Great War Austro-Hungarian Armor
| Tanks / Panzer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Model | tons | gun | built | |
| 1911 | Burstyn Motorgeschützes | 7 | 37mm | -0- | |
| Armored Cars / Panzerautomobil | |||||
| Year | Model | tons | gun | built | |
| 1906 | Austro-Daimler | 3 | 7.7mm | 1 | |
| 1915 | P.A.1 Junovicz | 5 | 8.0mm | 5 | |
| 1915 | P.A.2 Romfell l | 3 | 7.92mm | 2 | |
| Panzerzüge / Armored Trains | |||||
| Year | Model | tons | gun | built | |
| 19.. | Panzerzug I | mm | |||
| 19.. | Panzerzug II | mm | |||
| 19.. | Panzerzug III | mm | |||
| 19.. | Panzerzug IV | mm | |||
| 19.. | Panzerzug V | mm | |||
| 19.. | Panzerzug VI | mm | |||
At the beginning of the 20th century, various countries began work on armored car projects, and Austria-Hungary was no exception. However, the military got acquainted with new projects and were not interested in them. In the existing strategy there was simply no place for such equipment. Because of this, by the beginning of the Great War there was not a single armored car in the Austro-Hungarian army.
Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire was widely regarded as a great power, with more than 50 million inhabitants, this was far from the case from an economic perspective. Compared to other great powers like Britain, France or Germany, Austria-Hungary had limited economic resources. Austria-Hungary not had less economic resources for war than its potential adversaries, the Empire also made less effort to utilize them for military preparations. The Empire's armaments expenditures were the lowest of all the European powers, amounting to roughly 2.5 percent of gross national product (GNP) during the decade before the war, whereas the other countries spent between 3 and 4 percent and more.
The 1912 War Requirements Acts (Kriegsleistungsgesetze) granted far-reaching rights to the ministry of war and army supreme command concerning economic administration. The army had industrial production entirely at its disposal. The military administration was fully entrusted with purchasing supplies and equipment for the armed forces. This included the provision of favourable credits or subsidies for important armament firms. Already in peacetime, the administration concluded contracts with companies, requiring them to provide the army with a certain amount of products.
When the armament industries were put under military control after the outbreak of the war, severe regulations for workers were introduced. They bound the workers to their workshop place and increased the number of working hours (Kriegsleistungsgesetz 1912). To ensure discipline, workers could be called up and forced to work under army regulations. In spite of this policy, unrest and strikes occurred as a result of the growing scarcity of food.
There was a general expectation – not only in Austria-Hungary – that the war would not last long. Therefore, a competition among firms for war orders even arose and authorities neglected to build up stocks as long as imports were possible. The government tried to meet the necessities of war with business as usual – with the only exception being that the army had unlimited access to the country’s production and services. Only once it became clear that the war might last longer and as raw materials grew scarcer were instruments developed to meet the challenges.
Ammunition, arms and explosives were manufactured in Vienna not only by specialist armaments companies like G. Roth AG. A number of companies from other sectors converted their production facilities. In spite of the shortage of raw materials, the output remained surprisingly high until 1917. It was only with the dramatic deterioration of the workers’ supply situation that productivity began to drop. The requirements of war made necessary far-reaching structural changes in the Viennese production sector, culminating in the formation of an armaments complex. A few statistics will give an idea of its economic importance and dimensions.
The first months of the war showed how the warlords were mistaken. In a positional war with numerous trenches, barbed wire and other fortifications, even a few armored vehicles could provide serious support to the advancing troops. Seeing the potential of such technology, the army commanders called on the industry to develop new armored cars. Engineers responded to the call and soon there were several new projects.
Because of surplus production in 1914, the motor factories shifted initially to the manufacture of fillers for grenades, etc. In 1915 and 1916 they concentrated almost exclusively on making automobile engines for the military. In 1917 the demand for engines increased dramatically because of the scarcity of coal, but dropped again in 1918 as fuel shortages made themselves felt. The Vienna automobile industry experienced a considerable boom during the war. At the start of the war, it shifted to making trucks and lorries for the military.
As a result, when the war began, there was no armored car in the Austro-Hungarian army, and they had to be developed during military operations. In 1915, the first two armored cars were built. The first is the design of Yanovich and the second, very sophisticated-looking Romfel.
The Great War contributed to the emergence of many military innovations, whether it be tanks, poison gases, giant zeppelins, and armored cars that existed only in single copies before. In the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire several such armored cars were tested, and in particular the Daimler armored car.
The history of the “armored automotive industry” began with Paul Daimler's 'armored engine'. As is often the case in history, the firstborn was not appreciated by its contemporaries. In 1904, Paul Daimler (the son of the famous Gottlieb Daimler) initiated the development of an armored fighting vehicle. the body was assembled from several fairly large sections. Part of the armor plates had rather complex curved shapes, which contributed to the increased security of the machine and at the same time gave it a very “stylish” appearance. Armament was one 7.7-mm machine gun "Maxim", was installed in the tower embrasure and served by one shooter.
After successfully demonstrating the capabilities of a new type of weapon during the maneuvers of Silesia in 1906, the armored car was rejected by the military, despite the fact that the Chief of the General Staff Franz Konrad von Hettsendorf realized the importance of vehicles in modern warfare. The main reason for the refusal was His Majesty the Emperor Franz Joseph - during the demonstration of an armored car, a shy horse threw one of the high-ranking generals in front of the Emperor. The elderly monarch, without concealing his displeasure, resolutely declared to the entourage: this thing will no longer be "used for military purposes."
Undoubtedly, for its time, the Austro-Daimler Panzerwagen was a very modern and even advanced machine. Solutions such as the fully enclosed armored hull and the placement of weapons in the turret became classic. As for innovations such as the spherical shape of the tower or all-wheel drive chassis, even in the 1930s, few world armored cars could boast of them.
It should be noted that in the Great War, many armored vehicle designs were very simple, if not to say primitive. One of these machines was the Austro-Hungarian BA Yanovich, so named after its creator — the Hauptmann named Janovich — hence the name. in 1915, Hauptmann Yunovich proposed his own design of an armored car. The project implied the use of an existing automobile chassis, on which it was proposed to mount an armored hull with crew jobs and weapons. An interesting feature of the project, which interested the military, was the possibility of using as a basis for the armored car several chassis that were available at that time. Thanks to this, Austro-Hungarian factories could build armored cars relatively quickly and simply, equipping the existing machines with all the necessary equipment. The project received the designation Panzer Auto 1 or PA1 ("Armored car-1").
Apparently, Hauptman Yunovich initially took into account the capabilities of the country and for this reason provided for the possibility of using several basic chassis. The first three "Yanovich" were built on the basis of the truck "Fiat-40" PS. Then in 1917, two more were built: one on the 36 liter Bussing chassis. with. and one on the Fiat-34 chassis PS. It should be noted that in the First World War, many armored vehicle designs were very simple, if not to say primitive. One of these machines was the Austro-Hungarian BA Yanovich, so named after its creator — the Hauptmann named Janovich — hence the name. The first three "Yanovich" were built on the basis of the truck "Fiat-40" PS. Then in 1917, two more were built: one on the 36 liter Bussing chassis. with. and one on the Fiat-34 chassis PS. According to some reports, before the end of the First World War, 6-8 Romfell armored cars were built. They had different chassis, which was due to the possibilities of Austria-Hungary.
The “cinematic” outlines of the Romfel body and huge identification marks draw attention to themselves. This project was developed by two junior officers of the Austro-Hungarian Army, Hauptmann Romanik ( Romanic ) and Chief Lieutenant Fellner (German Fellner). The name of the armored car consisted of the first letters of the names of the designers - Romfell. The armored car used a ready-made commercial vehicle chassis, but unfortunately, accurate information about the base chassis is missing.
According to some data, a Mercedes truck with a 90 hp gasoline engine was chosen as the basis for the new armored car. The chassis of the truck was to provide a relatively heavy armored vehicle with high mobility characteristics. On top of the base chassis, Romanik and Fellner suggested installing their own armored hull. The corps consisted of several armor plates 6 mm thick. A characteristic feature of the Romfell armored car was the shape of the armored hull: there were only a few straight panels in the hull design. All other parts had a complex concave shape.
By that time, the car had (in any case, it was so thought!) an elegant design, with rounded sides and a low machine-gun turret. Drive on all four wheels and solid tires increased its throughput. Armament: one Schwarzlose M 7/12 7.92-mm machine gun, with an ammunition supply of 3000 rounds. However, only one car of this type was built in 1915. It was used on the Italian front in 1918, where it fought in the division of armored vehicles No. 1, which, in addition to the Romfel, included two more BAs Yanovich, one former Italian Lancia, and one armored Austin, the first series. Another "Romfel" was built at the end of 1917, or perhaps at the beginning of 1918. He clearly used a different chassis, and most likely it was a Goliath car with a 6-cylinder engine with a power of 90 hp. The mass of the armored car is 3 tons (other sources are up to 7 tons, this is what means ambiguity with the type of chassis, although the figure is clearly doubtful, but fact is a fact).
Yunovich, Romanik and Fellner were able to create quite interesting projects of armored vehicles. However, the state of the Austro-Hungarian industry did not allow to master the mass production of new technology, which accordingly affected the effect of its operation. At a time when some countries produced armored cars in batches of several dozen units, Austria-Hungary was able to assemble only a dozen two types of vehicles. The main reason for such failures should be considered the opinion, which adhered to the Austro-Hungarian command until the beginning of the First World War. The military did not consider armored cars a promising and important technique and did not support their development. As a result, already during the war, the country had to catch up, and there was not much success in this.
