Semovente da 75/46

The Semovente da 75/46 was an Italian tank destroyer used in the last phase of the Second World War. After the armistice of Cassibile in September 1943, Northern and Central Italy came under German control, and in 1944 the Germans ordered a new Italian armoured vehicle for the tank-fighting role, built on the hull of the Semovente da 105/25 self-propelled gun. The 105 mm howitzer was replaced by the long 75 mm Cannone da 75/46 C.A. modello 34, originally an anti-aircraft gun, which fired a 6.5 kg shell at 750 metres per second and could penetrate up to 90 mm of armour from 500 metres. Sloped armour plates were added to the casemate and along the sides above the tracks. Ansaldo assembled only 11 or 13 vehicles between 1944 and the end of the war in Italy, and all of them were used by the German Wehrmacht, which designated the type Sturmgeschütz M 43 mit 75/46 (852) (i).