L5/21

Fiat 3000 carro d'assalto



During 1917 and 1918, the Italian army received about 20 Schneider and 100 Renault Ft-17 tanks from France. These were the first tanks of the Italian army ever. These tanks were assigned to the special unit Sezione Carri Armati. (its name was subsequently changed several times.) However, the supply of French tanks was insufficient, so the Italian government decided to license production of Renault Ft-17 tanks. At the same time, however, the decision was made to improve the design of the tank itself. Production was to begin during 1918 and 1400 tanks were to be delivered by the end of 1919. However, preparations for mass production dragged on until the fighting of World War I finally ended. This led to the cancellation of the original order for only 100 of these vehicles. The first Fiat 3000s did not enter service until 1921, after which they were designated Fiat 3000 carro d'assalto Mod. 21. Compared to the original, the tank had armament in the form of two 6.5mm calibre machine guns and an Italian Fiat four-cylinder engine of 50 hp. Other slight modifications affected the hull and turret of the tank. The tank underwent modernisation in the early 1930s. It received a new, more powerful 63 hp engine, the engine mounting in the hull was redesigned, and the suspension was modified. The armament was improved based on the experience of fighting in Libya with a 37mm long-barrelled gun (40 times the calibre). This modification was designated Fiat 3000 carro d'assalto Mod. 30. At the beginning of World War II a major rebadging took place with the Model 21 being renamed L.5/21 and the Model 30 being renamed L.5/30.


Bojové nasadenie
The Fiat 3000 took part in several combat conflicts. It made its first appearance in February 1926 in Libya in the fighting against the Senussi. In the 1930s, it also fought its way into Ethiopia. At the beginning of World War II, these tanks (then designated L5) were in the status of two armored divisions, the 131st Centauro and the 133rd. Littorio. The Centauro was involved in the fighting in Albania and later in Greece. The tanks did not make much of a showing and over half had to be written off. It turned out that the engine tended to burn out and the armour of the tanks was completely inadequate as the tanks were often shot by enemy (Greek army) heavy machine gun fire. At the time of the formation of the new Ariete division, these tanks were used as training tanks. But due to the lack of new medium tanks, they were in turn returned to the Litturio division. In the autumn of 1941, Litturio was also finally rearmed with M13/40 medium tanks, and the L5s remained for training purposes only. Only, at the time of the Allied landings in Sicily, there were two groups of these tanks. And so this sort of WWI veteran (it was still basically a Renault FT-17) fought its way up against the Americans as well. The Italians buried some of these vehicles and used them as strongpoints. Others were used as mobile assets, except that their combat value was minimal and so most were destroyed by the Americans.



Základné údaje:
Number of units produced: 100pcs (mod. 21) 48pcs (mod. 30)
Length: 4.29 m
Width: 1.65 m
Height: 2.20 m
Weight: 5500kg
Crew: 2 men
Armour: 6-16mm
Armament:
2 6.5mm machine guns (mod. 21)
1 37mm L40 cannon (mod. 30)
Engine:
Fiat 50 hp (mod. 21)
Fiat 63 hp engine (mod. 30)
Range: 100 km
Max. 21 km/h


source:
http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/
http://www.avalanchepress.com/IronCoffin.php