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The TK (TK-3) and TKS were
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
tankette A tankette is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle that resembles a small tank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for light infantry support and scouting.
s developed during the 1930s and used in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.


Design and development

The TK (also known as the TK-3) tankette was a Polish design produced from 1931 based on the chassis of the British Carden Loyd tankette, with an improved hull and more powerful engine, and
armour Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...
up to thick ( on the TKS). In 1939, up-arming of the tankettes with
Nkm wz.38 FK The Nkm wz.38 FK (Polish military acronym meaning ''Heaviest Machine Gun Mark 1938'') was a 20 mm heavy machine gun ( autocannon by modern terminology) produced in inter-war Poland. It was used both in anti-air and anti-tank role and was also ad ...
machine guns began, but only 24 of these were completed before the outbreak of World War II. On 6 November 1934 Estonia purchased 6 vehicles from
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, with the contract deal worth over 180,000
krones Krones AG is a German packaging and bottling machine manufacturer. It produces lines for filling beverages in plastic and glass bottles or beverage cans. The company manufactures stretch Blow molding, blow-moulding machines for producing polyethy ...
. The deal also included one additional tracked-lorry, and a motorcycle was given free as a bonus. After the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...
Estonia, these vehicles were put into service with the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
.


Combat history

575 TK/TKS tankettes formed the bulk of the Polish armoured forces before the outbreak of war. They suffered heavy losses during the
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, often being the only armoured fighting vehicles available. Their small size suited them for
reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
and infantry support, but with their light armament of a single
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
they stood no chance in combat against German tanks, except against the
Panzer I The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for ( German for " armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was '' Sd.Kfz. 10 ...
. The handful of tankettes armed with 20 mm guns were more effective against enemy tanks; in one instance on 18 September 1939 a 20 mm gunned TKS commanded by
Podchorąży Podchorąży is a Polish military title for officer cadets of various ranks, not to be confused with chorąży. See also *Comparative military ranks This article is a list of various nations' armed forces ranking designations. Comparisons are ...
(Officer Candidate SFC)
Roman Orlik Edmund Roman Orlik (''26 January 1918 - 8 April 1982'') was a Polish architect, and World War II tank commander. During the Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in September 1939 he claimed to have destroyed ten German tanks, including one Panzer ...
destroyed two German
Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) The Panzerkampfwagen 35(t), commonly shortened to Panzer 35(t) or abbreviated as Pz.Kpfw. 35(t), was a Czechoslovak-designed light tank used mainly by Nazi Germany during World War II. The letter (t) stood for ''tschechisch'' (German for "Czech ...
tanks and a
Panzer IV The ''Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the ''Panzer'' IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. The Pan ...
B tank which was commanded by Victor IV Albrecht von Ratibor. After the conquest of Poland, captured tankettes were used by the German army in various support roles, mostly for training, security duties or as artillery tractors. Many captured tankettes were also used by the Luftwaffe for airfield security and snowplowing. Some were later sold to the
puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its o ...
of
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
. In spring 1941, the National Police received 18 TK-3 tankettes, some with the 20mm gun, while in summer 1941 the
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
received 18 TKS, 4 of them being sent to the Ustashe Militia.


Variants

*TK (TK-3) - from 1931, about 280 built (Ford A engine) *TKF - TK tankette with 46 hp (34 kW) Polski Fiat engine and new (TKS-type) suspension, about 18 built *TKS - improved model of 1933, about 260 built (new hull, suspension, Polski Fiat engine) *TKS with Nkm wz.38 FK - 20 mm gun - about 24 TKS fitted with 20 mm gun in 1939. *
C2P C2P was a Polish light artillery tractor. Designed in the 1930s, it was the basic tractor of Polish anti-aircraft artillery during the 1939 Nazi and Soviet invasion of Poland. There are only two surviving vehicles, both in private hands in Poland. ...
- unarmoured light
artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be 6x6, wheeled, continuous track, tracked, or half-tracked. Trac ...
, about 200 built. Experimental models: *TK-1, TK-2 - first prototypes *TKD - light
self propelled gun Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled m ...
with 47 mm gun, four made. *TKW - light reconnaissance tank with turret, one prototype made. *TK-3 with 20 mm gun - only one prototype with a modified hull was completed. *TKS-D - light
tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often wi ...
with 37 mm Bofors anti-tank gun, two made


Users

* * * * * * (possibly)Axworthy, p. 33


Surviving TK-series tankettes

There are only two fully operational TKS tankettes and one TK-3 surviving. All of them were reconstructed from wrecks in the first decade of 21st century, using non-original parts. * 1 x TKS - One of the TKS tankettes was donated to Poland by the Swedish
Axvall Axvall is a urban areas of Sweden, locality situated in Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 1,186 inhabitants in 2010. See also * Axevalla House (castle ruins) References

Populated places in Västra Götaland Co ...
Tank Museum and since 2008 it is on exhibition in the
Museum of the Polish Army Museum of the Polish Army ( pl, Muzeum Wojska Polskiego) is a museum in Warsaw documenting the military history of Poland. Established in 1920 under the Second Polish Republic, it occupies a wing of the building of the Polish National Museum as w ...
. The Swedish TKS survived the post-war period in Norway, where it was operated by a local farmer as a tractor. * 1 x TKS - Private collection. * 1 x TK-3 - Private collection. The other survivors are not in working order. * 1 x TKS - On exhibition in the
Kubinka Tank Museum The Kubinka Tank Museum (Центральный музей бронетанкового вооружения и техники - Tsentral'nyy Muzey Bronetankovogo Vooruzheniya I Tekhniki -Central Museum of Armored Arms and Technology) is a larg ...
in Russia. * 1 x TKF - On exhibition in the
Military Museum Military Museum may refer to museums of military and war, or specific museums including: * Aldershot Military Museum, in Aldershot, England * Athens War Museum, in Athens, Greece * Base Borden Military Museum, Borden, Ontario, Canada * California ...
in
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
. * 1 x TKS - Returned from the Norwegian Armed Forces museum to the Armoured Weapon Museum in Poznan, Poland * 1 x C2P artillery tractor - Was found in Belgium and bought by the National Military History Center of
Auburn, Indiana Auburn is a city in DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. The population was 13,820 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1836 by Wesley Park (1811–1868), the city is the county seat of DeKalb County. Auburn is also known as Home of the Classics. Hi ...
, where it is currently on exhibition.


Gallery

Image:Opublikowane w Czołg rozpoznawczyTK (TKS) z 1975 (seria Typy Broni i Uzbrojenia).jpg, TKS Image:EST-Tanks-TSK.jpg, Estonian TKS tankettes on the republic's anniversary parade on 24 February 1937. Image:EST-TKS-2.jpg, Estonian TKS tankettes


Comparable vehicles

* Czechoslovakia Tančík vz. 33 and
AH-IV The AH-IV was a Czechoslovak-designed export armored fighting vehicle, classed as either a tankette or light tank,Axworthy, p. 35 used by Romania during World War II, but having also been acquired by neutral Sweden and Iran. Modified AH-IV ver ...
* France Renault UE2 * Italy:
L3/33 The Carro Veloce 33 (CV 33) or L3/33 was a tankette originally built in 1933 and used by the Italian Army before and during World War II. It was based on the imported British Carden Loyd tankette (license-built by Italy as the CV 29). ...
L3/35 The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian tankette that saw combat before and during World War II. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tan ...
* Japan: Type 94 * Romania: R-1 * Soviet Union:
T-27 The T-27 was a tankette produced in the 1930s by the Soviet Union. It was based on the design of the Carden Loyd tankette, bought under license from the United Kingdom in 1930. Design The Soviets were not fully satisfied with the Carden Loyd des ...
T-37AT-38 * Sweden: Strv m/37 * United Kingdom: Carden Loyd tankette


References

* Adam Jońca, Rajmund Szubański, Jan Tarczyński Wrzesień 1939 Pojazdy Wojska Polskiego wyd. WKiŁ Warszawa 1990 * Magnuski Janusz "Czołg rozpoznawczy TK (TKS)" seria TBiU-Typy broni i uzbrojenia (tom: 36), MON 1975


Bibliography

* Janusz Magnuski, "Karaluchy przeciw panzerom"; Pelta; Warsaw 1995 *Leszek Komuda, "Przeciwpancerne tankietki" in: "Militaria" Year 1 Nr. 3 and Nr. 4. *Adam Jońca, Rajmund Szubański, Jan Tarczyński, "Wrzesień 1939 - Pojazdy Wojska Polskiego - Barwa i broń"; WKL; Warsaw 1990. *Jan Tarczyński, K. Barbarski, A. Jońca, "Pojazdy w Wojsku Polskim - Polish Army Vehicles - 1918-1939"; Ajaks; Pruszków 1995. *"Czołg rozpoznawczy TK-S", Militaria i Fakty nr. 31 (6/2005) *Janusz Magnuski, "Czołg rozpoznawczy TKS (TK)"; TBiU nr. 36; Wydawnictwo MON; Warsaw 1975 *Zbigniew Lalak, "Czołg rozpoznawczy TK3 / Reconnaissance tank TK3" in Z. Lalak, T. Basarabowicz, R. Sawicki, M. Skotnicki, P. Żurkowski "Pojazdy II wojny swiatowej (tom 2) / Military Vehicles of WW2, part 2", Warsaw 2004, *Eesti soomusmasinad : soomusautod ja tankid 1918-1940 / Tiit Noormets, Mati Õun Tallinn : Tammiskilp, 1999 Page 52


External links


Articles on TK/TKS development, variants and construction in English
i
Polish Armour 1918-1939
website
TK & TKS tankettes
wwiivehicles.com

achtungpanzer.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tks World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Poland World War II tankettes Tankettes of the interwar period Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s Tankettes