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Semovente 75/34

sultanbev

New Member
On this website it shows the armour of the Semovente as "42mm" maximum.
Ralph Riccio's book Italian Tanks & Fighting Vehicles of WW2 states the armour as the same as M15/42, ie 45mm turret front, 42mm hull front, 25mm hull side and rear.
The Encyclopedia of German Tanks of WW2 by Chamberlain and Doyle states the armour to be:
turret front: 25mm+25mm/85* turret side: 25mm/81*, rear 25mm/90* (turret to mean in this case the upper superstructure)
hull front: 30mm/round; hull side: 25mm/90*, hull rear 25mm/70*
* = angle from horizontal
Is the latter correct?
Mark
 

Webmaster

Administrator
Staff member
World War Two in Review #25: Italian Fighting Vehicles by Ray Merriam (2017) states the following: While derived from the earlier Semovente, it differed somewhat from it; instead of two conjoined plates each 21 millimeters (0.83 in) thick, the frontal armor was made of a single 42 millimeters (1.7 in) thick plate and the casemate was modified to fit the longer gun. It had the same 192 HP petrol engine of the M15/42 which allowed for a reasonable top speed of 38.4 kilometers per hour (23.9 mph).

Data Type: Self-propelled gun
Place of origin: Italy
In service: 1943–1945 Used by: Italy, Nazi Germany
Wars: World War II
Manufacturer: Fiat-Ansaldo
Produced: 1942–1943
Number built: 141
Weight: 15 tons (33,069 lbs)
Length: 5.04 m (16 ft 6 in)
Width: 2.23 m (7 ft 4 in)
Height: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Crew: 3 (commander/gunner, driver, loader/radio operator)
Armor: Front: 42 mm (2 in)
Main armament: 75 mm L/34 gun Secondary armament: 1×8 mm Breda 38 machine gun
Engine: SPA M15 (15TB) V8, 192 hp (143.17 kW)
Power/weight: 12.7 hp/ton
Suspension: vertical volute spring
Operational range: 230 km (143 mi)
Speed: 20 mph (32 km/h)

Of course, if the information is incorrect, let me know and I will amend the website.
 
The 75/18s frontal plate:
Posted Image

Found and restored in Rimini.
Originally posted here:
Doesn't really help with the measurements, but this is still a nice spot for the photo.
 
It looks like a destroyed Semovente 75/34. I wish the front plate was photographed at an angle so we could see thickness. Not that I would be able to reliably measure it.
omdYhmO.jpg
 
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