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Carro Armato M11/39

1940 WORLD WAR 2

History

The Fiat M11/39 medium tank is another in a line of tanks that evolved from the influential British Vickers 6-ton tank of 1928 (via the Italian L3 Tankette). Key to the design was the use of a leaf spring bogie system, which was modified from the original British concept, while the Italian design was closer to the American line of M3 Grant/Lee medium tanks and their hull mounted weapons. Originally conceived as a medium infantry tracked support system, the M11/39 was designed to be deployed close to infantry units to protect them from enemy infantry and armored vehicles. Like other Italian tanks developed before WWII, the "M11/39" designation directly reflects certain characteristics of the tank itself - "M" for its "medium" classification, "11" for its weight in tons, "39" Marks the year (1939) of the official enlistment of the Italian army.

Design work on the M11/39 began at Ansaldo-Fossati in 1937, production began in January 1939 and ended in June of that year, with 96 complete examples produced. Four never-before-used prototypes were used during development.

Externally, the M11/39 is a traditional armored tracked vehicle design. The engine is concentrated in a compartment in the stern. The landing gear is supported by two suspended four-wheel bogie systems, the drive sprockets are located at the front of the hull and the track idlers are located at the rear. There are three chain return rollers that manage the upper part of the chain system. The hull contains a fixed superstructure to accommodate the 37mm main gun armament, crew and ammunition supply.

A key shortcoming of the M11/39 series was the implementation of the 37mm Vickers-Terni L/40 main gun, which was fixed in place and forced the crew to steer the entire tank towards a specific target (like the American M3 series). The yaw of the main gun was limited to 15 degrees to the left or right. This also encouraged a sizable hull layout (like the American M3 series), making it an attractive target for anti-tank personnel.

There is a 360-degree rotating turret on top of the hull, but it is only used to manage 2 x 8mm Breda 38 series anti-infantry machine guns and a crew. Additionally, the turret is manually propelled, making the response time to incoming targets somewhat slow and awkward. The M11/39 was flown by a three-man crew consisting of the commander, gunner and driver. The driver is front left, the gunner is front right.

The gunner also acts as his own loader, while the commander acts as the radio operator (if any). While radios were provided in the basic design, the M11/39s were known to be delivered without them, severely hindering inter-tank communication and now relying on hand signals and "runners". The fact that shooters have to reload their weapons is another tactical disadvantage of the M11/39 design, all of which is compounded by the fact that the armor protection is only 30mm on its thickest side - designed to withstand snipers of calibers up to 20 mm - the caliber of British tank guns at this time has reached 40 mm. The M11/39 carries 84 x 37mm projectiles and 2,808 rounds of 8mm ammunition. Power for the range is provided by a 105 hp Fiat SPA 8T V8 diesel engine.

That gives a top speed of 20 mph and a range of nearly 125 miles.

In June 1940, Italy entered World War II on the side of the Axis powers. The M11/39 series were already in stock and were quickly delivered to the North African front (an improved version - M13/40 - already in production at this time). Some 72 M11/39 series vehicles were provided for the campaign in North Africa, while another 24 were sent to the eastern part of the continent - a much-needed "heavy punch" for the Italian tank offensive. In the beginning, the M11/39 proved to be a viable main battle tank, but when it finally came up against heavier armored foes, it performed pretty poorly - especially in terms of its own armor protection and primary armament.

Furthermore, like other complex machines of the interwar period, the M11/39 proved to be mechanically unreliable, especially when subjected to the stress of harsh combat in an environment it was never designed for. As such, the tactical range of the M11/39 was rather limited in the wider war program, and later developments of British cruiser tanks - most notably Matilda and Valentine - proved to be more than a match to Italian designs. As British tacticians realized their superiority over the M11/39, they took clear steps in several campaigns to expose Italian weaknesses. The M11/39 simply fought a battle it was never really designed for, and its war record will continue to prove it.

Some examples have been known to have been captured by the Allies (especially the Australian Army) who used these vehicles against their original owners for a period of time. These are appropriately painted with a white kangaroo badge to identify their new owners.

The M11/39 tanks were in service until about 1944 - their production was limited by the introduction of the more powerful M13/40 series.

An attempt to improve the M11/39 became the aforementioned "M13/40" - its name suggests that it was a 13-ton intermediate tank and was adopted by the Italian army in 1940. This model features a 47mm main gun and a 360-degree turret with a 104 x 47mm reload magazine and up to 4 x 8mm machine guns.

This type of 779 was eventually built and used by various parties including Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom. The M13/40 became the most produced WWII tank in Italy, while the M11/39 went down in history for other, less serious reasons.