41M Turan II

Hungarian medium tank Turan I and II.
History, development, service, specifications, statistics, pictures and 3D-model of 41M Turan II.

41M Turan II
Type: Hungarian medium tank

History:

Prior to WW2, Hungary had equipped its armored forces with AFV’s from abroad (mainly Italian CV-33 tankettes) which they then modified to suit their own purposes. In 1940, Hungary gained permission to manufacture a medium tank which appeared in 1941 and was based on a Czech Skoda design (now the German Panzer 38(t) ).
Named Turan I, it was a 16-ton medium tank with a five-man crew and mounted a 40 mm Skoda gun in a large refitted turret (with square cupola). Turan was built by the Weiss&Cspel Steelworks of Budapest and was powered by 260hp Hungarian made engine. Production of this tank was beginning in October 1941.

After the disastrous Stalingrad battles, the Hungarian army realized that it needed a more powerful weapon to counter the Russian T-34 tanks. In 1943 the Turan II appeared with a modified turret with long bevel on the cupola and the gun changed to a short-barreled 75 mm. The vehicle’s combat debut was not before April 1944 in Galicia, because the Hungarians were held back from the front line for refitting during 1943.

The type was still outclassed by most Russian armor and so the long barreled German 75 mm gun L/43 was installed. It was called Turan III, but it was only in the prototype stage when the Germans occupied Hungary and exchanged the current government.
There after the Fascist Hungarian Army was supplied with German armored vehicles and plans were made for the license production of the famous Panther tank (but the Russian encirclement and fall of Budapest ended this project).

Users: Hungary (for all variants).

---

Animated 3d model of 40M Turan I tank

---

Data for 41M Turan II

Specifications:

Armour:

Armament:

Penetration mm at 30° armor of the German 7.5cm Kwk37 L/24:

Production:

Service statistics of all Turan variants:

---

Animated 3d model of 41M Turan II tank

---

References and literature

World War Two Tanks (George Forty)
Panzer und andere Kampffahrzeuge von 1916 bis heute (Christopher F. Foss, John F. Milsom, Colonel John Stafford Weeks, Captain Georffrey Tillotson, Richard M. Ogorkiewicz)
Kraftfahrzeuge und Panzer der Reichswehr, Wehrmacht und Bundeswehr (Werner Oswald)
Germany’s Eastern Front Allies 1941-45 (Peter Abbott, Nigel Thomas)
Krieg der Panzer (Piekalkiewicz)

---

for sharing: