The Swedish Landsverk L60 Tank
The Nordic Tank Saw Service All Over the World for 70 Years
Jan 1, 2008
Tanks evolved from a little more than armored tractor to practical war engines during World War One. Largely perfected by the British and French, the Germans caught on late in the war and produced a few good designs. Forbidden from manufacturing or even designing tanks by the Versailles Treaty, German munitions experts moved overseas to continue their work. One of these was German tank engineer Otto Merker who worked for the Swedish speciality-vehicle manufacturer AB Landsverk (itself owned by the infamous German armaments firm Krupp) in the 1930s. Before going back to Germany and being a key player in Hitler's rearmament, Merker designed a rather modern little tank for the Swedes that had quite an interesting history - the Landsverk L60.
The L60 tank, weighing some 6 tons, was powered by a Bussing-Nag Volvo V8 gasoline engine that produced 160 hp. Its Atlas transmission made it first tank ever built equipped with a hydro-dynamical transmission. It was also the first tank ever with torsion-bar suspension. Its light weight and thin armor (13mm) allowed the engine to propel the tank at some 45kph for up to 300 kms. The tank was one of the first designed with sloped armor to maximize its protection. The tank carried a 20mm Danish Madsen anti-tank gun as well as a machine gun to be worked by her 3 man crew. When compared to its 1935 contemporaries, the L60 was a modern, fast and well armed vehicle.
Two of the L60s were immediately sold to Ireland in 1936, creating the first operational Irish tank corps. The Irish Defense Forces maintained their pair of L60s until the late 1960s and continue to have a functional one in storage at their Cavalry Corps Museum to this day. One was sold to Austria for testing before that country was taken over by Hitler in 1938. Sweden itself ordered 16 of the locally-produced tanks in 1937 and they entered service in 1938 with the Swedish army. These tanks were designated Stridsvagn m/38 type in Swedish service and remained as the primary tanks in Sweden during World War Two. Twenty more up-armored L-60s were ordered in 1939 after the outbreak of that war followed by another 100 in 1940. These last models were given the excellent (and Swedish!) 37mm Bofors antitank gun as well as a second machine gun and referred to by the Swedes as the Stridsvagn m/40. They carried a stronger engine to support 50mm of rolled homogeneous armor. They remained in Swedish service until 1957 when they were withdrawn. Most were scrapped after their twenty years of service. From these relics one of the oldest was preserved at the Pansarmuseet at Axvall, Sweden and twenty-five of the latest (those with the 37mm guns) were sold to the Dominican Republic in 1960. The story of these Dominican tanks and their combat record is most interesting.
The Hungarian army accepted the tank after testing it as well as German models of the day and 202 were made for the Hungarian Army between 1939 and 1942. The Hungarian versions were heavier and were designated the 38M Toldi, named after the 14th century Hungarian knight Miklós Toldi. They were armed with the 20mm 36/m anti-tank rifle and an 8mm Gebauer 34/37 co-axil machinegun. The Hungarian tanks fought against the Yugoslav army in 1941 as well as the Soviet Red Army in 1941-44. Their small size meant that they were totally over-matched against Soviet tanks such as the T-34 and instead were used for scouting and reconnaissance. At least 80 of the Hungarian tanks were upgraded to a larger gun (40mm) and thicker armor. Forty tanks were also built in addition to these armed with a 40mm anti-aircraft gun and called "Nimrods" in Hungarian service. Following this idea, six L60 chassis were sold to Finland in World War two. Converted to carry Swedish 40mm Bofors cannon they served as anti-aircraft guns and were the last thing several Soviet pilots saw during the war. These weapons were retained in service by the Finns until 1966. They were referred to as the Luftvärnskanonvagn L-62 and one is still in operational livery at the Finnish anti-aircraft museum at Tuusula, Finland.
Sources
Leland Ness Jane’s World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles The Complete Guide, , 2002
Finizio, Giuseppe ‘Toldi, A Brave Little Warrior’, AFV News, Vol. 21 No. 3
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