T.13 B3 B Tank destroyer

mr_boo · August 31, 2023, 7:14am

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The T.13 B3 was a Belgian tank destroyer used in 1940 and designed in 1934 (making it one of the first tank destroyers!).

Due to Belgium’s neutrality politics of the time, the vehicle had to be as defensive and light as possible as not to ‘provoke’ the Germans. As such, its armor protection was extremely light, but fortunately had a good cannon for the time and a pretty fast top speed (sometimes even too fast).

It was based on the British Vickers Light Dragon and was equipped with a very decent 47 mm cannon in a fully traversable turret. The turret was open at the rear and also housed a coaxial M1918 BAR machine gun.

Several variants of the T.13 B3 existed;

The T.13 B3 A with 3 crewmen and 138 rounds
The T.13 B3 B with 4 crewmen but ‘only’ 106 rounds - The one i am suggesting here
The T.13 B3 C with 3 crewmen and 106 rounds but with a radio - Not built

The T.13 B3 B had an additional crew member compared to the A version, giving it more survivability and keeping it alive even if 2 crew members are knocked out, something impossible on the T.13 B3 A, except in arcade mode.

However this bonus in survivability comes at a cost - the 4th crew member has to sit where a 32-round ammo rack was supposed to be, bringing the total ammo count down to 106 rounds.

This is still an upgrade over the A version, since 106 rounds is still more than enough in almost every case.

The T.13 B3, here captured by the Germans:

Here we can see where the ammunition was stored, the “B” ammo rack is here replaced by a crew member. On the C version, it would’ve been a radio station.

Specifications - T.13 B3 B

Armament:

C.47 F.R.C. Mod.31 47 mm cannon - Practically the same cannon as the French SA35 L/32 (Ammo: 138)

O.R.A.Tr APBC: Penetration at 0 m and 0°: 62 mm
O.E.A. HE: 180g TNT (~5 mm pen.)

Reloading rate: 2.4s

FN M1918 BAR light machine gun (ammo: 1600)

Armor:

7-13 mm RHA

Mobility:

Meadows 6 cylinder engine (88 hp)
Max. speed: 56 km/h → 70 km/h - Although cited max speed was of 56 km/h, commander Adrien Modera reached a speed of 70 km/h per hour in May 1940.
5-speed transmission
Power to weight ratio: 17.32 hp per ton

Crew:

4 (Driver, Commander, Gunner, Loader)

Dimensions:

Mass: 5.08 t
Length: 3.65 m
Width: 1.87 m
Height: 1.84 m

So while it has very poor armor even for Rank I, you can still rely on your excellent mobility and very fast reload rate to deal with the enemy!

The extra crew member will be very useful if you get shot, as only one knocked out crewman will not affect your fast reload speed!

It could be a nice French or British premium/event vehicle, French due to the proximity and similarities between France and Belgium and British due to the chassis it’s based on, or be kept for a possible BeNeLux tech tree depending on what Gaijin has planned.

The T.13 B3 B with its extra crewman: