Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Stridsvagn L 60

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Type
  
Light tank

In service
  
1935 – 2002

Place of origin
  
Sweden

Designer
  
Otto Merker

Stridsvagn L-60

Used by
  
Sweden Kingdom of Hungary Ireland Dominican Republic

Wars
  
World War II Dominican Civil War

Stridsvagn L-60 (Strv L-60), also known as Landsverk L-60, was a Swedish tank developed in 1934. It was developed by AB Landsverk as a light tank which included several advanced design features such as torsion bar suspension, periscopes rather than view slits and all-welded construction.

Contents

The L-60 was progressively improved and four variants were created: L-60A, L-60B, L-60C (37mm gun), L-60D (new turret and 37mm gun and twin machine guns). The L-60 eventually evolved into the Stridsvagn m/38 and subsequent Stridsvagn m/39 and Stridsvagn m/40 and was adopted by the Swedish army as such.

  • L-60 - First variants produced and delivered to:
  •  Ireland - 2 ordered in 1935,
  •  Austria - 1 ordered in 1936,
  •  Kingdom of Hungary - 1 ordered together with a Landsverk L-62, probably similar to m/38 with 37 mm Bofors cannon and room in the tower for a radio. They also purchased a license to develop their own tank Toldi.
  • L-60 S: Variant for the Swedish Army.
  • L-60 S/I (Strv m/38) - 15 ordered in 1937 and delivered in 1939.
  • L-60 S/II (Strv m/39) - 20 ordered in 1939 and delivered in 1940.
  • L-60 S/III (Strv m/40L) - 100 ordered in 1940 and delivered in 1941.
  • L-60 S/IV
  • L-60 S/V (Strv m/40K) - 80 ordered in 1942 and delivered in 1944 by Karlstads Mekaniska Verkstad (Karlstad Mechanical Engineering), a subcontractor that assembled the tanks.

    • Hungarian Service

    The L-60 was built under license by the Hungarian Weiss Company for the Hungarian army. It was adopted by the Hungarian army as the Toldi.

    Irish Service

    The first Irish Landsverk L60 was delivered in 1935 and joined Ireland's only other tank a Vickers Mk. D in the 2nd Armoured Squadron. The second Landsverk L60 arrived in 1936. The Landsverk's were still in use up until the late 1960s. One L60 is preserved in running order and the other is in the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin.

    Dominican service

    Twenty were sold to the Dominican Republic army in 1956, having been refurbished and designated L/60L. In the Dominican Civil War in April 1965, these tanks saw use against invading American forces during “Operation Power Pack”. Three of the Dominican L/60Ls were destroyed: one by a US Army M40 recoilless rifle team of the 82nd Airborne Division, and the other two respectively by a M50 Ontos and a M48 Patton of a US Marine Corps armor detachment of the 6th MEU. This 29 April 1965 battle was one of the very few tank-vs-tank battles to ever happen in the Western Hemisphere. After “Power Pack” ended, the United States assisted the Dominican Republic in rebuilding its army and twelve of the original twenty L/60Ls were again refurbished and restored to service. These dozen continued in frontline use until 2002. Today one is preserved in excellent, drivable condition as a historical icon by the Dominican Republic army.

    References

    Stridsvagn L-60 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA