T17E1 (Staghound)

History

Like other players in World War II (1939-1945), the U.S. Army eventually recognized the importance of lightly armored wheeled vehicles in armed reconnaissance missions. In July 1941, before the United States got involved in the actual war (which happened in December 1941), a medium car was needed, in addition to a heavy car. Two designs are designed for the needs of mid-size models, from rivals Ford and Chevrolet. The former delivered a 6x6 wheeled model with a roof-mounted turret armed with a 37mm M6 series gun, while the latter became a more compact 4x4 wheeled model with the same turret.

The heavy-duty design became a T18 "Boarhound" with 8x8 wheels, and about 30 examples were built. Ford became the T17 "Deerhound" and the Chevrolet model became the T17E1 "Deerhound"both names came from England.

In the early stages of the North African campaign, the British Army needed all armored vehicles. They commissioned mass production of the T17, which was approved by the US authorities in October 1942. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army's attention eventually turned to mass production of the M8 Greyhound, another 6x6 wheeled system better suited to the Army's needs at the time.

The Army has also increased production requirements for the T17 as a measure of delays the new M8 is experiencing in reaching frontline troops. The T17 will use the official Army designation "M6".

When the T17 was formally evaluated by the U.S. Army, the design showed enough weaknesses that interest in the Ford product dropped significantly.

By then, about 250 prototypes had come off the Ford assembly line, and the stock was turned over to the local military police and remained in the United States after being rejected.

British attention then turned to another stock design, the T17E1 Deerhound, which seemed to meet the needs of service - especially as experience in North Africa began to flesh out to match the strength of the German and Italian armies next fight. In January 1942, the U.S. Army had ordered 2,000 prototypes of this type, followed by about 300 prototypes for British Army service.

However, by the end of the year, the M8's design was also ahead of the Army's T17E1, and volume orders were cancelled. Still, British demands remained, and serial production ended in the thousands under the Lend-Lease agreement - around 4,000 were eventually delivered, albeit too late for use in North Africa.

The Deerhound first served (under the command of the British Army) in the Italian campaign in 1943, but its size prevented it from being used on some of the narrower country streets throughout the country. For its part, the vehicle performed well in war, providing good protection and arming for such vehicles.

Additionally, its powertrain provides a good range to keep pace with mechanized units, scout areas ahead of the main force, and harass light enemy formations from a distance. Deerhounds served on the front lines until the end of the European War in May 1945.

During the protracted conflict, the Deerhound appeared on the battlefield in a variety of camouflages, including the basic Deerhound Mk I type. The Deerhound Mk II conversion model has a 3" Mk I howitzer installed in place of the original 37mm M6 cannon and lost its bow-mounted machine gun. The 30 caliber machine gun Staghound Mk III has the full turret of the Crusader cruiser tank installed and its QF 6-pounder main gun and lost its bow-mounted machine gun again.

The Staghound Command model was stripped of turret and gun armament, equipped with additional communications equipment and used as a dedicated command vehicle.

The T17E2 is a Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft (SPAA) development vehicle equipped with an open-top Fraser-Nash maneuver auxiliary turret armed with 2 x .50 heavy machine guns. About 789 of these were produced from October 1943 to April 1944.

The T17E3 is a proposed model with a full 75mm Howitzer Motor Transport (HMC) turret as a possible fire support solution. Although it was evaluated in late 1943, it was not accepted.

In the immediate aftermath of the war and the massive military withdrawals that followed, Deerhounds were given away or sold as second-hand merchandise to interested parties. Stocks fell to new countries Israel (some later sold to Cuba and Nicaragua), Greece and Lebanon.

Other operators are Brazil, Egypt and Honduras (see list of operators below for full accounts).

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

Not available.

Changes