M36 Jackson
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| 90mm Gun Motor Carriage M36 | |
|---|---|
 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage M36B2 |
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| Type | Tank destroyer |
| Place of origin |  United States |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 29 tonnes (64,000 lb) |
| 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) |
| Crew | 5 (Commander, (3x) gun crew, driver) |
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| Armor | 9 - 108 mm (0.35 - 4.25 in) |
| Primary armament |
90 mm M3 gun 47 rounds |
| Secondary armament |
.50 cal Browning M2HB machine gun 1,000 rounds |
| Engine | Ford GAA V-8 gasoline 450 hp (336 kW) |
| Power/weight | 15.5 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | Vertical Volute Spring Suspension (VVSS) |
| Operational 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[citation needed]or Slugger[citation needed]. The name Jackson refers to Confederate general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
[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. A folding armored roof kit was developed to provide some protection from shell fragments. The M36 had a large bustle at the rear of its turret which provided a counterweight to its large gun. Eleven additional rounds of ammunition were stored inside.
It was not until September, 1944 that the vehicle first began to appear in the European Theater of Operations, and only around 1,400 M36s 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.
After World War II, the M36 was used in the Korean War. It could destroy any Soviet-made AFV deployed in that theatre. One postwar modification was the addition of a ball-mounted machinegun on the co-driver's side as in many other armored fighting vehicles of the time.
M36s 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) but they are no longer in service with the Croatian Armed Forces due to their withdrawal immediately after the war. M36s were also used by Serbian forces in Bosnia and Croatia, and they were used during the Kosovo war as decoys for NATO air strikes. They were also supplied as part of U.S. military aid to Pakistan in the 1950s and served in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
[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
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