We have repeatedly written that the war is simply teeming with miracles and deeds that sometimes change the outcome of a battle, battle, war in general. And sometimes the war changes the well-known proverbs. Something like this happened in the life of our next hero.
Remember the classic "if the mountain does not go to Mohammed …"? Further, any child will say the correct continuation of the actions of this very Muhammad. But not in the case of the history of the creation of the famous ACS "Ponomar". No, Mohammed, in our case, in the person of British officers, nevertheless went to the mountain. But to another!
In the previous article, we mentioned the British request in 1942 to install an English howitzer on the M7 ACS. The reason for this desire was clear. On the eve of the outbreak of World War II, the British adopted a very good 25-pound Ordnance QF 25 pounder (Royal Ordnance Quick Firing 25-pounder) cannon-howitzer.
From the very first battles, the howitzer cannon showed excellent results. Looking ahead, she, according to artillery experts, entered the list of the best weapons of the Second World War.
In short, very quickly it was the 25-pounder (87, 6 mm) that became the main howitzer of the British field artillery.
But if the towed howitzer cannon "had time" for the infantry, then it was problematic for it to catch up with the tank units. Based on the experience of battles in North Africa, the command of the British army thought about increasing the mobility of the gun and the efficiency of its use in mobile warfare.
During this period, the British and some countries of the British Commonwealth actively worked with the Valentine light infantry tank. It was this car that they decided to use as a chassis for a new ACS. But realizing that the possibilities of the industry are not unlimited, the British command began negotiations with the Americans. The British asked to study the possibility of re-equipping the M7 with a 25-pounder. The USA had the opportunity to increase the production of the M3 "Lee" chassis.
The popularity and need of the army and allies for the Valentines, as well as the inability of the British industry to increase the output of the chassis, played a cruel joke with the plans of the British officers. The British were forced to temporarily abandon the ACS with this chassis.
However, cars on the chassis of "Valentine" still saw the light in mid-1942. The self-propelled gun was named "Archer". The "Archer" didn't fire …
Second try. Limited edition. Only 149 units, but they were. Experts know this problematic vehicle under the official name Ordnance QF 25-pdr on Carrier Valentine 25-pdr Mk 1. Or even better known name - Bishop ("Bishop"). Used chassis "Valentine II". In general, the car is a failure.
But the Americans have assembled a very decent car. True, in a single copy. In July 1942, a prototype SPG, indexed T51, was sent to the Aberdeen Artillery Range for testing. Naturally, the machine with a howitzer of a smaller caliber than the M7 "Priest" passed the tests with a bang.
But the Americans refused to rearm the already tried "Priest". Several reasons were given. The real reason for the refusal was all the same industry capabilities. In the United States, there were simply not enough factories to produce another car. Serial production in America was impossible to organize, at least not yet.
And then the British remembered Canada. This country is formally under the control of Great Britain, as it is part of the British Commonwealth. Why Canada? The fact is that the Americans (oh, this business acumen) transferred the license for the production of "General Lee" to their northern neighbors. Naturally, the Canadians on the basis of the M3 created "their" tank "Rem". In fact, a copy of the M3 "Lee".
Only during the time that Canada was creating production facilities for the serial production of "Rem", the United States began the serial production of the M4 "Sherman". In fact, bringing all of Canada's efforts to zero, because the "Ram" became obsolete immediately after the start of serial production. That is why this tank is not among the participants in the Second World War.
But there were chassis! The British decided to use them. Then something began that always makes specialists smile. Readers who are familiar with the history of the creation of the "Priest" will understand us.
So, the British General Staff has developed the requirements for the new machine. If written correctly, the requirements were very similar to those for the American M7 car. The American influence was felt, so to speak.
The development of the new car was carried out by two companies at once. Design and engineering service of the Directorate of Equipment and Supplies of the Canadian Army and, attention, design bureau of Montreal Locomotive Works (Canadian branch of American Locomotive Company). Canadian railroad workers, following the example of their southern neighbors, were engaged in the production of tanks and self-propelled guns. Unsuccessful and effective.
In April 1943, the new vehicle arrived at the Petavava Army Base for testing in the 19th Field Artillery Regiment of the Canadian Army. Several more cars were sent to England for testing and checking all components and assemblies. And according to the results - to resolve the issue of the serial production of ACS.
The self-propelled guns were adopted on September 6, 1943. Official designation: SP 25pdr Gun Mk I Sexton (self-propelled 25-pounder gun, brand one "Sexton").
Here it is necessary to deviate a little from the main topic and answer one frequently asked question.
Why do the British love the church so much? Why "Priest" (M7), "Bishop" (Ordnance QF 25-pdr on Carrier Valentine 25-pdr Mk 1)? Now here's the Sexton.
There is no definite answer to this question.
Therefore, we can only put forward our own version of such a strange commitment of the British artillerymen to the church. Most likely, this is a commitment to tradition. Church names in the British Army extended to most "general support" self-propelled guns. Roughly the same as our modern artillery "flower garden".
Let's move on to our favorite pastime. Watch, feel and tug.
The machine is similar in layout to the American M7. Ahead is the transmission, the control compartment.
In the middle of the building there is a fighting compartment. The engine compartment is in the stern. The fundamental difference between this vehicle and the "Priest", precisely in its layout, is the displacement of the artillery mount to the left of the longitudinal axis of the tank.
This is due to the fact that left-hand traffic is adopted in the UK. Therefore, the British military decided to move the control department (driver) to the right. And the command department itself is actually merged with the combat one.
The driver's seat is to the right-bottom of the gun.
The gun was installed in a welded conning tower. Moreover, the wheelhouse could be covered with a tarpaulin awning in bad weather. Cannon-howitzer cartridge loading. Manual wedge shutter.
By the way, we rarely do this, but this time we just recommend not to pass by the video. We were very lucky, and the removed copy of "Ponomar" from the collection of the Museum of Military Equipment of the UMMC in Verkhnyaya Pyshma turned out to be with a fully working howitzer mechanism. Except for the trunk, of course. So we tried to show everything as it was.
The barrel is another feature that makes it easy to distinguish a Priest from a Sexton. In a Canadian machine, the barrel is equipped with a two-chamber muzzle brake. A counterweight was attached to the breech of the gun, which served to balance the barrel. Hydropneumatic recoil devices were installed in the cradle under the barrel. The gunner's seat is on the left, hence the location of the flywheels.
Another difference between "Sexton" and "Priest" is that in a Canadian vehicle the artillery unit is mounted on a machine specially designed for this vehicle. Moreover, the installation itself is taken out in relation to the front plate. Reservation of the embrasure bulges forward, as it were.
The Canadians took into account the disadvantage of the "Priest" - a small angle of vertical elevation. The recoil devices have been specially modified to provide a constant recoil length. Moreover, the difference between a towed and a self-propelled howitzer in this respect is decent. 508-915 mm for a towed howitzer and 305 for a self-propelled one!
The fact that the gun was modernized specifically for this wheelhouse made it possible to fire at maximum elevation angles and a horizontal firing sector of 40 degrees!
The very name of the gun is based on the presence of two sights. For direct fire, the Sexton used a periscope-type optical sight. When switching to howitzer firing from closed positions, an artillery panorama was used.
Along the sides of the conning tower was located the ammunition of the howitzer cannon. The shots of the 25-pounder were composed of a powder charge in a case and a projectile. Moreover, they were transported separately from each other. A total of 87 high-explosive rounds and 18 armor-piercing rounds relied on the vehicle.
The shells were of different types, depending on the purpose. The main ones are high-explosive fragmentation grenades with a head fuse. Anti-tank - armor-piercing tracer shells. Moreover, if in the initial period of use the armor-piercing shells were solid, then with the advent of cemented armor they received a soft armor-piercing tip.
In addition to the main shots, other shells were developed for this gun. There were smoke, propaganda and lighting. But they were used only as needed.
The design of the powder charge was also interesting. In accordance with the projectile used, the charge could also be varied. The charge itself consisted of three multi-colored bags. The charge of the first number included a red packet. The charge of the second number already consisted of red and white packages. The third number was already multi-colored - red, white and blue.
In addition, the self-propelled guns had the ability to fire with an increased charge. When one more was added to three packages. For this purpose, the breech and the breech of the howitzer cannon were specially strengthened. In practice, anti-tank fire was almost always carried out with an increased charge. The speed of the armor-piercing projectile in this case was up to 609.5 m / s. And armor penetration up to 70 mm at a distance of 365 meters.
Auxiliary armament was traditional: a 12.7 mm M2NV Browning anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on a swivel mount. But there was also a zest. The fact is that the conning tower made it possible not only to comfortably accommodate the crew, but also to carry a couple of additional Bran machine guns of 7.71 mm caliber. And even up to 50 magazines for these machine guns. That is, the artillerymen had, if anything, how to dismiss the especially annoying enemy infantrymen.
The Sexton chassis also had its own designs. But they touched the caterpillars. The machine used Canadian-designed tracks with a width of 394 mm. It seems to be nonsense. However, Canadian tracks are not only easier to manufacture and cheaper, but also surpass American ones in survivability and traction.
On the machines of the second modification, the American 420-mm tracks from the Sherman M4 were already used.
The fate of the "Sexton" repeated the fate of the "Priest" in the sense of modification. As the Canadian railroad workers switched to the production of the next "own" tank "Grizzly", "Sexton" moved to a new chassis. Already from the Canadian bear. "Grizzly" is a clone of the American "Sherman". The new "Sexton" became MK II.
The Mk II had several differences from the Mk I. The chassis is clear. Described many times already. Let's talk about what you can touch.
First of all, on the second series, the ammo rack was increased. But even this amount of ammunition seemed not enough to the British. Therefore, a device for towing a trailer with shots appeared at the stern.
An additional generator was added to the rear of the vehicle. The need for this was dictated by the appearance of the crew of the British radio station "No.19", which worked in ultrashort and short ranges, as well as a tank intercom and a loudspeaker "Tennoy".
From the end of 1943, it was quite common to see unarmed Sextons. More precisely, cars without a howitzer cannon. This is a command vehicle. More precisely, the GPO (Gun Position Officer) is the vehicle of the senior battery commander. It was equipped in about the same way as similar M7 machines.
There was also a third version of this SPG. Sexton MK III. This is practically the second series of vehicles, but instead of a howitzer cannon, a 105-mm howitzer was installed on it.
The Sextons received their baptism of fire in the fall of 1943 in Italy. The self-propelled guns received the field artillery regiments of the armored and mechanized divisions of the British 8th Army. Moreover, the artillerymen liked the vehicles so much that already in 1944 they completely replaced the M7 Priest, which were originally in service.
These self-propelled guns also took part in the landing in Normandy. And in all subsequent battles. "Sextons" fought in Belgium, Holland, Germany. Moreover, during the landing in Normandy, they even tried to make them floating like Japanese tanks. But the idea remained an idea.
But the shooting from amphibious pontoons during the landing - it really was performed by the "Ponomari". They began to cover the infantry "afloat". True, the effectiveness of such shooting was minimal. But here, perhaps, the moral incentive for the Marines is more important.
The car was loved for its high rate of fire and long range. For the ability to work in almost any mode, both an anti-tank gun and a howitzer, with equal success. It was actually an artillery installation for infantry fire support. By the way, the armor of the vehicle withstood not only small arms fire, but also fragments of artillery shells.
The service of these self-propelled guns also ended according to their own scenario. They did not leave because they became obsolete or unnecessary for the army. They left because of the standardization of calibers within the NATO bloc. In our opinion, these machines, with some modernization. could serve even today. and serve with dignity.
Well, and the traditional tactical and technical characteristics of the hero of the material of the second, improved series (MK-II):
Dimensions:
- body length: 6120 mm
- body width: 2720 mm
- height: 2440 mm
- ground clearance: 435 mm.
Combat weight: 25, 9 tons.
Reservation: from 13 to 107 mm.
Armament:
- British gun-howitzer Ordnance QF 25 pounder (87.6 mm) Mk II
- machine gun 12, 7-mm M2NV "Browning"
- machine gun 7, 7-mm "Bren" - 2.
Ammunition: 117 rounds, for machine guns 300 rounds of 12, 7-mm, 1500 rounds of 7, 7-mm.
Power plant: radial carburetor 9-cylinder air-cooled Continental R-975 400 hp engine
Maximum speed: up to 40 km / h (highway).
Progress in store: 200 km (on the highway).
Crew: 6 people.
