Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms Space By Flag By Year By Tag

Semovente 90/53

1941 SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY WORLD WAR 2

History of Semovente 90/53

The Semovente 90/53 ("Semovente M. 41M da 90/53") is generally considered to be the most powerful tank destroyer used by the Italian army in World War II. Like the development of other tank destroyers in the conflict, the Semovente 90/53 was born from the needs of war and created by combining existing systems, both proven and available.

The weapon system entered service with the Italian Army in 1941, with only a limited production series achieved through the joint efforts of FIAT, SPA and Ansaldo facilities.

The Italians were already keen to convert their existing light and medium tank systems into operational self-propelled guns for field support artillery engagements, some of which were even used to engage enemy tanks directly. At the heart of these makeshift systems, however, were the assault guns, and attacking enemy tanks proved to be a mixed bag. The Axis powers fighting on the Eastern Front were awakened by the arrival of Soviet T-34 medium tanks and KV-1 and KV-2 heavy tanks. The need for mobile armor-piercing weapons for the Italian army forced the manufacture of the heavy Semovente 90/53 to fill the battlefield role.

The Italians have seen the success of the German "88" anti-aircraft gun in use as a tank destroyer and have similar prospects at home. The Semovente 90/53 was basically created by combining the proven 90mm Ansaldo 90/53 anti-aircraft gun Cannone da 90/53 (an Italian equivalent to the German 88 in some ways) with an existing 14 ton M14 medium tank chassis The /41 1941.

The Cannone da 90/53 has a range of up to 2,180 yards.

The 90/53 series guns proved to be the most successful of all the anti-aircraft guns used in World War II. The name alludes to a 90mm caliber, as well as a 53 caliber barrel length. Of the 539 guns available in July 1943, at least 48 were retrofitted for the new Semovente 90/53 tank destroyers, the rest were sent elsewhere for their original anti-aircraft function.

The M14/41 medium tank was produced by Fiat in numbers up to 1,800 and was used by the Italians, Australians, British and Germans before the end of its service life. The tank was first fought in the North African campaign, but proved unreliable and prone to fire when hit. Thus, these shortcomings forced the tank to take on a supporting role before it was fully retired.

Due to the supply of M14/41 hulls and the demand for tank destroyers, it made perfect sense to retrofit these hulls by adding the proven Cannone da 90/53. The designation "Semovente 90/53" itself directly indicates the use of the "90/53" series of guns. The aforementioned availability of only 48 90mm guns resulted in the production of only 48 examples of the Semovente 90/53, all built in 1941.

Production of this tank killer was severely limited as Italian manufacturing capabilities lagged behind Germany and the Allies, and the gun was shortened to a 90mm gun, which was still required for anti-aircraft use elsewhere. The main notable change regarding the M14/41 tank was the relocation of the rear engine to the front of the hull to allow the mounts to be located at the rear.

Like other tank destroying elements encountered during the war, the Semovente 90/53 had several key shortcomings in its design - the most important of which was the artillery's open-air fighting compartment. Although the complete structure is not included, crews are able to work in an unobstructed work area while still gaining low manufacturing costs and fast build times. In addition, such vehicles have long been considered far enough from the frontlineand far from direct enemy contactfor this limitation to be considered acceptable. However, this approach to design leaves riflemen open to a variety of factors and, more importantly, battlefield hazards such as the "spray" of enemy shells, artillery, and small arms fire. Only the driver received full armor protection, the rifle group received only forward facing armor plates, they could be behind.

Nonetheless, this open-cabin approach proved to be the norm in all countries deploying transitional tank destroyers during wartime.

To make matters worse, the Semovente 90/53 was also limited in its ammo carrying capacity, limited to 6 large 90mm projectiles (though sometimes not carried at all). Therefore, each 90/53 tank destroyer was assigned a special ammunition carrier, converted from an existing FIAT L6/40 light tank and carrying an additional 26 projectiles.

To add to the carrier's value, the L6/40 was fitted with a trailer that fired another 40 projectiles. Under this arrangement, the ammunition specialist was tasked with loading the chamber in flight.

Externally, the chassis appearance of the Semovente 90/53 is no different from the M14/41. The two chain systems are located on the side of the body, the drive sprocket is located at the front and the chain idler is located at the rear. Three track pulleys are fixed under the top of the track. There are eight running wheels on each side of the track, which are mounted in pairs and attached as one pair to a vertical coil spring suspension system.

The fuselage superstructure is relatively faithful to the original M14/41. A simple superstructure was added to the top rear of the fuselage to accommodate 90mm gun emplacements. The gun was just over the length of the hull and had its own recoil mechanism. Armor protection is only on the front, left and right front, while the sides, stern and top are open. Only part of the breech was covered by the armored top plate.

Armor protection is 40 mm (1.57 in) at its thickest point. The Semovente 90/53 has a pronounced "nose up" appearance at rest, a result of its origin from the M14/41. The system is operated by five personnel, consisting of a driver, commander and three gunners. Power comes from a single SPA 15-TM-41 8-cylinder 145 hp gasoline engine mounted in the front of the fuselage.

This gives the vehicle a top speed of 22 mph and a range of 124 miles.

Despite initial requests from Italian troops on the Eastern Front, the Semovente 90/53 was never delivered to the site. Instead, it was successfully used in the North African campaign following the landings of Operation Torch in November 1942, becoming a feared and highly regarded weapon by Allied tank crews. In fact, the 90/53 overshadowed the original M14/41 tank in several ways, both in battlefield value and effectiveness.

Despite the Axis losses in the African campaign, after the Allied landings in Sicily (Operation Husky) in July 1943, the Semovent 90/53 remained an integral part of the Italian army in the Italian campaign, Although its best days are still on the African continent.

But at the end of September 1943, Fascist-led Italy ceased to exist and formally surrendered to the Allies. This left some 90/53 systems in the hands of the retreating German troops, who suspected that Italy had surrendered and used these weapons for a short time.

The mountainous terrain of the Italian countryside was very different from that of the African desert, and the tactical use of the 90/53 suffered - the Allies needed less armored action on that terrain, so the Semovente 90/53 lacked targets the armor could handle. As a result, the remaining Semovente 90/53 tank destroyers were used in long-range indirect artillery roles from then on until they were lost in battle or replaced by other German systems, but some managed to infiltrate the action in the north until the last days War Italy.

A surviving prototype of the Italian Army's Semovente 90/53 tank destroyer on display at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, USA.