M24 Chaffee

The M24 was a solid light/medium tank, taking the experience of the war and incorporating that into its design. The sleek shape, sloped armor, and gun were a nice combination for a smaller tank. Was the 75mm canon on the M24 an upgraded or better version than the 75mm canon on the Sherman?

 

No the M6 75mm Gun in the M24 used exactly the same round as did the M3 75mm Gun in the Medium Tanks M3 and M4. The M6 was derived from the 75mm Aircraft Gun M4, which was developed for the B25. It was a lightweight, compact design which was suitable for use in a tank lighter than the Medium Tank M4.

 

I always think 'speed' when someone mentions Chaffees, as they can certainly shift in comparison to most WW2 vehicles - a pair (Called 'Skunky' & 'Spliffy') owned by a Welsh chap used to really rag around the arena at Beltring. Think at least one has been sold back to the states in the meantime.
Dien bien Phu it's finest hour to my mind. Incredible story of the transport there, and rarely were an isolated handful of little tanks fought so hard.

Dunno why. Just always liked 'em.
A wet Skunky & Spliffy in 2007:

 

Telly Salvalas liked them too

 

If I remember correctly he had the convertible. version.

It was clearly a well designed light tank, indeed using lessons learned in the war. I always thought a 35 ton version with the 76mm gun would have been a great main tank for the US and Allies for the latter part of the war.

 

Sorry but again you have overstepped the limits of the design. At 35 tons the power plant is inadequate.

 

The barrel looks longer on that picture than on the M4 Sherman

 

The Dirty Dozen?

 

Nope. The length of tube in the 75mm Gun M6 as installed in the M24 was 110.575 inches. The length of the tube in the 75mm Gun M3 as installed in the M4 was 118.38 inches.

 

Battle of the Bulge, old chap. No match for Col Hessler's M-47 though.

"IT CAN BE DONE!"

 

just seen that some of them are still there on the old battlefield.
http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/05/06/m24-chaffee-at-dien-bien-phu/

 

That's odd. The picture posted above the barrel looks way longer on that M24 than the gun on the Sherman. Maybe that's a modified M24 in that picture?

 

Rich, I thought about the powerplant and assumed by increasing size and weight a drive train would follow suit. Sherman's weighted pretty close to that in the later versions and did pretty well with the Ford V-8, which proved a bit underpowered in the Patton. Ideally a purpose designed and built diesel V-8 or 10 could be accommodated. Even a V-12 like the T-34. They are more efficient, strong on torque, to me desirable in tank engines . Correct me me, buit I believe the US and Russia are the only multi-fuel turbine MBT's in service ( Off topic, sorry)

Long way from the Stuart-Lee to the Chaffee . It seems, to me, to be a precursor to the LeClerc.

Gaines

 

What picture? The only pictures I see are of M24?

 

Sure. And the US did develop a 12-cylinder gasoline engine purpose-designed for a tank. In 1948 after some four years of development. American engine production problems is another subject entirely.

 

My mistake. I remember Telly Savalas as Kojak and Maggott from Dirty Dozen.

 

Guns, I can only assume the Chaffee's barrel looks long to you as there's nothing to give comparative scale there.
They really are quite diminutive beasties in the flesh. Sporty looking, with smallish turrets.
(Sure the bloke said he kept one in a single garage, but that might just be my dodgy memory.)

 

This thread got me thinking abut the Chaffee's power plant. Two flathead Cadillac V-8's mounted side by side. That would make a pretty wide assembly thought the flat heads still would be low, essentially GM car engines producing a combined 220 HP. One v-8 Ford would double the horse power but would be taller being a much larger block and DOHC's. I keep wondering how the two engines sync to a common drive train but it did use an early Hydromatic transmission.....I think. Cummings should have come up with a 6 or 8 cylinder boxer engine but the need for fast production with proven components probably garnered more favor. So a pretty modern design with a prewar engine (s). It begs for a boxer.

Gaines

 

It was generally poor on tank vs tank combat. (weak gun and armor) Maneuverability and the fact It had a lower silhouette was a good thing. The chafee performed about as good as the 75 shermans.

 

They were very nimble. Maybe one of the best recon vehicles ever made. They were the first US tanks in Korea. T34s in Korea ate them for breakfast as you might imagine.
They had excellent reverse speed, very handy for a recon vehicle "Hey that's a REAL tank! Get the bleep out of here!"