T32 heavy tank

T32 Heavy Tank
Type	Heavy tank
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	United States
Wars	none
Production history
Produced	1945-1946
No. built	4
Variants	T32 T32E1
Specifications
Mass	54 tonnes (59.5 short tons)
Length	Approximately 7 meters
Width	3.51 m (11 ft 6 in)
Height	2.80 m (9 ft 2 in)
Crew	5
Armour	Front: 203 mm Sides: 76 mm Rear: 51 mm
Main armament	T15E2 90 mm gun with 54 rounds
Secondary armament	T32: 1x Browning 12.7 mm HMG, 2x Browning 7.62 mm LMG T32E1: 1x Browning 12.7 mm HMG, 1x Browning 7.62 LMG
Engine	Ford GAC V12, 770 HP
Power/weight	14.26 HP/T
Transmission	Cross Drive Transmission
Suspension	torsion-bar
Operational range	100 mi (160 km)
Maximum speed	35.4 km/h (22.0 mph)

History and Development

Despite its promising performance against German vehicles, the M26 Pershing was considered by some to be too lightly armored to eliminate heavier German vehicles in certain engagements. Work began in early 1945 to develop a significantly heavier variant of the M26 Pershing. Using data collected with the T29 Heavy Tank project and incorporating an experimental 90mm main gun firing APCR ammunition as well as a more advanced transmission, the first T32 tank was produced. The 90mm gun on this tank was much larger than the Pershing's gun, and like the T26E4 Super Pershing which utilized the same experimental 90mm, the counterweight at the back of the turret was enlarged substantially. As well, the tank was so heavy that the M26 chassis had to be expanded and an extra road wheel was added for a total of 7 per track. The T32E1 variant removed weakspots in the frontal armor including a hull mounted machine gun. After the end of WWII, the project was cancelled and the vehicles were scrapped.

References

• http://tanknutdave.com/the-us-t32-heavy-tank/