The 3 inch Gun Motor Carriage T40, later given the production model number M9 was a US
tank destroyer
A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often wi ...
(a
self-propelled anti-tank gun
A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often w ...
), of the early part of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
It mounted a
3-inch anti-aircraft gun on a
M3 Medium Tank
The M3 Lee, officially Medium Tank, M3, was an American medium tank used during World War II. The turret was produced in two forms, one for US needs and one modified to British requirements to place the radio next to the commander. In British C ...
hull, and a small production run, of 50 tanks, was planned in 1942. This was cancelled due to the unavailability of suitable guns, and the entry into production of a similar vehicle, the M10 tank destroyer.
History
The M3 hull was used as the basis for a tank destroyer mounting the 3-inch gun by removing the turret, sponson gun and hull roof. The resulting vehicle was judged to be too tall and the gun mount was not suitable for mass production so the T24 project was cancelled in 1942.
[Chamberlain Ellis (1981) p 111]
The T40 was the T24 prototype rebuilt by
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...
in 1941 on the existing M3 Lee chassis to use redundant 3-inch M1918 anti-aircraft guns. The gun mounting was lower than the T24; on the T24 the gun had been level with the original hull roof. Fifty guns were thought to be available and following successful trials the design was standardised with designation M9 GMC as a "limited standard" production of fifty vehicles in April 1942. However only 28 guns were available and the M9s were not expected to be complete by the time the superior
M10 tank destroyer design was in production so the M9 was cancelled in August 1942.
[
As well as doubts in the Ordnance Board about the design, the Tank Destroyer Board felt that the vehicle was too slow.][Zaloga p6-7]
See also
* M-numbers
* Tanks in the United States
Notes
References
*http://www.wwiivehicles.com/usa/tanks-medium/m3.asp
*Steven J Zaloga ''M10 and M36 Tank Destroyers 1942-53'' Osprey
*
*
*
External links
World War II tank destroyers of the United States
Self-propelled artillery of the United States
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