M2m3 by Jackson Robert;

Author:Jackson, Robert;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY/Military/World War II
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Limited
Published: 2019-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

The decision then came about to provide 650 units of the T48 to the Red Army under Lend-Lease. In Red Army service they received the designation SU-57. A single example of the T48 would be retained by the U.S. Army, with 281 remaining units ordered converted into the Half-track Personnel Carrier M3A1.

Self-Propelled Howitzers

Despite the continued pre-war encouragement by the Ordnance Department that the artillery branch of the U.S. Army should be looking at the development of self-propelled artillery pieces, both guns and howitzers, nothing happened until the U.S. Army Armoured Force issued a requirement for an assault gun intended to equip both its tank and armoured reconnaissance formations in October 1941.

Artillery pieces classified as guns tend to have long barrels, high muzzle velocities, and flat trajectories below 45° and employed for long-range, indirect fire. Howitzers are typically a short-barrelled weapon with medium muzzle velocity. They are normally fired at relatively steep elevations so the rounds can reach targets hidden from flat-trajectory guns. Variations in the propelling charge change a round’s trajectory and range.

As an expedient measure, until such time as a suitable full-tracked self-propelled artillery piece entered service, the Armoured Force asked that a normally towed 75mm Field Howitzer M1A1 go on the chassis of the Half-track Personnel Carrier M3, with a new gun-shield. That request resulted in the construction of two pilot vehicles designated as the 75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC) T30. A 30-gallon petrol tank sat on either side of the rear compartment.

Testing of the T30 pilots went well enough that production was authorized and began in February 1942 and continued until April 1942, with a total of 312 units completed. In August of that same year, the order came down to convert 108 of the existing T30s into the Half-track Personnel Carrier M3. In November 1942, an additional 188 units of the T30 came off the assembly lines for a total of 500 units.

The T30 showed up in North Africa in November 1942 during Operation Torch with the 1st and 2nd armoured divisions. The March 1942 armoured division TO&E called for a total of 42 units of the T30. The division’s armoured reconnaissance company had nine, while each of the division’s two armoured (tank) regiments had twelve. The single armoured infantry regiment of the armoured division had nine.

Besides serving in armoured divisions, the T30 also appeared in the cannon companies of infantry divisions serving in North Africa, with six authorized.

Employing both direct and indirect fire, the T30 proved extremely popular during its time in North Africa with the U.S. Army.

The replacement for the T30 would be the full-tracked 75mm HMC M8 that first began appearing in service in November 1942. By 1944, the transition from the T30 to the HMC M8 was complete.

In the same time frame as the T30, there came about a pressing Armoured Force requirement for a self-propelled 105mm howitzer. As it would take time to field the preferred full-track version, the Halftrack Personnel Carrier M3 once again became the platform of choice. A pilot received authorization in October 1941 designated as the 105mm HMC T19.

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