M15/42 tank

After witnessing the inadequacies of their M13/40 and M14/41 medium tanks, the Italian Army decided that they needed a stopgap design until the heavier P26/40 was ready for production. A study, written by Davide Guglielmi and published in the bimonthly magazine Storia Militare, talks about 124 tanks captured by the German armed forces and 28 more produced during 1944. The total, therefore, would amount to 152 units. Cappellano on publication number 6 of 2013 of the same journal recorded different production statistics. His study was based on an original Ansaldo document. In addition to the prototype dating back to 1941, there are reported 103 vehicles assembled in 1942 and 36 in the first quarter of 1943, plus 80 planned up to December 31, 1943; however it is not known if this last quote was reached. Furthermore, the study does not mention the M15/42 produced after the Italian capitulation. In later publications, Cappellano would list production numbers as 220 before the armistice, with an additional 28 tanks built post armistice. Cappellano also sites a total of 85 command units built before and after the armistice. == Combat use ==

Italy began producing the M15/42 on 1 January 1943, and by mid-1943 had produced about 90. After the armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943, Italian formations from the 135th Armored Cavalry Division "Ariete" fought against German troops moving to disarm them in Rome. The M15/42s were among the tanks they used in this battle. After the armistice, Germany confiscated all remaining M15/42s. Under the Germans, an additional 28 incomplete M15/42s were produced. In German service, the M15/42 fought mostly in Yugoslavia, with 85 tanks being stationed there by December 1944. == Variants ==

M.42 command tank The M15/42 served as the basis for the design of the "M42 Self-Propelled Command tank", intended to serve in departments equipped with self-propelled guns. The turret was removed and the rolling ring closed with an 8 mm thick armored plate, in which two doors were obtained; on the roof was mounted a Breda Mod. 38 of 8 mm in anti-aircraft function. The two Breda Mod. 38 in the casemate were instead replaced by a single Breda Mod. 31 of 13.2 mm and two Magneti Marelli radios, an RF1 CA and an RF2 CA and two extra batteries were placed in the hull; finally a rangefinder was installed. The M42 was produced in 45 units in 1943. A small number was captured by Germany, which placed them in service under the designation Panzerbefehlswagen M42 772 (i): they were employed in the Italian war theater until the end of hostilities. Self-propelled guns The M15/42 served as a basis for the development of various self-propelled guns: the Semovente 75/34, Semovente 75/46 and the Semovente 105/25 A prototype self-propelled anti-aircraft gun carrying four 20 mm Scotti-Isotta Fraschini anti-aircraft guns in a lightly armoured turret, based on the M15/42, was produced in 1943. After the armistice the Germans captured this vehicle, and may have used it as a model for their self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, derived from the Panzer IV medium tank (Flakpanzer IV). ==References==