M36 Jackson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

90mm GMC M36 during the Battle of the Bulge in January, 1945

90mm Gun Motor Carriage M36
General characteristics
Crew 5 (Commander, (3x) gun crew, driver)
Length 7.46 m (24.5 ft) (w/ gun)
5.97 m (19.6 ft) (w/o gun)
Width 3.05 m (10 ft)
Height 3.28 m (10.8 ft)
Weight 29 tonnes (64,000 lb)
Armour and armament
Armour 9 - 108 mm (0.35 - 4.25 in)
Main armament 90 mm M3 gun
47 rounds
Secondary armament .50 cal Browning M2HB machine gun
1,000 rounds
Mobility
Power plant Ford GAA V-8 gasoline
450 hp (336 kW)
Suspension Vertical Volute Spring Suspension (VVSS)
Road speed 42 km/h (26.1 mi/h)
Power/weight 15.5 hp/tonne
Range 240 km (150 mi)

The 90mm Gun Motor Carriage M36 was an American tank destroyer in World War II. It was known as the Jackson or Slugger.

[edit] History

With the advent of heavy German armor such as the Panther and Tiger, the standard U.S. tank destroyer, the 3in Gun Motor Carriage M10 (Wolverine), was rapidly becoming obsolete, because its main armament, the 3in M7 gun, was not powerful enough to engage these new tanks. This was foreseen however, and in September 1942 American engineers had begun designing a new tank destroyer armed with the M3 90 mm gun.

The M36 was the result. On the M10A1 hull a new turret was mounted, with the 90 mm M3 gun and a .50 cal Browning M2HB machine gun in an AA mount. Like all US tank destroyers, the turret was open-topped to save weight and provide better observation. To provide some protection from shell fragments, a folding armored roofkit was developed. The M36 had a large bustle at the rear of its turret which provided a counterweight to its large gun. Inside, eleven additional rounds of ammunition were stored.

It was not until September 1944 that the vehicle first began to appear in the European Theater of Operations, and only around 1,400 M36's were produced during the war. The need for 90 mm gunned tank destroyers was so urgent that, in the fall of 1944, about 300 conversions of standard Medium Tank M4 hulls were done. These vehicles, designated M36B1, were rushed to Europe and used in combat alongside standard M36s. The M36 was well liked by its crews, being one of the few armored fighting vehicles available to Americans that could take out heavy German tanks from a distance.

Post World War II, the M36 further served in the Korean War, and they proved to be able to destroy any Soviet-made AFV. One of the various field conversions in Korea was attaching a hull machine gun on the co-driver's side as in many other armoured fighting vehicles of the time.

M36 Jacksons were also exported after World War II to various countries. One of the recipients was Yugoslavia where the engine was replaced with the 500 hp Soviet-made diesel engine used in T-55 main battle tanks. Yugoslavian M36s participated in the independence struggle of Croatia (1991–1995) and they are still in service in the Croatian Armed Forces some sixty years after their original introduction.

[edit] Variants

M36
90 mm gun turret on 3" GMC M10A1 hull (M4A3 chassis). (1,298 produced/converted)
M36B1
90 mm gun turret on Medium Tank M4A3 hull and chassis. (187 produced/converted).
M36B2
90 mm gun turret on 3" GMC M10 hull (M4A2 chassis, diesel). (287 produced/converted)

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:


American armored fighting vehicles of World War II
Light tanks
M2 Light Tank | M3/M5 Stuart | M22 Locust | M24 Chaffee | Marmon-Herrington CTLS
Medium and heavy tanks
M2 Medium Tank | M3 Lee | M4 Sherman | M26 Pershing
Self-propelled artillery
M7 Priest | M8 Scott | M12 Gun Motor Carriage | M40 GMC
M3 Gun Motor Carriage | M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage | M5 Gun Motor Carriage | T34 Calliope
Tank destroyers
M6 Fargo | M10 Wolverine | M18 Hellcat | M36 Jackson
Armored half-tracks
M2 Half Track Car | M3/M5 Half Track Personnel Carrier
M4 Mortar Carrier | T30 Half Track
Amphibious vehicles
Landing Vehicle Tracked | DUKW
Armored cars
M8 Greyhound | M3 Scout Car 'White' | M20 Armored Utility Car
T17 Deerhound / Staghound | T18 Boarhound
Experimental vehicles
M38 Wolfhound | T1/M6 Heavy Tank | T-28 Tank/T-95 GMC
Assault Tank T14 | Heavy Tank T29 | Heavy Tank T30 | Medium Tank T20 | T7 Combat Car

T-16 | T-3 Half Track | T27 | T54 Gun Motor Carriage | T40/M9 Tank Destroyer
T-19 | 8in Howitzer Motor Carriage T84 | T92 Howitzer Motor Carriage | T55E1 Motor Carriage
Light Tank T7/Medium Tank M7 | T88 Gun Motor Carriage

American armored fighting vehicle production during World War II