Fiat-Torino is one of the first Czech armored vehicles. It would seem, what is not a police car? But … why would such a BA have two machine guns at once? And where is the water cannon and water tank?
However, the war contributed not only to the rapid development of military equipment - airplanes, tanks and armored cars, but also awakened significant groups of the population to active actions. Already the first post-war decade in many countries of the world was marked by class battles between the authorities and radicalized strata of society.
Another original development of the Czech engineers of the interwar period: the medium armored car "Skoda" PA-II "Zelva". But the original design is one thing - but the real combat capabilities are quite another.
These machines, as they say, "did not go", although they survived until the German occupation of Czechoslovakia and were even used by the Wehrmacht as … police cars.
For example, while the bourgeois classes in the same England really "danced", already in 1925, miners took to the streets of British cities. The situation repeated itself a year later! And here the word "battle" in quotes can be omitted, because serious battles flared up on the streets of the same English cities. When suppressing the actions of the miners, soldiers were used to restore order.
An army truck with soldiers who were transferred to martial law during the 1926 miners' strike.
The windows of the omnibuses had to be "armored" with boards, and the driver's and assistant's seats had to be protected with nets to protect them from stones. The streets of the cities were patrolled by armored cars. In a number of European countries, firearms and armored vehicles had to be used to suppress uprisings. At the same time, the forces of law and order actively used armored vehicles of various types left over from the world war. And it was then that it became clear that formidable in battle, these armored vehicles are of little use to disperse demonstrators and pacify the raging crowds of townspeople.
"Armored omnibus" on a London street.
I had to improvise: the standard weapons - water-cooled machine guns - were replaced with lighter ones (and those were not particularly needed, to shoot their own citizens from machine guns ?!), additionally put loudspeakers and tear gas launchers on armored vehicles. In a word, military equipment had to be specially converted. However, the results of the work, as a rule, did not satisfy the customers. They didn’t like the fact that the machines were expensive and that their efficiency was not at all great!
British armored vehicles "Austin", supplied, by the way, to Russia during the First World War, on patrolling the streets of British cities, engulfed in riots.
Therefore, by the end of the 20s. in different European countries, engineers turned to the creation of special police armored vehicles that would differ from army equipment in greater simplicity, and, therefore, would be cheaper, on which the chassis of ordinary commercial trucks would be used, but which at the same time would be more efficient precisely against the crowds of "rioters". It is clear that they also did not need bulletproof armor, and small arms could only be purely symbolic (usually one light machine gun was quite enough!). But they were supplied with containers and devices for launching tear gas and water cannons, which also needed a fair amount of water. The first such BA already in 1928 for the police on the chassis of 4x2 commercial trucks began to produce, for example, the French company Renault.
Well, in central Europe, the situation was even worse than in England and France. These countries at least won the war and lived off reparations and colonies. And here the situation was further complicated by the fact that the new young states created on the wreckage of two empires at once were multinational and clashes of varying severity took place in them on interethnic and multi-confessional grounds. The governments of Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary and other countries had to deal with separatists from various national minorities who demanded to revise state borders, and with the left and with religious fanatics.
"Prague" TNSPE-34 (Model 1934)
At this time, Czechoslovakia was one of the largest suppliers of weapons of various purposes to the countries of this region. The republic had a highly developed, in relation to other countries of Central Europe, industry, rich traditions of production of military equipment and … good funding. In the early 30s. Concern "Chekhomoravska Kolben-Denek", which also included the automobile plant "Prague", decided to proactively develop a special police armored vehicle of a heavy class, armed with a water cannon and a device for launching tear gas. The Czechs were most likely aware of the Renault police armored car, but wanted to do better. Like the car of the French engineers, their development - the TNSPE Prague model - was built on a chassis from a heavy truck. The choice of the designers fell on a two-axle seven-ton "Prague" TN with a 6-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine (7 liters, 85 hp, 1600 rpm). Another feature of the truck was its low-bed chassis with spars bent upward over the bridges. To carry out their police functions, a 5000 liter water tank was installed on the armored vehicle, which, by the way, gave it greater stability on the move due to its low center of gravity and high weight.
"Prague" TNSPE-34. The device for the independent guidance of the machine gun and the fire hose is clearly visible.
On the truck chassis in front and behind, the frame was shortened as much as possible, cutting it off directly at the point of attachment of the spring brackets. A body riveted on a frame with corners was mounted on it. At the same time, the designers did not abandon the armor, but only now the thickness of the armor plate was only 4 mm on the tower and 8 mm on the hull. The turret with a circular rotation housed a light machine gun ZB 30 caliber 7, 92 mm (ammunition - 1000 rounds) and a water cannon. Both barrels were mounted in individual ball bearings, which made it possible to raise and lower the barrels by 20 degrees, and deflect them by 10 degrees in both directions without turning the tower itself. The crew and control compartment was located immediately behind the engine compartment. The driver's seat was on the right. The commander and driver were in the cockpit, and the gunner was in the turret. A water pump was mounted on the frame behind the control compartment, which was driven by the engine. The pump had a capacity of 2000 l / min and provided an overpressure of up to 30 atmospheres. This was quite enough for a water jet to dump an adult on the ground 10 m from the BA. The rest of the armored vehicle was occupied by a water tank of complex shape and space for six cylinders, which contained 100 m3 of compressed tear gas. In addition, the crew of the vehicle had hundreds of hand-held gas grenades, which were stored in its cockpit in four special containers. As you can see, the armored car "Prague" TNSPE was very well prepared to suppress street riots.
Diagram of the BA "Prague"
The car, which developed a speed of up to 45 km / h, could move at a speed of 9 km / h in the lowest gear of a 4-speed gearbox. Special tires were not afraid of punctures and bullet holes, but behind a large round hatch, "just in case" there was also a spare wheel hidden.
Rear view of the spare wheel, hidden behind an armored hatch, and the beveled rear armor plate of the hull.
Czechoslovakia offered its armored car "Prague" TNSPE to the police departments of all countries - its traditional partners, including Turkey. However, the order, and that only for three cars (in the 1934 version), was made only by Romania alone. Having tested these machines in practice, the Romanians wished to purchase four more copies in an improved version, which was soon executed.
A new modification of the TNSPE-37 armored car (model 1937) was made at the Prague plant for this order. A more powerful 105-horsepower engine was installed on the frame. To improve the view from behind, the roof of the water tank compartment was made sloping downward, and to compensate for the volume, it was significantly widened. An exhaust fan with a round collector was installed on the port side. New front fenders were also mounted, already made of armor steel.
The combat weight of the vehicle was 12,000 kg. The main dimensions of the modified sample have not changed: length - 7985 mm, body width - 2200 mm, height without turret - 2650 mm, base - 5200 mm, track - 1650/1660 mm.
BA Romanian order model 1937
Cars "Prague" TNSPE, based in the industrial centers of Romania, operated in this country almost until the end of the 40s. For their time, these were the best armored vehicles for the police in Europe.
