M2 Half Track Car

Infobox Weapon
name=M2 Half Track Car


caption=
origin=United States
type=Half-track
is_vehicle=yes
length=5.96 m
width=2.2 m
height=2.26 m
weight=9 tonnes
suspension=Wheeled front axle, rear track
speed=40 mph
vehicle_range=200 miles, 320 km
primary_armament=0.5 inch M2 Browning machine gun
secondary_armament=
armour=6 - 12 mm
engine=White 160AX
engine_power=147 hp (110 kW)
pw_ratio=
crew=2 + 7 passengersThe M2 Half Track Car was an armoured vehicle used by the United States during World War II.

History

The half-track design had been evaluated by the US Ordance department using Citroën-Kégresse vehicles. The White Motor Company produced a prototype half track using their own chassis and the body of the M3 Scout Car.

In 1938, the White Motor Company took the Timpken rear bogie assembly from a T9 half-track truck and added it to an M3 Scout Car, creating the T7 Half-Track Car. This vehicle was woefully underpowered, and when a further requirement came down from US Army artillery units for a prime mover (artillery tractor), a vehicle with an uprated engine was devised, then designated the T14. By 1940, the vehicle had been standardized as the M2 Half-Track car, and was being supplied to army units as both a prime mover and a reconnaissance vehicle. The latter was to serve in the interim, until more specialized vehicles could be fielded.

Between 1942 and 1943, these vehicles, just as with the M3 half tracks, would receive a number of modifications to the drive train, engine, and stowage, among other things.

Total production of M2 and derivatives was about 13,500 units. Later, to meet the needs of the Lend-Lease program, the International Harvester Company was brought in to manufacture vehicles similar to the M2, as the M9 adding another 3,500 units.

Usage

The first M2s were fielded in 1941, and would be used in the Philippines, North Africa, and in Europe by the US Army, and around the Pacific by the USMC. About 800 M2 and M9 halftracks were sent to the Soviet Union. Many remaining vehicles initially destined for lend-lease were transferred to other US allies, primarily in South America. These vehicles often received a number of upgrades designed at extending service life. The Argentine Army retired its last upgraded M9 during 2006 and the last ones were donated to Bolivia.

Variants

Prime Mover/Scout Vehicle

*M2 - White Half-Track with White 160AX engine. Fitted with a skate rail mount, featuring an M2HB machine gun.
**M2E5/M9 - International Harvester Half-Track, developed to complement the M2 for Lend-Lease, but did not feature the short hull of the M2. Also, did not feature the rear access doors, and is outwardly very similar to the M5, but with a different internal configuration.
***M9A1 - As for the M2A1, an M9 with the M49 machine gun mount. The M9A1 had a rear door.
**M2E6/M2A1 - Any vehicle with the improved M49 machine gun ring mount over the right hand front seat. Three fixed pintle mounts for 0.30 machine guns were often fitted at the unit level in the field.

elf-Propelled Guns

*M4/M4A1 81mm MMC - M2 based Motor Mortar Carriage equipped with the M1 81 mm mortar. The mortar was intended to be fired dismounted from the vehicle, but could be fired to the rear in an emergency from a base inside the vehicle. The A1 allowed the weapon to be fixed facing forward and fired from within the vehicle.
*M2 w/ M3 37mm - Mechanized infantry units in the US Army were supposed to receive the M6 Gun Motor Carriage, based on Dodge light trucks. With the overall failure in combat of these vehicles, some units removed the M3 37 mm gun and its assembly and mounted them on M2 Half-Track Cars.

Anti-aircraft variants

*T1E1 - M2 based mobile anti-aircraft gun featuring an open rear with a Bendix mount featuring two .50 caliber M2 machine guns. The Bendix mount proved to be unsatisfactory. Prototype only.
**T1E2 - T1 w/ Maxon M33 mount in the place of the Bendix mount. The M33 mount also featured two .50 caliber M2 machine guns. Would be developed into the M3 based T1E4.
**T1E3 - T1 fitted with a partial hard top and a Martin turret, identical to that used on the B-17 Flying Fortress. Proved to be overly complicated and was ill suited to the space available in the M2. Prototype only.
*T28 CGMC - M2 based Combination Gun Motor Carriage with a single M1A2 37mm autocannon flanked by two .50 caliber M2 machine guns. This vehicle's side armor was removed in order to make room for the mount. The project was cancelled in 1942 but revived in the same year, when a decision was made to use the longer M3 Half-Track Personnel Carrier chassis for the subsequent T28E1
*T10 - Variant to test the feasibility of mounting US made copies of the Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20 mm cannon on modified Maxson mounts. Developed into the T10E1 based on the longer M3 Half Track Personnel Carrier chassis.

Gallery of variants

References

Citations

References

* Mesko, Jim. M3 Half-tracks in Action. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1996
* United States, War Department. TM 9-710 Basic Half-Track Vehicles (White, Autocar, and Diamond T). Washington, DC: War Department, 1944.
* Zaloga, Steven J. M3 Infantry Half-Track 1940-73. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2004

ee also

M3 Half-track

External links

* [http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/halftrackm2.html AFV Database]
* [http://www.wwiivehicles.com/usa/half-tracks/half-tracks.asp WWII Vehicles - US Half tracks]