M13/40 (I)

M13/40 (I)

L6/40

M13/40 (III)

M13/40 (I)

L6/40

M13/40 (III)

Italy

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.7	1.7	1.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

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This page is about the Italian medium tank Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40 I Serie. For other uses, see M13/40 (Family).

Description

The Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40 I Serie (shortened to M13/40 (I)) is a rank I Italian medium tank with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic". Its default colour is grey.

The M13/40 (I) is typically used as a breakthrough tank or a "blockade runner" due to the fact that it is very resistant to enemy fire especially when angled and can disable or destroy enemy vehicles with only one shot when up close. Beware, however, around the 500 m mark, the cannon ammunition starts to lose its punch and can fail to penetrate effectively.

General info

Survivability and armour

All of your armour, which can realistically be targeted, is flat, so despite quite high frontal armour values the M13/40 (I) must always be angled when squaring off with an enemy combatant or risk direct shot penetration of your vehicle. Your side armour value is not as good as the front, but at extreme angles, it becomes more effective.

As long as you angle your tank right, you will have 36 to 50 mm of effective armour thickness and use it to block enemy shots. Destroy British tanks and any SPG as soon as possible, as every single one of them can destroy your tank. It is also worth destroying Soviet and certain USA tanks first as well, however, not every one of them can penetrate your armour.

The rear end is also rather long, so enemies could pick this piece off if it is exposed. But it's better to be shot at your engines, than your crew compartment, located in the middle of the tank. Don't give your opponent any time to do that and make them go away before they started firing onto your second tier.

Armor Composition:

• Rolled Homogeneous Armor
• Cast Homogeneous Armor - Interior Mantlet
• Structural Steel - Fenders, Storage Boxes
• Tracks
• Structural Steel of Chassis - Suspension

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	30 mm (12°) Upper Plate 25 mm (80°) - 30 mm (66°) Upper Glacis 30 mm (Curved) Lower Glacis	30 mm Upper Front 25 mm Upper 25 mm Lower	25 mm Upper 3 Levels 27 mm Lower Level	15 mm Crew Compartment 5 mm - 15 mm Engine Compartment
Turret	45 mm (13°) Turret front 30 mm + 40 mm (Curved)Gun mantlet	25 mm		15 mm

Notes:

• Turret Ring Guard - 50 mm
• Fenders, Storage Boxes - 4 mm
• Tracks - 20 mm
• Suspension - 10 mm to 15 mm
• Main Gun - 15 mm
• Machine Guns - 5 mm

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	36	6	13.6	201	248	14.78	18.24
Realistic	32	5		115	130	8.46	9.56

Mobility of the M13/40 (I) is horrible on anything but flat land, but it's okay as long as you don't try to climb steep hills or to cross the entire map fast. Attempting a steep hill flank will just get you stuck and leave you exposed to enemy fire.

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition is good enough for flank shots and direct shots at flat armour up to 500 m. Post-penetration effect is enough to destroy most opponents of rank 1 with one or two shots.

Upgraded ammo does not have increased performance against flat armour, however against angled armour it does increase your chances to penetrate turrets along with angled armour and damage something like French tanks at longer range.

Overall, almost nothing can deflect your shots at 100-200 m range.

47 mm 47/32 mod.35					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	104	-15°/+25°	±180°	N/A	13.33	18.45	22.40	24.77	26.35	6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00
Realistic					8.33	9.80	11.90	13.16	14.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Granata Perforante mod.35	APHE	55	52	41	30	22	17
Granata Perforante mod.39	APBC	54	52	46	39	33	29

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Granata Perforante mod.35	APHE	630	1.5	1.2	9.0	30	47°	60°	65°
Granata Perforante mod.39	APBC	630	1.44	1.2	9.0	30	47°	60°	65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M13/40 (I)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
104	97 (+7)	72 (+32)	1 (+103)	yes

Turret empty: 72 (+32)

Machine guns

8 mm Breda Mod. 38
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	1,524 (24)	600	N/A	N/A
Pintle	1,524 (24)	600	__°	__°

Usage in battles

Try to push through enemy fire, while being angled at least 30° to your enemy. Destroy anyone who dares to fire at you, specifically targeting SPGs and those who forgot to angle their armour. Upgrade your ammunition for a better damage profile.

Alternatively, take a slightly flanking direction near to your team and use your strong characteristics to intercept any fast-moving vehicles while moving along with your team. After finishing the cleanup, flank main battle and destroy defenceless opponents.

It's not worth fighting heavily armoured vehicles alone while being angled without upgraded ammo. At a range of 500 m, you will probably only penetrate each other's turret and it's more up to luck than anything. One possibility if fighting from this range, your shell can potentially incapacitate turret crew, disabling the tank and allowing a team member with heavier firepower to finish the target off without the threat of being fired upon.

Tanks equipped with autocannons can destroy you from the rear and sides, however, they often go for engines first. Keep an eye out for them.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	Granata Perforante mod.39
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support

Pros and cons

Pros:

• When angled, can take shots from most 1^st rank tanks without consequences
• Can destroy tanks fast, if penetration is possible
• Very thick mantlet - about 40+30 mm overall, but be aware that at long range shells drop at an angle, and at places its protection becomes less than 30 mm
• Excellent gun depression

Cons:

• Engages in eternal shootouts with something with the same armour level as itself
• Slow and unable to climb well
• While being slow, you are also forced to always drive at an angle as not to allow someone to set up for a direct shot
• Slower reload compared to other reserve tanks.

History

Intended to replace the unsatisfactory M11/39, the M13/40 retained its main mechanical features, but with a more powerful gun in a fully rotating turret. The M13 was slow, unreliable, and suffered from the tank commander doubling as the gunner. Similar to early Russian and French tanks, it did not receive radios as standard equipment until 1942. Nevertheless, it became the standard Italian medium tank from 1941 on, and is the best known Italian tank of the war. In War Thunder, the M13/40 (I) represents those made earlier in the production run, with manual turret traverse instead of hydraulic traverse gear. Reportedly Italian crews would remove the hydraulic traverse, which was cumbersome; the (I) model has extra ammo storage to reflect that.

It first saw service with the 3rd Medium Tank Battalion (Battaglione Carri M) in Libya's Sollum-Halfaya region. It later equipped 132nd "Ariete (Ram)" Armoured Division (Divisione Corazzata) in North Africa. From January to April of 1941, it also saw action in Yugoslavia and Greece with the 131st Centauro (Centaur) and 133rd Littorio armoured divisions. For a short time after the first rush of British victories in North Africa in early 1941, there were enough captured M13s to equip a British armoured unit, 6th Royal Tank Regiment, in Libya. These were all lost in turn to Rommel's offensive in March of that year. In late August of 1941, Italian medium tank platoons increased their number from four to five.

When Italy surrendered in September 1943, 22 M13s were captured by Germany, who handed them over to the Italian fascist forces. It is uncertain how many in total were produced, as many were converted to M14/41s: estimates range from 710 to 1,049.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.