PM Type Armoured Gunboat, PM-1 - Magyar Bronekater

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PM Type Armoured Gunboat, PM-1

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TL;DR
Coastal vessel, Hungarian armoured gunboat, comparable to the Soviet Pr.1124 but with less firepower.

Overview:
A series of 6 armoured river gunboats, the “Páncélozott Motorcsónak” (armoured motorboat) were ordered for the Royal Hungarian Army River Forces in the 1940s. They were meant to be armed with custom-built turrets, but as they weren’t developed in time, production vessels were fitted with modified Turán and Csaba tank turrets. They were decently armoured, with a bulletproof belt protecting the ammunition and engine rooms, and had decent speed for its type, being able to go 21 knots. Of the 6 ships, only 5 were laid down, and of those only 3 were completed, with 1 sunk during the war, 1 scrapped after, and 1 serving with the Hungarian Navy for 30 more years.

The first vessel, PM-1, was completed in 1940, and participated in the invasion of Yugoslavia. Originally it had makeshift canvas turrets with 20mm guns as the intended turrets were cancelled due to lack of funds, and it would keep them until late-1942 when it was decided to just fit them with modified Turán tank turrets. Each turret was equipped a 40mm cannon and a twin coaxial 8mm MG, with 2 additional 8mm MGs in side mounts. The next major action the ship saw was in 1944, as the Soviet Army reached Hungary, fighting against Russian tanks and troops. It was damaged in a disastrous action against SU-76s in November that saw a Hungarian gunboat sunk, and during its repairs had its engines replaced. As the Soviets advanced further into Hungary, PM-1 and other parts of the Danube Flotilla retreated west to Germany, where they surrendered to American forces in 1945. In the 1950s, parts of the Flotilla including PM-1 was scrapped at Passau, Germany, though apparently the superstructure of PM-1 still survives as part of a pontoon boat there.

Specifications: (1943)

Armament:
2x1 Modified Turán I turrets

  • 1x1 40mm 41.M
  • 1x2 8.35mm 34/40.M Gebauer

2x1 8.35mm 07/31.M Schwarzlose (shown in the drawing mounted forward, could also be mounted facing the side or rear)

Armour:
13mm Belt
20mm Deck
40mm Bridge
40mm Turret

Displacement:
38t full

Length: 28m

Beam: 3.7m

Draft: 0.6m

Propulsion: 3 Junkers diesel engines, 480 hp, driving 3 shafts

Speed: 20.5 knots (38 km/h)

Range: unknown

Crew: 16

Images:

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PM-1 with the early canvas turrets
Drawings:
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Sources:
Bernad, D. Kliment, C. (2017). Magyar Warriors (Vol. 2. pp. 211-214). Helion.
http://www.niehorster.org/015_hungary/book/chap-05.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20090629031639/http://www.haditechnika.hu/Archivum/199404/940409.htm

https://www.navypedia.org/ships/hungary/hu_cf_pm1.htm

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6 Likes
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+1 as Italian event boats.

2 Likes
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absolutely yes. There is a good few vessels to make a HU coastal and bluewater sub-tree even with one or two submarines that were built by Hungary. Ofc neither lines would go all the way to naval top tier but it would be fun…but for that reason, i dont think its high on Gaijin’s to-do content list.

2 Likes
4

I love this vehicle

5

+1 This would be awesome now that Hungary has ground, air, and helicopter subtrees in Italy. It would be great to see some Hungarian naval representation too.

Edit: in the description you say it had modified Turan I turrets, but from the photos they look nothing like Turan I turrets and instead look like Straussler V-4 turrets.

The Straussler V-4 was the first Hungarian tank, and the first entirely domestic tank from Hungary. It was made in a 1936 version, and then improved in a 1938 version. The turrets of the PM-1 look like the 1938 version of the Straussler V-4’s turret; even the 40 mm gun and twin Gebauer machine guns match. On top of that, the stated armament is also probably wrong; the 40 mm gun is probably the 37M or the 37/42M, and the coaxial 8 mm machine guns are probably 34/37M Gebauer twin machine guns.

1 Like
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Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.

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