41M Turan II
Type: Hungarian medium tank
History: Prior to WW2, Hungary had equipped its armoured forces with AFV's from abroad (mainly Italian CV-33 tankettes) which they then modified to suit their own purposes. In 1940, Hungary gained permission to manufacture a medium tank which appeared in 1941 and was based on a Czech Skoda design (now the German PzKpfw 38 ).
Named Turan I, it was a 16-ton medium tank with a five-man crew and mounted a 40mm Skoda gun in a large revitted turret (with square cupola). Turan was built by the Weiss&Cspel Steelworks of Budapest and was powered by 260hp Hungarian made engine. Production of this tank was beginning in October 1941.
Hungarian Turan I tank crosses a damaged bridge at the Russian front.
After the disastrous Stalingrad battles, the Hungarian army realized that it needed a more powerful weapon to counter the Russian T-34 tanks. In 1943 the Turan II appeared with a modified turret with long bevel on the cupola and the gun changed to a short-barelled 75mm. The vehicle's combat debut was not before April 1944 in Galicia, because the Hungarians were hold back from the front line for refitting during 1943.
Turan II tank full loaded with Hungarian soldiers during the retreating fightings.
The type was still outclassed by most Russian armor and so the long barrelled German 75mm gun L/43 was installed. It was called Turan III, but it was only in the prototype stage when the Germans occupied Hungary and exchanged the current government.
There after the Fascist Hungarian Army was supplied with German armored vehicles and plans were made for the license production of the famous Panther tank (but the Russian encirclement and fall of Budapest ended this project).
Users: Hungary (for all variants).
3d model of Turan II
|
41M Turan II |
Technical data and statistics: |
| Type |
medium tank |
| Engine |
260hp gasoline Manfred-Weiss Z
|
| Gearbox |
? |
| Crew total |
5 |
| Turret crew |
? |
| Length |
5.68 m |
| Width |
2.54 m |
| Height |
2.33 m |
| Weight |
18.2 tons |
| Maximum speed |
47 km/h |
| Cross-country speed |
? |
| Petrol consumption per 100 km |
|
| Petrol |
? |
| Road radius |
165 km |
| Cross-country radius |
? |
| Vertical obstacle |
approx. 0.79 m |
Trench crossing |
approx. 1.98 m |
| Fording depth |
? |
| Turning circle |
? |
Gradient |
approx. 60 ° |
| ARMOUR |
mm / angle |
| Turret front |
maximum 50 mm, minimum 14 mm (angles not known) |
| Turret side |
| Turret rear |
| Turret top |
| Superstructure front |
| Superstructure side |
| Superstructure rear |
| Superstructure top |
| Hull front |
| Hull side |
| Hull rear |
| Hull bottom |
| Gun mantlet |
| ARMAMENT |
75mm short barrelled (should be nearly equal to German 7.5cm Kwk37 L/24. Following are the data for this gun !) |
| Traverse |
360°,
Elevation ? |
| Muzzle velocity |
Pzgr: 385 m/s
HE (high-explosive): 450 m/s |
| Shell weight |
Pzgr: 6.8 kg
HE A: 4.40 kg, HE B: 4.57 kg, HE C: 4.80 kg |
| Penetration 100 meters at 30° |
Pzgr: 41 mm
HE A: 70 mm, HE B: 75 mm, HE C: 100 mm |
| Penetration 500 meters at 30° |
Pzgr: 39 mm
HE A: 70 mm, HE B: 75 mm, HE C: 100 mm |
| Penetration 1,000 meters at 30° |
Pzgr: 35 mm
HE A: 70 mm, HE B: 75 mm, HE C: 100 mm |
| Penetration 1,500 meters at 30° |
Pzgr: 33 mm
HE A: 70 mm, HE B: 75 mm, HE C: 100 mm |
| Penetration 2,000 meters at 30° |
Pzgr: 30 mm |
| Secondary armament |
|
| Radio |
|
| Telescopic sight |
|
| Production |
Turan I: October 1941
Turan II: 1943
Turan III prototype: April 1944
|
| Combat delivery |
1943 |
| Price per tank |
|
| Total production figure |
300 Turan I, 322 Turan II, 1 Turan III
|
Service statistics of all Turan variants |
|
Available |
Production |
Losses |
| before 1939 |
- |
- |
- |
| 1939 |
- |
- |
- |
| 1940 |
- |
- |
- |
| 1941 |
- |
approx. 300 |
? |
| 1942 |
? |
? |
| 1943 |
? |
approx. 323 |
? |
| 1944 |
? |
? |
| 1945 |
? |
- |
? |
| Total |
- |
623 |
? |
|
