar, Nr. 2/2004 Bulletin of the National Military Museum, No. 2/2004 ro National Military Museum 210–237 Bucharest Total Publishing Scafeș Cornel Șerbănescu Horia Vl. Scafeș Ioan I. 2011 2005 Trupele blindate din Armata Română (1919-1947) – Organizare, echipament, armament https://books.google.com/books?id=VeXjrQEACAAJ ro Bucharest Alpha MDN 9789731390741 Stroea Adrian Băjenaru Gheorghe 2010 Artileria română în date și imagini http://www.worldwar2.ro/documents/004-artileria-romana-in-date-si-imagini.pdf ro Bucharest Editura Centrului Tehnic-Editorial al Armatei 9786065240803 Zaloga Steven J. Steven Zaloga Tanks of Hitler's Eastern Allies 1941-45 2013 Osprey Publishing Oxford, UK 978-1-78096-020-3 Category:Military history of Romania during World War II Category:World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Romania Category:Medium tanks of World War II Category:Tanks of Romania