T17 Armored Car
| T17E1 Armored Car |
|
| Type |
Armored car |
| Place of origin |
United States |
| Production history |
| Number built |
4,000 |
| Specifications |
| Weight |
14 t |
| Length |
17 ft 10 in (5.49 m) |
| Width |
8 ft 10 in (2.69 m) |
| Height |
7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) |
| Crew |
5 |
|
| Armor |
9 to 44 mm |
Main
armament |
37 mm M6 |
Secondary
armament |
2 or 3 x .30 (7.62 mm) machine guns |
| Engine |
2 x GMC 270
2 x 97 hp (72 kW) |
| Power/weight |
13.9 hp/tonne |
| Suspension |
wheels, 4 x 4 |
Operational
range |
450 miles (724 km) |
| Speed |
55 mph (89 km/h) |
The T17 and the T17E1 were American armored cars produced during the Second World War. They did not see service with frontline US forces but the latter was supplied via the United Kingdom to British and Commonwealth forces during the war and received the service name Staghound. A number of countries used the Staghound after the war, with some of the vehicles continuing to serve into the 1980s.
History
In July 1941 the US Army Ordnance issued specifications for a medium armored car alongside a specification for heavy armored car (which resulted in the T18 Boarhound). Ford Motor Company built a 6 x 6 (six wheels, all driven) prototype which was designated T17 and Chevrolet a 4 x 4 (four wheels, all driven) model designated T17E1. At the same time the British Purchasing Commission was also looking for medium and heavy armored cars for use in North Africa. Had the U.S. adopted this it would have been called the M6.
T17
The British allocated the name Deerhound to the T17. The T17 was armed with a 37 mm gun in a rotating turret, a coaxial machine gun and a bow machine gun. Production started in October 1942. However, eventually the US military decided to adopt the lighter M8 Greyhound vehicle instead. T17 production was stopped and the 250 units produced were disarmed and given to the US Military Police for use in the States. The T17 was never used by the British.
T17E1
The British allocated the name Staghound to the T17E series. Production started in October 1942. Unlike the T17 when the US military decided to adopt the lighter M8 Greyhound vehicle, T17E1 production continued for the United Kingdom. Approximately 4,000 Staghounds were produced in total.[1]
The Staghound was an innovative design that incorporated some advanced features. It had two rear-facing 6-cylinder engines with automatic transmissions (with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears) feeding through a transfer case to drive both axles. Either two or four-wheel drive could be selected. Either engine could be shut down while in motion and taken out of the drive train. Additionally, a power steering pump was incorporated which could be switched on or off manually from the driver's instrument panel depending on steering conditions. Steering and suspension components were directly attached to the hull as the structure was rigid enough to dispense with the need for a separate chassis.
The Staghound entered service too late for use in the North African campaign where its combination of armor, range and main armament would have been an advantage. As a result it first saw operational service in Italy, where many units found its large physical size too restrictive in the narrow roads and streets of Europe. As a result it saw most service at squadron and regimental headquarter level.[2]
Operators
Variants
- T17E1: 4x4 version built by Chevrolet for Britain. 2,687 - 2,844 units were produced.
- Staghound Mk I
- The T17E1 was armed with a 37 mm M6 gun, a coaxial Browning 1919A4 .30 cal machine gun and a 2-inch smoke mortar in a rotating turret. In the hull was mounted a Browning 1919A4 .30 cal machine gun. [3]Some T17E1 had an additional Browning 1919A4 .30 cal machine gun for anti-aircraft defense.
- The turret had power traverse and featured a turret basket (which limited the amount of internal crew storage). The 37mm gun was gyroscopically stabilized.
- This variant had a crew of 5, commander, loader, gunner, and hull machine gunner.
- This variant saw combat with the British, Free Polish, Canadian, New Zealand, Indian, and Belgian armies in Italy, Greece and Northwest Europe. After WWII, it saw further action in Cuba, Nicaragua, Lebanon and Rhodesia[4].
- Staghound Mk II
- This was a field conversion that had a 3 inch howitzer Mk 1 for close support mounted in place of the 37mm gun in the turret. The bow machine gun was removed. It is not known how many were converted. These were issued to the Armoured Car HQ section.
- Staghound Mk III
- Had a turret taken from a 6 pounder gun armed Crusader tank and 7.92mm Besa machine gun. Some of these were then re fitted with the Ordnance QF 75 mm gun.[5][6] There was no bow machine gun. These had reached the front line by 1945, where it was supplied to heavy troops of armored car regiments. The total number ordered was around 100-300. After WWII, this version saw usage with Denmark and combat in Lebanon.
- Staghound Command
- The turret was removed and extra wireless equipment was installed.
-
- The T17E2 was an T17E1 fitted with a Frazer-Nash-designed turret mounting two M2 Browning heavy machine guns. The turrets were built in the US for British Motor Torpedo Boats. Redesign of the turret and mounting was carried out. 2,610 rounds were carried. The turret was open topped and had an electric-hydraulic traverse system with a maximum slew rate of 55 degrees a second.[7]
- This variant had a crew of 3, commander/gunner, loader and driver.[8]
- 789 units were produced between October 1943 and April 1944, when production stopped.
- T17E1 fitted with the turret of 75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8, carrying the 75mm M2/M3 howitzer. This was trialled in December 1943, but never reached production.[9]
See also
Notes
- ^ Taylor, Dick: "The Stag's Story", Military Modelling, 5th October 2007, Page 31.
- ^ Taylor, Dick: "The Stag's Story", Military Modelling, 5th October 2007, Page 34.
- ^ Taylor, Dick: "The Stag's Story", Military Modelling, 5th October 2007, Page 29.
- ^ Locke & Cooke, Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia (1995), p. 100.
- ^ The 75mm fitted the same mounting as the 6 pdr
- ^ Classic AFVs No. 1 Crusader (1976) Patrick Stephens Ltd p21
- ^ Taylor, Dick: "The Stag's Story", Military Modelling 5th October 2007, Page 28.
- ^ Taylor, Dick: "The Stag's Story", Military Modelling, 5th October 2007, Page 28.
- ^ Taylor, Dick: "The Stag's Story", Military Modelling, 5th October 2007, Page 28.
References
- Doyle, David (2009). The Staghound: A Visual History of the T17E Series Armored Cars in Allied Service, 1940-1945. Delray Beach, FL: Ampersand Publishing. pp. 128. ISBN 978-0-9773781-6-6.
- Lucy, Roger V. (2007). The Staghound in Canadian Service. Ottawa, ON: Service Publications. pp. 24. ISBN 978-1-894581-37-0.
- War Department (1942). TM 9-741 Medium Armored Car T17E1. http://www.scribd.com/doc/17500747/TM-9741-Medium-Armored-Car-T17E1. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- War Department. TM 9-1741A.
- War Department (1943). TM 9-1741B.
- War Department (1943). TM 9-1741C Ordnance Maintenance Chassis, Hull and Turret for Medium Armored Car T17E1. http://ahecwebdds.carlisle.army.mil/AwMetaLib/pdfOpener?sid=0974CFD57C513A8EAC59987FE3755845&md=1&did=161373.
- War Department (1943). TM 9-2800 Standard Military Motor Vehicles.
- Zaloga, Steven J; Tony Bryan (2002). M8 Greyhound Light Armored Car 1941-91. Osprey Publishing. pp. 48. ISBN 9781841764689. http://books.google.com/books?id=lTdVZBXragQC&lpg=PA10&ots=96GABmskW_&dq=m6%20armored%20car&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=m6%20armored%20car&f=false.
- Zaloga, Steven J (2009). Staghound Armored Car, 1942-62. Osprey Publishing. pp. 48. ISBN 9781846033926. http://books.google.com/books?id=Q93KPQAACAAJ.
- Ludovic Fortin, T17E1 Staghound Armored Car – Le char sur roues, Trucks & Tracks Magazine, December 2007 - January 2008 issue, pp. 48-67. (in French)
- Peter Gerard Locke & Peter David Farquharson Cooke, Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-80, P&P Publishing, Wellington 1995. ISSN 0-473-02413-6
External links