The M19 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage (MGMC) was a

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 opposing ...

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon An anti-aircraft vehicle, also known as a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) or self-propelled air defense system (SPAD), is a mobile vehicle with a dedicated anti-aircraft capability. Specific weapon systems used include machine guns, ...

on the M24 light

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

chassis. It was equipped with two Bofors 40 mm guns. It was produced by Cadillac and

Massey Ferguson Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in ...

of Canada near the end of 1944. The M19 was developed from the T65 which was based on the

M5 light tank The M3 Stuart/Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II. An improved version of the tank entered service as the M5 in 1942 to be supplied to British and other Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. in ...

chassis. With the M5 going out of production, the project adopted the M24 Chaffee Light tank chassis and was designated the T65E1. It was accepted into service in May 1944 as the M19 MGMC, equipping several U.S. Army anti-aircraft units during World War II. The M19A1 was an improved variant with an auxiliary engine and spare barrels for the 40 mm Bofors guns. Although all M19s were produced during World War II, they did not reach operational capability until after the cessation of hostilities. The M19’s first combat was in Korea in 1950 against North Korean forces.

Specifications

The M19 MGMC had similar specifications to the M24 Chaffee. It was 17.9 ft (5.46 m) long, 9.33 ft (2.845 m) wide, and 9.83 ft (2.997 m) high. It had a weight of 38,499 lb (17,463 kg), and was powered with a 220 hp (160 kW) Twin Cadillac Model 42, twinned-V-8 engine installation (two Model 42 Cadillac automobile V-8s driving a common gearbox). It could achieve a speed of 35 mph (56.3 km/h), and had a range of 150 mi (241 km). The vehicle was operated with a crew of six.

Development

The M19 evolved from the 40 mm Gun Motor Carriage T65 project, which was based on an Armored Force requirement for a light anti-aircraft vehicle based on the

chassis. Although trials were successful and a production of 1,000 T65s had been requested, the project was stopped by the Ordnance Department since the M5A1 light tank chassis was being phased out of production. Since the T65 project was fading away, the Armored Force still needed a light anti-aircraft vehicle, so they made a new project (called T65E1) based on the new T24 chassis (a prototype of the M24 Chaffee). The T65E1 had the same overall layout as the T65 GMC – gun turret at rear with the engines in the middle of the chassis – with a few minor tweaks (including an angular gun shield instead of a straight one).

M19 and M19A1

The T65E1 was accepted into service as the M19 Gun Motor Carriage in May 1944 with an order for 904 production models, which was sent to Cadillac. Some 300 were built by Massey Ferguson (then Massey-Harris) in Canada. Production did not start until August of that year, and only 285 were produced by the end of the war. The M19A1 had an auxiliary engine and generator to operate the 40 mm guns when the main engine was shut down, and fixtures for carrying two spare gun barrels.

Service history

The full order was not completed as the requirements for anti-aircraft weapons had changed and chassis were diverted to produce more of the Chaffee light tank. The M19 MGMC arrived too late to serve in Europe in World War II with the U.S. Army. It was never delivered to other countries for Lend-Lease or through

Military Assistance Program The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949. For US Foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to Eu ...

(though a few examples were transferred to the Netherlands in 1951 and the newly established

JGSDF The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

in 1954). It served in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, mostly as an assault gun. It was used in the defense against the North Korean forces on the Eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir by US Army units of the 31st and 32nd Infantry as well as in the

Pusan Perimeter The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter ( ko, 부산 교두보 전투) was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of the ...

fighting and later fighting in Korea. The 40 mm guns were especially effective against Chinese mass infantry charges in North Korea.

Comparable vehicles

40M Nimród The 40M Nimród was a World War II Hungarian self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on a license-built copy of the Swedish Landsverk L-62 Anti I SPAAG but with a new turret, and developed independently. Originally, it was intended to be used bo ...

* Crusader Mk. III Anti-Aircraft Tank Mk. I * *

Möbelwagen The 3.7 cm ''Flak auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (sf) (''Sd.Kfz. 161/3''), nicknamed ''Möbelwagen'' ("Moving Van") because of its boxy shape, was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun built from the chassis of the Panzer IV tank. It w ...

Ostwind The ''Flakpanzer IV "Ostwind"'' (East Wind in English) was a German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on the Panzer IV tank. It was developed in 1944 as a successor to the earlier ''Flakpanzer IV/2 cm Vierling'' '' Wirbelwind''. The ...

ZSU-37 ZSU-37 was a Soviet-made, light, self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG), developed by the end of 1943 and produced at Works No. 40 in Mytishchi. It was the first Soviet series-produced tracked SPAAG. ZSU stands for Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Usta ...

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

T65 40 mm Gun Motor Carriage

{{WWIIAmericanAFVs World War II armored fighting vehicles of the United States Tracked military vehicles Cold War armored fighting vehicles of the United States Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons of the United States Military vehicles introduced from 1945 to 1949