TACAM T-60

After the attack on the USSR, it became clear that the Romanian army did not have adequate armament against Soviet medium and heavy tanks. Since the necessary weapons could not be obtained abroad, it was decided to attempt to develop them on their own. However, in-house development did not promise the necessary speed, so a faster solution was sought, which was found in the use of looted material.

By the end of 1942 there were indeed many to choose from, Romania had 175 looted tanks (mostly Soviet) and 154 guns. The design was entrusted to Colonel Constantin Ghiulai, the task was to build a self-propelled gun to fight the tanks.

The design was apparently influenced by German Marder machines, but many of the solutions are proprietary. The chassis chosen was a Soviet light tank, the T-60, of which there were plenty and the Romanians had no problems with its simple design. The machine's engine was a GAZ 202 based on an American license, and there were plenty of spare parts for them in Romania and Germany. The weapon of choice was a Soviet F-22 cannon of 76.2 mm calibre. There were 38 cannons available. As Romanian production was unable to supply armor plates of the required thickness, plates from tanks BT destroyed in combat were used.

The new vehicle had a complicated name: Tun Anticar pe Afet Mobil T-60 in short TACAM T-60. The translation of this long name is: self-propelled gun on a T-60 chassis. The project was accepted and 23 operational T-60 tanks were delivered to the Leonida plant in Bucharest for conversion. The first prototype was completed on 12 January 1943. The first 17 TACAM T-60s were delivered to the training center in late June 1943. Another 17-piece batch was delivered to the 1st Tank Regiment, with which the 61st Anti-Tank Company was formed. Another 16 were delivered to the 2nd Tank Regiment for its 62nd Anti-Tank Company.

TACAM T-60s were used in Bessarabia and Moldova against the Red Army from February to August 1944. The surviving machines were confiscated by the Soviets in October 1944 (the confiscation was of machines originally belonging to the Red Army). According to Romanian sources, 51 machines were built, including a prototype, some of which reportedly had a ZiS-2 cannon in 57 mm calibre.

A total of 34 TACAM T-60 tank fighters produced were distributed between the two armoured regiments of the reconstituted 1st Panzer Division.The 1st Panzer Regiment received 16 fighters (61st Anti-Tank Company) and the 2nd Panzer Regiment received 18 fighters (62nd Anti-Tank Company).

The partial deployment of these tank fighters was in the ad hoc formed armoured group "Cantemir". The unit was formed on 24 February 1944 to reinforce the defenses of Northern Transnistria from the 1st Armored Division and had 14 TACAM T-60s in two batteries. They were later returned to the parent unit. The fighters took part in the defensive battles of the second Soviet offensive of Jassi (Iași) and Kišinev (Chișinău/Kишинёв) in eastern Romania, which took place in August 1944.

After Romania's defection to the Soviet side in August 1944, only one company of TACAM T-60s was confiscated by the Soviets. The rest participated in the fighting against the erstwhile German ally. Later in October 1944 the rest of the fighters were confiscated³⁾.

Mark Axworthy, Cornel Scafes, Cristian Craciunoiu - Third Axis Fouth Ally, Romanian Armed Forces in th Eurepean War 1941 - 1945, Arms and Armour Press, published 1995, ISBN: 1-85409-267-7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACAM_T-60
³⁾www.worldwar2.ro

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