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The BT-42 was a Finnish assault gun, constructed during the Continuation War. After the Winterwar of 1939 the Fins had captured enormous amounts of Soviet BT-7 light tanks, despite speed and maneuverability they lacked firepower, so by slapping on British 4.5-inch howitzers the first Finnish armored vehicle was born.
The BT-42 was used for the first time in 1943, at the Svir River, where it was used against enemy pillboxes. The design worked reasonably well against soft targets but was completely unsuitable for anti-tank warfare. To counter this, the Finns copied a German-designed HEAT round for the gun and it was initially thought that it would be effective against the sloped armour of the T-34. However, problems arose with the HEAT shells fuses.
The BT-42s were used again during the major Soviet offensive in 1944. They were deployed in the defence of Vyborg. In one encounter, a Finnish BT-42 hit a Soviet T-34 18 times, failing even to immobilize the enemy vehicle, as this vehicle's fuses failed to work correctly. Eight of the 18 BT-42s in action made no significant contribution to the fighting. At the time Finnish armored units were still composed mostly of older designs such as the Vickers 6-Ton, T-26 and T-28 tanks, and all of these suffered losses.
Despite a bad rep in history it's not really deserved to call this a bad machine, the Finns had almost no experience in building tanks so for a first try they did pretty well and for it's role as support against soft targets it was properly equipped. I was lucky enough to see the last BT-42 at the Parola museum in finland, it's often passed by people who only want to see the more famous machines but the BT has a small spot in my heart.
Also yes most people know the BT souly for this: https://vimeo.com/173849635 (and yes Girls & Panzer is a guilty pleasure of mine)
(PLEASE NOTE: That is not a swastika on the side, the Fins used that symbol several decades before Hitler even came to power. The Finnish version "vääräpää" has nothing do with Fascism or the Nazis in any kind of way.)
The BT-42 was used for the first time in 1943, at the Svir River, where it was used against enemy pillboxes. The design worked reasonably well against soft targets but was completely unsuitable for anti-tank warfare. To counter this, the Finns copied a German-designed HEAT round for the gun and it was initially thought that it would be effective against the sloped armour of the T-34. However, problems arose with the HEAT shells fuses.
The BT-42s were used again during the major Soviet offensive in 1944. They were deployed in the defence of Vyborg. In one encounter, a Finnish BT-42 hit a Soviet T-34 18 times, failing even to immobilize the enemy vehicle, as this vehicle's fuses failed to work correctly. Eight of the 18 BT-42s in action made no significant contribution to the fighting. At the time Finnish armored units were still composed mostly of older designs such as the Vickers 6-Ton, T-26 and T-28 tanks, and all of these suffered losses.
Despite a bad rep in history it's not really deserved to call this a bad machine, the Finns had almost no experience in building tanks so for a first try they did pretty well and for it's role as support against soft targets it was properly equipped. I was lucky enough to see the last BT-42 at the Parola museum in finland, it's often passed by people who only want to see the more famous machines but the BT has a small spot in my heart.
Also yes most people know the BT souly for this: https://vimeo.com/173849635 (and yes Girls & Panzer is a guilty pleasure of mine)
(PLEASE NOTE: That is not a swastika on the side, the Fins used that symbol several decades before Hitler even came to power. The Finnish version "vääräpää" has nothing do with Fascism or the Nazis in any kind of way.)
Category Crafting / Miscellaneous
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 956 x 600px
File Size 308.2 kB
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