- Yes
- Maybe
- No
History.
The 75/18 Semovente M40 was the very first italian self-propelled tank from the Second World War, developed by Ansaldo S.p.A. on the chassis of the Italian medium tank Carro Armato M13/40 of the III Series. In the early stages of the war, the successes achieved by the German Sturmgeschütz III became evident, and Ansaldo decided to “copy” the idea with the Italian technologies and weapons of the time to equip the armored departments with a vehicle conceptually and technologically similar to the StuG III. The tank achieved great success among Italian tank units, who appreciated the tank as a self-propelled artillery vehicle and tank destroyer due to its low, elusive silhouette, heavy armament (a 75 mm short barrel from 1935) and better armor than to that of the M13/40 anyway. These self-propelled guns were the basis for subsequent self-propelled vehicles with improved armament (75 long barrel, 105 etc…) and were used until the early 1950s by the newly formed Italian Army after the Peace of Paris in 1947.
Armaments and propulsion.
The main armament consisted of the 75/18 Mod. 1934/1935 howitzer placed in a casemate in the center of the tank, coupled with a 6.5 mm Breda Mod. 30 submachine gun placed on the roof of the tank. The 75/18 gun was a gun powerful enough to damage and/or destroy many of the enemy tanks, even though it had a fairly low muzzle velocity. The Breda 30, on the other hand, was a rather problematic machine gun, with a 20-round magazine that was difficult to replace and quite limited power and was placed on a vertical support with a special housing that allowed the weapon to be kept inside the vehicle in non-combat conditions. For the cannon there were 43 rounds (HE, various APCBC or HEAT), while for the machine gun there were 30 magazines stored on the floor of the vehicle, near the gunner’s seat.
The Semovente was powered by a liquid-cooled, 8-cylinder FIAT-SPA 8T V diesel engine with a maximum power of 125 HP at 1,800 rpm. It was mounted at the rear of the vehicle and was separated from the passenger compartment by a bulkhead. The 5-speed gearbox, one backward and 4 forward. The engine was the same as the M13/40 Tank, one of the major handicaps of the tank itself and which where possible was replaced by the crews with other engines present. With all this, the vehicle could reach a maximum speed of 31-32 km/h.
Specifications.
Spoiler
Crew: 3
Length: 4,915 m
Width: 2,200 m
Height: 1,850 m
Weight: 13.1 t
Engine: Fiat-SPA 8T diesel with 125 HP
Maximum speed: 31.8 km/h
Traction: tracked with front driving wheel
Suspensions: leaf spring
Autonomy: 200 km
Armament: 1x Ansaldo 75/18 Mod.34/35 (43 rounds in normal conditions) and 1x Breda Mod.30 6.5 mm (30 magazines) or Mod.38 8 mm
Armor: 50-0 mm
Pictures and drawnings.
Sources.
Spoiler
75/18 (semovente) - Wikipedia
Semovente da 75/18 - Wikipedia
Semovente da 75/18 (1941)
https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=1284
Semovente M40 da 75/18 - Tank Encyclopedia
SEMOVENTE 75/18 M41 - Quartermaster Section
Semovente da 75/18 M42
Semovente da 75/18 su Scafo M40
Regio Esercito - Lista materiale bellico - Semovente da 75-18 su scafo M
Engines of the Wehrmacht in WW2
Regio Esercito - I Mezzi - Tabella dati tecnici Fiat Ansaldo Semovente 75/18
https://masterclass.it/wp/articles/semovente-fiat-ansaldo-75-18-m-40-masterclass/
Regio Esercito
GLI AUTOVEICOLI DA COMBATTIMENTO DELL'ESERCITO ITALIANO VOL II TOMO II by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu
GLI AUTOVEICOLI DA COMBATTIMENTO DELL'ESERCITO ITALIANO VOL II TOMO I by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu