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Hotchkiss H39

History

The Hotchkiss H39 replaced the H35 series of light tanks in service with the French Army and was produced in greater numbers than its predecessors, both of which proved equally effective against the French Army before the fall of France in June 1940 important. The original two-man H35 light tank appeared in 1936 and was intended as an "infantry support" platform, armed with a 37mm SA18 series cannon and a 7.5mm Rebel machine gun in a movable turret.

Power is provided by a 6-cylinder gasoline engine with 78 horsepower, a top speed of 17 mph and an 80-mile range. As the name suggests, the H36 was used for military service in 1936.

In the 1930s, during a period of major modernization, France joined other great powers, many opting for a stockpile of cheap light tanks for infantry support and cavalry roles. Current doctrine at the time also required dedicated tanks for each class, with cavalry tanks intended to be fast armed reconnaissance mounts designed by the H35. Until later, the H35 was also used in an infantry support role, and as the class name would suggest, it could be used to support advancing infantry formations.

While a capable platform for its time, the H35's design had several shortcomings - a small-caliber short-barreled main gun, a two-person crew (commander also doubled as gunner/loader), and an underpowered 78-horsepower engine. The armor thickness in some key areas is only 34mm, while the rest is 12mm.

More than 400 units of this type were produced before working on improving the design of the Hotchkiss H39.

The H39 builds on the stronger qualities of the H35 and develops from various evaluation schemes that began in October 1936. The newer H39 has several important changes in its design, most notably an enlarged fuselage and a revised tail. As a result, the track chassis was upgraded and improved, while engineers installed a new 120-horsepower engine. With the changes, the tank now has a top speed of 22 miles per hour and a range of 94 miles. Armor protection has increased slightly, while the main gun remains the short 37mm gun of the SA 38 series.

The H39 is also operated by two employees.

French authorities approved the model and ordered it to be used in series production, essentially ending the operation of the previous H35 series after about 400 units were completed. This provides the opportunity to acquire approximately 1,000 H39 vehicles and to provide prototypes to Poland and Turkey for evaluation. Some H39s also ended up in Finnish stockpiles to support Finland during the "Winter War" against the Soviet Union.

In early 1940, before the German invasion of France, the French army decided to upgrade their H39s, some of which were equipped with radios, optics and a new, long-barreled 37mm L/35 SA 38 series main gun, designated the H39/ 40. About 350 H39 tanks were upgraded to this new standard, in addition to 50 existing H35 tanks.

When Germany invaded France in May 1940, French war planners had access to 600 to 800 Hotchkiss H35 and H39 light tanks. However, many H39s were associated with the slow and bulky Char B1 heavy tanks and were mostly mismatched in response across France. Effective coordinated attacks by French panzer divisions proved to be few and far between, reducing France's expected defenses to irreparable levels.

Likewise, when used properly, the H39 is not only a formidable opponent of German armor, but such offensives are rare. One of the main threats to the H39 system lies in the skilled deployment and operation of German anti-tank guns, making the H39's light armor protection a real weakness on the modern battlefield.

Rather than risk the complete destruction of Paris, the French government surrendered after only 1.5 months of fighting. This marked the end of the reigning French Third Republic and testified to the catastrophic military losses and humiliations suffered by the French army in history. The Allied British (along with some French troops) had no choice but to withdraw northwards through the Channel, while the Axis Allied Italian forces helped protect a small area of ??southeastern France. The occupation of Paris resulted in the official German occupation of neighboring Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium, which would last most of the war.

The French Vichy government, allied with Hitler's Germany, will replace the previous French government.

With the French army now defeated, the Germans entered the ranks demanding French supplies to support their own. This includes hundreds of H39 tanks available at the end of the battle.

Armored divisions used much of the French war material in this way, often for local defense, as second-line units or to replace front-line systems lost in previous campaigns. Under German management, H39 was designated PzKpfW 39-H 735(f), with the "f" indicating its French origin.

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the H39 was transported by rail to the Eastern Front due to a severe lack of suitable armor. It turned out that the Germans also replaced the given French turrets and weapons with more powerful German designs to create better anti-tank interceptions in response to the heavy use of armor by the Soviets. The Germans built the 75mm armed tank destroyer "Marder I" in this way, named "7.5 cm PaK40(Sf) auf Geschutzwagen 39H(f) Marder I".

Likewise, the "10.5cm leFH18(Sf) auf Geschutzwagen 39H(f)" was fitted with a 105mm gun platform, both of which kept most of the H39's chassis in place. Other logistics-oriented developments were the artillery tractor "Atillererieschlepper 38H(f)" and the artillery observation vehicle "Panzerobservation 38H(f)".

Some H39 stockpiles ended up in French colonies in the Middle East and were held by Free French or French Vichy forces. H39s held by Vichy were used angrily during the June-July 1941 Syria/Lebanon campaign. However, by 1945, the H39 was more or less obsolete by WWII standards, with very few available. After the war, some H39s fell into the hands of the growing Israeli army, which did not use this model against Egypt until the 1956 Suez Crisis.

At least a dozen were used for the initial light, fast reconnaissance missions.