Nahuel DL 43
| Medium Tank "Nahuel" | |
|---|---|
 Argentine "Nahuel" tank | |
| Type | Medium tank |
| Place of origin |  Argentina |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Argentina |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Alfredo Baisi |
| Manufacturer | Arsenal Esteban de Luca |
| No. built | 12 (+ 1 wooden mock-up) |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 35 tonnes |
| Length | 6.22 m (20 ft 5 in) |
| Width | 2.33 m (7 ft 8 in) |
| Height | 2.952 m (9 ft 8.2 in) |
| Crew | 5 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver) |
| Armor | 80 mm |
Main armament | Krupp Model 1909 75mm gun, |
Secondary armament | 1× 7.65 mm Allan machine gun and 3 x 7.65 mm Madsen machine guns ?? rounds |
| Engine | FMA-Lorraine-Dietrich 12 Eb, 12 cylinders in W, water cooled 500 hp |
| Power/weight | 14.3 hp / tonne |
| Suspension | vertical volute spring |
Operational range | 250 km (on road) |
| Maximum speed | 40 km/h (25 mph) (on road) |
The "Nahuel" D.L. 43 tank was a medium tank developed in Argentina during World War II. It was the Argentine equivalent of the M4 Sherman and the M3 Grant American medium tanks.
Design
The designer was Lt. Colonel Alfredo Baisi.[1] The word Nahuel means "jaguar" in the aboriginal language Mapudungun.[1] It was armed with a 75 mm gun (taken from the Krupp Model 1909 Field Gun used by the Argentine Army) in a rotating armored turret.[1]
Similarity
Its design is similar to that of the United States Army M4 Sherman and the early versions of the M3 Grant but with sloped armor. Contrary to popular belief it was not a copy of the M4 Sherman, but the design of the M4 influenced it.[1]
Production
Only 12 tanks and one wooden mock-up were produced by the Arsenal Esteban de Luca in Buenos Aires and supplied to the Argentine Army, because of the availability of cheap surplus Sherman tanks, several of which were provided by the United Kingdom in the late 1940s.[1]
Operators
See also
Notes and references
- Footnotes
- Bibliography
- Template:Es icon Sigal Fogliani, Ricardo Jorge, Nahuel DL 43 - Tanques Argentinos (desde sus orígenes hasta 1950), Editorial Dunken, Buenos Aires, 2004, ISBN 987-02-0788-X.
- Template:Es icon Sigal Fogliani, Ricardo Jorge, Blindados Argentinos, de Uruguay y Paraguay, Ayer y Hoy Ediciones, Buenos Aires, 1997. ISBN 987-95832-7-2.
- Ness, Leland Jane's World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles - The complete guide, Harper Collins Publishers, London 2002, ISBN 0-00-711228-9
External links
