The M36 Slugger is a medium-mass US self-propelled artillery unit during the Second World War, belongs to the class of tank destroyers. It was created in 1942-1943 on the basis of the M4 Sherman tank. It was mass-produced from November 1943 to September 1945, in total, 2324 self-propelled guns left the factory shops during this time. The M36 Slugger tank destroyer was actively used in battles in Northwestern Europe from August 1944 until the end of the war. Thanks to its powerful 90-mm cannon, the self-propelled gun turned out to be the only armored vehicle of the US army capable of effectively resisting German heavy tanks. After the end of World War II, M36s were used in the Korean War and were exported to other countries, in some of them self-propelled guns were in service until the mid-90s of the last century.
History of creation
In October 1942, the US military decided to consider the option of installing a 90-mm anti-aircraft gun on an SPG. Initially, this project pursued more theoretical goals, but soon it became really necessary. The 90-mm gun was installed on the tank destroyer at the beginning of 1943. The new gun was significantly longer and 300 pounds heavier than the 76th M10 tank destroyer. It became apparent that it required a larger turret with a more powerful swing mechanism.
Work on a wooden model of the turret, specially designed for the installation of a 90 mm gun, began in March 1943. The development was carried out by Chevrolet, the finished models of the towers were sent to Ford, which manufactured 2 experimental towers from non-armor steel. An important difference in them was how the problem of the length and significant weight of the 90-mm cannon was solved. On the M10, the weight of the 76 mm gun was compensated for by special metal weights with a total weight of 3,600 lb (1,600 kg), which were attached to the rear wall of the turret. On the new turret, a large steel box, located at the back and serving to accommodate the first round of gunfire, acted as a counterweight.
The turret armor has been increased. The developers have created a new slewing mechanism with the possibility of a manual traverse. The crew was placed in the tower as follows: the commander to the left of the gun behind the gunner, to the right of the gun - the loader. Initially, an annular turret was installed on the left for the installation of a large-caliber machine gun. Two prototypes of the T71 ACS based on the M10 and T71E1 based on the M10A1 were sent for testing at the Aberdeen Proving Ground.
During the tests, the customer demanded a number of changes: place the gun ammunition in the sponsons, replace the ring turret of the anti-aircraft machine gun with a pin mount in the rear of the turret, and improve the turret equipment. After the changes were made, the prototypes were re-tested, during which the military indicated new comments. The main one concerned the 90-mm gun. When firing from it, a strong flash occurred and thick dust rose. In order to solve this problem, it was proposed to install a muzzle brake on the gun and use other ammunition.
By November 1943, work on the new tank destroyer was completed. A limited series of 500 T71 GMC machines was ordered, which was supposed to be converted from the M10A1 at the Fisher plant. From April to July 1944, only 300 vehicles were produced, but the need for a tank destroyer with a 90-mm cannon was so great that to speed up production, it was decided to connect the Massey Harris Company. From July to December 1944, another 500 tank destroyers, converted from M10A1, were assembled here. In July 1944, the T71 prototype was finally standardized and received the designation M36 Slugger (a slugger term from boxing, boxer with a bounce).
Meanwhile, the urgent need for the M36 Slugger tank destroyer only increased. The battles in Normandy demonstrated that the 76mm M10 gun was not able to successfully fight the German Tiger and Panther tanks. The Shermans were also not suitable for anti-tank warfare, since they were armed with the same 76-mm gun. In this situation, the M36 was the only American vehicle that could more or less successfully fight German heavy tanks. Demands to send them an M36 went from the forward shaft, a real boom broke out in the troops for this tank destroyer.
Trying to satisfy the growing need of the army for self-propelled guns, the Americans went to extreme measures - they installed a turret with a 90-mm gun on the hull of their M4A3 Sherman medium tank. The new vehicle was standardized in October 1944 and received the designation M36B1. From the point of view of the American concept of tank destroyers, this vehicle turned out to be heavy and not fast enough.
Nevertheless, this particular self-propelled gun was possibly the best in the American army. The armor of a medium tank and a 90 mm gun were successfully combined. The M36B1 tank destroyer became the most armored American self-propelled gun during the Second World War, as well as the only one with a machine gun. With these forced "shortcomings", the vehicle approached as close as possible to the German and Soviet sound requirements to have good armor, a powerful weapon and a protective machine gun to fight enemy infantry. However, the Americans continued to adhere to their flawed defense concept in relation to tank destroyers until the end of the war. From October to December 1944, only 187 M36B1 self-propelled guns left the Fisher workshop.
The difference between the M36 at the top and the M36V1 at the bottom
By the end of 1944, contracts for the supply of M36 and M36V1 were closed, but the troops still needed these machines. M10A1 hulls, which were converted to M36, also came to an end. Under these conditions, the last version of this M36V2 machine, created using the M10 hull, went into the series. In this project, many problems of previous versions were solved. The internal design of the tank destroyer underwent many minor changes, the gun received a large muzzle brake, and on some production vehicles the open top of the turret was covered with steel flaps.
Design features
The M36 Slugger tank destroyer had differentiated anti-cannon armor using rational tilt angles and an open-top fighting compartment. Depending on the type of ACS, they had different versions of the M36 and M36B2 hulls from the M10A1 and M10 self-propelled guns, and the M36B1 modification - from the M4A3 tank. The armored body of the M10 ACS was a rigid supporting box structure, which was assembled from rolled sheets of armor steel by welding, and cast armor parts were also used in it. The upper frontal part was 38 mm thick and was located at an angle of 55 ° to the vertical. The lower frontal part was a cast transmission cover and had a similar angle of inclination. The lower part of the hull sides had a thickness of 25 mm, the upper one was assembled from 19-mm armor plates placed at an angle of 38 °, the rear armor was also 19 mm. The roof of the hull in the area of the turret platform had a reservation of 19 mm, in the area of the engine compartment - 10 mm. The bottom of the self-propelled gun was 13 mm thick. Additional armor was provided by 6mm screens that covered the upper branch of the tracks.
The hull of the M4A3 tank had a similar design, but had a more substantial reservation. The upper frontal part of the hull was 64 mm thick and the angle of inclination of the armor was 47 °, the transmission cover repeated the M10 part. The side armor was 38 mm, while the upper part of the sides was vertical, with the exception of the bevels in the area of the engine compartment. Reservation of the rear of the hull was 38 mm. The roof of the hull was assembled from armor plates with a thickness of 19 mm, and the bottom of 25 mm plates in the front of the vehicle and 13 mm in the area of the engine compartment of the ACS.
The fully cast turret of the M36 ACS was the same for all modifications and had a cylindrical shape with a developed aft niche. The sides of the turret had a reservation of 32 mm. The turret niche feed, which acted as a counterweight, had a thickness of 127 mm. The frontal part of the tower had a complex shape and was covered with a molded mask of a 76 mm thick gun. The ACS turret was open from above, but a small section of its frontal part and the aft niche had a roof with a thickness of 10 to 25 mm.
The main weapon of the M36 Slugger tank destroyer was the M3 90-mm rifled semi-automatic gun, created on the basis of an anti-aircraft gun. The gun was equipped with a vertical wedge gate, the barrel length was 50 calibers (4500 mm). To ensure the accuracy and smoothness of vertical guidance, the gun was equipped with a spring-type compensator. The rate of fire of the gun was 8 rds / min. The vertical guidance angles of the gun ranged from −10 ° to + 20 °. The vertical guidance of the gun was carried out manually, the horizontal was provided by turning the turret using an electro-hydraulic or redundant manual drive. The turret traverse speed was 24 deg / sec.
The maneuverability of self-propelled fire has increased significantly compared to its predecessors due to the use of an electro-hydraulic drive for horizontal guidance instead of a manual one. Due to this, the ACS was on a par with the Sherman base tank. Along with this, the M36 was still equipped with the relatively primitive M76D telescopic hingeless sight, which had a 3x magnification and a 21 ° field of view. At the same time, the Sherman base tanks of the later series were equipped with a more advanced T8 periscope sight, which had a 6x magnification, while a specialized tank destroyer armed with a powerful, long-range 90-mm gun, retained a simplified sight. Although the telescopic sight, rigidly attached to the gun mount, had its advantages, for example, greater accuracy due to the absence of articulated rods between the sight and the gun.
М36В1
Depending on the modification, the M36 could be equipped with several engine options. The M36 and M36B1 had a V-shaped 8-cylinder aircraft liquid-cooled carburetor engine with a capacity of 450 hp. The fuel for it was gasoline with an octane rating of at least 80. The engine air exhaust system included 2 cyclone-oil type air cleaners. The cooling system consisted of 2 fans and 2 radiators, which were located in the rear of the engine compartment. The engine was started using a starter. On the version of the tank destroyer M36B2, which was based on the M10 chassis, the power plant consisted of 2-row 6-cylinder liquid-cooled diesel engines, the power of the installation was 375 hp. The auxiliary systems of the engine were generally similar to other modifications of the self-propelled gun, but differed in the presence of 3 air cleaners.
The M36 tank destroyer had 4 fuel tanks with a total volume of 727 liters. Fuel tanks were located in the sponsons of the engine compartment: 2 front, 150 liters each. and left and right rear with a capacity of 208 and 219 liters. respectively. The M36B1, based on the M4A3 tank, had a slightly different arrangement of fuel tanks: 2 vertical on the sides of the engine and 2 in the hull sponsons. Their capacity ranged from 636 to 659 liters. On the M36B2, the fuel tank capacity was 625 liters.
Tactical and technical characteristics: M36 Slugger
Weight: 28.5 tons.
Dimensions:
Length 7, 455 m., Width 3, 48 m., Height 3, 03 m.
Crew: 5 people.
Reservation: from 10 to 51 mm.
Armament: 90-mm rifled gun M3
Ammunition: 47 shots
Engine: V-shaped 8-cylinder liquid-cooled carburetor, 450 hp
Maximum speed: on the highway - 42 km / h
Progress in store: on the highway - 280 km.
