Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 9,001
A whimsical new armored car...
On December 23, 1934, the Venezuelan army proudly presents: Five brand new armored cars of the type "Tortuga" (= turtle"/"turtle shell"), which are shown to the public for the first time...:
Altogether the Venezuelans have twelve of these vehicles, they were designed by a civilian engineer named Tomàs Pacanin...
... and built by the Puerto Caballo Naval Shipyard without even consulting any military expert...:
Pacani did not consult tank experts and evaluate modern developments - no, he based his design on another model:
The "armored car" designs of the universal genius Leonardo da Vinci from the 15th century...:
The "Tortugas" were built on the chassis of the 1934 Ford truck...
...and if you look closely you can see that the two rear wheels are each connected to a drive caterpillar, which makes the armored car a real "half track"...:
The things are armed with a Vickers Mark 4B 7 mm machine gun (cal. .303) in the turret.
The crew consists of three men - driver, commander/machine gunner and co-driver/loader.
The "armor" of the "Tortugas" only offers protection against infantry fire!
At the time, Venezuela had a number of border disputes with its neighbor Colombia - and the new "tortugas" represent a significant increase in Venezuela's armored might, which otherwise consists of a handful of "Fiat" tankettes of the Ansaldo type C-35 "...
... and a couple of lightly armed "Carden-Lloyds" of British provenance...:
In the following photo you can see the whole arsenal together, just before the above-mentioned parade of the artillery regiment "Ayacucho" (No. 1) in the stadium of the city of Maracay...:
Militarily, the "Tortugas" turn out to be completely useless! Hardly to steer, no ventilation, almost no view!
Some of them are said to have been used later in army camps as chicken coops or even latrines!
At least two of the "Tortugas" have now been restored by the Venezuelan army - if only the original tank body - now built on a modern 2-axle Ford off-road vehicle...:
Here one of the restored "Tortugas" drives at a parade on July 5th, 2008...:
The second is a non-roadworthy monument in the army camp Fuerte Mara...:
In one respect, the "Tortuga" lived up to its builders' expectations: the 12 tanks fulfilled their role as a deterrent against Colombian territorial claims - they never had to prove themselves in a war.
In addition, the vehicle is and remains - despite all its bizarreness! - the first armored vehicle developed independently in South America!
And now hand on heart:
Have you ever heard of the "Tortuga"? No? I felt the same way!
On December 23, 1934, the Venezuelan army proudly presents: Five brand new armored cars of the type "Tortuga" (= turtle"/"turtle shell"), which are shown to the public for the first time...:
Altogether the Venezuelans have twelve of these vehicles, they were designed by a civilian engineer named Tomàs Pacanin...
... and built by the Puerto Caballo Naval Shipyard without even consulting any military expert...:
Pacani did not consult tank experts and evaluate modern developments - no, he based his design on another model:
The "armored car" designs of the universal genius Leonardo da Vinci from the 15th century...:
The "Tortugas" were built on the chassis of the 1934 Ford truck...
...and if you look closely you can see that the two rear wheels are each connected to a drive caterpillar, which makes the armored car a real "half track"...:
The things are armed with a Vickers Mark 4B 7 mm machine gun (cal. .303) in the turret.
The crew consists of three men - driver, commander/machine gunner and co-driver/loader.
The "armor" of the "Tortugas" only offers protection against infantry fire!
At the time, Venezuela had a number of border disputes with its neighbor Colombia - and the new "tortugas" represent a significant increase in Venezuela's armored might, which otherwise consists of a handful of "Fiat" tankettes of the Ansaldo type C-35 "...
... and a couple of lightly armed "Carden-Lloyds" of British provenance...:
In the following photo you can see the whole arsenal together, just before the above-mentioned parade of the artillery regiment "Ayacucho" (No. 1) in the stadium of the city of Maracay...:
Militarily, the "Tortugas" turn out to be completely useless! Hardly to steer, no ventilation, almost no view!
Some of them are said to have been used later in army camps as chicken coops or even latrines!
At least two of the "Tortugas" have now been restored by the Venezuelan army - if only the original tank body - now built on a modern 2-axle Ford off-road vehicle...:
Here one of the restored "Tortugas" drives at a parade on July 5th, 2008...:
The second is a non-roadworthy monument in the army camp Fuerte Mara...:
In one respect, the "Tortuga" lived up to its builders' expectations: the 12 tanks fulfilled their role as a deterrent against Colombian territorial claims - they never had to prove themselves in a war.
In addition, the vehicle is and remains - despite all its bizarreness! - the first armored vehicle developed independently in South America!
And now hand on heart:
Have you ever heard of the "Tortuga"? No? I felt the same way!
