The 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M40 was an American

self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled ...

vehicle built on a widened and lengthened Medium Tank M4A3 chassis, but with a Continental engine and with HVSS (

Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension The vertical volute spring suspension system is a type of vehicle suspension system. This type of the suspension system was mainly fitted on US and Italian tanks and armored fighting vehicles starting from throughout the 1930s up until after the e ...

), which was introduced at the end of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

Description

Equipped with a 155 mm M2 gun, it was designed to replace the earlier

M12 Gun Motor Carriage The 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M12 was a U.S. self-propelled gun developed during the Second World War. It mounted a 155 mm gun derived from the French Canon de 155mm GPF field gun. Development The idea for the M12 was first proposed i ...

. Its prototype designation was the T38, but this was changed to the M40 in March 1945. A single pilot vehicle was used in the

European Theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

in 1945 by the 991st Field Artillery Battalion, along with a related 8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage T89, (later re-designated the

M43 Howitzer Motor Carriage The 203 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M43 was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle built on a widened and lengthened Medium Tank M4A3 chassis, but with a Continental engine and HVSS that was introduced at the end of the Second World War ...

) which was sometimes also equipped with a 155 mm barrel.Hunnicutt - ''Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank'', p 353-355, 570. A total of 311 out of a planned 600 were completed by the

Pressed Steel Car Company The Pressed Steel Car Company was a builder of railroad cars and equipment based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that was founded in 1899, and had facilities in Pittsburgh and Chicago. It operated until 1956. Early history The Pressed Steel Car C ...

before the end of the war, 24 of which were later converted into M43s. From there it was deployed during 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 ...

. After World War II, the M40 was used by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, who designated it 155 mm SP, M40 and called it Cardinal in the tradition of using ecclesiastical names for SP artillery, such as

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

and Sexton.

Gun section

A complete gun section consisted of one M40 GMC and one M4A1 high speed tractor towing a 4-wheel, 8-ton M23 ammunition trailer. Each battery had four gun sections. The M4A1/M23 combination replaced the earlier M30 cargo carrier.

Variants

The Army planned to use the same T38 chassis for a family of SP artillery: *Cargo Carrier T30 - a few built before cancellation in December 1944 to make more chassis available for GMCs * 8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage M43 - 8 in (203 mm) HMC, standardized August 1945, 48 built *250 mm Mortar Motor Carriage T94 - 10 in (250 mm) MMC, began design Feb. 1945, one prototype completed in 1946

Related vehicles

* 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7B1 - self-propelled 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC) based on the M4A3 Sherman chassis. * 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M12 - self-propelled 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage (GMC). **Cargo Carrier M30 - an M12 with crew and ammunition space in lieu of the gun.

Surviving vehicles

* one at the American Military Museum, El Monte (USA) * one at

United States Army Ordnance Museum The United States Army Ordnance Training Support Facility (formerly known as the U.S. Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center and U.S. Army Ordnance Museum) artifacts are used to train and educate logistic soldiers. It re-located to Fort Lee, ...

* one at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford (UK) * one at Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich (UK) * one at the Technik Museum, Sinsheim (Germany) * Two M40 GMCs – Arkansas National Guard Mus, Camp Robinson, Little Rock, AR (USA) * one at City vehicle storage area, Charleston, AR (USA) * one at Fort Chaffee Maneuvering Training Center, AR (USA) * one at the United States Army Field Artillery Museum, Fort Sill, Ok (USA)

Notes

References

* *

External links

Training filmTech Manual TM9-747
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Self-propelled artillery of the United States World War II self-propelled artillery World War II armored fighting vehicles of the United States Cold War armored fighting vehicles of the United States M040 155 mm artillery M4 Sherman tanks Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944