Page 355 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

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Commander’s
Turret fitted 75mm M6 gun
with 37mm cupola
Also armed
M6 main gun
with two .3in
machine-guns ALLIED ARMORED

▲ M24 CHAFEE LIGHT TANK The US Army’s requirement for a light tank
▲ T17E1 STAGHOUND Although designed and built in the US, the Date 1944 Origin US with a more powerful armament than the
LIGHT ARMORED CAR Staghound was used almost exclusively by standard 37mm gun led to the introduction
Date 1943 Origin US British and Commonwealth forces. Reliable Weight 20.2 tons (18.4 tonnes) of the M24 with a 75mm gun. Reliable and
and popular with its crew, a number of variants Length 16 ⁄4ft (4.99m) swift, it was a popular armored fighting
1
Weight 15.3 tons (13.9 tonnes) were developed, which included a close- vehicle, operating with a crew of five.
Length 18ft (5.49m) support version armed with a 75mm howitzer, Top speed 35mph (56kph) However, it only arrived at the front
Top speed 55mph (89kph) and an anti-aircraft version with two .5in Engine Two Cadillac M44T24 line in Europe during the closing stages
Browning machine-guns. It was operated 110hp (82kW) engines of World War II. FIGHTING VEHICLES
Engine Two GMC 270 6-cylinder by a crew of five.
97hp (72kW) gasoline engines

◀ T-34/85 MEDIUM TANK
Date 1944 Origin Soviet Union
Auxiliary
85mm ZiS-S-53 main gun fuel tank Weight 35.3 tons (32 tonnes)
Length 22ft (6.68m)
Top speed 31mph (50kph)
Engine 12-cylinder 496hp
(370kW) diesel engine
The T-34/85 represented a superb
combination of firepower, armor
protection, and mobility. When
the Germans first encountered the
T-34/85 in 1941, armed with
the smaller 76.2mm gun, they
realized they were facing a tank
far superior to anything they could
field. Even after the development
of a new range of German tanks,
Also armed with two it remained a formidable armored
7.62mm machine-guns fighting vehicle.
Christie suspension
75mm main gun
Wide tracks for use
in snow and mud

Also armed with
.303in co-axial
machine-gun 17-pounder main gun

▲ M4 MEDIUM TANK The lack of a powerful main gun
(SHERMAN FIREFLY) hampered the standard M4 tank, but
Front idler Date 1944 Origin US/UK this was rectified by the introduction
of a British 17-pounder main armament
Weight 36.4 tons (33 tonnes) in the Firefly. This high-velocity gun
Length 19 ⁄4ft (5.89m) was capable of taking on German heavy
1
Top speed 25mph (40kph) tanks, although the tank’s light armor
remained inadequate for operations in
Engine Chrysler 425hp Northwest Europe in 1944–45.
(317kW) multibank engine