BEL - Minerva

Minerva



At the time of the attack on Belgium by German forces, the German cavalry was vastly outnumbered. To relieve the pressure of the German right flank and to slow its advance, Belgium decided to use the Minerva and Excelsior vehicles. At first the soldiers of the cars attacked with rifles only, but soon they were equipped with Hotchkiss machine guns. When Prince Baduin of Belgium died as a result of one of the clashes between the cars and the German cavalry, the cars were equipped with armour. These were ordinary Minerva 38CV passenger cars with a 40 hp four-cylinder engine. The rear axle was given twin wheels to improve traction off-road. Under the direction of Lt. Henkart they were fitted with 5mm thick armour plate from the Cockerill factory in Hoboken (the factory made boilers for naval ships). The Hotchkiss 8mm machine gun was mounted on the roof of the vehicle and was fitted with an undersized rounded armour plate. Due to the excellent performance of these vehicles, the Sava armoured car was subsequently created in Belgium, which already had an all-armoured concept with a fully rotatable turret equipped with a machine gun. A total of 25 to 30 vehicles were produced before the factory was occupied by the German army in October 1914. Other users of this car were Germany and the Netherlands. Germany used the captured machines, along with other armoured vehicles, in the invasion of Romania. The Netherlands seized one machine after crossing the border and used it for reconnaissance during the war. That vehicle was returned to Belgium in 1919. Belgium used these vehicles until 1935, some of which were fitted with the French 37mm gun in the post-war period.


Základné údaje:
Weight: 3500 kg
Length: 4.4m
Width: 1.75m
Height: 1.84m
Engine: 4-cylinder Minerva petrol engine with 40 hp
Max. 48km/h (other sources say 40km/h)
Crew: 3 men


Source:
http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/
www.landships.freeservers.com

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BEL - Minerva - prepracovaná verzia pod menom Sáva

prepracovaná verzia pod menom Sáva
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URL : https://www.valka.cz/BEL-Minerva-t63252#225807 Version : 0
Military museum in Brussels

Construction of a replica of OA Minerva - status 16. September 2014.
A photo of your own..
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BEL - Minerva -


BEL - Minerva -


BEL - Minerva -


URL : https://www.valka.cz/BEL-Minerva-t63252#558711 Version : 0
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