M13 Half-track

The M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage (M13 MGMC) was a World War II self-propelled anti-aircraft gun produced by the White Motor Company when the United States needed a mobile anti-aircraft vehicle. Production commenced in July 1942 and ended in May 1943. The only time it was ever used was when the Americans landed at Anzio in January 1944. It was replaced by the better armed M16 Half-track in April 1944.

The M13 evolved from a series of unsuccessful prototypes that were trialed in the period from 1940 to 1942 until it finally started production. It turned out to be an interim solution as the better armed M16 MGMC arrived in 1944. Half of the M13 production were converted into M16s on the production lines.

Design

The M13 Half-track was 6.50 m (21 ft 4 in) long, 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) wide, 2.34 m (7 ft 8 in)^[1] high with a wheelbase of 135.5 in (3.44 m).^[2] It had leaf spring suspension for the wheels and vertical volute springs for the tracks. It had a 60 US gallons (230 l) fuel capacity and a 150 mi (240 km). The vehicle was powered by a White 160AX, 128 hp, 386 in³ (6,330 cc), 6 cylinder, gasoline engine, with a compression ratio of 6.3:1. It had a power to weight ratio of 15.8 hp per tonne and weighed 9 tons.^[2] The armor across most of the vehicle was 0.25 inch (6 mm) thick with a 0.5 inch (12 mm) thick windscreen visor. The vehicle was armed with two M2 Browning heavy machine guns mounted on a M45 Quadmount.^[1][3][4] The two machine guns were fired electrically and powered by a small electrical engine near the back of the turret. The guns were aimed with a Mark 9 reflector sight.^[5]

Development

The M16, the successor to the M13

Early experiments

The first vehicle in development of a AA armament on a half-track was the T1, which had two M2 machine guns on a Bendix machine gun mount —as used on jeeps—mounted on an early version of the M2 Half Track Car. The T1E1 had a power-operated Bendix mount, and the T1E2 a Maxson mounting. The T1E3 had an electro-dynamic Glenn L. Martin Company aircraft-type turret. Evaluation of these test vehicles led to the T1E2 design being preferred. (The T1E2 became the M16 Half-track by replacing the M33 with the M45 mount).^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

T1E4 and M13

The next stage of development was to use the T1E2 configuration on the longer chassis of the M3 Half-track. This vehicle T1E4 was accepted into production as the M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage on 27 July 1942.^[7][9][10]

With acceptance into production as the M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage, a total of 1,103 were produced from 27 July 1942 to 15 May 1943. Half of them (583) were converted into M16s before reaching the army by the White Motor Company.^{[6][7][8][9][11]}

Service history

The M13 served at the Battle of Anzio with the VI Corps of the Fifth United States Army in January 1944. It was used as an anti-aircraft support weapon during the landing at Anzio and then later to repel heavy German panzer attacks on the beachhead. It was replaced three months later by the M16 Half-track in April 1944.^[6][7] Only 139 were deployed overseas by the United States Army.^[12]

Variants

The M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage.

• T1 – Two M2 Browning heavy machine guns mounted on a Bendix mount on early model of a M2 Half Track Car. This model, like most of the others, was a prototype.^[7]
• T1E1 – A modified version of the T1E1. This was another prototype.^[7]
• T1E2 – Same as the T1E1 except the Bendix mount was replaced with the M33 Maxson mount. After the M33 was replaced with the M45 Quadmount it was accepted as the M16 Half-track.^[7]
• T1E3 – Replaced the M33 with a Martin turret designed for use on bombers.^[7]
• T1E4/M13 – The Martin turret was replaced by the M33 and was based on the M3 Half-track. It was accepted as the M13 Half-track in July 1942. Saw action at the Battle of Anzio to repel heavy German attacks. Replaced by the M16 in April 1944.^[7]
• M14 Half-track – Same armament as the M13 but used the slightly different M5 Half-track chassis built by International Harvester for Lend-Lease. Mostly supplied to Britain, where they were converted back to regular half-tracks.^[7]

See also

• List of U.S. military vehicles by model number
• List of U.S. military vehicles by supply catalog designation

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Berndt, Thomas (1993). Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles. Iola, WI: Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-223-0
• Berndt, Thomas (1994). American Tanks of World War II. Minnesota, MN: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87938-930-3
• Chamberlain, Peter; Ellis, Chris (1969). British and American Tanks of World War II. New York, NY: Arco Publishing Inc. ISBN 0-668-01867-4
• Green, Michael (2014). American Tanks and AFVs of World War II. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-78200-931-0
• Green, Michael; Green, Gladys. (2000). Weapons of Patton's Armies. Minnesota, MN: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 0-7603-0821-7
• Hunnicutt, R.P. (2010). Half-Track: A History of American Semi-Tracked Vehicles. Navato, CA: Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-742-7
• Ness, Leland L. (2002). World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles. New York, NY: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-711228-9
• Rottman, Gordon (2012). Browning .50-Caliber Machine Guns. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84908-657-5
• Zaloga, Steven J. (2004). M3 Infantry Half-Track 1940–1973. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-467-9

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Multiple Gun Motor Carriage M13.

• Multiple Gun Motor Carriage M13
• M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage, History of War website