Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms By Flag By Year By Tag

M43 Howitzer Motor Carriage

1945 COLD WAR KOREAN WAR SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY

History

The M43 Howitzer Motor Vehicle is an evolution of World War II (1939-1945) and is a further development of the M40 Gun Motor Vehicle series. As such, the two are closely related products of the Stamped Steel Car Company, which came out in 1945. Although the M43 was fitted with a large 203mm howitzer system and early trials, the M40's hull, chassis and barrel were retained (itself inherited from the M4 Sherman series) using the T89 howitzer motor transport test vehicle.

After acceptance in November 1945 - after the war - the standardized M43 was created from the T89. 576 units were part of the U.S.

Army's original order, but total procurement was reduced to only 48 after the war - 24 of which were completed at the end of the war and 24 were converted from existing M40 systems. The single-person vehicle was actually used for combat missions until the end of the war, although its serial sibling wasn't used in rage until the Korean War (1950-1953).

The finished vehicle is a 41.5 ton product with a crew of 8, the artillery part is operated outdoors (the driver is in the hull). The main gun is the M115 land howitzer standardized in 1941. She fired a 240-pound shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,925 feet per second and had a range of 10.5 miles.

It is typically laid out on an eight-wheel, two-axle carriage system that includes the trailing arm, recoil mechanism, and mounting hardware. Outside of the station wagon, this was carried over to the M43 vehicle.

A recoil strut was lowered before firing to counteract some of the violent effects of the action.

Power is provided by a 400-horsepower Continental R975-C4 engine, giving the M43 a maximum road speed of 24 mph and a range of up to 105 miles as a self-propelled vehicle. Performance was ultimately found to be insufficient as the heavy vehicles struggled to keep up with the US Army's mechanized units.

However, as a stationary gun on the battlefield, the M43 did not disappoint in Korea.