M10 Wolverine
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| 3in Gun Motor Carriage M10 | |
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| Type | Tank destroyer |
| Place of origin |  United States |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 29.6 tonnes (65,000 lb) |
| Length | 6.83 m (22.41 ft) (w/ gun) 5.97 m (19.6 ft) (w/o gun) |
| Width | 3.05 m (10 ft) |
| Height | 2.57 m (8.43 ft) |
| Crew | 5 (Commander, (3x) gun crew, driver) |
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| Armor | 9–57.2 mm (0.3–2.3 in) |
| Primary armament |
3" (76.2 mm) Gun M7 54 rounds |
| Secondary armament |
.50 cal Browning M2HB machine gun 300 rounds |
| Engine | General Motors 6046 Twin Diesel 6-71 375 hp (276 kW) |
| Power/weight | 12.5 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | Vertical Volute Spring Suspension (VVSS) |
| Operational range |
300 km (186 mi) |
| Speed | 51 km/h (32 mph) |
The 3 inch Gun Motor Carriage M10, was a United States Tank Destroyer of the Second World War. US troops also called them "TDs" (a nickname for any tank destroyer), and Wolverine,[citation needed] a name adapted from the official designation given by the British to their lend-lease 3 inch GMC M10s.
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[edit] Development
During World War I and through the end of World War II, armored warfare doctrine held that armored vehicles should be designed to fulfil two separate roles, infantry support and antitank warfare. Because the roles were seen as separate, separate vehicles were designed for each. In some nations such as Britain, these were termed infantry tanks and cavalry tanks. Germany fulfilled the roles initially through the development of the Panzer III for antitank warfare, and Panzer IV for direct fire support, and later by developing specialized turretless assault guns and tank destroyers. In the United States Army, tanks were seen as infantry support just as they had been in World War I, while antitank warfare was to be performed by tank destroyers. Though equipped with turrets (unlike most tank destroyers of the day), the typical American design was more heavily gunned, but more lightly armored, and thus more maneuverable, than a true tank. The idea was to use speed and agility as a defense, rather than thick armor, to bring a powerful self-propelled gun into action against enemy tanks.
The 3 inch Gun Motor Carriage T35 was the prototype of the M10. It had a 3 inch gun (76.2 mm) in a new sloped, circular, open topped turret, that was developed from the turret used on the Heavy Tank T1/M6, it was mounted on an early production Medium Tank M4A2 hull.
The T35 was improved upon; it was given a sloped hull built on the M4A2 chassis, and had its circular turret replaced with a pentagonal turret, this model was designated the 3 inch Gun Motor Carriage T35E1. In June 1942 the 3 inch GMG T35E1 had its designation changed to become the 3 in Gun Motor Carriage M10, and ordered into full production.
A British variant, designated "Achilles", was developed to mount the successful 17-pounder anti-tank gun in a modified turret. It was used by the British, Canadian and Polish armies in Italy and north-west Europe. [1]
[edit] Description
American doctrine planned for tank destroyers to engage enemy tanks while tanks were used principally to support infantry. The 3" GMG M10 used an Medium Tank M4A2 chassis (M10A1s used M4A3 chassis') with a special open-topped turret that carried the 3" (76.2 mm) Gun M7. The gun fired the AP M79 Shot (Armor Piercing) shell that could go through 3 inches of armour at 1,000 yards at 30 degrees from vertical. Other ammunition carried throughout its service life were; APCBC M62 Projectile (Armor Piercing Capped Ballistic Cap), HVAP M93 Shot (Armor Piercing Composite Rigid), and APHE (Armor Piercing High Explosive) 54 rounds of 3 inch ammunition were carried aboard. The back of the turret carried a large counterweight which gave it a distinctive shape.
For local defence a heavy .50 cal Browning M2HB machine gun was mounted on the rear of the turret, 300 rounds of .50 cal ammunition were carried. The crew were also equipped with their personal weapons, for self protection.
[edit] Combat use
The M10 were, numerically, the most important US tank destroyer of World War II. In its combat debut in the North African campaign, the M10 was successful as its M7 3-inch gun could penetrate most German tanks then in service at long range. The heavy chassis did not conform to the tank destroyer doctrine of employing very light, high-speed vehicles, thus it began to be supplemented by the 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 early in 1944. Later in the Battle of Normandy the M10's gun proved to be ineffective against the frontal armor of the numerous German Panther tanks encountered and by the fall of 1944 the improved 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage M36 was beginning to replace it, though it remained in service until the end of the war. In the Pacific, US Army M10s were used for traditional infantry-support missions and were unpopular due to their open topped turrets. The Japanese tactic of very close-in infantry attacks against US AFVs made the M10 much more vulnerable than a fully-enclosed tank.
Approximately 54 M10s were supplied to the USSR though their usage in Red Army service is largely unrecorded. The M10 also equipped units of the Free French Army; one M10 named "Sirocco", crewed by a regiment composed of French sailors, famously knocked out a German Panther tank on the Place de la Concorde in Paris. British M10s were designated 3 in SP, Wolverine and saw action in Italy and France, including some re-armed with the much more effective 17-pounder guns which gained the designation 17 pdr SP. Achilles.
The M10 had an open-topped turret that left it vulnerable to artillery and mortar fire and infantry assault especially in urban combat and forest areas, where a simple hand grenade could be tossed inside. By the end of the war its armor was too thin to provide protection from the new German tanks and anti-tank guns. The other main disadvantage of the M10 was its very slow turret traverse, the M10 did not have powered traverse and so the crew had to hand-crank the turret to traverse it, taking approximately two minutes to traverse 360 degrees. US tank destroyers fired much more HE than anti-tank ammunition, indicating that they were employed much like the tanks they were supposed to support.
[edit] Variants
- 3in Gun Motor Carriage T35 (Prototype) - Early production Medium Tank M4A2 chassis.
- 3in Gun Motor Carriage T35E1 / 3in GMC M10 (3in SP* Achilles I in British service) - diesel engine (~5000)
- 3in GMC M10A1 (3in SP Achilles II in British service) - Ford GAA petrol engine (~1700)
- 17pdr SP. Achilles - 3in GMC M10 equipped with an Ordnance QF 17 pounder Mark V gun as used on the Sherman Firefly and British tanks. They can be identified by the muzzle brake at the end of the barrel and a counterweight bolted a little way back.
- Diesel engined M10 became 17pdr SP. Achilles IC,
- Petrol engined M10A1 became 17pdr SP. Achilles IIC
- Full-Track Prime Mover M35 - Turretless M10A1 used for towing heavy guns as an artillery tractor
- 3in SP Wolverine - Proposed Canadian-built version using a Ram tank chassis - a single prototype was built in 1942[1].
* SP = Self-Propelled
[edit] See also
- Medium Tank M4 - medium tank chassis used as a basis for the M10
[edit] Notes
The post-war American film star Audie Murphy won his Medal of Honor at the Battle of the Colmar Pocket when he used the heavy machine gun of an abandoned and burning M10 to repel German infantry despite the vehicle taking several more hits from tanks or artillery.
[edit] References
- ^ AFV News Vol. 41, No. 2 May-Aug 2006
[edit] External links
- AFV Database
- M-10 Factory Inspection Manual
- OnWar
- WWII Vehicles
- (French) M35 Prime Mover at 2iemeguerre.com
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