Semovente L3 da 47/32

[Milocat 4,848]

The Semovente L3 da 47/32 was Italy's first attempt to make a tank destroyer by placing the 47mm 47/32 cannon on an armored vehicle, designed in 1939-1940.  In this case, the chassis of an L3/35 tankette was used.  The weapon was mounted at the very front of the vehicle, and the crew compartment was made open-top to accommodate it.  Originally, the gun was fully exposed, which led to concerns about the crew's vulnerability to small arms fire.  A gun shield was added to address this issue and the prototype was completed.  At least one prototype (possibly more) was built based on this design, but the vehicle was deemed too small to effectively carry the 47mm cannon and was rejected.  The Semovente L40 da 47/32, based on the Carro Armato L6/40 light tank, was selected for production instead.  

 

I think that the Semovente L3 da 47/32 would make an excellent tier 1 tank destroyer for the Italian tank tree!  I would place it at a BR of 1.0-1.3, around the L3 tankette with the 20mm anti-tank rifle (perhaps tabbed underneath it).  Although this vehicle only reached the prototype stage I would like to see it in the main tank tree, as Italy needs every indigenous vehicle they can get.  

 

Thanks to Taffu92 for helping with research!  

 

Specifications:  

Length:  >3.17m (exact value unknown, slightly longer due to gun)

Width:  1.4m

Height:  1.5m 

Weight:  ~3.2 tons

Engine:  FIAT-SPA CV3 4-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine, 43 hp

Speed:  42 kmh (26 mph)

Crew:  2 (Driver/Loader, Gunner)

Armor:  6-14mm, gun shield 10mm

Armament:  One 47mm Cannone da 47/32 mod. 1935 (53 rounds)

Number Built:  1 (prototype)

 

Images:  

Spoiler

Prototype without gun shield:  

Prototype with gun shield:  

http://i.imgur.com/jrE790L.jpg

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Sem-da47-32.jpg

http://www.modelltrans.com/216-thickbox_default/semovente-da-4732-su-scafo-l3.jpg

http://www.kitshow.net/images/M_M/12_MSC/Cuorgne_2011_B3_134a.jpg

http://www.kitshow.net/images/M_M/12_MSC/Cuorgne_2011_B3_134b.jpg

 

Sources:  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L3/35 

http://tankarchives.blogspot.com/2018/08/semovente-l40-da-4732-italys-smallest.html 

http://www.wardrawings.be/WW2/Files/1-Vehicles/Axis/2-Italy/04-SPG/Semovente-L3(47-32)/File/Semovente-L3(47-32).htm 

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/italy/Semovente_da_47-32.php 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Milocat

[SAUBER_KH7 3,325]

Open for Discussion.

[Milocat 4,848]

Just now, SAUBER_KH7 said:

Open for Discussion.

 

Thank you!  

[*kurojin89 11]

Ohhhhh yesssss!! 

+1

[onemax9000 1,242]

+1 

here milocat if you want to find more Italian vehicles to suggest (mostly page 1,8,9).

 

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by onemax9000

[TerikG2014 1,389]

I'd be up for this if the British got the 2 lbr gun carrier

[Menarrosto 2,629]

Not bad

[Milocat 4,848]

4 hours ago, onemax9000 said:

+1 

here milocat if you want to find more Italian vehicles to suggest (mostly page 1,8,9).

 

 

 

Thanks!  I'll look into it.

 

3 hours ago, TerikG2014 said:

I'd be up for this if the British got the 2 lbr gun carrier

 

That's fair!

 

 

 

Thanks for the support, everyone!

[Border_Farce 86]

what a cracking suggestion +1 from me

 

[Admiral_Aruon 2,264]

sure. decent low tier filler. +1

[BrentD15@psn 1,116]

A 1.7 tank destroyer, possibly.

[Solarmod 1,203]

+1, this seems like a meme vehicle, you know me, I love me some meme vehicles.

[MadMax_ITA_ 789]

On 17/01/2019 at 15:56, Milocat said:

 

https://www.analisidifesa.it/2019/10/carro-l-6-carri-leggeri-semoventi-e-derivati/

@Milocat Don't know if you can read Italian, this book is about the L6 and prototypes that lead to his development, there might be info on the L3 47/32 since the L3 was the first step to the L6

[Pizzacorgie28 17]

+1 sounds like a fun equivalent to the german Panzerjäger 1

[Taffu92 557]

Hi @Milocat,

 

I'll add a stat card from Ralph Ricco's "Italian tanks and combat vehicles of WWII", as it is pretty accurate, with also some additional notes and corrections from Pignato and Cappellano's "Gli autoveicoli da combattimento dell'esercito italiano" volume I that I used to double.check all the informations.

Hope this will be helpfull.

 

- Correction 1): In the stat cart that you'll find at the end of this post Riccio states that the overall height of the machine is 1310mm, which is instead the height of the machine without the gun shield, the correct one is 1500mm.

 

-Notes:

 

1) The crew was composed of only two people, the driver on the right and the gunner on the left.

As you can see in the photo below the driver was supposed to help the gunner loading the gun after the machine reached its final position, as it was originally designed as a fast way to deploy the 47/32 cannon, lay in ambush and wait. (in the game this won't be possible as the driver is constantly driving, so the rate of fire will be slower).

 

2)The gun shield was also intended to be detached and stored on the sides of the machine during travel, as it limited the driver field of view, and then reassembled reached its final position.

This won't be possible in game because it will just bring the protection level of the L3 to "0" and because the stored shield only added protection to the engine.

 

3)The suspensions were also modified to withstand the weight and the recoil of the 47/32 cannon.

 

Here's the picture were you can see the gunner and the driver, plus the new suspensions of the L3, below you can see the small view port for the driver on the left of the shield (these are just clearer images of the ones you have already posted):

Spoiler

 

And here's how the shield was stored in travel configuration on the back of the vehicle ( see how it only remove the already minimal protection of the machine):

Spoiler

 

4) The 53 rounds of the machine were stored in a metal box behind the turret in 5 rows of 11-10-11-10-11 shells.

 

You already got it in one of your pictures, I'll add also the one from Riccio and a hand-made displacement of the rounds because there was no clear top-down photos of the ammo box open:

Spoiler

 

Hand-made disposition of the rounds:

 

 

And here's the stat card from Riccio; last note, Riccio doesn't specify the thickness of the shield in his card but it actually was 10mm on the frontal part and only 5-6mm on the inclined, external one (you can see it in the picture above were the shield is stored):

Spoiler

 

 

From Pingato and Cappellano's book:

 

"The head of the S.M. (Stato Maggiore) of the army, Pariani, noted, after the visit of the prime minister, that the semovente "sufficed", but a Breda for AA support was needed to complete it, after this, the army could order 300 units of it, but only for a breif period".

Unfortunately new projects came and this one was deemed useless and then discarded.

 

 

 

[Milocat 4,848]

12 minutes ago, Taffu92 said:

Hi @Milocat,

 

I'll add a stat card from Ralph Ricco's "Italian tanks and combat vehicles of WWII", as it is pretty accurate, with also some additional notes and corrections from Pignato and Cappellano's "Gli autoveicoli da combattimento dell'esercito italiano" volume I that I used to double.check all the informations.

Hope this will be helpfull.

 

- Correction 1): In the stat cart that you'll find at the end of this post Riccio states that the overall height of the machine is 1310mm, which is instead the height of the machine without the gun shield, the correct one is 1500mm.

 

-Notes:

 

1) The crew was composed of only two people, the driver on the right and the gunner on the left.

As you can see in the photo below the driver was supposed to help the gunner loading the gun after the machine reached its final position, as it was originally designed as a fast way to deploy the 47/32 cannon, lay in ambush and wait. (in the game this won't be possible as the driver is constantly driving, so the rate of fire will be slower).

 

2)The gun shield was also intended to be detached and stored on the sides of the machine during travel, as it limited the driver field of view, and then reassembled reached its final position.

This won't be possible in game because it will just bring the protection level of the L3 to "0" and because the stored shield only added protection to the engine.

 

3)The suspensions were also modified to withstand the weight and the recoil of the 47/32 cannon.

 

Here's the picture were you can see the gunner and the driver, plus the new suspensions of the L3, below you can see the small view port for the driver on the left of the shield (these are just clearer images of the ones you have already posted):

  Reveal hidden contents

 

And here's how the shield was stored in travel configuration on the back of the vehicle ( see how it only remove the already minimal protection of the machine):

  Reveal hidden contents

 

4) The 53 rounds of the machine were stored in a metal box behind the turret in 5 rows of 11-10-11-10-11 shells.

 

You already got it in one of your pictures, I'll add also the one from Riccio and a hand-made displacement of the rounds because there was no clear top-down photos of the ammo box open:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Hand-made disposition of the rounds:

 

 

And here's the stat card from Riccio; last note, Riccio doesn't specify the thickness of the shield in his card but it actually was 10mm on the frontal part and only 5-6mm on the inclined, external one (you can see it in the picture above were the shield is stored):

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

From Pingato and Cappellano's book:

 

"The head of the S.M. (Stato Maggiore) of the army, Pariani, noted, after the visit of the prime minister, that the semovente "sufficed", but a Breda for AA support was needed to complete it, after this, the army could order 300 units of it, but only for a breif period".

Unfortunately new projects came and this one was deemed useless and then discarded.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all the information!  I've updated the statblock in the original post with the new data.  Hopefully it'll help this vehicle get added.  

[Taffu92 557]

4 hours ago, Milocat said:

 

Thanks for all the information!  I've updated the statblock in the original post with the new data.  Hopefully it'll help this vehicle get added.  

 

I really hope so, because I would love to run around the battlefield in this little one.

I was also collecting data for the Fiat 611C and I noticed that is one of your post too.

I think I'll post what I found before the weekend (just need some double check work), but let me tell you one word, that machine is way, waaay weaker than I originally thought.

The armor was barely 10mm all around, the engine was really weak for such a big machine (only 46Hp), the gun also didn't have any telescopic sight, only some kind of rifile aim and a shooting table, this made it more of a close range machine than an A.T. armored car.

This is also why they ended up giving all of them to the "Polizia di Stato" (State Police), as they were more suited for crowd control than actual combat.

This made me pretty sad, because the 611C is an iconic armored car for the italian army but I don't think we'll be able to see it in game,   (maybe with a miracle..)

[PrussianOwl 438]

Looks fun, +1 support

[Nicholas_Concu 2,634]

+1 lower tiers need all of the love and support

[Capitan_Rastrero@psn 12]

+1Yes, more L3s!

[_Pixy 196]

All the small boys for Italy +1

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

Cool

[Grimbergen95 362]

[ConroeDoctrine 133]

+1 I'm undoubtedly quite late on this topic, but I absolutely loved this little thing from the first time I saw it. An L3 with the firepower of a M13/40? Absolutely gib! I want my Italian Lorraine 37L!

[John4Plays 70]

+1 from me mate! o7