Panzer I Ausf. A "Breda" : the little Spanish Tank Destroyer

[Shepard_FR 545]

 

Hi,

 

This vehicle is kind of a Frankenstein's monster of a tank...

 

 

During the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalists had to face the Russian material given to the Republicans, including the T-26 light tank and BA armored cars. The Nationalists at that time only had access to Italian tankettes and German Panzer I light tanks, and those machines were only equiped with rifle-caliber machineguns, only effective against infantry.

 

So the idea was to perform so quick field modifications and improvise a new turret for the Panzer I. That turret would be equiped by a single Breda Model 35 20mm cannon (the same gun on the AB41 and L6/40 in the Italian tech tree).

The idea quickly became obsolete though, as Russian material quickly switched hands after a few Republican defeats, so Nationalists could also use the Russian T-26 light tanks.

 

This means that only 4 Panzer I tanks were modified with the Breda turret, and that very little is known about the exact specifications of that vehicle. The Panzer I chassis is untouched, but data concerning the exact specifications of the field modified turret are rare.

 

Panzer I Ausf. A "Breda" :

 

 

Crew : 2

Engine : Krupp M305 4-cylinder Boxer engine, 57hp

Armament : Breda Modello 35 20mm autocannon, no coaxial machinegun

Armor : 13mm on the front, sides and rear ; 6mm on the roof and floor

Number built : 4

 

I believe this tank could be a neat premium or small reward tank (why not a reward related to the anniversary of the Spanish Civil War).

However, I'm still not sure in which tree it could go, the chassis is German, the gun is Italian, but it served in the Spanish Nationalist Army... We don't have a Spanish tree (and probably never have one due to lack of vehicles I suppose), but I think that this vehicle could be fine either with the German or the Italian tech tree.

 

 

What do you guys think ?

 

Sources :

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/spain/panzer-i-Breda

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_I

[leroyonly 4,310]

Open for discussion. 

[Shepard_FR 545]

1 hour ago, leroyonly said:

Open for discussion. 

 

Cheers

[cfracas 1,708]

+1 

[donTomasso 344]

+1

It would be nice addition to Italian TT.

 

[PrussianOwl 440]

+1 for Italy, I always liked interwar tanks anyway

[Seefelder@psn 131]

+1 would be nice to see Spanish tanks

[MILESPARVUS 1,100]

A definite yes from me. Though I would like to see it in the German tree, for the only reason that currently the German aircraft tree has all the Spanish Nationalist/Condor Legion aircraft in game. I think it fits better there at the moment. 

[Milocat 4,854]

+1 as a tier 1 premium in the German or Italian tech tree, love this little thing.

[MadMax_ITA_ 789]

There was also the "trubia" a CV33, the small Italian tier 1 TD, armed with a Breda 20mm autocannon (the one in game is semi auto) in casematte. The second version was a CV33 converted like a L6 but with a turret system similar to this tank but with the same 20mm autocannon. Both were developed by Italy and sent to Spain that adopted them but preferred this PZ1 variant having a wider use

Edited October 6, 2019 by MadMax_ITA_

[Shad0wChaser 33]

We need a proper Panzer I in-game, and this could be it.

[Borotovas 4,500]

+1

[VeeeVeee 1]

+1 to this.

Would love to see a Pz1 ingame.

[ThedepthPunisher 194]

+1 to have this tank as premium in the German or Italian tree. It would be very fun to play