Fiat 15
FIAT 15 Ter (1911-1920)
Overview
ManufacturerFiat Veicoli Industriali
Also calledFiat Tipo 15
Production1911 - 1922
DesignerCarlo Cavalli
Body and chassis
ClassTruck
Powertrain
Engine
  • Fiat Brevetti 15/20
  • Fiat 53A
Dimensions
Length4,545 to 4,750 mm (178.9 to 187.0 in)
Width1,740 mm (69 in)
Height2,650 to 2,700 mm (104 to 106 in)
Chronology
PredecessorFiat 28-40 HP
SuccessorFiat 502, Fiat 18, SPA 25C

The Fiat Tipo 15 is a light military truck produced by Fiat Veicoli Industriali. Introduced in 1911, the Tipo 15 was used by the Royal Italian Army in the Italo-Turkish War and in the First World War.[1] It was also produced in the Soviet Union as the AMO F-15.[2][3]

Creation and design

In 1909 the Royal Army requested a light multi-role truck to transport personnel and materials. Designed by Carlo Cavalli, the Fiat Veicoli Industriali presented the Fiat 15.[4] This new model inaugurates a technical novelty on this type of vehicle: the fuel pump replacing a gravity feed.

The truck entered military service in 1911 as the Fiat 15 bis and was heavily utilized in the Italo-Turkish War. Nicknamed "Libya", because it was intended for use in this colony.[5] Subsequently, in 1913, the Fiat 15 Ter, equipped with a more powerful engine was introduced.

During the First World War, its production for the armed forces was joined by that of the Fiat 18.[4]

The chassis of the civilian truck was used, among the innumerable customized fittings of the many body shops, also for the preparation of buses and fire engines for the civic firefighters. From 1918, another iteration called Fiat Terni was developed and was also exclusively used in Libya, earning it the name Fiat Terni-Tripoli.[6] This ground armoured car was based on the Fiat 15 ter lorry chassis.[6]

Technology

The Fiat 15 chassis is on four-spoke wheels, the front steering wheels and the rear driving and twin wheels. The front engine on the Fiat 15 is a 3,053 cm3 (186.3 cu in) four-cylinder petrol Fiat Brevetti 15/20, innovative due to the presence of a fuel pump instead of gravity feed. The Fiat 15 bis maintains the same engine, while the Fiat 15 ter is fitted with a more powerful 4,398 cm3 (268.4 cu in) Fiat 53A petrol engine, with the speed going from 35 to 40 km/h (22 to 25 mph) and steel disc wheels.

Military use

Civilian Fiat 15 loaded with wool bales, south of Winton, Queensland, ca.1915

Italy

The Fiat 15 was the stalwart of the first motorization of the Italian armed forces and the Royal Army acquired all versions of the truck in many configurations, including ambulance, garage, and fire engine. Alongside its use as a logistic means, Italy was the first country to use the motor vehicle directly in combat.[7]

In fact, the Fiat 15 bis was used as the basis for the construction of the armored car Fiat Arsenale,[8] used in the Italo-Turkish war together with the Bianchi. After the Great War, the Fiat-Terni Tripoli bus was produced on the chassis of the Fiat 15 ter by the steel mills of Terni. During this campaign the squadrons were also motorized with numerous Fiat 15 ter trucks (defined at the time as "tanks"), handcrafted protected with armored metal plates and armed with three Schwarzlose machine guns with 15,000 shots, conducted by a crew of four men.[9]

In 1918, the Italian army counted 8,206 of them in its ranks, including 710 in sanitary version.

France

In 1907, the French Ministry of War had decided to reserve its orders to national manufacturers only. But in October 1914, he realized that national production could never satisfy needs. The national manufacturers will deliver during the year 1914 only 2,585 vehicles. The ministry is looking for complementary suppliers abroad. Fiat becomes one of the approved and recognized suppliers of the French army, which it equips with Fiat 15 and 18 trucks throughout the First World War.

A first order in December 1914 was for 500 units of the Fiat 15, followed in January 1915 by a second order for 600 vehicles. On June 30, 1915, there were 635 Fiat 15 trucks in service with the French army. On May 31, 1918, 839 trucks were assigned to aviation squadrons. Fiat will also supply the Fiat 18 model. France received 1,100 trucks between 1914 and 1915.

Other countries

Much appreciated, the Fiat 15 Ter was used by several other armies during the First World War. The United States, which wanted to acquire 4,000 Fiat 15 Ter, only received 200, while the United Kingdom obtained 386.

Many copies were also delivered to the Russia, which assembled 1,319 of them at the AMO factory in Moscow between 1917 and 1919 with parts supplied by Fiat. The Fiat 15 Ter will be manufactured directly under license by AMO under the name of AMO F-15, in 6,285 copies, between 1924 and 1931.[2][3]

Technical features

Model Type Years of production Motor type Displacement cm3 HP Power PTC in tons
Fiat 15/20 HP Base "Brevetti Tipo 2" Frame 1909 - 1910 Fiat Brevetti 15/20 3.053 petrol 16 to 1400 1.2
Fiat Tipo 15 Chassis, Bus 1911 - 1912 Fiat Brevetti 15/20 3.053 petrol 20 to 1400 2.5
Fiat Tipo 15 bis Truck, Chassis, Bus, Ambulance 1912 - 1913 Fiat 15/20 HP 3.053 gasoline 20 to 1400 3.1
Fiat Tipo 15 Ter Truck, Chassis, Bus, Ambulance 1913 - 1922 Fiat 53A 4,398 petrol 40 to 1400 3.95
Fiat Tipo 15 Ter - Military Truck, Chassis, Bus, Ambulance 1913 - 1922 Fiat 53A 4,398 petrol 36 to 1600 3.75
AMO-ZIL F-15 Manufactured in Russia under Fiat 15 Ter license 1924 - 1931 Fiat 53A 4,398 petrol 40 to 1400 4.0
Fiat Bertone Type 15 Ter Bus 1921 - 1922 Fiat 53A 4,398 petrol 40 to 1800 3.95
Fiat 502F Truck, chassis 1923 - 1926 Fiat 101 1,460 23 to 2600 2.07

The total production in Italy of the Fiat 15Bis and 15Ter models between 1911 and 1922 will be 26,714 units. There is no data regarding the production of the civilian base version 15.

References

  1. ↑ Bekele, Shiferaw; Volterra, Alessandro; Zaccaria, Massimo (2018). The First World War from Tripoli to Addis Ababa (1911-1924). Centre français des études éthiopiennes. p. 162. ISBN 9791036523786. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Siegelbaum, Lewis H. (2011). Cars for Comrades: The Life of the Soviet Automobile. Cornell University Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780801461484.
  3. 1 2 Shugurov, Lev Mikhaĭlovich: Avtomobili Rossii i SSSR (Klub fanatov tekhniki) (Russian Edition), page 52, ISBN 5874830049
  4. 1 2 Casarola, Maurizio (2018). Domani si va all'assalto: Protagonisti della Grande Guerra cento anni dopo (in Italian). Infinito Edizioni. ISBN 978-88-6861-298-6.
  5. ↑ Bekele, Shiferaw; Volterra, Alessandro; Zaccaria, Massimo (2018). The First World War from Tripoli to Addis Ababa (1911-1924). Centre français des études éthiopiennes. p. 162. ISBN 9791036523786. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  6. 1 2 Cappellano, Filippo; Battistelli, Pier Paolo (2018). Italian Armoured & Reconnaissance Cars 1911–45. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-4728-2435-6.
  7. ↑ Duncan Crow & Robert Joseph Icks: Encyclopedia of Armoured Cars and Half-Tracks Hardcover – October 1, 1976 - ISBN 978-0890090589
  8. ↑ AK273 WWI THE FIRST MECHANIZED WAR. Ak-interactive, S.l. p. 84.
  9. ↑ "IT.CULTURA.STORIA.MILITARE ON-LINE: Articoli: Ricerche: Storia Contemporanea: La riconquista della Libia".
  • Peter J. Davies, L'Encyclopédie mondiale des camions, Manise, 2003, ISBN 978-2841982141
  • Bossi Paolo, 100 Anni di camion Fiat, Negri Editore, 2000, ISBN 978-8890095559
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