Full Name | Automitrailleuse de Combat modèle 1935 S |
Class | Heavy Vehicle |
Movement | 5 |
Armor Value | 4 |
Vs Infantry (RNG / FPR) | 5/6 |
Vs Vehicle (RNG / FPR) | 6/6 |
Traits | |
Period | 1936-1942 |
Theaters of Service |
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This French Cavalry tank was an agile medium-weight tank for its time, superior in armour and armament to its French and foreign contemporaries, such as the German Pz. III Ausf A-G variants. Armed with a 47 mm SA 35 (L/50) main gun (and optionally a coaxial 7.5 mm Mitrailleuse mle 1931 machine gun), it proved to be a tactically effective type, but strategic mistakes reduced this effectiveness. Other weaknesses were that most S35s lacked radios, and the small turret required the commander to also serve as the gunner. It had a top speed of 25 mph. With manufacturer Société d'outillage mécanique et d'usinage d'artillerie (Somua) building about 440 units, the type primarily served under the French flag during the Battle of France. The Gemans captured nearly 300 S35s upon France's surrender in June 1940, and made limited use of this type, re-naming it the Panzerkampfwagen 35-S 739(f). In mid-1940 they allowed the Vichy French government to ship 23 to bolster forces in Northwest Africa. The Germans also used this unit in limited numbers in Finland, Yugoslavia, and in a front-line capacity on the Eastern Front. Some German allies received captured units: Italy (32 in 1941); Hungary (2 in 1942), and Bulgaria (6 in 1943). After the liberation of France in 1944, the French raised an armoured unit, the 13e Régiment de Dragons, using French matériel, among which were seventeen S35s.