| M8 Armored Car | |
|---|---|
M8 equipped for battle. |
|
| Type | Armored car |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 8.6 short tons (7.8 t) |
| Length | 16 ft 4.8 in (5.00 m)[1] |
| Width | 8 ft 3.6 in (2.53 m)[1] |
| Height | 7 ft 4.8 in (2.26 m)[1] |
| Crew | 4[1] |
|
|
|
| Main armament |
37 mm Gun M6[1] |
| Secondary armament |
.30 and .50 machine guns |
| Engine | Hercules JXD 6-cyl gasoline 110 hp (82 kW)[1] |
| Power/weight | 14.1 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | 6x6 wheel, leaf spring |
| Operational range |
350 mi (560 km)[1] |
| Speed | 56 mph (90 km/h) |
The M8 Light Armored Car was a 6x6 armored car produced by the Ford Motor Company during World War II. It was used by the U.S. and British troops in Europe and the Far East until the end of the war.[2] The vehicle was widely exported and as of 2006 still remains in service with some third world countries.[2]
In British service, the M8 was known as the Greyhound. The British Army found it too lightly armored, particularly the hull floor where anti-tank mines could easily penetrate (crews' solution was lining the floor of the crew compartment with sandbags). It was produced in such a large volume and, coupled with its off-roading capabilities, that this shortcoming was largely overlooked. The M8 Greyhound could virtually go anywhere, which made it a great supportive element to the advancing American and British armored columns.
Contents |
In July 1941, the Ordnance Department initiated a development of a new fast tank destroyer to replace the M6 37 mm Gun Motor Carriage, which was essentially a ¾-ton truck with a 37 mm gun installed in the rear bed.[2] The requirement was for a 6x4 wheeled vehicle armed with a 37 mm gun, a coaxial machine gun mounted in a turret, and a machine gun in the front hull.[2] Its glacis armor was supposed to withstand fire from a .50 in (12.7 mm) machine gun and side armor from a .30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun. Prototypes were submitted by Studebaker (designated T21), Ford (T22) and Chrysler (T23), all of them similar in design and appearance.
In April 1942, the T22 was selected despite complaints about deficiencies, due to the need for vehicles. By then, it was clear that the 37 mm gun would not be effective against the front armor of German tanks; so, the new armored car, designated M8 Light Armored Car, took on the reconnaissance role instead.[2] Contract issues and minor design improvements delayed serial production until March 1943. Production ended in June 1945.[2] A total of 8,523 units were built,[1] not including the M20 Armored Utility Car (see Variants).
In 1942, the British turned down the opportunity to use the M8 through Lend-Lease.[3] It was named Greyhound in keeping with other U.S. armored cars already ordered by the British such as the (cancelled) T18 Boarhound, the Deerhound and the Staghound
The Cavalry Recon troop served as a division's or corps' advance "eyes and ears." This mission demanded speed and agility, not firepower and armor. When on the march, the Cavalry's mission was make contact with enemy forces at the earliest practicable moment and maintain it thereafter. In this role, the recon troops identified hostile units and reported their strength, composition, disposition and movement. During withdrawals, the cavalry often served as a screening force for the main units.
The M8 performed this function with distinction. Each M8 armored car was equipped with a long-range radio set to assist in the exercise of command, or for the purpose of relaying information received from subordinate elements to higher headquarters. Another short-range radio set served to communicate within a Cavalry Reconnaissance platoon, reconnaissance team, or with headquarters. The M8 weighed 16,400 lb (7,400 kg) fully loaded with equipment and crew, and was capable of cruising 100–200 mi (160–320 km) cross country or 200–400 mi (320–640 km) on highways without refueling. On normal roads, it was capable of a sustained speed of 55 mph (89 km/h), hence its nickname.
Unfortunately, the M8 was not designed for offensive combat, and its firepower was adequate only against similar lightly armored enemy vehicles and infantry. The armor of the vehicles provided a fair degree of protection against small-arms fire but nothing more. Crews needed to survive by using speed and mobility to avoid hits instead of withstanding them. With a meager .12 in (3 mm) of floor armour, the M8 was particularly vulnerable to German mines.
The vehicle's other drawback was limited mobility in heavily wooded areas and on broken terrain, and armored Cavalry units preferred using the ¼-ton reconnaissance car (Jeep) in these environments. A large turning radius, limited wheel travel, open differentials, and limited mobility cross-country made the M8 armored car susceptible to immobilization off-road in off-camber terrain or defiles. This limited operators to operating the vehicle mostly on existing roads or paths, where it became vulnerable to ambush. The lack of continuous tracks and poor tread contact area-to-weight ratio also hampered its off-road performance in mud, snow, or alpine terrain, and in soft terrain the M8 frequently sank to its axles. Conversely, performance on hard surfaces was exceptional. As a wheeled vehicle, the M8 was generally more reliable than tracked vehicles of similar size, and required far less maintenance and logistics support.
The M8 was fitted with a 37 mm M6 gun (aimed by M70D telescopic sight) and a coaxially mounted .30 in (7.62 mm) Browning machine gun in an open-topped, welded turret. A .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun was sometimes carried on a ring or pintle mount for anti-aircraft use; this was not standard on early vehicles, but was a frequent unit modification.
The crew of four was composed of the commander (who doubled as loader), gunner, driver, and radio operator (who could also act as a driver). The driver and radio operator were seated in the forward section of the hull, while the commander and gunner rode in the turret, commander in the right side.
The vehicle carried 80 37 mm rounds when fitted with a single radio. Vehicles with a second radio installed carried as few as 16 main gun rounds, although unit-level modifications could raise this as high as 40 or more. Machine gun ammunition consisted of 1500 .30-in rounds and 400 .50-in rounds. In addition, it carried 16 hand grenades, four smoke pots (M1 or M2), six landmines (Anti-tank and HE types) and M1 Carbines for the crew.
The armor ranged from .12 in (3 mm) on the hull floor, to .75 in (19 mm) on the front hull and turret. The M8 was powered by a Hercules Model JXD in-line 6-cylinder 320 in³ gasoline engine giving it a top speed of 56 mph (90 km/h) on-road, 30 mph (48 km/h) off-road. With a 59-gallon tank and an average fuel consumption of 7.5 mpg, it could manage an average range of 400 mi (640 km).
The M8 Light Armored Car, the "Greyhound", entered combat service with the Allies in 1943. It was purpose designed to serve as the primary basic command and communication combat vehicle of the U.S. Cavalry Reconnaissance Troops.
The M8 first saw action in Italy in 1943 and was used by the U.S. Army both in Europe and in the Far East. In the latter theater, it was used mostly on Okinawa and the Philippines, and was occasionally employed in its original tank destroyer role as most of the Japanese armor was vulnerable to its 37 mm gun.
Over 1,000 were supplied via lend-lease channels to US' Allies; United Kingdom, free France and Brazil.
The vehicle was considered fast, sufficiently reliable (after some technical problems were solved) and armed and armored well enough for reconnaissance missions. However, cavalry units criticized its off-road performance, which was even worse than the M3A1 Scout Car it replaced. In the mountainous terrain of Italy and in the deep mud and snow of North European winter, the M8 was more or less restricted to roads, which greatly reduced its value as a reconnaissance vehicle. It was also very vulnerable to landmines. An add-on armor kit was designed to provide an extra quarter-inch of belly armor to reduce landmine vulnerability. Some crews placed sandbags on the floor to make up for the thin belly armor. Another problem was that commanders often used their reconnaissance squadrons for fire support missions, for which the thinly-armored M8 was ill-suited. When it encountered German armored reconnaissance units, the M8 could easily penetrate their armor with its 37 mm gun. Conversely, its own thin armor was vulnerable to the 20 mm autocannons that German scout cars were equipped with.
The U.S. Army Armor School's paper The Battle at St-Vith 17–23 December 1944 describes an engagement during the Battle of the Bulge, between an M8 (Troop B, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron) and a Tiger I. The M8 crew was the victor, firing three 37 mm rounds into the rear armor of the Tiger from 25 yd (23 m), setting it on fire.[4]
The U.S. Army started to look for a replacement for the M8 as early as 1943. Two prototypes, the Studebaker T27 and Chevrolet T28 were finished in summer 1944. Both were found superior to the M8, but it was decided that at this stage of the war there was no more need for a new armored car.
After the war, the M8 was used for occupation duty, saw combat in the Korean War and was retired by the U.S. Army shortly thereafter. France continued to use the M8 until the Indochina War (1946–1954) and Algerian War (1954–1962). Many vehicles formerly used by the U.S., Britain and France were exported to NATO allies and third world countries. As of 2002, some still remained in service in Africa and South America.
During the Vietnam War, the French organized Vietnamese armored regiments, each consisting of three companies equipped with a mixture of M3 halftracks, White scout cars, M8 Greyhound armored cars and M8 towed howitzers.
In Congo in 1961 the Indian troops clashed with a Katangan column moving from Jadotville towards Elisabethville, near Sabena Guesthouse. Using recoilless rifles, the Indians knocked out one M8 Greyhound scout car.
Notably, several Greyhounds were deployed in Bogota on March 8, 2007, as part of security measures before U.S. President George W. Bush's visit. They are regularly used as checkpoint security by the Colombian Military, and usually can be seen in the northern parts of the capital.
Past and present operators of the vehicle include:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||