Nahuel DL-43
Argentine Nahuel DL-43 tank
Type Medium tank
Place of origin Argentina
Service history
Used by Argentina
Production history
Designer Alfredo Baisi
Manufacturer Arsenal Esteban de Luca
No. built 16 (+ 1 wooden mock-up)
Specifications
Mass 35 tonnes
Length 6.22 m (20 ft 5 in)
Width 2.33 m (7 ft 8 in)
Height 2.952 m (9 ft 8.2 in)
Crew 5 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver)
Armor 80 mm
Main
armament Krupp 7.5 cm Model 1909
Secondary
armament 1× 7.65 mm Allan machine gun and 3 x 7.65 mm Madsen machine guns ?? rounds
Engine FMA-Lorraine-Dietrich 12 Eb, 12 cylinders in W, water cooled
500 hp
Power/weight 14.3 hp / tonne
Suspension vertical volute spring
Operational
range 250 km (on road)
Maximum speed 25 mph (
The Nahuel DL-43 tank was a medium tank developed in Argentina during World War II. It was the Argentine equivalent of the M4 Sherman and the M3 Grant American medium tanks.
Design
[edit]
The designer was Lt. Colonel Alfredo Baisi.[1] The word Nahuel means “jaguar” in the aboriginal language Mapudungun.[1] It was armed with a 75 mm gun (taken from the Krupp Model 1909 Field Gun used by the Argentine Army) in a rotating armored turret.[1]
Its design is similar to that of the United States Army M4 Medium and the early versions of the M3 Grant but with sloped armor. Contrary to popular belief it was not a copy of the M4 Sherman, but the design of the M4 influenced it.[1]
Production
[edit]
Only 12 tanks and one wooden mock-up were produced by the Arsenal Esteban de Luca in Buenos Aires and supplied to the Argentine Army, because of the availability of cheap surplus Sherman tanks, several of which were provided by Belgium and the United Kingdom in the late 1940s.[1]