M10 (self-propelled guns)

Before the start of World War II, the American military command seriously underestimated the role of tanks . In connection with the successful use of tanks during the blitzkrieg in Poland and France , the issue of anti-tank struggle was extremely acute for Americans. After a short debate, General McNair's point of view prevailed that specialized anti-tank units, suitably equipped, should take on the fight against enemy tanks. Such a doctrine was convenient in that it did not require changes in the structure, tactics and equipment of existing ground forces. It was anticipated that anti-tank units would be deployed to where they were needed, and would create powerful anti-tank defenses in tank hazardous areas , preventing tank breakthroughs with a concentration of anti-tank weapons. It was believed that such a technique was more effective against the German strategy of tank attacks than traditional anti-tank defense.

In order to provide such a maneuver with anti-tank weapons, it was necessary to equip the teams of tank destroyers with equipment that corresponded to their tasks, the main requirements of which were powerful weapons that could effectively deal with all types of enemy tanks, as well as high strategic and tactical mobility , allowing fast fighter transfer tanks to threatened areas.

Since the need for tank destroyers was very urgent, work unfolded in several directions at once. The greatest mobility, cheapness and simplicity was provided by the scheme with a wheeled or half-tracked chassis, implemented in the 37 mm GMC M6 and 75 mm GMC M3 , but in this case it was not possible to install a sufficiently powerful gun, as well as provide acceptable protection for the crew. Therefore, requirements were formulated for anti-tank self-propelled guns on the chassis of light and medium tanks.

Work on the creation of a tank fighter on the medium tank chassis began in December 1941 , and the first prototype was an experimental self-propelled gun T24, which was an M3 anti-aircraft gun mounted in an open cockpit on the chassis of an M3 medium tank. After the construction of several test samples, including one with the M1918 anti-aircraft gun, the project was closed in April 1942 , because it did not meet the military's mobility requirements, and, in addition, did not have a rotating tower.

In January 1942, the T35 project came to be replaced, which was the installation of the T12 gun, designed for the M6 heavy tank, on the chassis of the M4A2 medium tank (with lightweight armor ), in a circular rotation tower. The gun was mounted in an installation borrowed from the M6, the cast turret was open at the top and rear. In addition, according to the requirements of the military, an alternative version of the T35E1 was developed, which received a new upper part of the hull with an inclined armor . The manufactured samples also received a new welded cylindrical tower, which also had an inclined armor. The roof of the tower covered only its front part.

Since tests showed the advantage of inclined armoring, the T35E1 prototype was recommended as a standard for the M10 tank destroyer. With standardization in June 1942, the M10 received a new pentagonal welded turret. The gun, standardized as the M7, received a new installation of a fundamentally different design.

Production of the M10 began in September 1942 by the Fisher Tank Arsenal. Two months later, in October 1942, a contract was concluded with Ford Motor Company for the production of an option on the chassis of the M4A3 tank, which received the army designation M10A1. The reason was the lack of the M4A2 chassis, which was used to produce the M10.

During the production process, both options underwent minor modernizations, in particular, related to the problem of balancing the initially not too well-designed tower. This imbalance greatly impeded the turns of the tower, if the self-propelled guns were not on a horizontal surface.

The initial solution was to use tracked track expanders as improvised counterweights . Extenders were hung on the rear wall of the tower on factory mounts, which they began to mount, starting in the fall of 1942 . They also tried to solve the problem of balancing by installing a heavy machine gun on the rear of the tower.

After the 650 M10 and M10A1 were released without counterweights, in January 1943 the towers began to be equipped with welded factory counterweights. All of these self-propelled guns were released 2850 pieces. This did not become the final solution to the problem, because the balances were found to be too heavy.

As a result, in June 1943, the M10 and M10A1 received a new elongated turret with improved counterweight counterweights, which were moved farther from the center of rotation and lightened. A total of 3,200 self-propelled guns with new turrets were produced.

Since December 1943, a new design of the gunner’s and commander’s seats, travel locks of the guns and turrets were introduced, and the inconveniently located flywheel of the turret turning mechanism was also transferred. In May 1943, at the request of the army, self-propelled guns received a set of equipment for firing from closed positions , consisting of an azimuth indicator and an elevation angle of the gun.

Production ceased in December 1943 due to the emergence of a more advanced tank destroyer M36 Jackson .

The American doctrine of warfare suggested the use of tank destroyers to combat enemy tanks, while their own tanks were intended to support infantry in battle. The M10 was the largest anti-tank self-propelled gun of the American army in World War II. The debut of the car in North Africa was quite successful, since its three-inch M7 cannon could easily hit the armor of most German tanks that were then available at the North African theater of operations (TVD). However, the heavy and slow-moving chassis did not correspond to the doctrine of tank destroyers, which was then accepted in the USA, which required the use of very light and fast vehicles. Therefore, at the beginning of 1944, the M10 in parts began to be supplemented by the faster and more lightly armored anti-tank self-propelled guns M18 Hellcat . During the landing in Normandy, the M10 gun was ineffective against the frontal armor of numerous German Panther tanks, so in the fall of 1944 it began to be replaced by an improved version of the M36 Jackson anti-tank gun. However, the remaining M10s continued to be used until the end of the war. In the Pacific theater of operations M10, the US army was used as ordinary tanks of direct infantry support and were unpopular among crews in this role. The Japanese tactics of fighting American armored vehicles by using infantry with grenades and other anti-tank weapons in extremely close combat made the M10 open from above much more vulnerable than a completely closed tank.

About 54 self-propelled guns M10 were delivered to the USSR by Lend-Lease . In particular, the 1223rd self-propelled artillery regiment, which was part of the 29th Panzer Corps , and the 5th Guards Tank Army, was equipped with these machines. This regiment participated in the advance of the 3rd Belorussian Front near Orsha in June 1944, as well as the 1239th self-propelled artillery regiment ^{[1] of the} 16th Panzer Corps , 1st Belorussian Front . These machines were also equipped with parts of Free France , one M10 called the Cirocco, driven by French sailors, was famous for knocking down the German Panther directly on Concorde Square in Paris . In the UK, M10s were designated as 3-in. SP, and Wolverine fought in Italy and France. A number of vehicles were rearmed with a much more effective 17-pound anti-tank gun and received the designation 17-pdr. SP. Achilles .

The M10 turret, open at the top, made the machine vulnerable to artillery and mortar fire, as well as to infantry attacks, especially in urban battles and in the woods, when a simple hand grenade could easily be thrown inside the car. Towards the end of the war, armoring the M10 was already insufficient against the new German tank and anti-tank guns . However, the biggest drawback of the M10 was the extremely low turret turning speed due to the absence of any mechanization of this process. The tower turned only by hand, and it took about two minutes to complete a full turn. In addition, contrary to the written doctrine of use, American tank destroyers spent more high-explosive fragmentation shells than armor-piercing shells, which shows the complete collapse of this doctrine - vehicles were mainly used as tanks that they should have supported on paper.

• 3-in. Gun Motor Carriage T35 (prototype) - the chassis of the early medium tanks M4A2 "Sherman".
• 3-in. Gun Motor Carriage T35E1 / 3-in. GMC M10 (3-in. SP, Wolverine) - with a diesel engine (about 5000 pcs.).
• 3-in. GMC M10A1 - with a Ford GAA carburetor engine (about 1,700 pcs.).
• 17-pdr. SP. Achilles - 3-in. The GMC M10, armed with a 17-pound Mk V cannon , is the same as the Sherman Firefly and other British vehicles. This option can be externally identified by a muzzle brake on the gun and a larger counterweight at the rear of the turret.
  • Re-equipped diesel M10 steel 17-pdr. SP. Achilles IC .
  • Rearmed carburetor M10A1 steel 17-pdr. SP. Achilles IIC .
• The Full-Track Prime Mover M35 is the M10A1 reckless tractor for towing heavy guns.

The M10 was based on the chassis of the M4A2 medium tank (modification M10A1 - on the chassis of the M4A3) with a special turret open at the top, where the M3 gun was installed with a 3- inch (76.2 mm) caliber. Like with tanks, the tower could rotate 360 ​​degrees, which made self-propelled guns quite effective. To defeat the armor plates, an ordinary (caliber, without a ballistic tip, in Western AP terminology) armor-piercing projectile M79 was used, which could penetrate 3 inches (76 mm) of armor at an angle of 30 ° relative to the normal at a distance of 1000 yards (900 m). The total ammunition of the guns in the car was 54 shells. A large counterweight was installed at the stern of the tower, which gave the tower a characteristic and easily recognizable silhouette.

For defense in close combat and repel air attacks, a 12.7-mm M2 Browning machine gun was installed at the rear of the tower. The ammunition of the machine gun was 300 rounds. The crew also had their own personal weapons for self-defense.

Armament

• Tank Destroyer
• Sherman (tank)
• M18 (self-propelled guns)
• M36 (self-propelled guns)

• The post-war American movie star Odi Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor for his prowess in battle when he used a machine gun that was hit and burned down by the M10 to repel attacks of numerous enemy infantry and did not leave a firing position, despite several hits in the body of this self-propelled gun.
• During the preparation of the Ardennes operation, several Panthers of the 150th Tank Brigade, whose purpose was to carry out combat and sabotage operations in the rear of the Allies, were disguised as the Wolverine M10. On February 21, 1945, the disguised Panthers met with units of the 120th American Infantry Regiment. One car was destroyed, three were left by crews and fell into the hands of the Americans.
• Actor Vladimir Zamansky fought in the crew of one of the M10 Lend-Lease Mines delivered to the Soviet Union. In June 1944, the radio operator of the 1223rd self-propelled artillery regiment, part of the 29th Panzer Corps , 5th Guards Tank Army , Zamansky participated in the offensive of the 3rd Belorussian Front near Orsha. During the battles, Zamansky’s car was hit and caught fire. Despite a serious head wound, Zamansky saved a wounded commander from a burning self-propelled gun. On February 2, 1945, Zamansky’s self-propelled gun destroyed 50 German soldiers in battle, knocked out an enemy T-IV tank, two carts of ammunition, after which the car’s crew captured and held an important intersection of roads.
• M10, driven by French sailors, destroyed the Panther in Place de la Concorde in Paris.

• 3 ″ Gun Motor Carriage M10 . AFV Database . Archived February 18, 2012.
• M10 Tank Destroyer OnWar . Archived February 18, 2012.
• United States' M10 3 ″ Gun Motor Carriage (inaccessible link) . WWII Vehicles . Date of treatment October 22, 2009. Archived March 26, 2013.