| The Tanque 'Nahuel', Modelo DL 43 was a totally indigenous design of medium tank built in Argentina in 1943. The name means Tiger in Araucano, a native langauge of the
south of Argentina. The design bears a great resemblance to the M4, but it was not a copy. The designer was Teniente Coronel (Lt. Colonel) Alfredo Baisi and the designation of
the Nahuel was officially changed to Tanque Nahuel Modelo Baisi to honour him in 1943.
Like the M4, the 'Nahuel' was armed with a 75mm main gun, originally a Krupp 75mm L/30 on the prototype but later this was changed to a Bofors 7.5cm on the production
versions. There was a co-axially mounted 12.7mm, and three additional, one hull-mounted, 7.5mm machine guns.
This tank had a 5-man crew, and was powered by a 500hp engine giving it a top speed of around 25 mph and a range of approximately 150 miles. It had a maximum 80mm of
armour.
After only 16 of these tanks were produced, production of the Nahuel ceased and war surplus Sherman were supplied to Argentina.
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VARIANTS OF THE SERIES
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GENERAL RECOGNITION POINTS |
- Three double-bogie suspension units each side.
- Sprocket front, idler rear.
- Flat plate vertical hull sides.
- Flat plate angled glacis with hooded headlights.
- Rolled plate truncated cone turret.
- Protruding rounded mantlet with single tube main armament.
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WEBSITES
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DOCUMENTS
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DISCUSSION FORUM
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