Full Name | |
Class | Heavy Vehicle |
Movement | 5 |
Armor Value | |
Vs Infantry (RNG / FPR) | 5/6 |
Vs Vehicle (RNG / FPR) | 6/7 |
Traits | |
Period | Late 1943-1945 |
Theaters of Service |
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Design of the Hungarian Turán series of medium tanks took inspiration from the Czechoslovak Škoda T-21 medium tank prototype of 1937. It was of standard layout for tanks of this era and beyond, featuring a fully-rotating turret and rear-mounted engine; it was of rivted construction, however, not welded. They weighed 18.2 tonnes, carried a crew of five, and had a top speed of 29 mph. The tank's chassis was the basis for the Zrínyi II assault gun. Turán tanks fought on the Eastern Front against the Soviets, and in the defence of Hungary. Combat experience on the Eastern Front in 1941 led Hungarian designers to realize the 40M Turán I would need more firepower and armor protection. Rather than develop a completely new design, they opted to up-gun and up-armor Turán Is, resulting in the 41M Turán II. This type featured a modifed Böhler 8 cm (76.5 mm) Feldkanone M.18 (L/31) gun in its turret with one 8 mm Gebauer 34/40.M machine gun mounted coaxially and another 8 mm in the hull. Hungarian industry produced about 185 Turán IIs between late 1942 and 1943, but manufacturing challenges delayed the types deployment until September 1943. By that time the Turán II was obsolescent, but could still be lethal to Soviet T-34 tanks within 500 meters.