War often disrupts our understanding of formal logic. agree, even the most incredible things, which simply cannot be, in war it is quite common thing.
Artillery crew, who held the road with one gun all day and did not miss the enemy tank column. Pilot, which on the very first sortie shoots down an enemy plane. Group of snipers, which do not allow the enemy battalion to rise. There are many examples.
This is approximately the case with our heroine today.. This car is a famous stranger for us. One side, our army had two regiments of similar self-propelled guns (1239-th and 1223rd), on the other hand, they were like, but still other cars. So it turns out, do we know this self-propelled gun or do not know? In which series of materials to include it?
We counted, that since the heroine is still different from the machines, which we received under Lend-Lease, then her place is in this series. Our heroine today - light anti-tank SPG Mk IC «Achilles»(Achilles).
Usually this ACS does not arouse interest among ordinary people.. Another modification tanka «Sherman» for most. British modification of the American ACS M10 «Wolverine» (Wolverine) for connoisseurs. What can be interesting in the modification?
Meanwhile, the car is standing «touch» more attentively. If only, to understand, that this is an ACS after all, moreover, the anti-tank self-propelled gun, tank Destroyer, not a tank.
Let's start with the first American anti-tank self-propelled gun using the tank chassis of the M10 ACS. more precisely, from a motor carriage for 3″ gun (3-inch Gun Motor Carriadge ) M10. Exactly (verbatim) The M10 anti-tank SPG was standardized in the US Army in June 1942 of the year.
The car is really built on the chassis «Sherman». Furthermore, she really resembles this tank. But if you put «Sherman» and «Wolverine» beside, differences become noticeable even to a non-specialist.
First of all, note: "Wolverine" less «growth». As befits a person «female» sex. And from here is somewhat different «figure». Unlike the male squareness of "Sherman", "Wolverine" has sloping sides, allowing to reduce the thickness of the armor while maintaining the necessary protective properties of the armor. welded housing.
Besides, "Wolverine" has a different head-tower. This is not a rounded cast Sherman, a welded pentahedral tower with an open top. Such towers are more suitable for anti-aircraft installations.. by the way, it was created on their basis.
rifle, tower-mounted, standard 76.2 mm M7. With barrel length 50 calibres. Armor-piercing shells, with initial speed 793 m / s. ammunition 54 shell. Besides, on the rear of the turret is an anti-aircraft machine gun 12.7 mm Browning M2HB. Machine gun ammunition 1000 rounds.
Many amateurs and connoisseurs of military equipment during the Second World War doubt the need for such weapons for self-propelled guns. Really, it is difficult to imagine a crew number in a tank battle, which sprinkles enemy positions with a machine gun, when the rest of the crew smashes the tanks.
We consider it necessary to answer this question.. We will not answer with arguments, logic or reasoning. It was not in vain that we started our story with arguments about the war.. The best answer would be just one episode of the war. Episode, which was attended by Soviet soldiers.
so, 1-First Byelorussian Front. 30 July 1944 of the year. Already mentioned above, 1239-1st self-propelled artillery regiment from the 16th Panzer Corps of the 2nd Panzer Army moves towards Aleksandruv from Demblin. The task is to help the tankers in the attack on Aleksandruv. For reinforcement, the regiment was given a Su-85 from the adjacent 1441st regiment.
It was not possible to hide the movement of a sufficiently large number of self-propelled guns from enemy aircraft. Air reconnaissance Germans perfectly saw the columns of dust and even the cars themselves in motion. Naturally, the regiment was subjected to several German air raids at once. As a result, several cars were disabled..
But what is characteristic, German pilots damaged and destroyed Soviet Su-85! And not a single "Wolverine"! Furthermore, during one of the raids, the M10 gunner, petty officer Lendovsky, shot down a Ju-88 bomber from a Browning M2HB machine gun. Chilled the zeal of the Germans in the implementation of the task.
Probably, It's enough (well we think so) for, so that questions about the need for an anti-aircraft machine gun on the ACS no longer arise. The ability of the vehicle to fight enemy aircraft is not a whim of the designers, and the harsh necessity of that war. However, as well as the conduct of a battle with this weapon with enemy infantry in cases, when the departure of the machine from the positions is impossible for some reason.
But back to M10. The M10 turret is very similar to the turret of another American self-propelled gun - "Hellcat" (М18 Hellcat). The answer is simple. The Wolverine Tower was simply used to create the Cat.
The power plant consisted of two GMC liquid-cooled six-cylinder in-line diesel engines 6046 G71 from General Motors, located in parallel and connected in one unit: torque from both was transmitted to one propeller shaft. Each of the diesels developed power 375 l. from. at 2100 rev / min.
Car difference, "Sherman" and "Wolverine" is visible in «muscle mass» - booking. As it should be «girl», "Wolverine" has significantly less booking. On the forehead, the thickness of the armor is 50,8 mm, along the sides and stern - 25,4 mm, bottom - 12,7 mm, top of the case - from 9,5 to 19 mm.
These characteristics were quite normal., if we take into account the American concept of combat ACS, «hit and run». Leap-departure, or, if we really go into translation, Hit-and-run. This tactic implied a high speed of movement across the battlefield for the ACS.. Reducing the reservation "Wolverine" was done precisely in order to speed up the car. However, for some reason, this did not bring the desired result.. The speeds of "Sherman" and "Wolverine" were practically equal - 48 kmh.
There are two important points for any SPG. Crew and power reserve. Here everything is simple. The crew of the vehicle is traditional for American self-propelled guns - 5 human. The power reserve is slightly larger, than in "Sherman". But it was achieved by simply increasing the capacity of the fuel tanks.. And is 320 km against tank 290.
Us, to understand further narration, interested in only two options M10. properly, M10 itself, which is based on the M4A2 and M10A1 tanks on the M4A3 chassis. Interested because, that in the history of "Achilles" they are designated differently. On the basis of M10 "Achilles" was called MK IC, and on bases M10A1 - Mk IIC.
How do you understand, we got to Britain. It was there that the main flow of "Wolverine" was directed. Land lease also worked for Britain. The M10 was a machine with a satisfactory ballistic profile and a relatively low silhouette.. The British took it with pleasure.
but, it was clear, that modern warfare is archaic, created back in 1918 year, the M7 cannon is completely useless as an anti-tank weapon. And by this time the British had created a beautiful 17-pound (76,2 mm) anti-tank gun (Ordnance QF 17-pounde).
The decision was made in February 1944 years, "Wolverines" began to equip with these guns of the Mark V version. And the machine began to play with new faces.
It was the installation of a new weapon that turned a dangerous animal into an ancient hero, «ruler of the Scythian land», as the ancient poet said. Now "Achilles" could cope with any German tank. If we compare the efficiency of M10 and MK-IC, then "Achilles" is superior to "Wolverine" in all respects.
17-pound was well balanced. It had a light barrel and a heavy, but compact breech, which made it possible to install it in the trunnions of the previous weapon practically without alteration.
Two types of armor-piercing shells were used for firing.. One of which was armor-piercing with a ballistic tip and muzzle velocity 908 m / s. This ensured the penetration of the armor plate with a thickness 130 mm at an angle in 30 degrees at a distance 900 m.
Appearance in August 1944 years of sabot projectiles SVDS or APDS generally made the gun "Achilles" the most powerful anti-tank self-propelled weapon. Shells mass 3,5 kg and 2.5 kg tungsten core with an initial speed 1200 m / s for the same 900 meters of distance already penetrated 193-mm armor plates!
The only tank, who could boast of a more powerful cannon, was German «Royal tiger». His 88mm KwK cannon 43 significantly outnumbered the British 17-pounder.
"Achilles" were actively used by the British and were even offered to the Americans. But American snobbery defeated American practicality. USA refused to install "Ordnance QF 17-pounde" on cars, intended for themselves. Although they later used British developments in their own guns.
Paradoxically, but not M10, namely "Achilles" were actively used in Europe. So during the landing in Normandy, whole 11 regiments "Achilles". Moreover, under the leadership of Marshal Montgomery, there were parts of not only the British army (8 regiments MK-I (II)C), but also the canadian army (2 a shelf) and the Polish army (1 regiment).
The best car of the "Achilles" is the MK-IIC. ACS based on M4A3 tanks. This is what caused the preservation of just such machines in service for a long time.. "Achilles" on the basis of M4A2 were disarmed immediately after the war., stripped of the tower and turned into artillery tractors. One machine was even used as a self-propelled plow mine sweep.
The performance data of the ACS "Achilles" :
Weight: 29,5 t.
dimensions:
- length 6,828 m;
- width 3,05 m;
- height 2,896 m.
Crew: 5 people.
booking: from 19 to 57 mm.
weaponry:
- 76.2-mm rifled gun Ordnance QF 17-pounde Mark V;
- 12.7mm gun.
ammunition: 50 shells, 1000 rounds.
Engine: distichous 12 cylinder diesel liquid cooling capacity 375 HP.
full speed: on the highway - 48 km / h
Power reserve: on the highway - 320 km.
/Roman Skomorokhov, Alexander Staver, topwar.ru/
