The 105-mm self-propelled howitzer M7B2 Priest was the last production version of the famous American self-propelled gun during the Second World War. This modification was in service longer than others; the American army used this self-propelled gun during the Korean War. In the post-war years, various variants of the Priest self-propelled artillery unit were also widely supplied to the US allies as part of various military assistance programs. So several dozen M7 self-propelled guns, including the M7B2 Priest modification, were received by the Belgians, in Belgium they were used at least until 1964, and the Germans also received it. In Germany, self-propelled howitzers M7B2 Priest for some time were in service with the newly created Bundeswehr.
This American 105mm self-propelled gun was created during the Second World War, it was standardized in April 1942, after which it received the official designation 105mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7. At the same time, in April 1942, the first serial self-propelled guns were manufactured, two of which were sent to Aberdeen for comprehensive running and firing tests. The personal name "Priest" (Priest) of this ACS was given not by the Americans, but by the British, the ACS were supplied to Great Britain as part of the Lend-Lease program.
The self-propelled unit was built on the basis of the M3 medium tank, so it retained the layout of the base tank. The engine compartment was located in the aft part, the fighting compartment was located in an open-top fixed wheelhouse in the middle part, and the control compartment, combined with the transmission compartment, was in the front of the combat vehicle. The crew of the self-propelled artillery unit consisted of 6-7 people: a driver-mechanic, a gunner, a commander, and three or four numbers of a combat crew.
ACS M7 Priest with the calculation
The M7 Priest self-propelled artillery mount became the main and most important self-propelled gun of the US army during the Second World War, it was used in all theaters of war, becoming one of the most numerous self-propelled howitzers in the world and one of the most numerous self-propelled guns of this time period in general. Large volumes of production of a self-propelled howitzer in the United States made it possible to completely re-equip American tank divisions with it, fully transferring their artillery component to a self-propelled chassis. In total, from 1942 to 1945, 4,316 M7 Priest self-propelled artillery mounts of various modifications were produced in the United States.
The main armament and main striking power of the M7 Priest ACS was a modification of the 105 mm M2A1 howitzer. A number of specialists after the war noted as a disadvantage a relatively light 105-mm howitzer for such a heavy and large M3 / 4 tank chassis, but another point of view is also right. Thanks to the installation of such a howitzer, the M7 had much better reliability in operation than numerous improvised self-propelled howitzers of the same time period, the chassis of many of which was frankly overloaded and often led to vehicle breakdowns. Also, the choice of the 105-mm M2A1 howitzer as the main armament of the new ACS was determined by considerations of the earliest possible launch of the M7 into mass production. Moreover, the towed 105-mm M2 howitzer was previously standard for American tank divisions, while the only alternative to it (not used in tank units) were twice as heavy a 114-mm cannon and a 155-mm howitzer.
The main disadvantage of the ACS was different, it was generally recognized and was directly related to its design feature. The indisputable disadvantage of the M7 Priest self-propelled howitzer was the insufficient elevation angle of the gun, which limited both the firing range and the tactical capabilities of this SPG. In a real combat situation, in order to achieve large elevation angles of the gun, special measures were needed, which, in particular, included the equipment of firing positions on the opposite slopes of heights. At the design stage of the ACS, this drawback seemed to the American Armored Committee less important than the decrease in the height of the self-propelled gun. However, the practice of using the machine in battles, primarily in the mountainous landscape of Italy, and then Korea, has demonstrated that this disadvantage is significant. Specialists also singled out insufficient horizontal guidance angles of the howitzer, which, however, was typical of almost all self-propelled guns of those years. However, if a conventional towed gun, if necessary, could be deployed on the spot to transfer fire beyond the available aiming angles, then the M7 Priest ACS needed to leave the equipped firing position and re-occupy it, which took not only time, but also destroyed prepared disguise.
ACS M7B2 Priest
And if the Americans could still put up with small horizontal guidance angles, then insufficient vertical guidance angles became a serious problem during the Korean War due to the peculiarities of the conduct of hostilities in the mountainous landscape of the Korean Peninsula. It was then that the last modernization of the M7 ACS was born, which could be called serial. During World War II, the Americans solved the problem of the location of self-propelled guns on the opposite slopes of heights, but this time they decided to modernize the self-propelled howitzer, deciding to sacrifice its height for this (it became even higher and more noticeable). As a result, the maximum elevation angle of the gun was brought to 65 degrees, which was indicated in the initial tactical and technical requirements. The standard M7 and M7B1 Priest self-propelled guns had a maximum gun elevation angle of only 35 degrees. At the same time, the height of the sponson of the machine-gun mount was also increased in order to ensure that it preserves the circular firing sector. The conversion of combat vehicles from the existing M7B1 self-propelled guns was carried out by an army warehouse located in Tokyo. It is believed that only 127 self-propelled guns were converted here, which received the new designation M7B2 Priest.
After the end of the Korean War, the M7 Priest self-propelled guns continued to remain in service with the United States for several more post-war years, until in 1955, the new generation of self-propelled guns of a new generation, M52 and M44, intended to completely replace the installations of the military period, began to enter the American army. Then the Americans transferred a large number of Priest self-propelled howitzers to their allies, mainly in NATO countries. For example, the M7B2 Priest self-propelled guns went to Belgium, Germany and Italy.
It is worth noting that the German army after the war was completely dependent on the allies and for a long time managed exclusively with armored personnel carriers and light tanks, the first self-propelled M7B2 Priest guns were received by the Bundeswehr only in 1956. Self-propelled howitzers of this type were in service with the units of the 1st Panzer Division. True, they remained in service with the Bundeswehr for a relatively short time, they were used until about the mid-1960s. Soon enough, they began to be replaced with new American-made self-propelled guns - the M52. At the same time, the decommissioned self-propelled guns M7V2, due to their general obsolescence, mainly ended up on army training grounds, where they were used as targets.
105-mm self-propelled howitzers M7B2 Priest in the Bundeswehr, photo: 477768.livejournal.com
