75/34 M42
| This page is about the Italian tank destroyer 75/34 M42. For other uses, see M42 (Disambiguation). |
Contents
Description
The Semovente 75/34 M42 is a rank II Italian tank destroyer with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, casemate)
- Cast homogeneous armour (gun mantlet)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 25 mm (80°) Front glacis 30 mm (cylindrical) Lower plate |
25 mm | 25 mm Upper part 25 mm (15°) Lower part |
25 mm (10°) Front glacis 10 mm (15°) Rear - Engine hood 5-10 mm (8°) Rear - Radiator vents |
| Casemate | 50 mm (5°) Casemate front plate 50 + 50 mm (spherical) Gun mantlet 25 mm (60°) Plate connecting with hull |
25 mm (6-7°) | 25 mm | 15 mm (5°) Centre 15 mm (21-22°) Sides |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick and bogies 10 mm thick.
- The belly is 15 mm thick.
- Mudguards are 4 mm thick.
The 75/34 M42 shares the same vulnerabilities as the 75/18 M41 and the 75/32 M41: a rather weak vertical armour front plate, weak sides and an even weaker roof armour and a crew of only 3 sitting in a cramped space.
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 | 42 | 4 | 13.3 | 263 | 353 | 19.77 | 26.54 |
| Realistic | 39 | 4 | 164 | 185 | 12.33 | 13.91 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Main armament
| 75 mm 75/34 mod.39 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 45 | -10°/+22° | ±18° | N/A | 12.3 | 17.1 | 20.7 | 22.9 | 24.4 | 8.45 | 7.48 | 6.89 | 6.50 |
| Realistic | 8.3 | 9.8 | 11.9 | 13.2 | 14.0 | ||||||||
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 75/32 | APCBC | 79 | 78 | 71 | 64 | 58 | 52 |
| EPS M42 | HEAT | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Granata 75/32 | HE | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| 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 75/32 | APCBC | 637 | 6.35 | 1.2 | 14 | 270 | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| EPS M42 | HEAT | 552 | 5.3 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 656.64 | 62° | 69° | 73° |
| Granata 75/32 | HE | 552 | 6.35 | 0 | 0.1 | 600 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 24 (+21) | 1 (+44) | No |
Note:
- As they are modeled by sets of 2, 3 or 4, shells disappear from the rack only after you fire all shells in the set.
Usage in battles
- Combat tactics
Thanks to its performant gun, the 75/34 M42 is effective as a tank destroyer at long range with the good penetration of its APCBC round. With a maximum penetration of 64 mm at 1,000 m, the vehicle will have no problem penetrating the angled front armour of many similar rank vehicles from a distance. Light tanks, armoured cars and SPAA are the easiest targets. The vehicle's effectiveness improves once the HEAT shell is unlocked, with 100 mm of penetration at all ranges. This allows for reliable penetration of practically all the Semovente's potential adversaries. Your most dangerous opponents are fast and agile light tanks such as the M22 that can easily flank the Semovente undetected and disable you from close range. Their speed and small size make those light tanks difficult to target for the Semovente's gun.
With the HEAT shell, the Semovente can make for an effective tank destroyer, provided you stay at a distance guaranteeing your survivability. The one thing to remember about the HEAT shell is that it sacrifices the one-shot capability of APCBC, meaning that larger tanks will often take multiple hits to disable while the reload time is pretty slow for the battle rating. Like the 75/32 M41, the HEAT shell has a good muzzle velocity making it capable to hit reliably targets at long range.
- Notable enemies
Many tanks are capable of easily disabling you. By order of lethality:
- Tank destroyers with long guns
- Howitzers with powerful HE shells
- Tanks with HEAT shells
- Frontline tanks with APHE shells
- Light tanks or armoured cars with autocannons
- How to defeat a 75/34 M42
The 75/34 M42 has several weak spots:
- In a frontal encounter, the vertical front plate is the easiest to target.
- Shoot the lower front plate to damage the transmission and immobilize the tank if you lack penetration power.
- When flanking, aim for the weak sides of the casemate.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Decent 75 mm gun with a respectable reload rate
- Low profile = harder to spot
- Has access to HEAT rounds
- Decent top speed
Cons:
- Overall armour is not very good
- Is vulnerable to getting flanked due to being a casemate tank destroyer
- Thin top armour; can be vulnerable to strafing aircraft
- Acceleration leaves things to be desired
History
- Development
Following the success of the Semovente da 75/18 in its anti-tank role, the Italian command ordered in October 1942 the development of an improved version of the Semovente based this time on the M15/42 chassis and a 75 mm L/34 Breda cannon, a gun with identical performance to the one equipped on the P26/40 tank. The new vehicle was accepted in April 1943 and production started in May 1943 with an order for 280 Semoventi. Due to wartime shortages of materials and manpower, only 93 tank destroyers were produced by the Italians before the Armistice and only 60 vehicles delivered to their combat units. The Germans then seized control of Northern Italy and continued its manufacture, completing 80 more units alongside 36 already confiscated ones.
- Combat usage
The 75/34 M42 saw shortly combat action on the Italian side during the battle of Rome in September 1943 and more extensively on the German side along with the other Semovente variants in Northern Italy and the Balkans in 1944.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
- Other vehicles of similar configuration and role
External links
| Italy tank destroyers | |
|---|---|
| Italy | |
| M41 | 75/18 M41 · 75/32 M41 · 90/53 M41M |
| M42 | 75/34 M42 |
| M43 | 105/25 M43 · M43 "G.C.Leoncello" · 75/34 M43 · 75/46 M43 |
| Wheeled | Lancia 3Ro (100/17) · AS 42/47 · Breda 90/53 · Breda 501 |
| Other | L3/33 CC · 47/32 L40 |
| Germany | ▄StuG III G |
| USA | M36B1 · ▄M109G · M113A1 (TOW) |
| Hungary | |
| Zrínyi | Zrinyi I · Zrinyi II |
| USSR | ◔2S1 |
