Tankopedia
WW2Tank DestroyerAssault GunItaly

Semovente da 75/18

In service 1941 - 1945

Italy's best armoured vehicle of the war - a low assault gun whose hollow-charge shells could knock out a Grant.

Built byFiat-Ansaldo

Semovente da 75/18
Semovente at Saumur — Fat yankey, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.5

Development history

Modelled on the German StuG concept, the Semovente 75/18 put a short 75 mm howitzer in a low casemate on a medium tank chassis. With effective hollow-charge ammunition it could defeat British and American armour that shrugged off Italian 47 mm guns, and crews in the desert used it to real effect at Gazala and El Alamein. Production continued on improved chassis and, after September 1943, both the Germans and co-belligerent Italian units operated surviving vehicles in Italy and the Balkans.

Variants

One canonical record, 3 recorded variants.

  1. Semovente M40 da 75/18

    1941

    M13/40 chassis

  2. Semovente M41 da 75/18

    1942

    M14/41 chassis, wider tracks

  3. Semovente M42 da 75/18

    1942

    M15/42 chassis, longer hull and petrol engine

Notable actions

  • Battle of Gazala
  • Second Battle of El Alamein
  • Italian Campaign