76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18
Type	Tank destroyer
Place of origin	United States
Specifications
Weight	18 tonnes (40,000 lb)
Length	6.65 m (21.8 ft) (w/ gun) 5.28 m (17.3 ft) (w/o gun)
Width	2.87 m (.42 ft)
Height	2.58 m (8.46 ft)
Crew	5 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver)
Armor	5 - 25 mm (0.2 - 1.0 in)
Primary armament	1x 76 mm (76.2 mm) M1A1 gun 45 rounds
Secondary armament	1x .50 cal M2HB machine gun 800 rounds
Engine	Continental R-975-C4, 9 cylinder, radial piston petrol engine 340 hp (253 kW)
Power/weight	18.9 hp/tonne
Suspension	Torsion Bar
Operational range	169 km (105 mi)
Speed	88 km/h (55 mi/h)

The 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 was an American tank destroyer of World War II. It was often given the nickname Hellcat and is recorded as being the fastest tracked armored fighting vehicle during the war, and for a while after that. Image File history File links M18-Hellcat-wiesloch-19450401. ... A self-propelled anti-tank gun, or tank destroyer, is a type of armoured fighting vehicle. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets or shells, protecting the soldiers inside from enemy fire. ... The 76 mm M1 Gun was a American Forces WWII-era tank gun, which replaced the 75 mm gun on late M4 Sherman tanks, and was equipped on all M18 Hellcat tank destroyers. ... .50 BMG rounds and 20MM Vulcan round, with a golf ball and a stick of RAM posed to provide scale. ... It has been suggested that K6 HMG be merged into this article or section. ... Partially-sectioned Wright J-6 at Canada Aviation Museum The Wright Whirlwind was a family of 7 & 9-cylinder air-cooled radial aero-engines developed by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation. ... A torsion spring is a ribbon, bar, or coil that reacts against twisting motion. ... A self-propelled anti-tank gun, or tank destroyer, is a type of armoured fighting vehicle. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military vehicle, equipped with protection against hostile attacks and often mounted weapons. ...

History

In December, 1941, the War Ordnance Department issued a requirement for the design of a fast tank destroyer which used Christie suspension, the Wright Continental R-975 engine and a 37 mm gun. A British Comet with Christie suspension The Christie suspension is a suspension system developed by Walter Christie for his tank designs. ... The Wright Whirlwind was an aero-engine developed by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation. ...

In the light of events in North Africa, it was decided that the 37 mm gun was inadequate and the design was changed to use a 57 mm gun. During a series of prototypes and tests, the design was upgunned to a 75 mm gun, and then to the 76 mm gun. The Christie suspension requirement was also dropped and replaced with a torsion bar suspension. The design was standardized in February 1943 and production began in July. During World War II, the North African Campaign, also known as the Desert War, took place in the North African desert from September 13, 1940 to May 13, 1943. ... The 76 mm M1 Gun was a American Forces WWII-era tank gun, which replaced the 75 mm gun on late M4 Sherman tanks, and was equipped on all M18 Hellcat tank destroyers. ... A torsion spring is a ribbon, bar, or coil that reacts against twisting motion. ...

As a ground-up design, the M18 incorporated some new features that US Army soldiers found extremely useful. The Wright R-975 engine could be disconnected from the vehicle in a short period of time and rolled out onto the rear deck of the TD when lowered for repairs. It could be refitted to the drive train in less than an hour. The motor mount is equipped with steel rollers that allow the engine to roll easily on tracks built into the rear deck lid when lowered. Similarly, the transmission can be removed and rolled out onto a front deck plate to allow repairs and inspection.

The T70 prototype for the M18 first saw combat in Anzio, Italy, and production versions of the M18 were used in North-West Europe and Italy from the summer of 1944 onwards. During World War II, the Western Front was the theater of fighting west of Germany, encompassing the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Denmark. ...

In contrast to the 3in Gun Motor Carriage M10, which used the chassis of the Medium Tank M4, the M18 Hellcat was designed from the start to be a fast tank destroyer. As a result it was smaller, lighter and significantly faster, yet still carried the same 76 mm gun as the Sherman 76 models. There was also more internal stowage; the M18 could accommodate a five man crew as well as 45 rounds of ammunition and a M2 Browning machine gun. The M10 Gun Motor Carriage known as Wolverine in British service was a US tank destroyer of World War II. // Usage American doctrine planned for tank destroyers to engage enemy tanks while tanks were used principally to support infantry. ... The M4 Sherman was the primary tank produced by the United States for its own use and the use of its Allies during World War II. Production of the M4 Medium tank exceeded 50,000 units, and its chassis served as the basis for thousands of other armored vehicles such... It has been suggested that K6 HMG be merged into this article or section. ...

Restored M18 in running condition.

The main disadvantages of the M18 (aside from the open top it shared with the M10, which made its crew vulnerable to snipers and shell fragments) was its very light armor and the mediocre performance of its 76 mm gun (which could only penetrate the frontal armor of German Tiger and Panther tanks at point blank range with standard ammunition). The doctrinal priority with high speed at the cost of firepower and armor protection led to an unbalanced design. This problem was remedied with higher velocity ammunition late in the war which allowed the 76 mm gun to achieve greater frontal armor penetration. This HV ammunition was not in great supply however. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ...

While the M18 was capable of high road speeds this attribute was difficult to use successfully in combat and the type's thin armor and vulnerability to fire made crews naturally reluctant to push forward into combat with the heavier German tanks. However, most M18 crews found the higher speeds especially useful to flank German tanks which had relatively slow gun traverse speeds. Hellcats were noted for flanking German tanks and shooting into the sides or engine compartments. The crews were generally complimentary of their vehicle's performance and capabilities.

There was only one variant of the M18 which saw any real production, the Armored Utility Vehicle M39. It was a turretless variation of the M18 that was used to transport personnel or cargo or as a gun tractor. Komsomolets tractor Artillery tractor is a kind of tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, a vehicle used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights. ...

Armored Utility Vehicle M39 in Korea, 1952.

The M18 continued in production until October 1944, when the war was nearing its end. 2,507 had been produced by that time, at a unit cost of $57,500. Though all tank destroyer units were disbanded by the U.S. after the war, surplus M18s continued to see limited service. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (800x633, 91 KB) Description: SC409991 - KOREAN CONFLICT Medical corpsmen of the 1st Battalion Aid Station, 31st Inf. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (800x633, 91 KB) Description: SC409991 - KOREAN CONFLICT Medical corpsmen of the 1st Battalion Aid Station, 31st Inf. ...

However, the M18 destroyer was a key element during World War II in the Battle of the Bulge, December, 1944.^[1]. For the 1965 film, see Battle of the Bulge (film). ...

Many of the M18s that were given to other countries after WWII were rebuilt and refurbished by Brown & Root in northern Italy in the late 1940s and bear data plates that indicated those rebuilds. The primary example is that of Yugoslavia, which was using them up to the early 1990s. Most of those in Yugoslavian service were manned by the Serbian National Guard and used in the Yugoslav conflicts of the early 1990s. One example was used on an armored train named the Krajina Ekspres (Krajina Express). ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in the Latin alphabet, Југославија in Cyrillic; English: South Slavia, or literary The Land of South Slavs) describes three political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ... Armoured train is a train protected with armour. ...

Related Vehicles

• 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage T88 - M18 with its 76 mm M1A1 gun replaced with a 105 mm T12 howitzer, cancelled after end of war.
• Armoured Utility Vehicle T41/M39 - Turretless M18 used for towing, reconnaissance, or transporting infantry, has an .50cal Browning M2 machine gun (900 rounds) for AA defense.
• 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage T86 (Amphibious) - M18 with a specially designed hull to help it float.
  • 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage T86E1 (Amphibious) - Same as T86, but with addition of propellers for propulsion.
  • 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage T87 (Amphibious) - This model had the 105 mm T12 howitzer that was present on the T88. It used its tracks for water propulsion. All work on the three amphibious models was cancelled after the end of the war.

It has been suggested that K6 HMG be merged into this article or section. ...

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

M18 Hellcat

• AFV Database: M18, M39
• OnWar
• WWII Vehicles