Tankopedia
WW2MediumMedium TankHungary

Turan II

In service 1943 - 1945

The Hungarian Turan up-gunned with a short 75 mm for high-explosive work, fighting in the disastrous 1944 defence of Hungary.

Built byMAVAG, Ganz and Manfred Weiss

Turan II
Turán tanks at the Hungarian Royal Army depot, Mátyásföld — Fortepan / Lissák Tivadar, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Development history

The Turan line was developed from the Czech Skoda T-21 design and built entirely in Hungary. The Turan II replaced the 40 mm gun with a short 75 mm 41M that threw a useful high-explosive shell but could not penetrate a T-34 frontally at any sensible range. Around 140 were completed and they fought in Galicia in 1944 and then across Hungary itself, where they were destroyed in large numbers. Sources give production as 139 to 146. Very few survive.

Variants

One canonical record, 3 recorded variants.

  1. Turan I

    1942

    40 mm 41M gun, the first production version of the line.

  2. Turan II

    1943

    Short 75 mm 41M gun in an enlarged turret.

  3. Turan III

    1944

    Long 75 mm gun and side skirts; only prototypes completed.

Notable actions

  • Galicia 1944
  • Battle of Debrecen
  • Defence of Budapest