The (meaning "marshal"), also known as the M-tank, was a Romanian-produced light tank destroyer from World War II. Romania was a member of the Axis powers and created the vehicle in response to the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks. It is credited with having inspired the German design, according to multiple German military staff.
A total of 1,000 vehicles were planned for production, which was to make the the backbone of the Romanian armored forces, making it the country's most numerous armored fighting vehicle by far. Thus, apart from the main tank destroyer variant, other versions were also planned. These included a 122 or 150 mm self-propelled howitzer version, an anti-aircraft vehicle and a command vehicle armed with machine guns and a flamethrower (see Variants section). A rocket launcher and a flamethrower version were also tested in the early development phase, before the M-00 prototype. Germany planned to also buy the vehicle and make its own Flakpanzer version.
Due to the ongoing events, however, the goal was not reached. Seven prototypes were built. Additionally, the development of around 100 series production vehicles had begun, of which a first series of 10 tank destroyers was near-completed. The never came to see action because its development and production were heavily slowed down by Anglo-American bombings and finally put to an end by the invading Red Army.
Had the been deployed into combat, it would have had big potential to become an effective tank destroyer, according to Waffenamt and OKH delegates who attended its trials. During tests, it proved to be superior in many aspects to the German StuG III G that it competed against, which itself was very successful and highly appreciated by its crews. The qualities included its strong firepower, accurate gun, good mobility and very low silhouette (around 1.5 m), the latter of which would have made the vehicle a difficult-to-hit target for enemies. However, the vehicle also had drawbacks, mainly a cramped interior, poor sights and thin armor.
Name
is Romanian for "marshal", the highest military rank in many countries. The vehicle was named after Marshal Ion Antonescu, Romania's wartime leader (Conducător). It was also referred to by a number of other names, such as Carul M or, more modernly, Tancul M, both meaning "M-tank". The word car (definite form carul) is inherited in Romanian from Latin carrus and mostly means "cart"/"chariot", but in this context, it is an outdated word for "tank" (now replaced by tanc), based on French char (also compare Italian and Spanish carro). Sometimes, the vehicle is referred to in Romanian as Vânătorul de care Mareșal (" tank hunter"), or less commonly Vânătorul de care M ("Tank hunter 'M'").
In some documents, names like Piesa M ("M-piece"), Arma M ("M-weapon") and Arma Mareșal (" weapon") were used. One report referred to the vehicle as "A-43".
German historian Walter Spielberger refers to the vehicle as Marschall (German for "marshal") in his literature.
Background
Romania had entered the war with R-1, R-2 and R35 tanks acquired during the interwar period. While initially successful, these became obsolete with the introduction of Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks by late 1941. The weakness of the Romanian tank force was already obvious by then, but became even more acute after the Axis defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad. By the end of 1942, the only modern vehicles Romania had been able to acquire were small numbers of German Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs. A firing test showed that the T-34 was invulnerable to the R-2's 37 mm gun at any angle, which led to said Romanian tank being given the new role of exclusively fighting unarmored Soviet positions. Horse-drawn 37 mm Pak anti-tank guns used by the Romanians were nicknamed the "door-knocker" by Soviet T-34 drivers due to their inability to penetrate the tank's armor.
Different solutions for modernizing the Romanian armored forces were sought after. One was getting more tanks from the allied Germany. Another method used was modernizing Romanian and captured Soviet tanks by turning them into tank destroyers; this program gave birth to conversions like the TACAM T-60, TACAM R-2 and VDC R35, which were more effective against Soviet armor.
Romania also looked to produce its own original armored vehicle that was capable of effectively tackling Soviet ones. Producing a Romanian medium tank was considered, but not implemented. Instead, the Romanians decided in late 1942 to produce a tank destroyer, since it was more suited to their country's industry. This vehicle's characteristics were decided in January 1943: they included small dimensions, strong firepower, well-sloped armor and a maximum speed "higher than that of tanks". The resulting vehicle was to become the .
Development
On February 6, 1943 a workshop was founded at the Rogifer Works (formerly Malaxa Works, currently FAUR) with the purpose of experimenting with the creation of a tank destroyer. The Romanians had no experience with designing an armored vehicle from scratch, since by that point, every Romanian-designed vehicle was a license-built modification of a foreign design (R-1 and Malaxa UE) or a conversion based on a foreign chassis (TACAMs). Due to this lack of experience, they had decided to forgo theoretical preliminary plans and mate an artillery piece with an existing tank chassis, studying practical problems, which would eventually lead to a truly local design through continuous testing and modification.
Multiple first experimental models were created in early 1943. One saw a mortar mounted on a T-60 light tank chassis. The mortar was equipped with rocket-assisted rounds. Trials were deemed unsatisfactory due to the chassis not being robust enough and the armament having poor accuracy. In parallel, another model armed with a Katyusha rocket launcher was built for artillery purposes and tested in June and July, but this project was not continued either. A flamethrower version is also known to have existed.
As a result, a new model was built by a team consisting of engineers Captain Gheorghe Sâmbotin and Major Nicolae Anghel, who were tasked with designing a new vehicle appropriate for service on the Eastern Front. They chose the unexpected yet successful solution of adapting a light tank to fire a heavy gun. The chosen chassis was again that of the T-60, but was this time enlarged, while the new gun choice was a Soviet 122 mm M-30 howitzer, of which plenty had been captured by the Romanian Army. Other howitzers of smaller calibers (100–105 mm) were also considered. In order to be effective against enemy armor, a shaped charge round was developed for the howitzer. The T-60 turret and upper works were removed and replaced by tortoise shell-shaped armor plates that were 20–30 mm thick and angled at 45°. The resulting vehicle had an unusually low profile of around 1.5 m (which was advantageous, since it didn't only make the vehicle difficult to hit, but also made it easy to camouflage) and a crew of only two members. Secondary armament was locally produced version of the Czechoslovak ZB-30 light machine gun. Engineers Constantin Ghiulai (designer of the TACAM T-60 and TACAM R-2) and Radu Vereș (director of Rogifer) were also involved in the project.
Named "", this new prototype was designated M-00 and presented to Marshal Ion Antonescu on July 2, 1943. Despite earlier models having existed, M-00 is generally considered the first prototype since it was the first one to have the general shape of the . It began testing at the Sudiți firing range outside of Slobozia on July 30, 1943. Fears that the tank would be toppled by the considerable recoil of the howitzer proved unfounded; however, other problems were noted, mostly involving the gun mounting. Testing was considered successful and a committee to supervise the project was created by orders of Ion Antonescu's cabinet.
Afterwards, a workshop within the Rogifer Works was made available for the construction of three more prototypes: M-01, M-02, and M-03. They were all enlarged and reinforced, with the latter being 43.2 cm wider and 13.4 cm longer than the T-60 tank. These were completed by mid-October 1943 and were progressively modified to fix problems shown by M-00. M-01 was the last one to use the T-60 chassis; later prototypes used Rogifer-built ones. Construction methods were modified to use welding rather than riveting and the interior compartment was divided using a bulkhead. The prototypes had a crew of two, positioned in the front compartment: a driver-aimer-gunner on the right and a commander-loader-radio operator on the left. The former was situated more frontally, which is also shown in photographs.
M-01, M-02, and M-03 were tested at Sudiți in front of Marshal Antonescu on October 23, 1943, the same day as the 75 mm Resița M1943 anti-tank gun. Due to the exceptional performance of the Romanian anti-tank gun, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Drăghiescu suggested that it should be mounted on future prototypes of the . This change would be incorporated into all further prototypes and the serial production vehicles. Lieutenant-Colonel Valerian Nestorescu gives a more detailed description of the test, stating that the 75 mm Resița gun managed to hit and penetrate eight 100 mm steel plates from distances of 300 m to 1 km. British author Mark Axworthy writes that the 75 mm Reșița M1943 was arguably the most versatile gun of its class during World War II, outperforming its Western, German and Soviet equivalents. Lieutenant-Colonel Drăghiescu had also proposed two other versions at that point: one with a 122 or 150 mm howitzer and one with a 20–37 mm anti-aircraft gun. The former variant is known to have had plans that were later shown to the Germans.
The next prototype, M-04, incorporated significant changes and was completed in January 1944. Its plans were presented to Adolf Hitler in the early days of that month. The prototype was powered by a 120 hp Hotchkiss engine, the same used on the French H-39 light tank, and mounted the new 75 mm Resița M1943 anti-tank gun instead of the 122 mm howitzer. In February, M-04 was sent to Sudiți for evaluation. Again, concerns were brought up about the vehicle's ability to withstand the gun's recoil. Testing, however, showed the main gun could be safely fired. Two German representatives observed the testing of M-04 and were impressed by its maneuverability and novel design. Lieutenant-Colonel Haymann, an OKH delegate who attended M-04's testing, stated that the is going to be effective against the Soviet army, calling it ("a big troublemaker").
The vehicle's development was slowed down by the Anglo-American bombing, which had started in April 1944. İt had begun disrupting the production of the first series of vehicles, "Series 0", which — while originally expected in June — was rescheduled for autumn 1944 and then January 1945. As a result, parts of the Rogifer Works were moved from Bucharest to the area of Sibiu in Transylvania, where production was to take place. In July, Rogifer was bombarded again. During the bombardment, a guard soldier by the name of Turcescu-Cristea had left the bomb shelter and went into the targeted workshop, managing to put out the fire and save the production tools and archive room from total destruction, while getting hurt in the process.