Fiat 3000
Fiat 3000 mod.21
TypeLight tank
Place of originItaly
Service history
In service1921-1945
Used byItaly
Ethiopia
Albania
Hungary
China
Latvia
Denmark
Japan
WarsPacification of Libya
Ethiopian coup d'état of 1928
Second Italo–Abyssinian War
Second Sino–Japanese War
Slovak-Hungarian War
World War II
Production history
No. built152 (100 mod 21, 52 mod 30)
Specifications
Mass6 tonnes
Length4.29 m (168.9 in)
Width1.65 m (65.0 in)
Height2.20 m (86.6 in)
Crew2
Armor6 mm-16 mm
Main
armament
2x 6.5 mm machine guns 3000A
1x 37 mm 3000B
Secondary
armament
1x 6.5 mm machine gun
EngineFiat 4-cylinder
50 hp (37 kW)
Suspensionvertical springs
Operational
range
100 km (62 mi)
Maximum speed 21 km/h (13 mph)

The Fiat 3000 was the first tank to be produced in series in Italy.[1] It became the standard tank of the emerging Italian armored units after World War I. The 3000 was based on the French Renault FT.[2]

History

Although 1,400 units were ordered, with deliveries to begin in May 1919, the end of the war caused the original order to be canceled and only 100 were delivered.[2] The first Fiat 3000s entered service in 1921 and were officially designated as the carro d'assalto Fiat 3000, Mod. 21 (Italian for "Fiat 3000 assault tank, Model 21").[3] Tests of the Model 21 revealed that the armament, consisting of two 6.5 mm machine guns, was inadequate, and adoption of a 37 mm gun as main armament was urged.

The up-gunned version of the 3000, armed with a 37/40 gun, was tested in 1929 and was officially adopted in 1930 with the designation of carro d'assalto Fiat 3000, Mod. 30.[1] The Model 30, in addition to its improved armament, also differed from the Model 21 in that it had a more powerful engine, improved suspension, different engine compartment silhouette, and the external stores were stowed differently.[2] By turning the engine sideways for the first time (a principle still used on Russian tanks today) after slightly widening the hull, Italian engineers were able to make the fighting compartment much less cramped and the tank shorter and lighter at the same time.[4] Some Model 30s were also produced with two 6.5 mm machine guns as main armament, as on the Model 21, in lieu of the 37 mm gun.[1] A limited number of Model 21 vehicles were exported to Albania, Latvia (6 in 1926),[5] Hungary, and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) prior to 1930.

The designations of these tanks were changed prior to the outbreak of World War II, in accordance with the identification system that was adopted throughout the war by the Italians. The Model 21 was redesignated L5/21, and the Model 30 was redesignated L5/30.

Battle

The Fiat 3000 (Model 21) was first used in action in February 1926 in Libya, and subsequently also saw action against the Ethiopians in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in 1935.[1] It was not one of the tanks used by the Italians in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, however. With Italy's entry into World War II in June 1940, a limited number of Fiat 3000s still in service with the Italian Army were employed operationally on the Greek-Albanian front.[1] They were also among the last Italian tanks to oppose the Allies, as in July 1943, when the Allies landed in Sicily, two Italian tank companies on the island were still equipped with the 3000.[1] One company was dug in and their vehicles were used as fixed fortifications, while the other company was used in a mobile role to respond to the amphibious landing during the Battle of Gela, with few of the tanks surviving the Allied drive.[6]

Operators

Fiat 3000 tank of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Mukden Incident, 1931
 Kingdom of Italy
 Argentina
 Kingdom of Albania
 Soviet Union
  •  Soviet Army purchased three FIAT 3000 in 1927. These arrived in Moscow in March 1928.
 Kingdom of Denmark
 Ethiopian Empire
 Latvia
  •  Latvian Land Forces purchased six Fiat 3000 in 1927. They equipped two platoons of the 1st Tank Company, located in Riga.
 Kingdom of Spain
  •  Spanish Army purchased a single example for testing in October 1924. After the unsuccessful trials and its rejection as the next Spanish light tank, the tank was left at the Escuela Central de Tiro in Carabanchel, Madrid.
 Kingdom of Hungary
 Empire of Japan
  •  Imperial Japanese Army purchased one Fiat 3000 for testing. This tank participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Fiat 3000 (1921)". tanks-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  2. 1 2 3 "Fiat 3000". www.historyofwar.org. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  3. ↑ "FIAT 3000 (Carro d-assalto 3000 / L.5 Series)". www.militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  4. ↑ "The Best Renault FT Clone".
  5. ↑ "Zudusī Latvija - Rīga. Autotanku pulka novietnē Pulka ielā". www.zudusilatvija.lv.
  6. ↑ Garland & Smith U.S. Army in World War II - Mediterranean Theater of Operations - Sicily and the Surrender of Italy pp.147-162
  7. ↑ Filippo Cappellano, Gli autoveicoli da combattimento dell'Esercito Italiano, vol.1, Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito, Roma 2002
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