PZInż 130 was a prototype of
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
amphibious tank of the 1930s. Only a single prototype was built.
Development
In the early 1930s Poland was briefly interested in the British tank and tankette designs. The Polish Army wanted to buy a number of
Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Amphibious Tanks, but the negotiations failed. However,
Edward Habich of the
Państwowe Zakłady Inżynieryjne was asked to prepare a similar amphibious tank design to test its feasibility.
The resulting PZInż 130 project was inspired by British design, but was entirely an independent idea. The basic structure, chassis and undercarriage were identical to those used by Habich in his
PZInż 140, which eventually became the
4TP light tank. The prototype was delivered to the Polish Army on 2 October 1937. Extensively tested, during trials it covered over without a serious defect.
However, by May 1939 it became apparent that the very idea of a light amphibious tank was obsolete and the Army decided not to order the PZInż 130. The prototype was stored in the
Ursus Factory
Ursus SA (often stylized URSUS SA) was a Polish agricultural machinery manufacturer, headquartered in Lublin, Poland. The company was founded in Warsaw in 1893, and holds a prominent place in Polish tractor production history. It has also carri ...
, where it was captured by the Germans during the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
. Its later fate remains unknown.
See also
*
T-37A tank
The T-37A was a Soviet amphibious light tank. The tank is often referred to as the T-37, although that designation was used by a different tank which never left the prototype stage. The T-37A was the first series of mass-produced fully amphibi ...
*
Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Amphibious Tank
References
Amphibious tanks
Light tanks of Poland
Light tanks of the interwar period
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