- Yes
- Maybe
- No
History.
The BT-5 tank was one of a series of Soviet armored vehicles produced in large numbers between 1932 and 1941. They were lightly armored but reasonably well-armed for the time and had better mobility than many other tanks. contemporary armed men. The BT-5s were the fifth direct derivation of the original BT tank and saw their first use during the Spanish Civil War when a batch of 50 examples were sold to the Spanish Republican Armed Forces. This tank compared very well with its Italian-German counterparts (which were not sufficiently armed or even armored enough to stand the comparison) despite various defects that were easily resolved by an expert crew. One of these tanks was disabled during a clash against Nationalist forces and was abandoned by the crew. Some time later the wagon was found by the units of the Volunteer Corps (the Italian expeditionary force in Spain), who put it back in working condition and subsequently had it transferred to Italy, with the permission of Francisco Franco (who claimed to have given the wagon as a gift), at the Motorization Study Center in Rome, where it was tested. The tank made a decent impression on the Italian testers who praised the speed and armament of the tank, and due to its high speed it was decided to rename the Carro Veloce CV33 to Carro Leggero L3/33 (the CV33 tank was significantly more slow than the BT-5 despite the denomination of Carro Veloce). It is not known what the ultimate fate of the vehicle was, but it was most likely scrapped at the end of the tests.
Armament and propulsion.
The vehicle was armed with a 45 mm anti-tank M1932 (20-K) gun of Soviet origin with a capacity of 73 rounds and a 7.62 mm caliber DT machine gun with a capacity of 2.394 rounds.
The tank was powered by a water-cooled M-5 V12 engine with a maximum power of 350 hp, which could push the tank up to a maximum speed of 63 km/h.
Specifications.
Spoiler
Crew: 3
Maximum weight: 11.5 tons
Length: 5.58 meters
Width: 2.19 meters
Height: 2.34 meters
Armament: 1x 45 mm 20-K with 73 rounds and a DT machine gun with 2,394 rounds
Engine: M-5 V12 with 350 hp power
Maximum speed: 63 km/h
Autonomy: 200 km
Fuel capacity: 396 litres
Pictures and drawnings.
Sources.
Spoiler
GLI AUTOVEICOLI DA COMBATTIMENTO DELL'ESERCITO ITALIANO VOL I by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu
https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/italy
BT tank - Wikipedia
LA MECCANIZZAZIONE DELL'ESERCITO FINO AL 1943 tomo II -parte 2 by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu
LA MECCANIZZAZIONE DELL'ESERCITO FINO AL 1943 tomo I -parte 2 by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu
BT (carro armato) - Wikipedia
45 mm anti-tank gun M1932 (19-K) - Wikipedia