American Tanks & AFVs of World War II

376 Pages·26.289 MB·English

by  Michael Green

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AMERICAN TANKS & AFVS OF WORLD WAR II
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A M E R I C A N TA N K S
& A F V S O F W O R L D W A R I I
M I C H A E L G R E E N
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C O N T E N T S
Introduction 6
CHAPTER 1: Early Medium Tanks 8
CHAPTER 2: M4 Series Tanks 48
CHAPTER 3: Light Tanks 120
CHAPTER 4: Heavy Tanks 172
CHAPTER 5: Tank Destroyers 204
CHAPTER 6: Armored Cars 244
CHAPTER 7: Armored Half-Tracks 268
CHAPTER 8: Self-Propelled Artillery 296
CHAPTER 9: Landing Vehicles Tracked 332
Conclusion 362
Selected Bibliography 366
Glossary 367
Index 368
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6
INTRODUCTION 
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7
T
he equipping of the United States military with the full spectrum of
weapons it needed to prevail during World War II was an unparalleled
example of America’s industrial might at the time. Among the many
weapons produced by America’s workers, tanks rate as an important example,
with 88,140 built between 1939 and 1945. This was almost twice what Germany
and Great Britain combined built during the same period, which numbered only
49,163 tanks. The factories of the Soviet Union built 76,827 tanks during the
world conflict. When American wartime production was at its highest level in
1943, almost 30,000 tanks rolled off the factory floor in just that year alone.
These tanks not only equipped America’s ground forces but saw service with
many Allied armies during World War II.
Beset by a faulty doctrine that insisted that tanks were not intended to fight
other tanks – a role intended for specialized vehicles referred to as tank destroyers
– American tankers had to learn the hard way that their German Army counterparts
did not fight in the manner envisioned by the prewar senior leadership of the U.S.
Army. It is to their credit that American tankers made do with the vehicles with
which they were provided, until such time that American engineering talent could
come up with a suitable tank that nearly matched the qualitative superiority
enjoyed by late-war German tanks. Sadly, that tank showed up too late during the
war in Europe, and in insufficient numbers, to have any effect on the battlefield.
In the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO), the American medium tanks of
the Marine Corps and U.S. Army dominated the opposition. However, the
threat faced by these tanks in battle proved far different than what the U.S.
Army faced in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). Instead of having to
deal with well-armed and heavily armored enemy tanks and self-propelled guns,
they often faced suicidal Japanese infantrymen carrying explosive charges who
were willing to expend their lives to destroy an American tank, or heavily
camouflaged and bunkered antitank guns.
In addition to the 18,620 tank-based variants, such as armored engineering
vehicles, self-propelled artillery, armored recovery vehicles, and tank destroyers,
American factories went on to design and build thousands of wheeled armored
cars for reconnaissance purposes and armored half-tracks to transport the infantry
into battle behind the tanks. Like the tanks, American armored half-tracks were
modified to serve a wide variety of jobs including mortar carriers, self-propelled
artillery, tank destroyers, and antiaircraft vehicles. So useful were these vehicles
that many would remain in service with foreign armies for decades after World
War II.
To complement its inventory of tanks and armored fighting vehicles, the
American military industrial complex also designed and built over 18,000 amphibian
tractors. Appearing in both unarmored and armored variants, they went into
combat with a wide variety of armaments. Referred to as the Landing Vehicle,
Tracked (LVT), they would serve not only with the U.S. Marine Corps, who often
called them “Amtracs,” but also the U.S. Army. They allowed the American
military to take the fight to the far-flung Japanese Empire wherever it had established
itself in the vast reaches of the PTO. These same vehicles would also see service in
the ETO with the U.S. Army and Allied forces when it came time to cross various
water obstacles, often used by the German military as defensive barriers.
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I
n the summer of 1919, the U.S. Army Ordnance
Department began exploring the idea of fielding
medium tanks that would be able to exploit any
breakthroughs in enemy lines achieved by the heavy
tanks. This was a concept pioneered by the British Army
with great success with their fielding of the approximately
15-ton machine-gun-armed Medium Mark A “Whippet”
late in World War I.
Up until through the late 1920s, the U.S. Army
often copied British Army advances in the field of tank
development. The U.S. Army’s embrace of this British
Army concept of medium tanks resulted in a single
prototype example of the approximately 23-ton medium
tank M1921 showing up at Aberdeen Proving Ground
(APG), Maryland, for testing in early 1922.
A prototype demonstrates the design and layout of a
vehicle, but does not attempt to prove the manufacturing
methods. Prototypes are therefore typically hand-built.
All tons listed are in United States short tons (2,000
pounds per ton). Vehicle weights listed are when combat
loaded with a full load of fuel and ammunition.
The M1921 was very similar to the British Medium
D tank then under development and was armed with a
turret-mounted, British-designed and built 6-pounder
(57mm) main gun and two .30 caliber machine guns.
The M1921 was followed by a near-identical prototype,
designated the medium tank M1922, which featured a
British-designed suspension system. Both the M1921 and
M1922 prototypes were built at the American government-
owned and government-operated Rock Island Arsenal.
Problems with the original gasoline-powered engines
in the prototype M1921 and M1922 tanks later caused the
U.S. Army Ordnance Department to re-engine the
M1921 with a specially designed and built gasoline-
powered engine from the Packard Motor Company in
1925. Reflecting the new engine and some other minor
changes, the vehicle was re-designated as the medium
tank T1. The prefix “T” indicated a test vehicle or weapon.
Pictured is a World War I-era British Mark A Whippet medium tank. The
vehicle was envisioned by the British Army as an exploitation tank that
would assume the role once performed by the cavalry. This was a concept
embraced by the U.S. Army following “The War to End All Wars.”
(Tank Museum)
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10 AMERICAN TANKS & AFVS OF WORLD WAR II
The medium tank T1 was the
follow-on to the medium tanks
M1921 and M1922. Its outward
appearance generally mirrored
that of the M1921. In lieu
of armored steel, it was
constructed of soft steel plate
as this cost a fraction of the
former. Top speed of the
T1 proved to be 14mph.
(Patton Museum)
In January 1928, the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Committee, which included
representatives from that branch of the service intending to employ the vehicle and the
technical sections of the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, recommended standardization
of the four-man 21-ton medium tank T1 as the medium tank M1. By this time, the letter
“M” indicated a model number of a weapon or vehicle standardized and approved for
series production. This recommendation was approved, only to be rescinded a few
months later.
Following the cancellation of the M1, the U.S. Army expressed
U.S. Army Ordnance Department Terms a wish for another medium tank design not to exceed 15 tons in
weight, the limit for its medium pontoon bridges and the majority
of American highway bridges at the time. In response to that
In the context of vehicle acquisition, a
“standardized” or “standard” item is interest, the Ordnance Department had the James Cunningham,
one for which initial issue, repair parts, Son and Company build a prototype in 1929 of a four-man vehicle,
and maintenance are available. The designated the medium tank T2. It was based on an enlarged
term “substitute standard” means a 7.5-ton light tank T1 that the same firm had submitted for
vehicle that fulfills all the capabilities of consideration to the U.S. Army in 1927.
the standard item, but may differ The T2 featured a turret-mounted experimental 47mm main
slightly in details. When the term gun and a coaxial .50 caliber machine gun. There was also a
“limited standard” is used it means limited traverse 37mm gun mounted in its right front hull. As the
that an item is intended to be front hull-mounted cannon interfered with the operation of the
maintained by cannibalization or to be turret-mounted cannon, it was removed in 1931 and replaced by a
scrapped when no longer serviceable. single .30 caliber machine gun. The T2 looked very similar to the
Limited standard was seen quite a bit
British Vickers medium tanks then under development.
in World War II, when initial runs of
Testing of the T2 between 1930 and 1932 produced positive
items replaced by more modern
results as the vehicle possessed a fair degree of mobility with its front
equipment remained in use to prevent
hull-mounted gasoline-powered Liberty engine, which gave it a
them from going to waste. Limited
maximum speed of 25mph. The turret-mounted 47mm main gun
standard vehicles were often used for
provided an outstanding level of firepower for its time. Due to limited
training. For vehicles intended solely
funding available to the U.S. Army during the Great Depression
for foreign military use, the Ordnance
(which began in 1929) the tank was never proposed for series
Department employed the term
production. It was, however, retained for testing components and
“limited procurement.”
accessories for possible use in future tank designs.
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EARLY MEDIUM TANKS 11
CONVERTIBLE MEDIUM TANKS 
Besides those medium tanks proposed by the Ordnance
Department, the U.S. Army also took a look at a number of
experimental medium tank designs by prolific American
automotive inventor J. Walter Christie following World
War I. Testing of Christie’s first concept vehicle, designated
the medium tank M1919, began in 1921.
Christie’s medium tank M1919 was soon superseded
by an improved, rebuilt version, designated the medium
tank M1921, which began undergoing testing in 1922.
In contrast to the M1919 that had a weapon-armed
turret, the M1921 had no turret and its main armament
was mounted in the front hull. As with the M1919,
the M1921 did not meet the U.S. Army’s expectations
The medium tank T2. The
and the design was never standardized and placed into production.
37mm gun barrel projecting
Christie eventually came up with a vehicle design that generally met the U.S.
from the right front of the hull
Army’s requirements and was awarded a contract on June 12, 1931, for seven examples identifies it as the original
of an 11-ton tank, designated the convertible medium tank T3. version of the vehicle, as the
The term “convertible” meant that a tank could either run on its tracks or on its weapon was subsequently
replaced with a .30 caliber
large rubber-rimmed road wheels. Both the M1919 and M1921 had been convertible
machine gun. (Ordnance
tanks and were referred to as “combined wheel and caterpillar” vehicles. The need for
Museum)
a tank to be able to operate with or without its tracks reflected the very short lifespan
of track designs at the time.
Of the seven Christie medium tanks ordered, three were assigned to the
U.S. Army Infantry Branch for test purposes and were armed with a turret-mounted
37mm main gun and a coaxial .30 caliber machine gun. The other four went to the
Cavalry Branch of the U.S. Army for testing as light tanks and were armed with a
turret-mounted .50 caliber machine gun in lieu of the 37mm main gun and a coaxial
.30 caliber machine gun. Even at this late date, the .50 caliber machine gun was still
seen as an antitank weapon by the U.S. Army.
In a picture taken at Aberdeen
Proving Ground, Maryland,
during testing in June 1922,
is J. Walter Christie’s medium
tank M1921 with its tracks
fitted. The gun mount visible in
the front of the vehicle’s hull
contained a 6-pounder (57mm)
main gun and a coaxial .30
caliber machine gun.
(Ordnance Museum)
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