T13s
1.History
When the army undertook its motorisation program in 1929, the first tracked armoured vehicle it was interested in was the Carden-Loyd Mark VI, built by the British company Vickers-Armstrong. Six exemplars were bought and they participated to the manoeuvre of 1931. Some traction trials of the 47mm C47 FRC AT gun and of the 76mm FRC took place. But they were not very satisfactory (weak mobility on road and in the field).
At the same time it was observed that the 47mm C47 At gun was hard to put in battery and that it was even harder to undeploy it (not very easy when you need to move away quicly). So it was not very practical for a mobile unit.
The 47 mm At gun was then mounted on the six Carden-Loyd Mark VI. Those transformed vehicles had the disadvantage of only being able to fire in a single direction: forwards. Above all their all around mobility in the forest of the Ardennes was not satisfactory. Those vehicules were used by the “Chasseurs Ardennais” until 1938. After that time, they were used by two “Cyclistes-Frontière” regiments. They were placed between Vivegnis and Lixhe along the Meuse (Maas) river as static defences. They fought between the 10th and the 11th of May 1940 and then sabotaged or abandoned (since they couldn’t move any more).
But the idea of a gun mounted on a tankette was further developed.
In 1934, the army had bought larger Vickers-Carden-Loyd tracked tractors in order to tow the 20 Bofors 75mm M34 mountain guns bought for the “Chasseurs Ardennais”. 21 (with ordinary steel plates) were bought to that end.
35 other units were bought but with armoured steel plates. Those 35 exemplars were armed with a pivoting half turret pointed rearwards (armour on the front of the turret, open air at the rear) able to turn at 360°. But in order to turn at 360°, the armoured plates on the front and on the sides of the vehicle had to be lowered first, otherwise it could turn at120°. The turret was equipped with a 47mm FRC M32 AT gun (the same gun as the C47 FRC infantry AT gun) and with a F.N. Mod30 automatic rifle (basically a Belgian BAR) placed on the right of the gun. The T13-B1 was born.
The 56 units were produced under licence by Miesse (a truck maker located at Buysinghen, near Brussels).
But the 23 unarmed tractors bought in order to tow the 75mm Bofors mountain guns were not satisfactory. They were replaced by a more performing wheeled vehicle (the F.N. 63C-4RM 4x4 trucks). The 23 Vickers tractors were then recuperated, modified and armed with the 47mm FRC AT gun, like their cousins. Those vehicles took the name of T13-B2.
T13-B1 and T13-B2 are almost identical. The only few differences are the number plates ( the T13-B1 were in the 0500 serial number while the B2 were in the 1100 serial number),…
A T13-B2 can be seen at the Royal Army Museum in Brussels.
As said above, the T13-B1 and T13-B2 had the main disadvantage of having to lower the front and side armoured plates to be able to fire in all directions. A third model named T13-B3 was designed, based on the Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Dragon MkII B export, which was more stable and better suspended. The new model was fitted with a half turret able to turn freely at 360°. The new model was produced by the Atelier de construction of Familleureux. The turret was armed with a 47 mm FRC AT gun (the same gun as the C47 FRC infantry AT gun) and a FN-Browning Mod 30 automatic rifle.
The driver’s position was fully enclosed with overhead protection (unlike the T13-B1 and B2 version). They were delivered from 1938.
The real number of T13-B3 produced before 10th May 1940 is quite uncertain. But they were produce in large number (for a small country like Belgium).
What is sure is that the first order of 194 units was completed in late 1939 and a second order of 158 units had been placed in September 1939. The production never stopped and continued until May 1940. So dozens of T13-B3 were certainly produced in that time. But following estimations, the real total number of T13-B3 produced before 10th May 1940 is between 250 and 255 units.
2.Operational use
The T13’s were designed as infantry (or cavalry) support vehicle (like a mobile antitank artillery), not as a tank. But the circumstances of May 1940 forced their use as fighting tanks, a role for which they had not been destined. So its performances were not always up to the expectations.
The crews suffered a lot from the lack of protection. The half turret was open at the rear, which was a major imperfection, especially during urban fights. Indeed lets imagine the effect of a single hand grenade thrown from there in the middle of the crew and the ammo boxes... The armour was also too weak: 6 to 13 mm, which could only provide protection against individual weapons.
In use the T13’s were used in pairs, or even singly, as fire support for infantry sub-units. But the effectiveness of the 47mm gun was excellent and it is interesting to speculate on the outcome had these vehicles been used more aggressively, and in bulk. They proved to be really useful to support counter-attacks, to cover retreats or to destroy the machine gun nests. When they were well led, well camouflaged, the T13 could be quite efficient (for example, in the Ardennes a single T13 was able to destroy five panzers). But it had to be the first one to shoot since a single hit on it could be fatal.
Below, following the most restrictive sources (the real total number is certainly higher, see explanations above), the repartition of the T13’s (all models included: B1, B2 and B3) per unit in May:
1ier Guides (1DC): 7 T13
2ième Lanciers (1DC) : 7 T13
3ième Lanciers (1DC) : 4 T13
1ier Lanciers (2DC) : 4 T13
1ier Chasseurs à Cheval (2DC): 4 T13
2ième Chasseurs à Cheval (2DC) : 7 T13
1ier Chasseurs ardennais : 8 T13
2ième Chasseurs ardennais : 16 T13
3ième Chasseurs ardennais : 8 T13
Cyclistes frontières (Border cyclists): 42 T13
Infantry Divisions (1 to 4) : 4 x 12 T13 = 48 T13
Infantry Divisions (5 and 6) : 2 x 4 T13 = 8 T13
Infantry Divisions (7 to 11) : 5 x 12 T13 = 60 T13
Position Fortifiée de Liège (Fortified position of Liège) : 10 T13
Position Fortifiée de Namur (Fortified position of Namur) : 12 T13
Gendarmerie : 4 T13
Ecole mobile (mobile school) : 1 T13
TOTAL : 250 T13
(NB DC = Division de Cavalerie, Cavalery Division)
3.Technical data
·T13-B1 and T13-B2 :
Crew : 3
T13-B1: 35 units (serial number 0500 and onwards)
T13-B2: 21 units (serial number 1100 and onwards)
Length: 3,65 m
Width: 1,76 m
Height: 1,36 m (without the turret)
Armour: 6 to 13 mm
Autonomy: 240 km (on road)
Max speed on road: 40,2 km/h
Fuel: 175 liters
Speed: 5 forward +1 rearward
Engine: 1 Meadows 5 cyl of 3.300 cc (51 Cv)
Based on the Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Amphibious Tank (A4E12)
Weight: 4 575 kg
Weapons: 1 FRC 47 mm Mod 1932 AT gun and 1 FM FN-Browning 7,65 mm automatic rifle
Ammo: 18 HE shells and 24 AT shells
·T13-B3 :
Crew : 3 to 4
T13-B3 produced: 194 units minimum (serial number 3300 and onwards), an other order of 158 was placed in September 1939 and was being processed in 1940, so count a few more dozens units
Length: 3,65 m
Width: 1,87 m
Height: 1,84 m
Armour: 6 to 13 mm
Autonomy: 400 km (on road)
Max speed on road: 40,2 km/h
Engine: 1 Vickers-Armstrong 6 cyl. (80Cv)
Based on the Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Dragon MkII B export
Weight: 5084 kg
Weapons: 1 FRC 47 mm AT gun and 1 FM FN-Browning 7,65 mm automatic rifle
Ammo: 69 HE shells and 69 AT shells
·47 mm FRC Mod 32 AT gun
Rate of fire: 5 shots/min.
*AT shell:
Weight: 1kg 550
Velocity: 675 m/s
Penetration: 40mm at 600m
Penetration at 60 degrees (from hungarian test data) at:
100m: 51mm
500m: 44mm
1000m: 37mm
* HE shell:
Weight: 1kg 655
Velocity: 450 m/s
Range: 3000 m
T15
1.History
During the motorisation program of the Belgian army it was decided to buy tracked armoured vehicles in order to equip the newly created “Chasseurs Ardennais”. The Vickers-Carden-Loyd Model 1934 light tank was chosen. 42 exemplars were ordered (in two batches). The first 18 units were ordered on 10th March 1934 and delivered in two lots of 9, on the 15th and 22nd February 1935 respectively. The second batch (of 24 exemplars) was ordered on 16th April 1935 and they were delivered between 15th November 1935 and 28th December 1935.
They were delivered with a special conical turret but without any weapon. The FRC (Fonderie Royale de Canons) armed them with a 13.2 mm Hotchkiss heavy machine gun, which were initially bought for the Aeronautique Militaire. The T15 was born.
Some T15 had a support on the turret for a FN-Browning FM-30 automatic rifle, for the anti aircraft defence. It is not known if all T15 were fitted with that support.
2.Operational use
The T15 was a truly recon light tank: fast 64 km/h, relatively well armed, but to lightly armoured (7 to 9 mm). The 13.2 heavy machine gun was an efficient weapon but it could only attack un-armoured target (such as trucks, motorcycles, light MG vehicles,…).
Repartition following the units:
1ier Guides (1DC): 4 T15
2ième Lanciers (1DC) : 6 T15
3ième Lanciers (1DC) : 6 T15
1ier Lanciers (2 DC) : 6 T15
1ier Chasseurs à Cheval (2 DC) : 6 T15
2ième Chasseurs à Cheval (2 DC) : 4 T15
1ier Chasseurs Ardennais : 3 T15
2ième Chasseurs Ardennais : 3 T15
3ième Chasseurs Ardennais : 3 T15
Ecole automobile : 1 T15
TOTAL : 42 T15
NB : DC = Division de Cavalerie (Cavalery Division)
3.Technical data
Number in service: 42
Crew: 2 or 3
Weight: 3.800 kg
Height: 1.90 m
Length: 3.63 m
Width: 1.89 m
Armour: 7 to 9 mm
Max speed: 64 km/h (on road)
Autonomy: 230 km
Engine: Meadows-Est 6 cyl. (90 Cv)
Weapons: 1 Hotchkiss 13.2 mm heavy machine gun + 1 FN-Browning 7.65mm FM Mod30 (anti aircraft)
