M3 Half-track

Carrier, Personnel Half-track M3

An M3 half-track at Fort Knox.
Type Half-track armored personnel carrier
Place of origin United States
Service history
Wars World War II
Korean War
Vietnam War
Suez Crisis
Six Day War
1973 Arab-Israeli War
Lebanese Civil War
Production history
Manufacturer Autocar
Diamond T
White Motor Company
Specifications (M3[1])
Weight 20,000 lb (9.07 metric tons)
Length 20 ft 2 58 in (6.17 m) with roller
Width 6 ft 5 14 in (1.96 m)
Height 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m)
Crew 1
Passengers 12

Armor 0.25–0.50 in (6–12 mm)
Engine White 160AX
147 hp (110 kW) at 3,000 rpm
Power/weight 16.2 hp/metric ton
Transmission Spicer 3461 constant mesh
Suspension Front: semi-elliptic longitudinal leaf spring
Rear: Vertical volute spring
Fuel capacity 60 US gallons (230 litres)
Operational
range
200 mi (320 km)
Speed 45 mph (72 km/h) on road
Steering
system
Steering wheel

The M3 Half-track, known officially as the Carrier, Personnel Half-track M3, was an American armored personnel carrier half-track widely used by the Allies during World War II and in the Cold War. Derived from the M2 Half Track Car, the slightly longer M3 was extensively produced, with about 15,000 units and more than 50,000 derivative variants manufactured (most of which were interim designs).

The design was based on the Citroen-Kégresse half-track. The developers attempted to use as many commercial parts as possible. There were also several dozen variants for different purposes. The M3 and its variants were supplied to the U.S. Army and Marines, as well as British Commonwealth and Soviet Red Army forces, serving on all major fronts throughout the war. Although at first unpopular, it was used by most of the Allies at some point in the war.

Design

Racks under the seats were used for ammunition and rations; additional racks behind the seat backs held the squad's rifles and other stowage. A small rack for mines was added on the outside of the hull just above the tracks. In combat, most units found it necessary to stow additional food, rucksacks and other crew stowage on the outside of the vehicle. Luggage racks were often added in the field, and very late vehicles had rear-mounted racks for this crew stowage.[2]

Early vehicles had a pintle mount, just behind the front seats, that mounted a .50-caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun. The later M3A1 adopted a raised, armored 'pulpit mount' for the .50-caliber, and .30-caliber (7.62 mm) machine guns could be used from mounts along the sides of the passenger compartment. Many M3s were later modified to the M3A1 standard. The body was armored all around, with an adjustable armored shutter for the engine's radiator and a bulletproof windscreen.[2]

Development

On display in Ursel (Northwest of Ghent), Belgium

Between the world wars, the U.S. Army sought to improve the tactical mobility of its forces. With the goal of finding a high-mobility infantry vehicle, the Ordnance Department had evaluated the half-track design by testing French Citroën-Kégresse vehicles. The White Motor Company produced a prototype halftrack using their own chassis and the body of the M3 Scout Car.[3]

The design, using as many commercial components as possible to improve reliability and the rate of production, was standardized in 1940 and built by the Autocar Company, Diamond T Motor Company, and the White Motor Company.[3] Offered with a choice of White 160AX or IHC Red Diamond 450 engines, the M3 was driven through a manual constant-mesh (non-synchromesh) transmission with four forward and one reverse gear, as well as a two-speed transfer case. The front suspension was leaf spring, tracks by vertical volute spring. Braking was vacuum-assisted hydraulic, steering manual, without power assist. The electrical system was 12-volt.[4]

The M3 was the larger and longer counterpart to the M2 Half Track Car. The M2 was originally intended to function as an artillery tractor. The M3 had a single access door in the rear and seating for a 12-man rifle squad. Five seats were arranged on each side in the rear of the vehicle and three seats inside the cab.[5]

Service history

Although originally intended for armored infantry regiments, it was quickly put into action with the Provisional Tank Group when the Japanese Army began their invasion of the Philippines. Initially, there were multiple complaints due to several mechanical difficulties. These were rectified by the Ordnance Department after receiving field reports from the Philippines. The M3's first use for its intended role was during Operation Torch. Each armored division had 433 M2s or M3s, 200 in the armored regiments and 233 in the armored infantry regiment.[6]

The halftracks were initially extremely unpopular and dubbed "Purple Heart Boxes" (a grim reference to the US Army's decoration for combat wounds) by American troops. The chief complaints centered on the complete lack of overhead protection from airbursting artillery shells and that the armor was inadequate against machine gun fire. Omar Bradley quoted in his report about half-tracks that it was "a competent and dependable contrivance. Its bad name resulted from the inexperience of our troops who attempted to use it for too many things".[6] In 1943, the M3 served in Sicily and Italy and received positive reports of it in action. It went into service in 1944 in Operation Overlord and served in Europe for the remainder of the war.[7]

Production

Total production of the M3 ran to nearly 41,000 vehicles. To supply the Allied nations International Harvester produced several thousand of a very similar vehicle, the M5 Half-track for Lend-Lease.[8]

Variants

Armored personnel carriers

The M5 personnel carrier

Self-propelled guns

A T48 57 mm GMC / SU-57 in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Poklonnaya Hill Victory Park
A M3 GMC on the Bougainville Island, in the Solomon Islands, November 1943

Anti-aircraft variants

A M16 MGMC in action in Korea, 1953

40 mm Experiments

Various attempts were made to mate the 40 mm Bofors L/50 gun to the M3 chassis. In most cases the weapon's recoil was too severe or the mounting too heavy, and the attempts were finally stopped with the adoption of the M19 MGMC on the M24 light tank chassis.[25]

Post-war Israeli variants

An Israeli modified M3 Half-track, armed with a 20 mm cannon

Former operators

Non-state former operators

See also

References

Citations

  1. http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/halftrackm3.html
  2. 1 2 Zaloga (1994), pp. 6–7
  3. 1 2 3 Zaloga (1994), pp. 3–5
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Berndt (1993), p. 152.
  5. Hufper, Simon (30 September 2013). "Historic M3 vehicles leave USAG Bamberg". Franconian News. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  6. 1 2 Zaloga (1994), p. 8.
  7. Zaloga (1994), pp. 15–16.
  8. Zaloga (1994), p. 12.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Berndt (1993), p. 147.
  10. Hunnicutt (2001), p. 52.
  11. 1 2 Hunnicutt (2001), p. 98.
  12. 1 2 3 Zaloga (1994), pp. 36–37
  13. Hunnicutt (2001, p. 112.
  14. 1 2 Hunnicutt (2001), p. 96.
  15. Hunnicutt (2001), p. 121.
  16. Zaloga (1994), pp. 35–36
  17. Mesko, p. 22.
  18. 1 2 Zaloga (1994), p. 38.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Hunnicutt (2001), pp. 123–126
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Zaloga (1994), p. 42.
  21. "Hit-Run Ack-Ack Guns Mounted on a Half-Track". Popular Mechanics. New York, NY: Hearst Corporation. December 1943. Retrieved 3 August 2011. (including "cover artwork")
  22. 1 2 Berndt (1994), p. 33.
  23. Hunnicutt (2001), p. 131.
  24. Zaloga (1994), p. 39.
  25. 1 2 3 4 Gander (2013), p. 231.
  26. 1 2 Gander (2013), p. 232.
  27. Hunnicutt (2001), p. 194.
  28. 1 2 3 4 Zaloga (1994), p. 24.
  29. Zaloga (1994), p. 40.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Zaloga (1994), pp. 21–22.
  31. Zaloga (1994), p. 13.
  32. Zaloga (1994), p. 23.
  33. "Trade Registers". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  34. https://www.facebook.com/moroccanFAR/photos/a.850789308307656.1073741874.301539789899280/850789694974284/?type=3&theater
  35. Bishop, p. 81.
  36. Kassis, 30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon (2003), pp. 41-47.
  37. Kassis, 30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon (2003), pp. 85-89.
  38. El-Assad, Blue Steel: M-3 Halftracks in South Lebanon (2006), p. 58.
  39. Kassis, 30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon (2003), p. 63.

Bibliography

Further reading

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