T48 Gun Motor Carriage
T48 Gun Motor Carriage | |
---|---|
Aberdeen Proving Grounds | |
Designed | 1940–41 |
Manufacturer | Diamond T |
Produced | 1942–43 |
No. built | 962 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 9.45 t (20,800 lb) |
Length | 21 ft 0 in (6.40 m) |
Width | 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) |
Height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
Crew | 5 (commander, gunner, driver, loader, and a radio operator) |
Armor | hull:6 mm windscreen visor and gun shield: 12.7 mm |
Main armament | 57 mm gun M1 with 99 rounds |
Engine | White 160AX, 386 in3 (6,330 cc), six cylinder, gasoline, compression ratio 6.3:1, 128 hp (95 kW) |
Power/weight | 15.8 hp/ton |
Suspension | Half-track, vertical volute springs |
Fuel capacity | 60 US gal (230 L) |
Operational range | 150 mi (240 km) |
Maximum speed | 45 mph (72 km/h) |
The T48 57 mm Gun Motor Carriage was a self-propelled anti-tank gun produced by the
A total of 962 vehicles were produced from 1942 to 1943. It had originally been planned that Britain would receive all of the examples produced through
The Soviets called it the SU-57 (
Specifications
The T48 Gun Motor Carriage was 21 ft (6.4 m) long, 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) wide, and 7 ft (2.1 m) high. It had a
Development
The T48 originated from an Anglo-American requirement for a self-propelled 6-pounder anti-tank gun.
Pilot model
The pilot model was built at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in May 1942. The 57 mm Gun M1 was mounted in the M12 recoil mechanism and installed on a tubular pedestal. The tubular pedestal was soon replaced with a conical structure that was designated the "57 mm gun mount T5". The gun on the pilot model had a traverse of 27.5 degrees either side of the centerline (total of 55 degrees), while having an elevation of +15 to -5 degrees. The short-barrelled (43 caliber) British Mark III 6-pounder gun was installed in the pilot, but the longer-barrelled (50 caliber) 57 mm Gun M1 was specified for the production models. The original travel lock – to hold the gun in a fixed position when the vehicle was moving – proved to be unsatisfactory, and was replaced by a travel lock on the front hood.[7][10]
The original design used a gun shield taken from the
Service history
Deliveries of the T48 were made in 1942 and 1943, with 50 arriving in 1942 followed by a further 912 in 1943. The British ordered all of the T48s that were produced, intending to use them in the
Of the remainder, Britain accepted 30, all of which were converted back into carriers, and the US took 282 vehicles. Of those retained by the US, all but one were converted back to M3A1 standard carriers[5][14][17] in 1944.[14] The conversion took place at the Chester Tank Depot.[13] The Wehrmacht also operated a number of T48s as carriers, having captured several from Britain and the Soviet Union.[8]
The Soviets employed the T48 along the Eastern Front, mainly in
In Soviet service, the vehicles were allocated to brigades at a scale of 60 per brigade. During the attack, the vehicles were used to provide mobile fire support, being placed behind the infantry, usually in a
Operators
- British Army accepted 30 vehicles, later rebuilt as carriers.[8][14]
- Polish Army in the East received 15 vehicles operated previously by the Red Army.[13]
- Red Army operated T48 GMC under the designation SU-57.[8][20]
- Wehrmacht units operated a small number of T48s captured from UK and the Soviet Union.[8]
See also
- Deacon (artillery) – a British 6-pdr gun on an armored truck
- List of U.S. military vehicles by supply catalog designation
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b Berndt (1993), p. 152.
- ^ Berndt (1994), p. 34.
- ^ a b Hogg (1980), p. 94.
- ^ "TM 9-2800: Standard Military Motor Vehicles". United States War Department Technical Manual. 2005 [1 September 1943]. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ a b c Doyle (2013), pp. 227–228
- ^ Chamberlain & Ellis (1969), p. 191.
- ^ a b c Hunnicutt (2001), pp. 106–107
- ^ a b c d e f g h Zaloga (2004), pp. 35–36.
- ^ Zaloga (2012), pp. 4–5.
- ^ a b Mesko (1996), p. 24.
- ^ Hunnicutt (2001), p. 98.
- ^ Mesko (1996), p. 22.
- ^ a b c d Hunnicutt (2001), p. 109.
- ^ a b c d e Ness (2002), p. 193.
- ^ Kinard (2007), p. 297.
- ^ Green (2014), p. 214.
- ^ a b Rottman (2012), p. 30.
- ^ Zaloga (1994), p. 36.
- ^ Dunn (1995), pp. 85–86
- ^ Green (2013)
Bibliography
- Berndt, Thomas (1993). Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles, 1940–1965. Iola, WI: Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-223-0
- Berndt, Thomas (1994). American Tanks of World War II. Minnesota, MN: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87938-930-3
- Chamberlain, Peter; Ellis, Chris (1969). British and American Tanks of World War II. New York, NY: Arco Publishing Inc. ISBN 0-668-01867-4
- Doyle, David (2011). Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles. (2nd Edition). Iola, WI: Krause Publications. ISBN 1-4402-2572-9
- Dunn, Walter S. (1995). The Soviet Economy and the Red Army, 1930–1945. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-94893-5
- Green, Michael (2013). Russian Armour in the Second World War: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives: London, UK. Pen and Sword. ISBN 1-4738-2980-1
- Green, Michael (2014). American Tanks and AFVs of World War II. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-78200-931-0
- Hogg, Ian V.; Weeks, John S. (1980). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Vehicles. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-450817-3
- ISBN 0-89141-742-7
- Kinard, Jeff (2007). Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-556-X
- Mesko, Jim (1996). M3 Half-tracks in Action. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications. ISBN 0-89747-363-9
- Ness, Leland S. (2002). Jane's World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-711228-9
- Rottman, Gordon L. (2012). World War II US Armored Infantry Tactics. Oxford, UK and New York, NY: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78096-083-8
- ISBN 1-85532-467-9
- Zaloga, Steven J. (2012). M10 and M36 Tank Destroyers 1942–53. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-237-6
External links
- 57 mm Gun Motor Carriage T48
- T48 Gun Motor Carriage – World War II Database
- T48 Gun Motor Carriage – World War II Vehicles