The 102/35 on Fiat 634N was an anti aircraft truck used by the

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...

during the

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History

The 102/35 on SPA 9000, produced since 1914 and used during the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, was the first Italian

gun truck A gun truck is an armored vehicle with one or more crew-served weapons, typically based on a commercial vehicle. Gun trucks often have improvised vehicle armor, such as scrap metal, concrete, gravel, or sandbags, which is added to a heavy truck ...

, obtained from the installation on a truck of an anti-aircraft

naval gun Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firing weapons and excludes ...

, designed for cruisers. After the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the trucks were disassembled and the guns were returned to

. In 1941 the Fiat

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plant set up seven gun trucks on the chassis of the Fiat 634 N for the Regia Marina, using 102/35 S.A. (Schneider Ansaldo) guns taken from the defenses of Benghazi. With these means two mobile batteries were created, the 1st and 6th, served by personnel of the Maritime Artillery Militia of the

Blackshirts The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Nation ...

, together with some old naval guns of type 76/30 already installed on the 634N trucks. The 1st Battery and a

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of the 6th were joined to the

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, while section B of the 6th was subordinated to the

102nd Motorised Division Trento 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

. In the last months of 1941 they participated in several battles; on November 19 it was used during the first battle of Bir el Gobi, destroying at least 15 British tanks from a long distance. All 102/35 trucks were lost due to battle damage or accidents by the end of the same year. In addition to the counter-tank actions, served by the fire stations, they carried out long-range bombardments and anti-aircraft attacks with good results. As this was an "emergency" solution, its defects soon became apparent, such as the excessively high silhouette, the deterioration of the off-road performance of the truck and the tendency of some mechanical parts to wear off. None of these gun trucks survived the North African campaign.

Technology

The cannon 102/35 Mod. 1914 was installed on the truck bed using two different types of mounts: the

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Mod. 33 on the first two specimens and the

Vickers-Terni OTO Melara was a subsidiary of the Italian company Finmeccanica, today Leonardo, active in the defence sector, with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. The Mod 56 pack howitzer, in service throughout the world, and the 76mm naval gun, adop ...

Mod. 25 mount on the others. The modifications of the vehicle, on the other hand, consisted in the "cutting" of the closed cabin, replaced by a canvas cover, and in the installation of four manually operated jacks; the rear body was replaced by a shooting platform on which the mount swung 360°; this platform could be expanded to battery placement through the 90° pivot of the two metal side rails, which thus increased the floor space for the crew. The latter are transported on uncovered benches located at the rear end of the platform, between the two stores of ready-to-use shells.

References

{{Reflist World War II self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons World War II vehicles of Italy Fiat trucks Regia Marina