The M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage (MGMC), otherwise known as the M13 half-track, was a
self-propelled anti-aircraft gun used by the U.S. Army during World War II that was armed with two .50 caliber
M2HB heavy-barrel Browning machine guns. Developed in response to a requirement for a mobile anti-aircraft (AA) vehicle, the vehicle was produced by the
White Motor Company
The White Motor Company was an American automobile, truck, bus and agricultural tractor manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic lathes, and sewing machines. Before World War II, the comp ...
between July 1942 and May 1943. The only time it was ever used in combat was when the Americans
landed at Anzio in January 1944. It was replaced by the more heavily armed
M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage
The M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage, also known as the M16 half-track, was an American self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon built during World War II. It was equipped with four .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in an M45 Quadmoun ...
in April 1944.
The M13 evolved from a series of several unsuccessful prototypes that were trialed from 1940 to 1942. Of these, the T1E4 was selected and given the official name of the M13 MGMC, before being placed into production. Half of the M13s produced were converted into M16s on the production lines.
Specifications
The M13 half-track was long, wide,
[Ness (2002), p. 206.] and high with a wheelbase of .
[Berndt (1993) p. 152] It had
bogie suspension for the wheels and
vertical volute springs for the tracks. It had a fuel capacity and a range of . The vehicle was powered by a six-cylinder White 160AX, ,
gasoline engine
A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...
, with a compression ratio of 6.3:1. It had a power-to-weight ratio of and weighed .
The armor across most of the vehicle was thick with a thick windscreen visor. The vehicle was armed with two 0.5 inch
M2 Browning
The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, ...
heavy machine guns placed on an
M33 Maxson mount.
[Berndt (1994), p. 34.][Rottman (2012), p. 38.] The two machine guns were fired remotely and powered by a small electrical motor near the back of the turret. The guns were aimed with a Mark 9
reflector sight
A reflector sight or reflex sight is an optical sight that allows the user to look through a partially reflecting glass element and see an illuminated projection of an aiming point or some other image superimposed on the field of view. These sig ...
. Each vehicle had a crew of five (commander, driver, gunner, and two ammunition loaders).
Development
Early experiments
In October 1940, development began to produce a vehicle in response to a long-standing requirement for an anti-aircraft vehicle to protect the U.S. Army's mechanized
troop convoys from aerial attack.
The first vehicle produced in the development of a half track with an anti-aircraft armament was the T1, which had two M2 machine guns on a
Bendix machine gun mountas used on jeepson a 4×4 truck. The T1E1 had a power-operated Bendix mount, and the T1E2 a Maxson mount. The T1E3 had an electro-dynamic
Glenn L. Martin Company aircraft-type turret. Evaluation of these test vehicles led to the T1E2 design being preferred. The T1E2 became the
M16 half-track by replacing the M33 with the
M45 mount and the
M2 half-track chassis with the
M3 half-track
The M3 half-track was an American armored personnel carrier half-track widely used by the Allies during World War II and in the Cold War. Derived from the M2 half-track car, the M3 was extensively produced, with about 15,000 standard M3s and mo ...
chassis.
[Zaloga (1994) p. 38.][Berndt (1994), p. 32.][Green & Green (2000), p. 150.][Hunnicutt (2001), p. 130.]
T1E4 and M13
The next stage of development was to use the T1E2 configuration on the longer
chassis of the M3 half-track, since it could store more ammunition. This vehicle, originally designated as the T1E4, was accepted into production as the M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage on 27 July 1942.
[Chamberlain & Ellis (1969) p. 191.] A total of 1,103 examples of this variant were produced from 27 July 1942 to 15 May 1943. Half of them (583) were converted into M16s by the
White Motor Company
The White Motor Company was an American automobile, truck, bus and agricultural tractor manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic lathes, and sewing machines. Before World War II, the comp ...
before reaching the army. Deliveries began in late 1943.
[Doyle (2011), p. 394.]
Service history
The M13 served at the
landing at Anzio with the
VI Corps 6 Corps, 6th Corps, Sixth Corps, or VI Corps may refer to:
France
* VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry formation of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars
* VI Corps (Grande Armée), a formation of the Imperial French army du ...
of the
Fifth United States Army in January 1944. It was used as an anti-aircraft weapon during the initial landing and then later as a ground support weapon to repel heavy German
''panzer'' attacks on the beachhead. It was replaced three months later by the M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage in April 1944.
Only 139 examples were deployed overseas by the U.S. Army.
[Green (2014), p. 287.]
Ten were transferred to the United Kingdom under
Lend-Lease.
Prototypes
![M13 MGMC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/M13_MGMC.jpg)
* T1 – This variant used two M2 Browning heavy machine guns on a Bendix mount on a 4×4 truck. This model, like most of the others, was a prototype.
It was tested in June–July 1941 at the
Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work a ...
s, but was rejected because of the "excessive dispersion of ammunition".
* T1E1 – Another prototype that used the Bendix mount on a
M2 half-track car
The M2 half-track car is an armored half-track produced by the United States during World War II. Its design drew upon half-tracks imported from France in the 1930s, employing standard components supplied by U.S. truck manufacturers to speed pr ...
.
It was cancelled in April 1942.
[Hunnicutt (2001), p. 123.]
* T1E2 – This variant was essentially the same as the T1E1 except the Bendix mount was replaced with the M33 Maxson mount. After the M33 was replaced with the M45 Quadmount it was accepted as the M16 half-track.
* T1E3 – A T1E1 with a
Martin Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austr ...
turret designed for use on
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...
s.
Derivatives
* T1E4/M13 – The Martin turret was replaced by the M33 and was based on the M3 half-track. It was accepted as the M13 half-track in July 1942. A total of 139 examples of this variant saw action at Anzio as a ground support weapon used to repel heavy German attacks. It was replaced by the M16 in April 1944.
* M14 half-track – This variant had the same armament as the M13 but used the slightly different
M5 half-track chassis built by International Harvester for the Lend-Lease Program. The M14 was mostly supplied to Britain, where they were converted back to regular half-tracks. A total of 1602 were produced by
International Harvester
The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
.
See also
*
List of U.S. military vehicles by model number
The following is a (partial) listing of vehicle model numbers or M-numbers assigned by the United States Army. Some of these designations are also used by other agencies, services, and nationalities, although these various end users usually assig ...
*
List of U.S. military vehicles by supply catalog designation
This is the Group G series List of the United States military vehicles by (Ordnance) supply catalog designation, — ''one'' of the alpha-numeric "Standard Nomenclature Lists" (SNL) that were part of the overall List of the United States Army w ...
References
Citations
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Further reading
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External links
M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage, History of War website
{{WWIIAmericanAFVs
M13
World War II half-tracks
Half-tracks of the United States
Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons of the United States
World War II self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons
Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944