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155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M40
155mm Gun Motor Carriage M40 2
Type Self-propelled artillery
Place of origin United States
Specifications
Mass 36.3 metric tons (80,000 lb)
Length 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
Width 3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)
Height 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)
Crew 8 (Commander, driver, 6 gun crew)

Armor 12 mm
Main
armament
155 mm M2 gun
20 rounds
Engine Wright (Continental) R975 EC2
340 hp (253 kW)
Power/weight 9.36 hp/t
Suspension HVSS (Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension)
Operational
range
170 km (106 mi)
Maximum speed 38 km/h (24 mph) on road
23 km/h (14 mph) off road

The 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M40 was a US self-propelled artillery vehicle built on a widened and lengthened Medium Tank M4A3 chassis but with Continental engine and with HVSS (Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension) that was introduced at the end of the Second World War. Equipped with a 155 mm M2 gun, it was designed to replace the earlier M12 Gun Motor Carriage. Its prototype designation was the T83, but this was changed to the M40 in March 1945.

A single pilot vehicle was used in the European Theatre in 1945 by 991st Field Artillery Battalion, along with a related 8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage T89 which was sometimes also equipped with a 155 mm barrel.[1] A total of 311 out of a planned 600 were completed before the end of the war. From there it was deployed during the Korean War.

After World War II the M40 was used by the British Army, who designated it '155 mm SP, M40 and called it Cardinal in the tradition of using ecclesiastical names for SP artillery, such as Deacon, Priest, Bishop and Sexton.

Gun section[]

A complete gun section consisted of one M40 GMC, one M4A1 high speed tractor towing an M23 ammunition trailer. each battery had 4 gun sections. the M4A1/M23 combo replaced the earlier M30 cargo carrier. [1]

Variants[]

Self-propelled-gun-Korea-19520813

8-inch HMC M43 in Korea.

The Army planned to use the same T38 chassis for a family of SP artillery:

  • Cargo Carrier T30 - a few built before cancellation in December 1944 to make more chassis available for GMCs
  • 8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage M43 - 8 in (203 mm) HMC, standardized August 1945, 48 built
  • 250 mm Mortar Motor Carriage T94 - 10 in (250 mm) MMC, began design Feb. 1945, one prototype completed in 1946

Related vehicles[]

Surviving artifacts[]

  • one at United States Army Ordnance Museum
  • one at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford (UK)
  • one at Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich (UK)
  • one at the Technik Museum, Sinsheim (Germany)
  • Two M40 GMCs – Arkansas National Guard Mus, Camp Robinson, Little Rock, AR (USA)
  • one at City vehicle storage area, Charleston, AR (USA)
  • one at the United States Army Field Artillery Museum, Fort Sill, Ok (USA)

[2]

Notes[]

  1. Hunnicutt - Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank, p 353-355, 570.
  2. http://sill-www.army.mil/famuseum/collections.htm

See also[]

References[]

  • Hunnicutt, R. P. (1994). Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-080-5. 
  • Ness, Leland (2002). Janes World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-711228-9. 

External links[]


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