M40 GMC

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155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M40
General characteristics
Crew	8 (Commander, driver, (6x) gun crew)
Length	9.1
Width	3.15
Height	2.7
Weight	36.3 tonnes
Armour and armament
Armour	12 mm
Main armament	155 mm M2 gun 20 rounds
Secondary armament
Mobility
Power plant	Wright (Continental) R975 EC2 340 hp
Suspension	HVSS (Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension)
Road speed	38
Power/weight
Range	170

The 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M40 was a US self propelled artillery vehicle built on a widened and lengthened Medium Tank M4A3 chassis but with Continental engine and with HVSS that was introduced at the end of the Second World War. Equipped with a 155 mm M2 gun, it was designed to replace the earlier M12 Gun Motor Carriage. Its prototype designation was the T38, but this was changed to the M40 in March 1945.

A few vehicles saw combat at the end of the war in Europe, the first time being in the push towards Cologne. From there it was deployed during the Korean War.

Post war; the M40 was used by the British, there it was designated 155 mm SP, M40.

Contents 1 Variants 2 Related Vehicles 3 Reference 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] 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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Reference

• Leland Ness(2002)Janes World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, Harper Collins, ISBN 0-00-711228-9

[edit] See also

• List of "M" series military vehicles
• M4 Sherman tank

[edit] External links

• WWII vehicles
• AFV database

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