Samochód pancerny Peugeot (1918)

Samochód pancerny Peugeot
General properties
crew	4-5
length	4.80 m
width	1.80 m
height	2.80 m
Dimensions	3.6-4.0 t
Armor and armament
Armor	5.5 mm
Main armament	1 × 37 mm SA-18 Puteaux L / 21 cannon (6 vehicles) or 1 × 8 mm wz.14 Hotchkiss machine gun (12 vehicles)
agility
drive	Peugeot 146 (18CV), 4 cylinder 40 HP (29 kW)
Top speed	40 km / h
Power / weight
Range	approx. 140 km

The Samochód pancerny Peugeot 1918 was a light armored automobile that was procured by Poland in 1920 and was the standard vehicle of the Polish Army until 1928 . During the attack on Poland , some of these vehicles were still in service with the Polish police.

History and description

In 1919 the Polish government planned to purchase armored vehicles from the French company Peugeot , but this did not succeed due to the Polish-Soviet war . It was not until October 1920 that 18 automobiles that were shipped to Poland arrived. The vehicles were armored cars of the type AM 18CV (MG car) and AC 18CV (cannon car). The chassis of the Peugeot 146 car was used as the basis . These armored cars were already used on the French side during the First World War .

Only three of the cars delivered to Poland had been armed in France. This consisted of an 8-mm Hotchkiss wz.14 - machine gun . The 15 other tanks were first armed by the Polish army, with six vehicles receiving a French 37mm cannon model SA-18 Puteaux L / 21, while the rest were equipped with the Hotchkiss wz.14 MG. In the 1930s, the type wz.14 machine guns were replaced by those of the type wz.25. It was an export variant of the original Hotchkiss MG and had a caliber of 7.92 mm.

The armor consisted of 5.5 mm thick sheets that were riveted together. The floor was unarmoured. The fighting area was open at the top.

During later use it became apparent that the wagons were overloaded despite the thin armor. The axles were then reinforced. The planned roofing of the fighting area was not considered as this would have caused a renewed overload of the chassis.

Calls

After arriving in Poland, the armored cars were divided into three vehicle departments. It was no longer used in the Polish-Soviet War. Instead, the tanks were used for training. From 1928 onwards they were gradually replaced by the Samochód pancerny wz. 28 replaced. Twelve of the cars were used for training until 1935, before they were finally retired from the Polish army. Three vehicles were sold to Portugal, where they were used for police operations. The other vehicles were handed over to the Polish police. Some of these armored vehicles were therefore still used during the German invasion of Poland. On September 1, 1939, the power plant in Chorzów was defended against the German Freikorps with the help of the Peugeots . One of the vehicles was destroyed by hand grenades.

References and comments

1. ↑ Second World War Lexicon: Armament of Polish Tanks ( Memento of the original from September 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 22, 2010  
2. ↑ ^{a b} Second World War Lexicon: Peugeot infantry fighting vehicle ( Memento of the original dated November 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 22, 2010  
3. ↑ Samochód pancerny Peugeot 1918 , accessed on August 22, 2010.

See also

• Polish military vehicles of World War II

Web links

Commons : Peugeot 1918 armored cars in Polish service  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Samochód pancerny Peugeot (1918) (derela.pl)