LT vz. 34
Encyclopedia
The LT vz. 34, formally designated as Lehký - Light, Tank vzor - Model 34 was a Czechoslovak
-designed light tank
used mainly by Slovakia during World War II
. Its suspension was based on that of the Carden-Loyd tankette, of which the Czechs had purchased three, plus a manufacturing license, in 1930. Dissatisfied with the prototypes of the Tančík vz. 33
tankette
, the Czech Army decided that it would be easier to design a light tank from scratch rather than modify a tankette's chassis
to carry a fully rotating armored turret
. 50 were built, the last of which was delivered during 1936, of which the Germans captured 23 when they occupied Bohemia-Moravia
in March 1939, but they promptly scrapped them. The Slovaks seized the remaining 27 when they declared independence from Czechoslovakia at the same time. In Slovak service it only saw combat during the Slovak National Uprising
.
separated the engine compartment from the crew. A door allowed access to the engine from the crew compartment. It also had ventilation openings that could be closed. The driver sat on the right side using a 300 by 75 mm (11.8 by 3 in) observation port protected by two flaps. The inner flap had an episcope with a 25° field of view. It was connected to the armored outer flap so that opening one closed the other. The outer flap had a 3 mm (0.118110236220472 in) slit. To his right was an vision slit 120 by 3 mm (4.7 by 0.118110236220472 in) protected by 50 millimetres (2 in) of bulletproof glass
. The inner flap was padded so that the driver could rest his head on it when driving. The radio operator sat on the left and had his own 120 by 50 mm (4.7 by 2 in) vision port with 50 millimetres (2 in) of bulletproof glass and an armored shutter. His radios were mounted on the left wall of the hull. The hull machine gun was between the driver and radio operator in a ball mount with 30° of traverse. It could elevate 25° and depress 10°. Most of the machine gun's barrel protruded from the mount and was protected by an armored trough. The mount had a spotting telescope or open sights could be used if the plug at the top of the ball mount was removed. If necessary the driver could lock the mount into position and fire it himself using a Bowden cable
.
The turret ring had a diameter of 1.265 metres (49.8 in). The turret sides were 15 mm (0.590551181102362 in) thick and its roof had a thickness of 8 mm (0.31496062992126 in). The turret was manually traversed (3° per rotation of the handle), but the gearing could be disengaged to allow the commander to shoulder the turret around as desired. The turret had a flat face in the center of which was mounted the 3.72 cm (1.5 in) main armament. On the right side was another 7.92 mm (0.311811023622047 in) machine gun
in a ball mount. The commander had four episcopes in his cupola and a monocular mirror, 1.3 x 35° periscope which he could extend once he removed its armored cover in his hatch for vision while "buttoned-up". This meant that the commander was responsible for loading, aiming and firing the main gun and the turret machine gun while simultaneously commanding the tank.
The vertical front and side armor was 15 mm (0.590551181102362 in) thick, the slanted plates had a thickness of 12 mm (0.47244094488189 in), the engine hatch was 10 mm (0.393700787401575 in) thick and the top and bottom plates were 8 mm (0.31496062992126 in) in thickness. This was deemed enough to deflect armor-piercing 7.92 mm (0.311811023622047 in) bullets fired from distances greater than 75 metres (82 yd).
The 6.08 litres (370.7 cu in), water-cooled, 62.5 hp, inline 4-cylinder Praga engine used a gasoline-alcohol mix. It had a top speed on the road of 30 kilometres per hour (18.6 mph) and about 15 kilometres per hour (9.3 mph) cross-country. One 64.5 litres (17 US gal) fuel tank was located on each side of the engine. The transmission
had four forward gears and one reverse gear to drive the front-mounted drive sprocket
s.
The suspension was an enlarged and modified version of that used in the Carden-Loyd tankettes. It consisted of two small road wheels fastened together on a frame, two frames paired and sprung by leaf springs that made a wheel carrier, two wheel carriers per side. The track was guided by two return rollers and wooden, metal-lined frames. The rear-mounted idler wheel was used to adjust track tension. It had a ground pressure of only 0.5 kg/cm2. It could cross a ditch 2 metres (6.6 ft) wide, climb an obstacle 0.8 metres (2.6 ft) high and ford a stream 0.8 metres (2.6 ft) deep. It could uproot trees 0.18 metres (7.1 in) thick and breach a wall 0.5 metres (19.7 in) thick.
The main armament was a Škoda ÚV vz. 34 (A3) gun with a pepperpot muzzle brake
and a prominent armored recoil cylinder above the barrel. It fired a 0.815 kilograms (1.8 lb) armor-piercing shell at 690 metres per second (2,263.8 ft/s). It was credited with penetrating a plate inclined at 30° from the vertical 37 millimetres (1.5 in) thick at 100 metres (109.4 yd), 31 millimetres (1.2 in) thick at 500 metres (546.8 yd), 26 millimetres (1 in) thick at 1000 metres (1,093.6 yd), and 22 millimetre (0.866141732283465 in) thick at 1500 metres (1,640.4 yd). Another source quotes penetration of a vertical plate 45 millimetres (1.8 in) thick at 500 metres (546.8 yd). The machine gun's ball mount could be coupled to the main gun or used independently. Both weapons could elevate 25° and depress 10°. They both used 1.25x power sights with a 25° field of view. The tank used Zbrojovka Brno
ZB vz. 35 heavy machine guns in both ball mounts.
44/60 gun and two ZB vz. 26 machine guns so the contract was signed with no design work on the desired armament configuration. ČKD did not finalize its design until December 1933 and the first six tanks were delivered with only a pair of ZB vz. 26 machine guns. The last tanks were delivered on 14 January 1936, but the six pre-production models had to be returned to the factory to be upgraded with the proper armament and otherwise modified up to the latest standards. The last one was delivered on 17 August 1936.
-era Renault FT-17
s. Each of the three armored regiments received between nine and twenty-four until replaced by the LT vz. 35 from 1937. After the Munich Agreement
in October 1938 the army tried to sell them, but could find no takers. In November 1938 it decided to concentrate all of them in the Third Armored Regiment in Slovakia, but only eighteen had been transferred before the German occupation of Czechoslovakia
and the Slovak declaration of independence in March 1939.
in 1944. They were shipped to Skoda for repairs, but the local military representative ordered them scrapped because of their poor condition and obsolescence. The Waffen-SS
tried to overturn this order as it planned to transfer them to Nazi puppet state of Croatia
. Two were saved from the scrapyard, but by March 1945 the others had their turrets salvaged to be rearmed with two machine guns and mounted in fixed fortifications.
began in September 1944 and were quickly captured by the Germans. The others were dug in on the approaches to Zvolen
.
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
-designed light tank
Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movement, and now primarily employed in low-intensity conflict. Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility.The light tank was a major...
used mainly by Slovakia during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Its suspension was based on that of the Carden-Loyd tankette, of which the Czechs had purchased three, plus a manufacturing license, in 1930. Dissatisfied with the prototypes of the Tančík vz. 33
Tančík vz. 33
The Tančík vz. 33 was a Czechoslovak-designed tankette used mainly by Slovakia during World War II. Seventy-four were built. The Germans seized forty when they occupied Bohemia-Moravia in March 1939; there is no record of their use. The Slovaks captured thirty at the same time when they declared...
tankette
Tankette
A tankette is a tracked combat vehicle resembling a small tank roughly the size of a car, mainly intended for light infantry support or reconnaissance. Colloquially it may also simply mean a "small tank"....
, the Czech Army decided that it would be easier to design a light tank from scratch rather than modify a tankette's chassis
Chassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
to carry a fully rotating armored turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
. 50 were built, the last of which was delivered during 1936, of which the Germans captured 23 when they occupied Bohemia-Moravia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
in March 1939, but they promptly scrapped them. The Slovaks seized the remaining 27 when they declared independence from Czechoslovakia at the same time. In Slovak service it only saw combat during the Slovak National Uprising
Slovak National Uprising
The Slovak National Uprising or 1944 Uprising was an armed insurrection organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. It was launched on August 29 1944 from Banská Bystrica in an attempt to overthrow the collaborationist Slovak State of Jozef Tiso...
.
Description
The LT vz. 34 was assembled from a framework of steel "angle iron" beams, to which armor plates were riveted. A 3 mm (0.118110236220472 in) firewallFirewall (construction)
A firewall is a fireproof barrier used to prevent the spread of fire between or through buildings, structures, electrical substation transformers, or within an aircraft or vehicle.- Applications :...
separated the engine compartment from the crew. A door allowed access to the engine from the crew compartment. It also had ventilation openings that could be closed. The driver sat on the right side using a 300 by 75 mm (11.8 by 3 in) observation port protected by two flaps. The inner flap had an episcope with a 25° field of view. It was connected to the armored outer flap so that opening one closed the other. The outer flap had a 3 mm (0.118110236220472 in) slit. To his right was an vision slit 120 by 3 mm (4.7 by 0.118110236220472 in) protected by 50 millimetres (2 in) of bulletproof glass
Bulletproof glass
Bulletproof glass is a type of strong but optically transparent material that is particularly resistant to being penetrated when struck by bullets, but is not completely impenetrable. It is usually made from a combination of two or more types of glass, one hard and one soft...
. The inner flap was padded so that the driver could rest his head on it when driving. The radio operator sat on the left and had his own 120 by 50 mm (4.7 by 2 in) vision port with 50 millimetres (2 in) of bulletproof glass and an armored shutter. His radios were mounted on the left wall of the hull. The hull machine gun was between the driver and radio operator in a ball mount with 30° of traverse. It could elevate 25° and depress 10°. Most of the machine gun's barrel protruded from the mount and was protected by an armored trough. The mount had a spotting telescope or open sights could be used if the plug at the top of the ball mount was removed. If necessary the driver could lock the mount into position and fire it himself using a Bowden cable
Bowden cable
A Bowden cable is a type of flexible cable used to transmit mechanical force or energy by the movement of an inner cable relative to a hollow outer cable housing...
.
The turret ring had a diameter of 1.265 metres (49.8 in). The turret sides were 15 mm (0.590551181102362 in) thick and its roof had a thickness of 8 mm (0.31496062992126 in). The turret was manually traversed (3° per rotation of the handle), but the gearing could be disengaged to allow the commander to shoulder the turret around as desired. The turret had a flat face in the center of which was mounted the 3.72 cm (1.5 in) main armament. On the right side was another 7.92 mm (0.311811023622047 in) machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
in a ball mount. The commander had four episcopes in his cupola and a monocular mirror, 1.3 x 35° periscope which he could extend once he removed its armored cover in his hatch for vision while "buttoned-up". This meant that the commander was responsible for loading, aiming and firing the main gun and the turret machine gun while simultaneously commanding the tank.
The vertical front and side armor was 15 mm (0.590551181102362 in) thick, the slanted plates had a thickness of 12 mm (0.47244094488189 in), the engine hatch was 10 mm (0.393700787401575 in) thick and the top and bottom plates were 8 mm (0.31496062992126 in) in thickness. This was deemed enough to deflect armor-piercing 7.92 mm (0.311811023622047 in) bullets fired from distances greater than 75 metres (82 yd).
The 6.08 litres (370.7 cu in), water-cooled, 62.5 hp, inline 4-cylinder Praga engine used a gasoline-alcohol mix. It had a top speed on the road of 30 kilometres per hour (18.6 mph) and about 15 kilometres per hour (9.3 mph) cross-country. One 64.5 litres (17 US gal) fuel tank was located on each side of the engine. The transmission
Transmission (mechanics)
A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...
had four forward gears and one reverse gear to drive the front-mounted drive sprocket
Sprocket
A sprocket or sprocket-wheel is a profiled wheel with teeth, cogs, or even sprockets that mesh with a chain, track or other perforated or indented material. The name 'sprocket' applies generally to any wheel upon which are radial projections that engage a chain passing over it...
s.
The suspension was an enlarged and modified version of that used in the Carden-Loyd tankettes. It consisted of two small road wheels fastened together on a frame, two frames paired and sprung by leaf springs that made a wheel carrier, two wheel carriers per side. The track was guided by two return rollers and wooden, metal-lined frames. The rear-mounted idler wheel was used to adjust track tension. It had a ground pressure of only 0.5 kg/cm2. It could cross a ditch 2 metres (6.6 ft) wide, climb an obstacle 0.8 metres (2.6 ft) high and ford a stream 0.8 metres (2.6 ft) deep. It could uproot trees 0.18 metres (7.1 in) thick and breach a wall 0.5 metres (19.7 in) thick.
The main armament was a Škoda ÚV vz. 34 (A3) gun with a pepperpot muzzle brake
Muzzle brake
Muzzle brakes and recoil compensators are devices that are fitted to the muzzle of a firearm or cannon to redirect propellant gases with the effect of countering both recoil of the gun and unwanted rising of the barrel during rapid fire...
and a prominent armored recoil cylinder above the barrel. It fired a 0.815 kilograms (1.8 lb) armor-piercing shell at 690 metres per second (2,263.8 ft/s). It was credited with penetrating a plate inclined at 30° from the vertical 37 millimetres (1.5 in) thick at 100 metres (109.4 yd), 31 millimetres (1.2 in) thick at 500 metres (546.8 yd), 26 millimetres (1 in) thick at 1000 metres (1,093.6 yd), and 22 millimetre (0.866141732283465 in) thick at 1500 metres (1,640.4 yd). Another source quotes penetration of a vertical plate 45 millimetres (1.8 in) thick at 500 metres (546.8 yd). The machine gun's ball mount could be coupled to the main gun or used independently. Both weapons could elevate 25° and depress 10°. They both used 1.25x power sights with a 25° field of view. The tank used Zbrojovka Brno
Zbrojovka Brno
Zbrojovka Brno was a firearm and vehicle manufacturer in Brno, Czech Republic. They also made other products and tools- History :The firm was established in 1918.The Czech-Slovak investment group J&T bought an areal of Zbrojovka Brno in 2007.-Firearms:...
ZB vz. 35 heavy machine guns in both ball mounts.
Development
One prototype was ordered from Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk in 1931, but development was slow and it was accepted only in November 1932. Its evaluations were very positive and an order for fifty was placed on 19 April 1933. The first six of these were to serve as pre-production models and were to be delivered by 30 September 1933. The delivery date for the next batch of twenty-four was a year after that and the final batch of twenty was due by 30 July 1935. Production was delayed by quality problems with the initial batch of armor plates from Poldi and delivery of the pre-production series did not occur until 23 April 1934. A bigger problem was that the Army had rejected ČKD's proposed armament of a 4.7 centimetres (1.9 in) VickersVickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
44/60 gun and two ZB vz. 26 machine guns so the contract was signed with no design work on the desired armament configuration. ČKD did not finalize its design until December 1933 and the first six tanks were delivered with only a pair of ZB vz. 26 machine guns. The last tanks were delivered on 14 January 1936, but the six pre-production models had to be returned to the factory to be upgraded with the proper armament and otherwise modified up to the latest standards. The last one was delivered on 17 August 1936.
Czechoslovakia
The Czech Army realized that the 15 mm (0.590551181102362 in) armor on its LT vz. 34 tanks was too thin and a program to replace it was quickly mounted which resulted in the LT vz. 35. In the meantime they offered the Army an opportunity to train with more modern tanks than its few surviving World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
-era Renault FT-17
Renault FT-17
The Renault FT, frequently referred to in post-WWI literature as the "FT-17" or "FT17" , was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history...
s. Each of the three armored regiments received between nine and twenty-four until replaced by the LT vz. 35 from 1937. After the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
in October 1938 the army tried to sell them, but could find no takers. In November 1938 it decided to concentrate all of them in the Third Armored Regiment in Slovakia, but only eighteen had been transferred before the German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
and the Slovak declaration of independence in March 1939.
Germany
The Germans captured twenty-three LT vz. 34s and the prototype when they occupied Czechoslovakia, but there is no record of their use so they were presumably quickly scrapped. Ten LT vz. 34s were captured after they were abandoned by the insurgents during the Slovak National UprisingSlovak National Uprising
The Slovak National Uprising or 1944 Uprising was an armed insurrection organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. It was launched on August 29 1944 from Banská Bystrica in an attempt to overthrow the collaborationist Slovak State of Jozef Tiso...
in 1944. They were shipped to Skoda for repairs, but the local military representative ordered them scrapped because of their poor condition and obsolescence. The Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
tried to overturn this order as it planned to transfer them to Nazi puppet state of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
. Two were saved from the scrapyard, but by March 1945 the others had their turrets salvaged to be rearmed with two machine guns and mounted in fixed fortifications.
Slovakia
The twenty-seven LT vz. 34s formed one company in the Armored Battalion "Martin" formed by the Slovak Army in mid-1939, which was later expanded into the Armored Regiment, but they were relegated to training duties once the Slovaks began to receive more modern tanks from Germany in 1941. Ten were abandoned by the insurgents when the Slovak National UprisingSlovak National Uprising
The Slovak National Uprising or 1944 Uprising was an armed insurrection organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. It was launched on August 29 1944 from Banská Bystrica in an attempt to overthrow the collaborationist Slovak State of Jozef Tiso...
began in September 1944 and were quickly captured by the Germans. The others were dug in on the approaches to Zvolen
Zvolen
Zvolen |Slatina]] rivers, close to Banská Bystrica. With its ancient castle, the town has a historical center, which represents the seat of an okres .-History:...
.