Externally, the Semovente 90/53 shared a chassis appearance not unlike the M14/41. There were two track systems to a hull side with the drive sprocket held at the front and the track idler at the rear. Three track return rollers were held under the top portion of the running track. Each track side was afforded eight road wheels fitted as pairs and furthermore attached as whole pairs to the vertical volute spring suspension system. The upper hull structure remained relatively faithful to the original M14/41. A simple superstructure was added to the rear portion of the hull roof to hold the 90mm gun emplacement. The gun ran just short of the length of the hull itself and sported its own recoil mechanism. Armor protection was located just to the front and the front-left and front-right while the sides, rear and top were open. Only some of the breech was covered over by an armored roof panel. Armor protection at its thickest was 40mm (1.57 inches). The Semovente 90/53 sported a distinct "nose-up" appearance when at rest, owing this to her M14/41 origins. The system was crewed by five personnel made up of the driver, commander and three gunnery crew. Power was derived from a single SPA 15-TM-41 8-cylinder gasoline engine of 145 horsepower fitted to the front of the hull. This supplied the vehicle with a maximum speed of 22 miles per hour and an operational range equal to 124 miles.
Despite the original request from Italian forces along the Eastern Front, the Semovente 90/53 was never shipped to the theater. Instead, she was utilized to good effect in the North African Campaign following the Allied Operation Torch landings in November of 1942. The flat and featureless desert terrain of the region played well to the strengths of the 90/53 tank destroyer to the point that it became a well-feared and much-respected weapon by Allied tank crews. In fact, the 90/53 - in several ways - overshadowed the original M14/41 tank that it was converted from in both battlefield value and effectiveness. Despite the Axis loss in the African Campaign, the Semovente 90/53 was still an Italian Army fixture in the Italian Campaign following the Allied landings in Sicily (Operation Husky) in July of 1943 though its best days were left on the African continent.
However, by the end of September of 1943, fascist-led Italy was no more and officially tendered its surrender to the Allies. This left a few 90/53 systems in the hands of the retreating German Army who having suspected the Italian surrender, utilized these weapons for a short time. The mountainous terrain of the Italian countryside was very different from that as encountered in the African desert and tactical use of the 90/53 suffered as a result - there were lesser tank actions required on the part of the Allies across such terrain and thusly the Semovente 90/53 lacked any armored targets to contend with. The remaining Semovente 90/53 tank destroyers were therefore utilized in the indirect, long-range artillery role from then on until lost in combat or replaced by other German systems but several managed to forge on into the final days of the war in actions around northern Italy.
A preserved captured example of an Italian Army Semovente 90/53 tank destroyer can be seen at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, USA.
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