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In 1937 the international situation wasrapidly deteriorating, so the Czecharmy issued a requirement for a newlight tank. This time the army was determinedthat the troubles encounteredwith the LT vz 35 light tank whenit entered service, resulting from alack of testing, would not be repeated.Skoda entered its S-ll-a and S-ll-b,while CKD entered an LT vz 35 withthe engine and transmission of theTNH tank, the LTL, the TNH P-S(already produced for export) as wellas a new medium tank called the V-8-H. During the extensive trials the TNHP-S was found to be the best designand on 1 July 1938 was adopted as thestandard light tank of the Czech armyunder the designation LT vz 38, butnone had entered service at the time ofthe German occupation in 1939. Thevehicle remained in production for theGerman army between 1939 and 1942,more than 1,400 being built under thedesignation Panzerkampfwagen 38(t)Ausf S to PzKpfw 38(t) Ausf G. (Ausführungis the German word for modelor mark.) The Germans also exported69 vehicles to Slovakia, 102 to Hungary,50 to Romania and 10 to Bulgaria. Duringthe invasion of France the tank wasused by the 7th and 8th Panzer Divisions,and continued in service as alight tank until 1941-2. The hull and turret of the vehiclewere of riveted construction, the top ofthe superstructure being bolted intoposition, Minimum armour thicknesswas 10mm (0.4 in) and maximumthickness 25 mm ( 1 in), although fromthe Ausf E this was increased to 50 mm(1.96 in). The driver was seated at thefront of the tank on the right, with thebow machine-gunner to his left andoperating the 7.92-mm (0,31-in) MG37(t) machine-gun. The two-man turretwas in the centre of the hull and armedwith a 37.2-mm Skoda A7 gun, whichcould fire both armour-piercing andHE rounds with an elevation of +12°and a depression of -6°. Mounted coaxialwith and to the right of the mainarmament was another 7.92-mm (0,31-in) machine-gun. Totals of 90 rounds of37-mm and 2,550-rounds of machinegunammunition were carried. The enginewas at the rear of the hull andcoupled to a transmission with one reverseand five forward gears. Suspensionon each side consisted of fourlarge rubber-tyred road wheels suspended in pairs on leaf springs, withthe drive sprocket at the front and idlerat the rear, and with two track-return rollers.When outclassed as a tank thePzKpfw 38(t) was widely used as a reconnaissancevehicle, and the Germanseven fitted some chassis with theturret of the SdKfz 222 light armouredcar complete with its 20-mm cannon.The chassis of the light tank was alsoused as the basis for a large number ofvehicles including the Marder tankdestroyer, which was fitted with a newsuperstructure armed with 75-mm(2.95-in) anti-tank gun, various selfpropelled15-cm (5.9-in) guns, a 20-mmself-propelled anti-aircraft gun, severaltypes of weapons carriers and theHetzer tank destroyer, to name just afew. The last was armed with a 75-mm(2.95-in) gun in a fully enclosed fightingcompartment with limited traverse,and was considered by many to be oneof the best vehicles of its type duringWorld War II. A total of 2,584 was builtbetween 1944 and 1945, and productioncontinued after the war for theCzech army, a further 158 being sold toSwitzerland in 1946-7 under the designationG-13. These were finallywithdrawn from service in the late1960s.SpecificationTNHP-SCrew: 4Weight: 9700 kg (21,385 lb)Dimensions: length 4.546 m ( 14 ft11 in); width 2.133 m (7 ft 0 in); height2,311m (7 ft 7 in)Powerplant: one Praga EPA sixcylinderwater-cooled inline petrolengine developing 150 hp (112 kW)Performance: maximum road speed42 km/h (26 mph); maximum range200 km (125 miles); fording 0.9 m (3 ft);gradient 60 per cent; vertical obstacle0.787 m (2 ft 7 in); trench 1.879 m (6 ft2 in)A PzKpfw 38(t) during the invasion ofFrance; the 7th and 8th PanzerDivisions used the tank. Thecommander of the 7th Divisionbecame well known later in the warhisname was Rommel.
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