T-13 B3 A Tank destroyer

mr_boo · April 13, 2023

The T-13 B3 was a Belgian tank destroyer used in 1940 and designed in 1934 (making it one of the first tank destroyers!).

Due to Belgium's neutrality politics of the time, the vehicle had to be as defensive and light as possible as not to 'provoke' the Germans. As such, its armor protection was extremely light, but fortunately had a good cannon for the time and a pretty fast top speed (sometimes even too fast).

It was based on the British Vickers Light Dragon and was equipped with a very decent 47mm cannon in a fully traversable turret. The turret was open at the rear and also housed a coaxial M1918 BAR machine gun.

Several variants of the T-13 B3 existed;

The T-13 B3 A with 3 crewmen and 100 rounds - The one i am suggesting here

The T-13 B3 B with 4 crewmen but 'only' 68 rounds

The T-13 B3 C with 3 crewmen and 68 rounds but with a radio - Not built

The T-13 B3 A had only 3 crew members but could also bring 100 rounds into battle in 3 racks (32+32+36). This version was used by the famous Chasseurs Ardennais and the Cyclistes Frontières (dudes on bikes)

The T-13 B3, here captured by the Germans:

T13-light-tank-captured.png.56809ea50fc5

Here we can see where the ammunition was stored, the "B" ammo rack could've been replaced by an additional crew member on the B version or a radio station on the C version

IMG_3885.png.9f6a67b146b6ecee4a2a071ae3f

Specifications - T-13 B3 A

Armament:

C.47 F.R.C. Mod.31 47mm cannon - Practically the same cannon as the French SA35 L/32 (Ammo: 100)

- APC: Penetration at 0m and 0°: 62mm

- HE: 180g TNT (~5mm pen.)

Reloading rate: 2.4s

FN M1918 BAR light machine gun

Armor:

7-13mm RHA

Mobility:

Meadows 6 cylinder engine (88 hp)

Max. speed: 56km/h → 70km/h - Although cited max speed was of 56km/h, commander Adrien Modera reached a speed of 70km/h per hour in May 1940.

5-speed transmission

Power to weight ratio: 17.32 hp per ton

Crew:

3 (Driver, Commander-Gunner, Loader)

Dimensions:

Mass: 5.08t

Length: 3.65m

Width: 1.87m

Height: 1.84m

So while it has very poor armor even for Rank I, you can still rely on your excellent mobility and very fast reload rate to deal with the enemy!

You should still be careful with the A version since 2 crew members killed means crew knocked out, and you'll have a hard time making the extra 32 rounds worth it, even with an almost 2 second reload rate.

It could be a nice French or British premium/event vehicle, French due to the proximity and similarities between France and Belgium and British due to the chassis it's based on, or be kept for a possible BeNeLux tech tree depending on what Gaijin has planned.

Sources

On the T-13 B3s versions:

IMG_3887.png.ff8c22ebab1d38551ed66ab8702