- Yes
- Maybe
- No
History.
In June 1941, the first self-propelled artillery units were born in the Royal Italian Army. The problem immediately emerged of the lack of a vehicle that could coordinate them and at the same time follow them closely and have good armor capable of resisting enemy attacks. Since there was a decent quantity of M41 tank hulls, Ansaldo used these same hulls to create a vehicle capable of coordinating the fire of the self-propelled guns and possibly directing the shots and indicating the enemies present in the area. The tank was modified in a not too invasive way (apart from the removal of the turret and the parts attached to it), and the turret was replaced by an 8 mm ballistic steel sheet with a 4-leaf folding door. Two radio antennas were also installed and the two Breda Mod.38 twin machine guns placed in the hull were replaced in most examples with a Breda Model 1931 machine gun (the same as the M14/41 47/40) on a cardan joint with spherical station, or also called blindosphere. It was also possible, by opening the canopy, to use a Breda 38 machine gun on a retractable muzzle mount for anti-aircraft fire. The vehicle obtained approval from the Army which adopted it and had over sixty examples produced, even if the vehicle did not obtain an excellent reputation among tank drivers as the vehicle was easy to recognize and poorly armed in case of clashes with opposing tanks. Of these vehicles, only one survives without armament and mechanically inoperative.
Armaments and propulsion.
The tank was armed with two machine guns. One machine gun was a 13.2 mm Breda Model 1931 placed in a gimbal with spherical protection, or blindosphere. This machine gun was equipped with 35 12-round magazines for a total of 420 cartridges. The other weapon on board was an 8 mm Breda Model 1938 machine gun placed in a gun carriage with a supply of 21 magazines containing 504 ammunition in total (machine gun usable only with the roof open).
As regards the engine, the tank was equipped with the same engine as a normal M14/41, i.e. a 145 HP Fiat SPA 15T M41, which also thanks to the lower weight of the tank (12.5 tons) allowed it to reach a maximum speed of 40 km/h. The vehicle’s range was approximately 230 km and it could tackle climbs up to an inclination of 45°.
Specifications.
Spoiler
Crew: 4 (pilot, goniometer and 2 machine gunners)
Weight: 12.5 tons
Length: 4.92 m
Width: 2.2m
Height: 1.82 m
Armament: 1x Breda Mod. 31 in frontal blindosphere carriage and 1x Breda Mod. 38 in wolf’s mouth carriage
Elevation: -8°/+20° for the Breda Mod. 31, 0°/+45° for the Breda Mod. 38
Crossbar: 12° to the right and left for the Breda Mod. 31, 360° for the Breda Mod. 38
Ammunition reserve: 35 magazines for the Breda Mod. 31 and 21 for the Breda Mod. 38
Armor: 30-8 mm with closed roof, 30-0 with open roof
Radios: 1x RF 1 CA and 1x RF 2 CA
Pictures and drawnings.
Sources.
Spoiler
M14/41 - Wikipedia
Surviving Panzers
https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/italy
Armi avanzate della Seconda Guerra Mondiale/Italia 5 - Wikibooks, manuali e libri di testo liberi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0L9T9oZuSQ
CARRO COMMANDO M41 - Quartermaster Section
Carro Commando M41
Carro Comando M41 Rome :Maquetland.com:: Le monde de la maquette
Carro Armato M14/41 (1942)
GLI AUTOVEICOLI DA COMBATTIMENTO DELL'ESERCITO ITALIANO VOL II TOMO I by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu
Semoventi da 75/18 Scafo M40/M41 & M42 (Assault Guns)
Carro Commando M41