T-13 tank destroyer

T-13 Tank destroyer
T-13 B2 fording a creek during field exercises
Type	Tank destroyer
Place of origin	UK/Belgium
Service history
In service	1936-1945?
Used by	Belgium France Nazi Germany
Wars	Second World War
Production history
Designer	Vickers, Miesse, Familleheureux
Designed	1934
Manufacturer	Vickers and Familleheureux
Produced	1935-1940
No. built	303-311
Variants	B1, B2, B3
Specifications
Weight	4.5 ton (B1, B2) 5.08 ton (B3)
Length	3.65 m (12 ft 0 in)
Width	B1/2: 1.76 m B3: 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Height	B1/2: 1.69 m B3: 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Crew	3/4 : commander/gunner, driver,loader
Armor	B1/2: 6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in) B3: 7–13 mm (0.28–0.51 in)
Main armament	47 mm Model 1931 anti-tank gun
Secondary armament	FN M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle
Engine	Meadows 5/6 cylinder gasoline engine
Power/weight	11.33 hp per ton 17.32 hp per ton
Transmission	4 speed
Suspension	Horstmann suspensions
Operational range	B1/2: 240 km (150 mi) B3:400 km
Speed	B1/2: 40 km/h B3: 41 km/h

The T-13 was a tank destroyer in use with the Belgian armed forces before World War II and during the Battle of Belgium. It was designed by Vickers, and produced by Vickers, Miesse and Familleheureux and outfitted with FRC Herstal weaponry. The earlier T-13s were based on imported Vickers tracked vehicles that were outfitted with armament and armor in Belgium by the Miesse company; later versions, from the B3 version on, were fully license-produced in Belgium by the Familleheureux factory. Total production numbers are unclear and have been underestimated for political reasons, both before and after World War II, but are generally estimated at 300 vehicles, although not all were available or fully outfitted on 10 May 1940, the start of the Battle of Belgium. Nazi Germany used the vehicles after the occupation of Belgium, but to what extent remains unclear.

In general - keeping a close watch on German political and military developments - the need for armored tracked vehicles or tanks was widely accepted by the Belgian military establishment. The political view on the matter however was slightly more complex: the Belgian government tried frantically, keeping in mind the total destruction of the small country in the First World War, to keep Belgium neutral from 1936 on and therefore out of the upcoming European conflict. Politicians from the right wing political parties wished Belgium would abstain from buying offensive weapons like tanks and bombers, so as not to provoke Germany into starting a new war; politicians from left wing parties rejected heavy arms on an ideological basis.

From this point of view the T-13 tank destroyer could be described as the result of Belgium's neutrality doctrine: the vehicle had to be light, and therefore lightly armored, and was built without a fully enclosed fighting compartment, much like the German Panzerjäger designs, thus resulting in a tank destroyer class vehicle, rather than a true tank. Also, as with the T-15 Light tank units, the psychological words tank or armored/mechanized unit were never to be used in official unit designations, with the words armored/tracked motorcar and the historical cavalry being favored.

Since the Belgian armed forces realized the need for further mechanization of the army in the 1930s, a number of foreign platforms were looked at. In 1934, the Belgian Army signed a contract for 21 or 23 Vickers Carden Loyd 1934 artillery tractors with the British firm Vickers. These were meant as artillery tractors for the Chasseurs Ardennais mountain troops, to tow the recently acquired Bofors 75 mm Model 1934 mountain gun. Impressed with the vehicle's performance on both hilly and flat terrain, the Belgian Armed Forces decided to take the concept a little further and experimentally outfitted the tractor with the F.R.C. built 47 mm anti-tank gun, much along the lines of the earlier but ultimately unsuccessful SA F.R.C. 47mm experiment. Not much is known about the basic model Vickers 1934 artillery tractor, apart from the fact that the Belgian Army seems to have been the sole user of the type. In its basic configuration, the Vickers 1934 artillery tractor was unarmored and could generally be described as an open, tracked light truck. It was outfitted with a 51 hp 5 cylinder Meadows gasoline engine with an internal volume of 3300 cc, and had an empty weight of 2 tons. Apart from the Bofors 75 mm equipped Chasseurs Ardennais, no other Belgian armed units were outfitted with the type, the Belgian armed forces instead preferring the smaller and far less expensive Vickers/Familleureux utility tractor as their main tracked transporter later on. However, given its successful use with the Chasseurs Ardennais mountain troops, the Belgian Armed Forces decided to order another 32 vehicles, which became the basis for the T-13 B1.