"Combat buses". The most massive armored personnel carrier of the Second World War is not the German "Hanomag", which, in fact, became the first full-fledged ancestor of the genre, launched into mass production just before the outbreak of the war, but the American M3 armored personnel carrier. Like its German counterpart, the American combat vehicle was a half-track armored personnel carrier with similar characteristics: a combat weight of 9 tons and a capacity of up to 10 people plus a crew.
In total, from 1940 to 1945, the American industry produced 31,176 M3 armored personnel carriers, as well as various combat vehicles built on a single base. This record of mass production was surpassed only by armored vehicles of post-war production. The M3 remained the primary armored personnel carrier of the American army throughout World War II. Also, the car was actively supplied to the US allies as part of the Lend-Lease program, except for the USSR, which received only two armored personnel carriers. Sometimes it is confused with the light wheeled reconnaissance vehicle M3 Scout, which was really massively supplied to the Soviet Union during the war years and was used in the Red Army as a light armored personnel carrier. In addition, the USSR received a number of special vehicles on the M3 chassis, for example, the T-48 anti-tank self-propelled guns armed with a 57-mm cannon and received the designation Su-57 in the Red Army.
The history of the creation of the M3 armored personnel carrier
As in Germany, the first American full-fledged armored personnel carrier was born from a line of half-track tractors. The creation of half-track armored artillery tractors and simply vehicles with a wheeled-tracked propulsion system in the United States began in the early 1930s. Four American companies James Cunningham and Sons, GMG, Linn, Marmon-Herrington worked on the creation of new machines. The progenitor for cars developed in the United States was the French half-track Citroen-Kegresse P17. Several of these cars, as well as a license for their production, were acquired by James Cunningham and Sons.
On the basis of the French chassis, the Americans developed their own vehicles, which received the designation from T1 to T9E1. The first American half-track vehicle was designated Half-Track Car T1 and was ready in 1932. In the future, such vehicles have been continuously developed. The most successful of the first prototypes was the T9 model, which was based on the chassis of a Ford 4x2 truck, instead of the rear axle, a Timken tracked propeller was installed on the car, the track was rubber-metal.
Half-tracked vehicles were of interest primarily to American cavalry and later to tank units. This technique had increased cross-country ability and could perform better in rough terrain and off-road conditions compared to conventional trucks. After the appearance in 1938 of the light wheeled reconnaissance armored car M3 Scout, the US military decided to combine this vehicle with the already existing developments of wheeled-tracked tractors. In this case, the body of the car, of course, was increased.
The first version of the new combat vehicle, which combines the chassis and hull elements of the M3 Scout reconnaissance armored vehicle and the Timken rear tracked vehicle, received the designation M2. This vehicle was positioned as a half-track armored artillery tractor. The vehicle was actively used in this capacity throughout the Second World War; in total, 13,691 similar tractor units were assembled in the United States, which could carry anti-aircraft, anti-tank and field guns together with a crew of 7-8 people. Tests of the new vehicle have shown great potential as a specialized vehicle for transporting motorized infantry. Quite quickly, a full-fledged M3 armored personnel carrier appeared, which outwardly differed little from the half-track armored artillery tractor. The main difference was the increased length of the M3, which could carry up to 10-12 paratroopers, while the entire interior space of the body underwent a rearrangement. Serial production of the new armored personnel carrier began in 1941.
Already during the war, the American military had the idea to combine the M2 and M3 models so as not to keep two very constructively close combat vehicles in the army. The unifying armored personnel carrier was supposed to be M3A2, the start of mass production of which was planned for October 1943. But by this time, the production program for half-tracked combat vehicles had been seriously revised. According to the initial plans, it was planned to collect more than 188 thousand, these are astronomical numbers. However, by the middle of 1943, it became clear that the M8 wheeled cannon armored car would be more suitable for arming reconnaissance units, and the M5 high-speed tracked tractor for artillery units. In this regard, the need for wheeled-tracked vehicles was seriously reduced, and the production of a single M3A2 armored personnel carrier was abandoned.
The design of the M3 armored personnel carrier
The American M3 armored personnel carrier received a classic bonneted automobile layout. An engine was installed in the front of the combat vehicle, this whole part was a motor-transmission compartment, then there was a control compartment, and in the aft part there was an airborne compartment, where up to 10 people could freely accommodate. In this case, the crew of an armored personnel carrier could consist of 2-3 people. Thus, under normal conditions, armored personnel carriers transported up to 12-13 fighters along with the crew.
In the design of armored vehicles, automotive units and components were widely used, which were produced by the well-developed American automotive industry. The mass production of armored wheeled-tracked tractors and armored personnel carriers is largely due to the presence of such a production base that made it possible to produce combat vehicles at a large number of enterprises without compromising the production of trucks and tanks.
The armored personnel carriers were distinguished by the presence of an open box-shaped hull that was easy to manufacture, the sides and stern of the hull were located strictly vertically, there were no rational angles of inclination of the armor. The hull was assembled using rolled armor plates of surface-hardened armor steel, the thickness of the armor along the sides and stern did not exceed 6, 35 mm, the highest level of booking was in the frontal part - up to 12, 7 mm (half an inch), this level of protection provided only bulletproof booking. Only the engine compartment sheet (26 degrees) and the frontal control compartment sheet (25 degrees) had rational tilt angles. There was no underbody booking. For embarkation and disembarkation of the crew, two doors on the sides of the hull were used, and the paratroopers landed through the door in the rear of the hull, the paratroopers were protected from the frontal fire of the enemy by the hull of the armored personnel carrier. The crew of the car consisted of 2-3 people, the landing - 10 people. On the sides of the hull there were five seats, under which there were luggage compartments, the paratroopers sat facing each other.
The M3 armored personnel carriers used the White 160AX liquid-cooled gasoline six-cylinder in-line engine as the power plant. The engine produced a maximum power of 147 hp. at 3000 rpm. This power was enough to disperse an armored personnel carrier with a combat weight of under 9 tons to a speed of 72 km / h (this maximum speed was indicated in the operation manual). The driving range of the car on the highway was 320 km, the fuel reserve was about 230 liters.
All American armored personnel carriers were distinguished by rather powerful small arms. The standard was the presence of two machine guns. The large-caliber 12.7 mm Browning M2HB machine gun was installed on a special M25 machine between the commander and driver's seats, and the 7.62 mm Browning M1919A4 machine gun was located in the rear of the hull. On the M3A1 version, the large-caliber machine gun was already placed on a special M49 ring turret with additional armor. At the same time, at least 700 cartridges of 12, 7-mm caliber, up to 4 thousand cartridges for the 7, 62-mm machine gun, as well as hand grenades were transported in each machine, sometimes anti-tank grenade launchers "Bazooka" were also in the packing, in addition to the weapons themselves paratroopers.
One of the features of the M3 armored personnel carriers was the location in the front of the vehicle of a single-drum winch or buffer drum, the diameter of which was 310 mm. Cars with such a drum favorably differed from armored personnel carriers with a winch in their cross-country ability, since they could confidently overcome wide trenches, ditches and escarpments. The presence of a drum allowed American armored personnel carriers to overcome enemy trenches up to 1.8 meters wide. The same drums could be found on wheeled "Scouts", which were supplied to the USSR. At the same time, the German half-tracked armored personnel carriers Sd Kfz 251 did not have such devices.
Combat experience and assessment of the M3 armored personnel carrier
The initial experience of the combat use of M3 armored personnel carriers in North Africa could not be called successful. The debut of new combat vehicles fell on Operation Torch. From the very beginning, armored personnel carriers were used by the Americans quite massively, in each armored division there were 433 M3 armored personnel carriers or M2 tractor: 200 in tank regiments and 233 in an infantry regiment. Quite quickly, American soldiers nicknamed such machines "Purple Heart", it was undisguised sarcasm and a reference to the American medal of the same name, which was given for battle wounds. The presence of an open hull did not protect the paratroopers from air blast shells, and the booking often failed even in front of enemy machine-gun fire. However, the main problems were not related to the technical features of the vehicle, but to the incorrect use of armored personnel carriers and the inexperience of the American troops, who had not yet learned how to properly use all the advantages of the new technology, attracting armored personnel carriers to solving tasks unusual for them. Unlike soldiers and junior officers, General Omar Bradley immediately appreciated the capabilities and potential of such equipment, noting the high technical reliability of the M3 armored personnel carrier.
In terms of its overall dimensions, combat weight and other characteristics, the American M3 wheeled-tracked armored personnel carrier was comparable to the most massive Wehrmacht armored personnel carrier Sd Kfz 251, which went down in post-war history under the nickname "Hanomag". At the same time, the internal useful volume of the American armored personnel carrier was about 20 percent more due to the simpler hull shape, which provided the landing party with greater comfort and convenience. At the same time, the German armored personnel carrier was distinguished by more powerful armor, including through the installation of armor plates at rational angles of inclination. At the same time, due to a more powerful engine and the presence of a front drum, the American analogue surpassed the German car in mobility and cross-country ability. A plus could also be added to equipping almost all American armored personnel carriers with large-caliber 12, 7-mm machine guns. But the lack of an armored roof was a common disadvantage of mass production armored personnel carriers during the Second World War.
Over time, the Americans developed tactical models and techniques for using new technology, corrected children's ailments and quite actively used M3 armored personnel carriers in all theaters of war. Already during the hostilities in Sicily and in Italy, the number of complaints about new equipment significantly decreased, and the responses from the troops changed to positive. During Operation Overlord, armored personnel carriers were used especially massively and were subsequently actively used by the Americans and their allies until the end of hostilities in Europe. The fact that the car turned out to be quite successful is evidenced by both the huge production of both the M3 armored personnel carriers themselves and special equipment based on them, and the M2 armored half-track artillery tractors, the total production of which during the war exceeded 50 thousand units.
