What if...

This link has a brief history, and drawings of, the whole E-series!
Worth a look...

http://henk.fox3000.com/maus.htm

 

Ok, new what-if...

With the success of the RAM Kangaroo, the British and American armies look around for a similar vehicle in their inventory to undergo modification to an APC. Using the M4 series would eat into their stocks of tanks.

However, the M3 medium tanks are there. They were roomy enough to hold more men / equipment than a RAM, and the 75mm gun mounting could easily be converted to a .5 mg mounting - or even a heavier armament, like a 20mm cannon and co-axial besa.

What do you reckon?

 

Sounds like a pretty good solution to me. There should be a little more room in the M3 and the side doors would make for slightly easier entry and exit of the vehicle than the "out through the turret ring" deal, although not as fast perhaps.

And on a small note Ricky, the first Kangaroo type vehicles were built on surplus Priests, the Rams were later.

 

I wonder if you could even keep the Grant / Lee turret and carry a smaller amount of troops... The first IFV

Mind you, you could only carry 1/2 - 3/4 of a squad

 

What's "IFV" ?

 

Infantry Fighting Vehicle, also called MICV (Mechanised Infantry Combat Vehicle), (BMP in Russian). An APC with combat capability, as opposed to just an armoured transport.

 

The US 105mm Gun Motor Carriage T95 would have been an impressive sight to behold on a field of combat, but, like the German superheavies, application would have been limited. Appearantly it was designed to designed to assualt German positions on the Siegfried line.


The gun is a high velocity 105mm T5E1 that, as far as I know, did not see use in WWII. 62 rounds of ammunition were carriered, giving this monster a respectable combat load. Armor was incredibly thick; the maximum was 12" (300mm!).

 

My favourite "what if?" is the T-44 middle tank, designed to replace the T 34/85. Although put into production during WW2, the T-44 unfortunately never actually saw combat. It originally armed with the Soviet 85mm cannon, and a ridiculous 188mm of frontal armor. Later models saw the T-44 equipped with a 100mm cannon. On paper it tears through the Panther and the Pershing like tinfoil... In 1946 production ceased with a total of 2000 being built; this was not done for any deficiency of the tank, but for its extraordianary design. The T-44 chassis proved to have such potential that it was used to build the infamous T-54 MBT, one of the best tanks of the era. For me the T-44 was one of the best tanks that never got to prove itself

 

Ricky:
The M3 series was done just as you described. I've seen models and photos of an M3 with the turret removed, a ring-mounted M2 50 cal added, and it was used as a scout-type vehicle, but not as an APC.

Tim

 

Zhukov:
I've seen the T-95 that is at the Patton Museum in Ft Knox, Ky.
The thing is a BEAST. My understanding is that it was concieved--as you stated--to be a breakthrough-type weapon employed in breaching the German defenses.
The most baffling aspect of the design is what appears to be two complete sets of tracks. What a maintanence nightmare!

Tim

 

Wow! If you can find those pictures again I'd like to see them!

 

IIRC the outer set was detachable, so that the monster would fit on trains etc.

 

Ricky:
I may have misread your post... when you said M3, I thought Stuart. The M3 Stuart was modified as I described... but no knowledge of the M3 MEDIUM Grant/Lee series modified in such a way.

Tim

 

The overall width (and track width) was a result of the necessary track area on the ground to maintain a reasonable ground pressure for the weight. But that gave an overall width too large for shipping... so the idea was that for transport the outer set of tracks on each side could be removed, linked together and towed behind the vehicle when it was travelling on a hard surface, or stowed separately on board ship or train. I have seen a photo somewhere on the net (or maybe Hunnicutt's book) of the two outer sets (left and right) linked to form this "bogey unit".

 

Oh well...
I'd still be interested in seeing a picture of that though...

 

Ricky:
Upon further digging at home... I found the references--and some photos--of the subject. It comes from the December 1992 issue of FineScale Modeler.
It was called the T8E1 Reconnaissance Vehicle... text as follows:

"Some surplus Stuarts were converted to reconnaissance vehicles. The prototype "Reconnaissance Vehicle B" was created by removing the turret from an M5A1 and adding a ring-mounted Browning .50-caliber machine gun. Later versions, designated T8E1, featured extra storage boxes and a land-mine rack on the hull sides.
I had to rely on my imagination to detail this Stuart variant. My only reference while building was a small photo of page 95 of "British and American Tanks of WWII" by Peter Chamberlain and Chris Ellis. Attempts to locate additional photos or information, including writing letters to every Army agency I thought might be helpful, were unsuccessful. (After completing the model I discovered two more photos on Bryan Perrett's "Allied Tanks Italy.")

Sorry Ricky. I don't do photos... no scanner. I hope this helps, somewhat.
hehe.

Tim

 

That guy needs to use Google...

 

Ricky:
That'll work...

Tim