40M Turán I PK. is a Hungarian Tank unit in Steel Division II.
Background[ | ]
The Turán was a Hungarian tank born out of Czechoslovak experimental designs developed from 1937 onwards, as S-II-c. After the annexation and partitioning of Czechoslovakia, Škoda was put under German control and work continued on the prototypes, redesignated T-21 (original) and T-22 (new type). Two examples of the latter were transferred to Hungary.
Hungarian engineers overhauled the design, replacing the Škoda A9 47mm gun with a Škoda A17 40mm gun with much greater muzzle velocity, 66% thicker armor plating for a total of 50mm of thickness on the front, and a total weight of eighteen tons. Although respectable on paper, the Turán proved to be a poor match for the Eastern Front and only 424 were manufactured in total, by the time production petered out in 1944.
With a total of 285 produced, the 40M was the most numerous version of the Turán tanks, armed with a high velocity 40mm tank gun and a max speed of just 47 km/h, weighed down by the additional armor. Unfortunately for Hungarian tankers, the armor relied on flat, thick plates, rather than angling, reducing effective protection. When they went up against Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks, the Turán I proved to be completely ineffective, highlighting the need for an upgrade.
1. Lovas's 1st Cavalry Tank Battalion was planned to have two companies of 15 Turán I along with two more command tanks each in 1943 Cavalry Division organization while in the 1944 Cavalry Division organization only had three companies of 25 along with two command tanks.