Carro armato SOMUA (FR.).

ImportantSimone5 · October 20, 2024, 11:31am

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Carro armato SOMUA (FR.).

History.

In the early 1930s the French Armée de terre requested given the needs to equip its armored units with vehicles of a new type. In 1935 SOMUA, a Schneider subsidiary, made an initial prototype tank (Automitrailleuse de Combat modèle 1935 S) that met the army’s specifications, and it was immediately impressed and ordered several examples. In 1938 the wagon was officially allocated to French armored units under the designation “Char modèle 1935,” and until 1940 some 450 examples were produced. During the German invasion of France the Somua wagons were excellently used against the invaders, demonstrating their good endurance at the expense of employment strategy. After the surrender of France most of the remaining SOMUA 35 tanks were captured by Germany, which under Italian request (given their tank situation), gave up a smaller quantity to the fifty or so that went to equip the CC Battalion of the 31st Regiment in training in Veneto. After the battalion was transferred to Sardinia, during the armistice period the SOMUA tanks saw limited use against German troops stationed on the island, and after the war the surviving vehicles were returned to their rightful French owners.

Armaments and propulsion.

The tank was equipped with a 47 mm SA 35 cannon (renamed simply 47/32) and with a 7.5 mm MAC 1931 machine gun; 84 rounds of ammunition were stowed for the cannon and 2,250 for the machine gun.
As an engine, the vehicle was powered by a 190-hp SOMUA V8 engine capable of propelling the vehicle up to a maximum speed of 40 km/h.
Specifications.

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Crew: 3
Maximum weight: 19,500 kg
Length: 5,38 m
Width: 2.12 m
Height: 2,24 m
Engine: SOMUA V8 da 190 hp
Maximum speed: 40 km/h
Armament: 1x 47/32 (84 ammo) and 1x MAC 1931 (2.250 ammo)
Corazzatura: 20-56 mm

Pictures and drawnings.

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