M40 Gun Motor Carriage

Infobox Weapon
name=155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M40


caption=M40 in the US Army Ordnance Museum.
origin=USA
type=Self-propelled artillery
is_vehicle=yes
length=9.1 m (30 ft)
width=3.15 m (10.33 ft)
height=2.7 m (8.85 ft)
weight=36.3 tonnes (80,027 lbs)
suspension=HVSS (Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension)
speed=38 km/h (24 mph) on road
23 km/h (14 mph) off road
vehicle_range=170 km (106 mi)
primary_armament= 155 mm M2 gun
20 rounds
secondary_armament=
armour=12 mm
engine=Wright (Continental) R975 EC2
engine_power=340 hp (253.54 kW)
pw_ratio=9.36 hp/tonne
crew=8 (Commander, driver, (6x) gun crew)

The 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M40 was a US self-propelled artillery vehicle built on a widened and lengthened Medium Tank M4A3 chassis but with Continental engine and with HVSS that was introduced at the end of the Second World War. Equipped with a 155 mm M2 gun, it was designed to replace the earlier M12 Gun Motor Carriage. Its prototype designation was the T83, but this was changed to the M40 in March 1945.

A single pilot vehicle was used in the European Theater in 1945 by 991st Field Artillery Battalion, along with a related 8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage T89 which was sometimes also equipped with a 155 mm barrel.Hunnicutt - "Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank", p 353-355, 570.] From there it was deployed during the Korean War.

Post war; the M40 was used by the British, there it was designated 155 mm SP, M40.

Variants

The Army planned to use the same T38 chassis for a family of SP artillery:
*Cargo Carrier T30 - a few built before cancellation in December 1944 to make more chassis available for GMCs
*8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage M43 - 8 in (203 mm) HMC, standardized August 1945, 48 built
*250 mm Mortar Motor Carriage T94 - 10 in (250 mm) MMC, began design Feb. 1945, one prototype completed in 1946

Related Vehicles

*105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7B1 - self-propelled 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC) based on the M4A3 Sherman chassis.
*155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M12 - self-propelled 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage (GMC).
**Cargo Carrier M30 - an M12 with crew and ammunition space in lieu of the gun.

Notes

References

* cite book
last = Hunnicutt
first = R. P.
authorlink =
coauthors =
others =
title = Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank
publisher = Presidio Press
series =
date = 1994
isbn = 0-89141-080-5
* cite book
last = Ness
first = Leland
authorlink =
coauthors =
others =
title = Janes World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles
publisher = Harper Collins
series =
date = 2002
isbn = 0-00-711228-9

ee also

*List of "M" series military vehicles
*M4 Sherman tank

External links

* [http://www.wwiivehicles.com/usa/self_propelled_guns/m40_gun_m43_howitzer_motor_carriage.html WWII vehicles]
* [http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/155mmgmcm40.html AFV database]