The 43M Zrínyi II was a Hungarian

assault gun An assault gun (from , , meaning "assault gun") is a type of armored infantry support vehicle and self-propelled artillery, mounting an infantry support gun on a protected self-propelled chassis, intended for providing infantry with heavy di ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

based on the Turán medium tank chassis. The Zrínyi assault gun was used to fight against the Soviets on the Eastern Front and in the defence of Hungary and it was quite a successful vehicle.

Development

The Zrínyi's development process started in 1942; after the Hungarian delegation had the chance to witness the success of the StuG III Ausf. F armed with a long 75 mm anti-tank gun or short 105 mm howitzer. Hungary attempted to negotiate with Germany to try to acquire StuG IIIs. However, they could only receive a fraction of what they needed, and started to design a similar vehicle of their own. Following the success of

s on the Eastern Front, the situation required the fastest way possible to start the production of a vehicle of the same role. The engineers at the Manfréd Weiss Works decided to use the base of the Turán tank as it was a proven, solid chassis already in use in the

Hungarian army The Hungarian Ground Forces (, ) constitute the land branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces, responsible for ground activities and troops, including artillery, tanks, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), and g ...

. Proving the Turán tank was a successful armament. As for the armament, both a first variant mounting the long-barrelled 43M 75 mm anti-tank gun (which was still in development), and another version equipped with the 40M 105 mm MÁVAG howitzer which was compatible with the leFH 18's ammunition was considered.

Design

The hull of the Turán was made wider and higher to make space to house the large caliber cannon, with the front armor being reinforced to a total thickness of 75 mm. The first variant would become the 44M Zrínyi I armed with the 43M 75 mm gun and 100 mm frontal armor, being accepted for service in 1944, and the later one resulted in the 43M Zrínyi II. The Zrínyi II was armed with a short barrel (14 or 20.5 calibers)

105 mm MÁVAG 40/43M The 105 mm MÁVAG 40/43M was a Hungarian howitzer used in World War II. It was designed and produced by MÁVAG for the Royal Hungarian Army. It was a conservative design with horse traction, box trail and a muzzle brake. It is estimated t ...

howitzer. The Zrínyi II's design was a traditional infantry support vehicle, while the Zrínyi I was hoped to fulfill an anti-tank role.

Production

After the successful army trials in December 1942, the

military leadership A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a di ...

ordered 40 Zrínyi IIs. These were finished until the end of 1943. In January 1944, 50 more vehicles were ordered, 20 of these rolled out of the factories between March and July. Zrinyi II in Romanian service

On July 27, after 6 new Zrínyis were finished in the morning,

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

was hit by a bombing raid, which resulted in its collapse. Around 20 semi-finished Zrínyi 105s were saved and at least 6 of them were rebuilt by

Ganz The Ganz Machinery Works Holding is a Hungarian holding company. Its products are related to rail transport, power generation, and water supply, among other industries. The original Ganz Works or Ganz ( or , ''Ganz companies'', formerly ''Ganz ...

. A total number of 72 43M Zrínyi IIs were delivered to the armored units leastwise.

Service

The 43M Zrínyis were sent to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd assault battalions, and mainly fought in Galicia in the summer of 1944 against the massive Soviet offensive. They also fought in the defence of Hungary from late 1944 to early 1945. Several Zrínyi IIs were captured by the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during the Soviet occupation of Hungary, one was also captured by

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

during October 1944, but it was later confiscated by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

.Axworthy, page 221 There is only one surviving Zrínyi II 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 ...

near

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

References

Sources

* Bíró Ádám: ''A 40/43. M Zrínyi–II rohamtarack fejlesztése és alkalmazása''. Haditechnika, I. rész: 1996/1, 66–71., II. rész: 1996/2, 43–45.; III. rész: 1996/4, 66–69. (In Hungarian) * Mark Axworthy, Cornel Scafeș, Cristian Crãciunoiu, ''Third Axis. Fourth Ally. Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945,'' Arms and Armour, London, 1995. * Dr. Bonhardt Attila. A Zrínyi-II rohamtarack. Haditechnika, 20 - 1986. ISSN 0230-6891 (in Hungarian) at page 124 http://real-j.mtak.hu/11707/1/Haditechnika_1986.pdf

External links

* * https://web.archive.org/web/20080310083509/http://www.freedom.hu/IIvh/Fegyverek/Magyar/zrinyi.htm * http://www.haborumuveszete.hu/rovatok/fegyverek/pancelosok/zrinyik/ {{DEFAULTSORT:43m Zrinyi Armoured fighting vehicles of Hungary World War II assault guns Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944