OA vz. 27

OA vz. 27
OA vz. 27
	A painting of an OA vz. 27, note that the rear is facing to the left
Type	Armored car
Place of origin	Czechoslovakia
Service history
In service	1929—44
Used by	Czechoslovakia; Nazi Germany; Romania; Slovakia
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Škoda
Designed	1925—27
Manufacturer	Škoda
Unit cost	626,770Czechoslovak koruna
Produced	1929
No.built	15 + 1 prototype
Specifications
Mass	6.6 tonnes (6.5 long tons; 7.3 short tons)
Length	5.35 metres (17.6 ft)
Width	1.95 metres (6.4 ft)
Height	2.66 metres (8.7 ft)
Crew	5
Armor	3–5.5 millimetres (0.12–0.22 in)
Main; armament	2 x 7.92 mm (0.312 in)Schwarzlose MG vz. 07/24machine guns
Secondary; armament	1 x 7.92 mm (0.312 in)ZB vz. 26machine gun
Engine	4-cylinder Škodagasoline; 60 horsepower (45 kW)
Transmission	4 x 2
Operational; range	250 kilometres (160 mi)
Maximum speed	35 kilometres per hour (22 mph)

TheOA vz. 27 (Obrněný automobil vzor 27)was aCzechoslovak-designedarmored carused byNazi Germany,Slovakia,andRomaniaduringWorld War II.Fifteen were built, of which the Germans seized nine when they occupiedBohemia-Moraviain March 1939 and theSlovakscaptured three when they declared independence from Czechoslovakia at the same time. Romania acquired three when Czech troops sought refuge in Romania after the Hungarian invasion ofCarpatho-Ukrainethat same month. All were used for training or internal security duties during the war.

Description

TheOA vz. 27'sarmored body was mounted on a purpose-builtladder framechassis. The chassis design was unusual as it could be driven in both directions as it had both forward and rear drivers. Both axles could be driven and steered, but not at the same time as the reverser lever controlled the direction of travel and which axle was being used so it was not a true four-wheel drive design.^[1]The forward driver sat on the right side using an observation port protected by an armored shutter with a vision slit. The assistant driver sat on the left and had his own vision port. The rear driver sat on the vehicle's left side. A heavySchwarzlose MG vz. 07/24water-cooled machine gun was mounted in the center of the rear hull with 72° of traverse. The crew accessed the fighting compartment from doors in both sides of the vehicle and a hatch in the turret. The gunner sat in a small, conical turret with 360° of traverse. It had an observation port in the front, vision slits on both sides and an armored searchlight on a swing arm in the rear. The turret had aSchwarzlose MG vz. 07/24machine gun in a forward-facing ball mount and two other ball mounts were fitted on the sides of the turret. AZB vz. 26light machine gun was carried inside the vehicle. 5750 rounds were stored for the machine guns. The body had an internal frame of steel "angle iron" beams to which 5.5 mm (0.22 in) armor plates were riveted.^[2]

The 5.7 litres (350 cu in), water-cooled, 60 horsepower (45 kW), 4-cylinder Škoda gasoline engine was mounted in the front of the vehicle. It gave a top speed of 35 kilometres per hour (22 mph). It could cross a ditch.4 metres (1.3 ft) wide, climb an obstacle.2 metres (0.66 ft) high and ford a stream.3 metres (0.98 ft) deep.^[3]

Development

TheOA vz. 27was the third in a line of Škoda armored cars that used the same revolutionary chassis design. ThePA-Iintroduced the two driver concept, but it had four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering and a turret with two machine guns. Only two prototypes were built before the army asked for further improvements. ThePA-IIkept the same chassis, but dropped the turret in a completely new body design with curved plates that mounted a machine gun in each corner of the vehicle. The curved armor was very good ballistically, but was quite expensive to manufacture. Twelve were ordered, but the cramped fighting compartment and lack of space for both gunners to man their weapons simultaneously meant that the army was still not satisfied.^[4]

ThePA-IIIwas intended to be smaller, more mobile and less expensive than its predecessors. Flat armor plates replaced the curved armor of thePA-IIand a turret was reintroduced. One prototype was bought in 1925 with an iron body and evaluated for two years before it was accepted in July 1927. Twelve chassis had already been delivered in 1925 while the Army tried to decide the best layout of the body, but it took almost another two years before the lastOA vz. 27,as the Army designated theP-III,was delivered in October 1929.^[5]

Operational history

Czechoslovakia

In service they proved to be robust, easy to maintain and easy to shoot as optical sights had been added for the machine guns. The main drawback was their excessive weight and very high cost (626,770CSK- around 25,000 USD).^[5]Six were initially assigned to the Armored Regiment inMiloviceand the remaining nine to the cavalry, but this changed during the reorganization of the armored units in the mid-Thirties. The1st Armored Regimentreceived an additional three for a total of nine while the2nd Armored RegimentinOlomoucgot three as did the3rd Armored RegimentinTurčiansky Svätý Martin.TheOA vz. 27s were heavily used suppressing theprotests and violenceinstigated byKonrad Henlein'sSudeten German Party(Sudetendeutsche Partei- SdP) and theSudetendeutsche Freikorps(paramilitary groups trained in Germany bySS-instructors) between May and October 1938. After theMunich Agreementone platoon ofOA vz. 27swere sent to reinforce Slovakia and Ruthenia where they were used to repel Hungarian and Polish border-crossers, sometimes up to a battalion in strength. One platoon of three vehicles defendedCarpatho-Ukrainein March 1939 from Hungarian attacks, but were forced to seek refuge in Romania and Slovakia acquired three when it declared independence in March 1939.^[6]

Germany

The Germans seized nine in March 1939 when they occupiedBohemia-Moravia,but nothing is known of their service (if any).^[7]

Slovakia

ThreeOA vz. 27s were seized by theSlovakswhen they declared independence in March 1939, but were used only for training^[8]and scrapped in February 1943.^[7]

Romania

Little is known about the career of theOA vz. 27in Romania after one Czech platoon of three sought refuge there in March 1939 other than it performed internal security duties. Two were destroyed during one of the American bombing raids on Ploiesti during the summer of 1944 while being serviced at the depot there.^[9]

Notes

^Kliment and Francev, p. 26
^Kliment and Francev, pp. 23-27
^Kliment and Francev, p. 274
^Kliment and Francev, pp. 20-21
^^a ^bKliment and Francev, pp. 23-24
^Kliment and Francev, pp. 24–25
^^a ^bKliment and Francev, p. 25
^Kliment and Nakládal, p. 37
^Kliment and Francev, pp. 25-26

References

Kliment, Charles K. & Francev, Vladimír (1997).Czechoslovak Armored Fighting Vehicles 1918-1948.Atlgen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing.ISBN 0-7643-0141-1.
Kliment, Charles K.; Nakládal, Bretislav (1997).Germany's First Ally: Armed Forces of the Slovak State 1939—1945.Atglen, PA: Schiffer.ISBN 0-7643-0589-1.

External links

[1] Kliment and Francev, p. 26

[2] Kliment and Francev, pp. 23-27

[3] Kliment and Francev, p. 274

[4] Kliment and Francev, pp. 20-21

[klim2324-5] Kliment and Francev, pp. 23-24

[6] Kliment and Francev, pp. 24–25

[k25-7] Kliment and Francev, p. 25

[8] Kliment and Nakládal, p. 37

[9] Kliment and Francev, pp. 25-26

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

v t e Romanian armored fighting vehicles of World War II
Tanks	Renault FT R-1 R-2 R-2c CDL R35 T-3 T-4 T-38
Tank destroyers	TACAM T-60 TACAM R-2 VDC R35
Assault guns	TAs
Half-tracks	Famo Sd.Kfz. 10 Sd.Kfz. 11 SPW ușor SPW mijlociu
Armored cars	Sd.Kfz. 221/22/23 AB-41 OA vz. 27 OA vz. 30
Armored carriers	Malaxa UE T-20 Komsomolets
Prototypes	T-1 AB md. 41 Mareșal Romanian Goliath
Proposed designs	R-2a R-3 1942 medium tank T-34-120/150 T-26/37 TACAM R-1 TACAM T-38 Mareșal SPAAG Mareșal self-propelled howitzer Mareșal command vehicle