Hungary's Turan tank

Photos

Turan I, a part of the 2nd Armored Division in Galicia in the summer 1944:

Turan I crosses a busted bridge:

Turan I:

Turan II with the 1st Pancelos Hadosztaly in 1943 crossing a broken bridge (appears to be same as in picture to the left of the Turan I):

Design

In 1940 the Hungarian Ministry of De fence to obtain Czechoslovakian tanks, but the production from Skoda and CKD/Praga were committed to building tanks for the Germans. They did obtain the production rights to the Czechoslovakian designs for the S-IIr and S-IIa.

The S-IIr prototype was completed in August 1941. Production for the Turan 1 started in October 1941.

They were built by the Weiss & Cspel Steelworks of Budapest.

A long barrelled 75 mm gun was installed. It was only in the prototype stage when the Germans occupied Hungary. It was to be called the Turan 3.

The 2 man turrets were replaced by 3 man turrets and radios. The Hungarian made 8-cylinder engine was installed. This became the 40M Turan I.

Prototype

Production

• Turan 1, Turan I: 300
  • Manufacturer:
    • Weiss Manfréd (Cspel): 70
    • Magyar Waggongyár (Gyõr): 70
    • Mávag (Diósgyõr): 50
    • Ganz (Budapest): 45
• Turan 2, Turan II: 322

Variants

• Turan 1, Turan I: Had 40 mm gun. Late production models had 61 mm in the front.
• Turan 2, Turan II: Had a modified turret with a long bevel on the cupola and the armament was changed to a short caliber 75 mm.
• Turan 3: Had longer caliber 75 mm.
• 40/43M Zrinyi: Assault gun armed with 105 mm.

Usage

Turan 1:

Was the main equipment for the Hungarian 1st Tank Division from 1943.

Turan 2:

Issued to Hungarian armored formations in 1943.

Specifications

	Turan 1	Turan 2	Turan 3
Crew	51	51
Physical Characteristics
Weight	40,131 lb, 16,000 kg, 18,200 kg1 17.9 tons1	40,792 lb, 18,500 kg1 18.2 tons1
Length w/gun	18' 7", 18' 8"1 5.68 m1	18' 8"1 5.68 m1
Length w/o gun
Height	7' 7", 7' 8"1 2.33 m1	7' 8"1 2.33 m1
Width	8' 4"1 2.54 m1	8' 4"1 2.54 m1
Ground clearance
Ground contact length
Ground pressure
Turret ring diameter
Armament
Main	40 mm1	75 mm1, short barrelled	75 mm, long barrelled
Secondary
MG		2: 8 mm MG1
MG - coaxial	8 mm MG
MG - hull	8 mm MG
Side arms
Quantity
Main
Secondary
MG
Side arms
Armor Thickness (mm)	14-501	14-501
Hull Front, Upper	50, 61
Hull Front, Lower
Hull Sides, Upper
Hull Sides, Lower
Hull Rear
Hull Top
Hull Bottom	14
Turret Front
Turret Sides
Turret Rear
Turret Top
Engine (Make / Model)	Weiss1	Weiss1
Cylinders	81	81
Net HP	2601 @ 2,200 rpm1	2601 @ 2,200 rpm1
Transmission
Fuel type	Gasoline1	Gasoline1
Octane
Capacity
Performance
Traverse
Speed - Road	29 mph, 29 mph1 43 kph2, 47 kph1	29 mph1 43 kph2, 47 kph1
Speed - Cross Country
Range - Road	102 miles 103 miles1, 165 km1	103 miles1, 165 km1
Turning Radius
Elevation Limits
Fording depth
Trench crossing
Vertical Obstacle
Suspension (Type)
Wheels each side	9
Return rollers each side	4
Track length
Tires
Track width
Track centers/tread