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M5 3-inch AT

1943 KOREAN WAR WORLD WAR 2

History

As British and French tanks appeared on the Western Front during World War I (1914-1918), the Germans on the other side of the battlefield developed their counterparts that eventually developed along multiple paths - their Tanks with the forgotten A7V and the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr anti-tank rifle are two notable developments. Mainly, artillery remains the tank's greatest enemy in war, causing more damage than any other weapon (though common mechanical failures also killed early tanks).

During the ensuing two world wars, engineers began to use the basic concept of field guns as towed anti-tank weapons. These evolved into 37mm and 50mm caliber forms until the development of tanks outpaced the effectiveness of these weapon systems.

By the time of World War II, the 37mm model was limited, and the 50mm model soon came into play on the battlefield. This prompted the development of larger caliber anti-tank guns, available in the 76mm caliber range.

The U.S. Army began developing this weapon as early as 1940, using the artillery component of the T9 air defense system with the frame of the M2 field howitzer. For convenience, the gun combines the recoil and recoil mechanism of a howitzer design.

In September 1941, the weapon appeared in the form of a prototype "3-inch T10 gun" and entered the required testing phase to justify the overall arrangement. This led to the weapon being adopted in U.S. Army service as the "3-inch gun M5". Production began rapidly in 1942, after which field troopsthe U.S. military had already been involved in World War IIreached the front lines in 1943.

Total production was 250 in the first year and 1,250 in 1943. An additional 1,000 guns were added in 1944, bringing the total to about 2,500 by the end of the war in September 1945 (production had ceased in 1944).

When completed, the M5 used a conventional artillery arrangement. Metal framed street bike with two rubber tires and a split sled system for the traction system.

Weapon components include a lower recoil mechanism (hydro-pneumatic), and reloading is carried out through the breech end of the system, which is a horizontal block assembly. The barrel does not have any kind of muzzle brake and the projectile is 76.2x585mmR caliber. The carriage system included a flat gun shield with early production models until the November 1943 shift added a sloping shield, making the M6 ??carriage standard. In an initiative in January 1944, all previous guns were standardized on the M6 ??frame.

The weapon mounting hardware allows an inherent elevation range of -5 to +30 degrees and can be moved up to 45 degrees to either side. The combat weight of the entire system is 4,875 pounds.

A well-trained and experienced rifle crew can fire 12 rounds per minute. The muzzle velocity of each shell is rated at 2,600 feet per second. The maximum range is over 10,000 yards, but the actual engagement range is more limited to improve accuracy. Since the gun is a gun and not a howitzer, it needs to be aimed at the target (i.e. not a hard shot).

Additionally, the carriage design requires a mobile vehicle to bring it into serviceusually an M3 half-track mobile vehicleand the crew can make finer adjustments once the guns are deployed.

In practice, the U.S. Army disliked their new weapon because it proved too heavy to be truly tactical on the changing fronts of WWII. The tank destroyer center was forced to take this series and replace some of the self-propelled tank destroyer units with towed guns. The first combat use was with the troops of the 805th TD Group during the Italian campaign, and since then the weapon has proven to be a tank killing system, although there are problems with the type of ammunition used (APHE, based on 3" hull"), in particular the detonators used, explode on impact and do not delay. In addition, commanders prefer the protection and maneuverability of self-propelled tank destroyers, and the true value of the M5 series has never been fully realized.

These M5 guns played a role in the famous Battle of the Bulge and underperformed compared to the self-propelled versions, which further compromised the gun's long-term existence.

To this end, the M5 began to play a smaller role at the end of the fighting in Europe, and eventually at the end of the entire war in September 1945. Therefore, the service life of the weapon remains short.

Some units served after the war and survive today through the Presidential Salute Platoon based at Fort Myer.