Copyright 2008 by Brandon Cope 
 

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Semovente M.41 da 90/53 tank destroyer

After Italy began facing Soviet tanks in 1941, it quickly became obvious that the T-34 and KV-1 were largely impervious to current Italian tank guns. A decision was made to adapt a 90mm antiaircraft gun and mount in on a modified M14/41 tank chassis. The chassis was enlarged and the engine and tranmission were moved ot the front, to make room for a partly exposed gun station at the rear of the hull. Prototypes were ready in spring of 1942 and began entering service in North Africa later that year, with some 30 being built (plus another 15 command vehicles).

While the 90mm L53 gun was the near-equal of the 88mm gun carried by the Tiger, the gun crew of the M.41 was poorly protected from artillery and small arms fire. There was no interal seating for the gunner and loaders, who had to hang on as best they could on the move. Additionally, the vehicle only had space for a mere six 90mm shells. A modified L6/40 tank was used as an ammo carrier, loaded with 26 rounds and pulling a trailer with another 40.

The Semovente M.41 has a crew of five. The driver and commander sit in the body. The three-man gun crew hang on in open seats or on the top deck as best as they can. In operation, the two loaders stood on the ground behind the vehicle. It uses 4.3 gallons of diesel per hour at routine usage.

Subassemblies: Small Tank chassis +3, Small AFV superstructure [Body:T] +1, tracks +2.
Powertrain: 108-kW diesel engine w/108-kW tracked drive train and 54 gallons fuel in standard fuel tank [body]; 8,000-kWs batteries.
Occupancy: 2 CS Body, 1 MCS Cargo: 3 Superstructure.
 
Armor F R/L B T U
Body 4/115 4/100 4/100 4/55 4/25
Tracks 4/35 4/35 4/35 4/35 4/35
Superstructure 4/160 4/40 4/40 0/0
 0/0

Weaponry
88mm Medium Tank Gun/90mm Model 39 [Super:F] (6).

Statistics
Size: 17'x7'x7' Payload: 0.58 tons Lwt: 17.26 tons
Volume:  63
 Maint.: 58 hours Price: $11,900

HT: 8.
HP: 1,000 Body, 240 Superstructure, 400 each Track.
 
 
gSpeed: 22 gAccel: 2 gDecel: 20 gMR: 0.25 aSR: 4
Ground Pressure Low. 1/2 Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes
Design speed was 25 mph; the historical speed is listed above. To increase design weight, the weight (and cost and HP) of the superstructure was doubled. The armor for the chassis was bought as "cheap" (cost /2.4, weight x1.2). The motorcycle seat represents the gunner station at the rear of the hull.

Variants
There were no variants of the M.41. However, a sole example of a vehicle of somewhat similar configuration was built. This took a 149mm L40 gun and placed it on the chassis of a M15/42 tank. The gun and gun crew lacked even the partial protection of the M.41. However, this was not a great liability as the 149mm gun had a range of some 26,000 yards (24 km).