Garford-Putilov armoured car

Garford–Putilov armoured car
A Garford–Putilov armoured car in the 1920s
Type	Armoured car
Place of origin	Russian Empire
Service history
In service	1915–1930s
Used by	Russian Empire, RSFSR, German Empire, Poland
Wars	World War I Russian Civil War
Production history
Manufacturer	Putilov factory, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Produced	1915–1916
No. built	48
Variants	Naval version
Specifications
Mass	11 t (12 short tons) Naval 8.6 t (9.5 short tons) Army
Length	5.70 m (18 ft 8 in)
Width	2.30 m (7 ft 7 in)
Height	2.80 m (9 ft 2 in)
Crew	8–9
Armour	Steel plate body - 6.5mm (army) 9mm (naval) front of turret - 6.5mm (army) 13mm (naval) side of turret - 6.5 (army) 7mm (naval)
Main armament	76.2mm Model 1910 "anti-assault" gun
Secondary armament	3 x 7.62mm Maxim machine guns
Engine	4-cylinder air-cooled petrol engine 30 hp (22 kW) (or 35 hp (26 kW))
Drive	2 x 4 (rear wheels driven)
Suspension	dependent, leaf spring
Ground clearance	300 millimetres (12 in)
Operational range	120 kilometres (75 miles)
Maximum speed	18–20 km/h (11–12 mph)

Garford–Putilov armoured cars were armoured fighting vehicles produced in Russia during the First World War era. They were built on the chassis of Garford Motor Truck Co. lorries imported from the United States.

Although considered to be a rugged and reliable machine by its users, the Garford–Putilov was severely underpowered. With a total weight of up to 11 tons, and only a 30 hp (22 kW) engine, the vehicles had a top speed of approximately 11–12 mph (18–19 km/h). The design was also top-heavy and therefore had very limited, if any, off-road capability.

Armament consisted of a single 76.2 mm cannon in a turret with 270 degrees of traverse at the rear of the vehicle, and two or three 7.62 mm machine guns. Two of these machine guns were in casemate-like mounts towards the front of the vehicle, but the guns could not provide full frontal cover at short range.

During its production from 1915 to 1916 the Putilov factory produced 48 of these armoured cars which were used during the First World War and the Russian Civil War.^[1] For their class and time Garfords possessed powerful weapons and adequate armour and despite their rather mediocre mobility Garfords were very effective in battle, distinguishing themselves in reliability and construction and giving them a comparatively long service life.^[2][3]