France’s Char B1 Heavy Tank had thicker armor and more secondary weaponry than its predecessors. It was designed at the request of General Estienne, the “Father of the French Tank Corps”, who wanted a tank that had heavy fire power and was very mobile. A consortium of French companies began designing this new tank, which …
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Carro Veloce L35/Lf Flamethrower Tankette
The Carro Veloce L35/Lf Flamethrower Tankette differed from the Carro Veloce 33 in that it had a long-barreled hooded flamethrower instead of machine guns. In other respects, it was the same tankette. The L35’s flamethrower had a range of about 328 feet. Lf stands for “lanciaflamme”, the Italian word for flamethrower. In the earliest model …
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Carro Veloce 33 Tankette
The design of Italy’s Carro Veloce 33 Tankette was copied from that of the British Vickers Carden-Lloyd Mark VI Tankette. In 1929, Italy purchased some Mark VIs. It also received permission to build its own version of these tanks in Italy. Ansaldo made 25 of these, using automotive parts from Fiat. These tanks were known …
Carro Armato M13/40 Medium Tank
The Carro Armato M13/40 Medium Tank was probably used more than any other Italian tank during World War II. The M13/40 was modeled after the M11/39, but it had thicker armor and it was bigger. It had a new high velocity 1.85 inch Ansaldo gun and three Breda machine guns instead of two. Of the …
KV-1 Heavy Tank
When the KV-1 heavy tank entered World War II, out of all the Allied tanks, it and the Soviet T-34 were the best matches for the German tanks of the time. The KV-1, which resembled the T-100 with one turret removed, first entered service in the Russo-Finish war in 1939. It was the first Soviet heavy tank …
Carro Armato M11/39 Medium Tank
The Carro Armato M11/39 was the first of the Italian medium tanks. Its design was a progression from the design of lighter tanks. A 1.46 inch (37mm) half-mounted gun was the M11/39’s main armament. There were two 0.315 inch (8mm) Breda machine guns in a manually operated turret that was offset to the left. The …
BT Medium Tank Series
The BT medium tank series was modeled after an American M1931Christie tank that was bought by the Soviet Purchasing Commission. Like the M1931 Christie tank, the Soviet BT medium tanks could run either on tracks or on the four large road wheels that were on either side of the tank. BT-1, which was produced for …
TOG Heavy Tanks
The TOG heavy tanks – TOG 1 and TOG 2 – were very large, heavy tanks that were designed to cross wide trenches and withstand anti-tank weaponry. They never saw action. At 80 tons, TOG 2 was the heaviest tank produced by Britain during World War II. The TOG heavy tanks were designed by TOG, …
A39 Heavy Assault Tank Tortoise
At 78 tons, the A39 Heavy Assault Tank Tortoise represented Britain’s final attempt to build a heavy tank during World War II. The Tortoise was first designed in 1942, but work on it did not move rapidly until 1944 when Germany’s Jagdtiger appeared. Only pilot models of the Tortoise were built, and these were not …
A34 Cruiser Tank Comet
The A34 Cruiser Tank Comet was the first British tank to begin to match the overall performance of Germany’s PzKpfw V Panther. It was designed to match German firepower, speed and protection, which the Cromwell and the Centaur could not do. The Comet had a similar layout to the Cromwell, and kept many of the …
A27M Cruiser Tank Mark VIII Cromwell
The A27M Cruiser Tank Mark VIII Cromwell was fitted with a 600 horsepower V12 Rolls-Royce Meteor engine, which made it the fastest, most reliable Cruiser tank in existence at the time it was built. In other respects, it resembled the Cavalier and the Centaur. From 1944 to 1945, the Cromwell and the American Sherman M4 …
A27L Cruiser Tank Mark VIII Centaur
The A27L Cruiser Tank Mark VIII Centaur was originally designed to have a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. However, production shortages dictated that all of those engines that were produced had to be used in aircraft. Therefore, the Centaur was fitted with a Liberty V12 engine. Some A27Ls had their engines upgraded and were armed with 3.74in …