The 43M Turán III or 44M Turán III was a Hungarian medium tank of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was based on the 41M Turán II medium tank but was equipped with a significantly larger turret and a much more powerful long-barreled 75 mm gun.

Development

Though the Turán I and II had not yet seen combat, in February 1943 the General Staff of the Honvédség decided it was necessary to begin a modernisation program to improve the tanks. In April 1943 the Hungarian General Staff debated whether to build the Turán III or to obtain the license to produce the long barrelled

Panzer IV The IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, is a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. The Panzer IV was the most numer ...

. Major General Zoltan Harmos asserted that the Panzer IV was not superior enough to the planned Turán III to be worth the price the Germans would ask for the production license. In August 1943 the first prototype of the Turán III was built on the chassis of a Turán I (registration H-830). This first prototype had a new turret and additional 25mm of

armor Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...

added to the front and rear of the tank. A second prototype was planned for December 1943, but was not completed until June 1944. The second prototype had around 75-95mm of armor on the front of the turret and the hull, which further increased the weight and slowed the vehicle down compared to the earlier Turán variants.

Production

Two Turán III vehicles were produced, a prototype and a fully functioning vehicle for the trials. The Turán III with the actual turret was finished in February 1944. Mobility and firing tests were then carried out. However, no more 43M Turáns (Turán III or Turán 75 long) were constructed because of a lack of materials and the fact that after the Occupation of Hungary in March 1944,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

did not allow further tank and gun production, and restricted Hungarian industry to only spare part manufacturing level. However, this was most likely circumvented in the case of the

44M Tas The 44M Tas was a Hungarian heavy tank/ medium tank design of World War II. It was developed to combat heavily armored Soviet tanks encountered on the Eastern Front and to replace the older Turán I and Turán II tanks which Hungary operate ...

' development.

Service

The Hungarian tank driver József Czimmermann stated that there were several Turan III in the 2nd Armoured Division during the fighting near the Ipoly in late 1944. He claimed that the damaged Turán IIIs were captured by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:40M Turan Tanks of Hungary World War II medium tanks Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944 World War II military equipment of Hungary Hungarian design

Development

Production

Service

See also

Notes

References