The 39M Csaba was an armored car that was used by Hungary during World War II.
Description[]
The 39M had a 90 hp Ford engine that was capable of propelling it at speeds of up to sixty-five km/h.[1] Operational range was limited to around 150 kilometers. In order to operate the vehicle, a crew of at least three men was required. However, the Csaba sometimes included a fourth crew member to man the secondary driving position in the rear, which allowed the vehicle to make a hasty getaway from any engagements as was typical of scouting vehicles of the time.[2]
The armament of the Csaba consisted of a single 20 mm Solothurn 36M cannon along with two 8 mm Gebauer machine guns. While sufficient at the time the Csaba was developed, this would go on to be an insufficient armament, even in most second-line duties. Furthermore, the armor at most was only 9 mm thick, hardly enough to stop even small arms fire.[3]The total weight of the Csaba was around 5,397 kilograms with a total length of around 4.5 meters. Mechanically, a five speed forward, five speed reverse transmission system was used with the Csaba. Communications with other ground forces was achieved through a mounted R-4 radio operated by the vehicle commander.
Variants[]
The only variant produced during the Csaba's limited production run was known as the 40M Csaba armored command car which was both fitted with a long-range R-4T radio but also a radio frame covering the top of the vehicle in a similar manner to German SdKfz 250 command vehicles and their radio mounts. Of all the Csaba armored cars created, near half of these were converted for use as 40M command vehicles.
History[]
The 39M Csaba was designed in the late 1930s by Nicholas Straussler while living in Great Britain. His design was named after the son of Attila the Hun. After completing a prototype, the 39M was thoroughly tested in 1939 before Hungary finally placed an order for first sixty-one vehicles and then another forty in 1940. These were divided for use among the 1st and 2nd Hungarian Mechanized Brigades and 1st Mountain Brigade. Notably, the first combat actions these Csabas undertook was during Operation Barbarossa and later the fighting along the Don river. It was shown that the only action suitable for the 39M was reconnaissance as any other type of fighting typically resulted with the loss of numerous vehicles. From that point on, the 39M continued to serve as a recon vehicle for the Royal Hungarian Army until the defeat of Hungary and by extension Germany in 1945 with a total of 202 vehicles being produced in its production run.
References[]
| ||||||||||||||