In many respects, a revolutionary design.
The French armaments industry was suppressed during the German occupation by revived quickly after the war. By 1946 work had begun on a range of vehicles, including the AMX-13 which first appeared in 1952.
In many respects it was a revolutionary design. In attempting to fit a long gun into a short tank the French were obliged to locate the turret behind the engine, which is an unusual arrangement even today. To keep the profile as low as possible a Saviem, eight cylinder horizontally opposed engine is used and the entire tank was designed for crew members no more than 1.7m (5’8″) tall. The AMX-13 was intended to be air-portable although no aircraft capable of lifting it was designed for 20 years.
The AMX-13 was an immediate success; over the years it has served with the armies of at least 20 countries and is still operational. It has undergone many modifications and improvements while the chassis has formed the basis for an entire family of armoured vehicles.
THE OSCILLATING TURRET
The gun in AMX-13 is a development of the 75mm L/70 of the German Panther. It is mounted in an oscillating turret, the top half of which elevates and depresses while the lower half rotates.
In the bustle, at the rear of the turret, is an automatic loading device linked to a pair of 6 round magazines. Thus no human loader is required so space and weight are saved.
However, once those 12 rounds have been fired the tank must withdraw from action to reload its magazines. No other country has ever used an oscillating tank turret except on experimental prototypes.
The Tank Museum’s AMX-13
This AMX 13 was completed in February 1952 and has serial number 212. It was refitted in January 1957 and February 1964 and came to The Tank Museum in 1969.
