Tortuga ( Spanish: Tortuga ) - a unique armored car (hereinafter - BA) developed in Venezuela specifically for the ground parts of the Navy in 1934. These BAs were built at the Venezuelan Navy shipyard in Puerto Cabello under the supervision of engineer Thomas Pakanins. The car was created to achieve parity in armored vehicles with the armed forces of Colombia after the war with Peru (War of the Putumayo).
The Tortuga BA was first presented at a military parade in the city of Maracay on December 23, 1934, along with Ansaldo CV 33 light infantry tanks purchased from Italy.
Features
In the book Historia de la Artillería (History of Artillery), Lieutenant Pedro Arturo of Oman describes the Tortuga BA as follows: “It was a spacious armored car. An external reservation gave it a shape similar to that of a London policeman. However, there were problems with poor visibility for the driver, which led to low maneuverability. Also left to be desired ventilation of the cabin and a review for the shooters ... "
An external armored hull in the form of a "police helmet" (as they would say in the 21st century - in the form of a " Darth Vader helmet") was installed on the chassis of a 1934 Ford truck. Armament: 7-mm Mark 4B machine gun mounted in a rotating turret in the upper part of the body.
Neither before nor after the creation of the Tortug armored car in any country in the world, such a form of armored corps has never been used.