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United States of America - Tanks |
Inter War Tanks
T7 Combat Car
T7 Combat Car was a prototype United States light tank design of the inter war period. It could run on tired wheels on roads or mount tracks for cross-country use. Although adequate in some areas, it lacked armament compared to contemporary vehicles and the project was cancelled after only one was built.
T7 Combat Car designed and built at the Rock Island Arsenal between 1937 and 1938, and was based on the M1 Combat Car but with an extended chassis and a convertible suspension - the ability to travel using wheels or tracks. The only prototype T7 Combat Car (No. W40223) was shipped to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in August 1938 for testing.
M1 Combat Car and M2 Light Tank
The M1 Combat Car was a tankette that entered use with the U.S. Cavalry in the late 1930s.[13] Under the terms of the Defense Act of 1920, tanks were restricted to infantry units which by 1935 had M1 tanks with a twin machine gun turrets. To allow U.S. Army cavalry units to be equipped with armoured fighting vehicles, the tanks developed for the cavalry were designated "combat cars". The Cavalry branch opted for a single, larger turret on its nearly identical M1 Combat Car. Other upgrades included improved suspension, improved transmission, and better engine cooling to give M2 Combat Car. The Combat Car designation was dropped in 1940, and the vehicle was renamed as the light tank M1A2.[14]
T1 Medium Tank
T2 Medium Tank
M2A4 Light Tank.
M2 Light Tank, was developed in 1935 by Rock Island Arsenal for the infantry branch of the U.S. Army. The design coming from the earlier T-1 and 1929 T-2 Medium Tank[15][16] was somewhat inspired by the famous Vickers 6-ton. Its main weapon was one .50-caliber machine gun, with another 0.3 in machine gun installed in a small one-man turret. After only 10 units were delivered, the Infantry branch decided to switch to a twin turret configuration, with a .30-caliber machine gun in the second turret.
These early twin-turret tanks were given the nickname "Mae West" by the troops, after the popular busty movie star. The twin-turret layout was inefficient, but was a common feature of 1930s light tanks derived from the Vickers, such as the Soviet T-26 and Polish 7TP.
M2A4
An improved version of the M2 Light Tank, armed with a high-velocity 37 mm gun and coaxial machine gun in a single turret, served with the Marines' 1st Tank Battalion on Guadalcanal in 1942-43. These were the only tanks of the M1 and M2 series to see combat service.
M2 Medium Tank
The Rock Island Arsenal also started work on a new medium tank, based on the design of the M2 Light Tank. Initially designated the T5, the redesigned model (with a 350 hp R-975 radial engine) was redesignated as the M2 Medium Tank in June, 1939.[17]
Marmon Herrington light tank
Marmon-Herrington CTLS tanks (a CTLS-4TAC in the foreground and a CTLS-4TAY in the background) in Alaska, summer of 1942.The Marmon-Herrington Combat Tank Light was a US light tank produced for the export market at the start of the Second World War. The CTL-3 had a crew of two and was armed with three .30 caliber machine guns. A few saw combat in the Dutch East Indies campaign against the Japanese invasion.
Marmon-Herrington CTLS in Surabaya, 1945.In mid-1942 a batch was diverted to Australia from the Dutch order where they were used for training[21]
After the attack on Pearl Harbor some of these tanks were taken over by the United States Army and employed in Northern Alaska as the T14 and T16 respectively.[22]
Medium tanks
M2 Medium tank
The M2 Medium Tank was a larger development of the M2 Light Tank and was first produced in 1939 by the Rock Island Arsenal, just prior to the commencement of the war in Europe.[23] Many components were common or used a similar design, including the vertical volute spring suspension which would be used in later tanks as well. Twin-wheeled bogies were mounted externally, and rubber-bushed and rubber-shoed track proved durable on roads. The initial M2 model was powered by an air-cooled Wright R-975 radial engine. For the M2A1, this engine was supercharged to provide an extra 50 hp (37 kW) for a total of 400 horsepower (300 kW), and designated as the R-975 C1 radial engine.[2][24]
The M2 Medium Tank's unique features included an unusually large number of machine guns, bullet deflector plates, and sloped armor on the hull front (glacis plate). The main armament was a 37 mm gun, with 32 mm armor; the M2A1 had a 51 mm gun mantlet. The features of the M2 series development, both good and bad, provided many lessons for U.S. tank designers that were later applied with great success in the M3 Lee, M4 Sherman and many other armored fighting vehicles.
Production for the M2 Medium Tanks was 18 M2 tanks, and 94 slightly improved M2A1 tanks, for a total figure of 112. For combat it was a poor design, with thin armor, inadequate main armament and a high profile. The four sponson-mounted machine guns proved to be completely unnecessary. But it provided important lessons that were used for the later M3 and M4 medium tanks. In particular, the M2's sloped frontal hull armor (glacis plate) was extremely advanced for a 1939 design, and would become a permanent feature of U.S. tank design. Events in Western Europe and on the Eastern Front rapidly demonstrated that the M2 was obsolete, and it was never used overseas in combat; it was used for training purposes throughout the war.
Chrysler opened a new tank plant, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, to manufacture the M2, and the US Government contracted in August, 1940 for 1,000 vehicles to be produced.[17] As events in Europe made obvious that the M2 was obsolete, the government modified the contract before production began. Instead of M2 medium tanks, the plant would now build 1,000 M3 Grant tanks. Production of the M2 was returned to the Rock Island Arsenal, where 94 M2A1s were eventually built.[2] The M2A1 had slightly better armor and a slightly larger turret than the original M2, since it had the turret from the M3 Light Tank, with gun mantlet armor 2 inches (51 mm) thick.[2]
T7 Combat Car was a prototype United States light tank design of the inter war period. It could run on tired wheels on roads or mount tracks for cross-country use. Although adequate in some areas, it lacked armament compared to contemporary vehicles and the project was cancelled after only one was built.
T7 Combat Car designed and built at the Rock Island Arsenal between 1937 and 1938, and was based on the M1 Combat Car but with an extended chassis and a convertible suspension - the ability to travel using wheels or tracks. The only prototype T7 Combat Car (No. W40223) was shipped to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in August 1938 for testing.
M1 Combat Car and M2 Light Tank
The M1 Combat Car was a tankette that entered use with the U.S. Cavalry in the late 1930s.[13] Under the terms of the Defense Act of 1920, tanks were restricted to infantry units which by 1935 had M1 tanks with a twin machine gun turrets. To allow U.S. Army cavalry units to be equipped with armoured fighting vehicles, the tanks developed for the cavalry were designated "combat cars". The Cavalry branch opted for a single, larger turret on its nearly identical M1 Combat Car. Other upgrades included improved suspension, improved transmission, and better engine cooling to give M2 Combat Car. The Combat Car designation was dropped in 1940, and the vehicle was renamed as the light tank M1A2.[14]
T1 Medium Tank
T2 Medium Tank
M2A4 Light Tank.
M2 Light Tank, was developed in 1935 by Rock Island Arsenal for the infantry branch of the U.S. Army. The design coming from the earlier T-1 and 1929 T-2 Medium Tank[15][16] was somewhat inspired by the famous Vickers 6-ton. Its main weapon was one .50-caliber machine gun, with another 0.3 in machine gun installed in a small one-man turret. After only 10 units were delivered, the Infantry branch decided to switch to a twin turret configuration, with a .30-caliber machine gun in the second turret.
These early twin-turret tanks were given the nickname "Mae West" by the troops, after the popular busty movie star. The twin-turret layout was inefficient, but was a common feature of 1930s light tanks derived from the Vickers, such as the Soviet T-26 and Polish 7TP.
M2A4
An improved version of the M2 Light Tank, armed with a high-velocity 37 mm gun and coaxial machine gun in a single turret, served with the Marines' 1st Tank Battalion on Guadalcanal in 1942-43. These were the only tanks of the M1 and M2 series to see combat service.
M2 Medium Tank
The Rock Island Arsenal also started work on a new medium tank, based on the design of the M2 Light Tank. Initially designated the T5, the redesigned model (with a 350 hp R-975 radial engine) was redesignated as the M2 Medium Tank in June, 1939.[17]
Marmon Herrington light tank
Marmon-Herrington CTLS tanks (a CTLS-4TAC in the foreground and a CTLS-4TAY in the background) in Alaska, summer of 1942.The Marmon-Herrington Combat Tank Light was a US light tank produced for the export market at the start of the Second World War. The CTL-3 had a crew of two and was armed with three .30 caliber machine guns. A few saw combat in the Dutch East Indies campaign against the Japanese invasion.
Marmon-Herrington CTLS in Surabaya, 1945.In mid-1942 a batch was diverted to Australia from the Dutch order where they were used for training[21]
After the attack on Pearl Harbor some of these tanks were taken over by the United States Army and employed in Northern Alaska as the T14 and T16 respectively.[22]
Medium tanks
M2 Medium tank
The M2 Medium Tank was a larger development of the M2 Light Tank and was first produced in 1939 by the Rock Island Arsenal, just prior to the commencement of the war in Europe.[23] Many components were common or used a similar design, including the vertical volute spring suspension which would be used in later tanks as well. Twin-wheeled bogies were mounted externally, and rubber-bushed and rubber-shoed track proved durable on roads. The initial M2 model was powered by an air-cooled Wright R-975 radial engine. For the M2A1, this engine was supercharged to provide an extra 50 hp (37 kW) for a total of 400 horsepower (300 kW), and designated as the R-975 C1 radial engine.[2][24]
The M2 Medium Tank's unique features included an unusually large number of machine guns, bullet deflector plates, and sloped armor on the hull front (glacis plate). The main armament was a 37 mm gun, with 32 mm armor; the M2A1 had a 51 mm gun mantlet. The features of the M2 series development, both good and bad, provided many lessons for U.S. tank designers that were later applied with great success in the M3 Lee, M4 Sherman and many other armored fighting vehicles.
Production for the M2 Medium Tanks was 18 M2 tanks, and 94 slightly improved M2A1 tanks, for a total figure of 112. For combat it was a poor design, with thin armor, inadequate main armament and a high profile. The four sponson-mounted machine guns proved to be completely unnecessary. But it provided important lessons that were used for the later M3 and M4 medium tanks. In particular, the M2's sloped frontal hull armor (glacis plate) was extremely advanced for a 1939 design, and would become a permanent feature of U.S. tank design. Events in Western Europe and on the Eastern Front rapidly demonstrated that the M2 was obsolete, and it was never used overseas in combat; it was used for training purposes throughout the war.
Chrysler opened a new tank plant, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, to manufacture the M2, and the US Government contracted in August, 1940 for 1,000 vehicles to be produced.[17] As events in Europe made obvious that the M2 was obsolete, the government modified the contract before production began. Instead of M2 medium tanks, the plant would now build 1,000 M3 Grant tanks. Production of the M2 was returned to the Rock Island Arsenal, where 94 M2A1s were eventually built.[2] The M2A1 had slightly better armor and a slightly larger turret than the original M2, since it had the turret from the M3 Light Tank, with gun mantlet armor 2 inches (51 mm) thick.[2]