Concord Armor At War Series 7044 US Armored Artillery in WW II

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Название: Concord Armor At War Series 7044 US Armored Artillery in WW II

Автор: Steven J. Zaloga

Издательство: Concord

Год издания: 2002

Язык: английский

Страниц: 74

Формат: PDF

Размер: 113 Mb

Изображения: цветные и черно-белые фото, цветные рисунки

The United States Army began World War II with no armored field artillery vehicles in service. With the formation of the Armored Force in 1940 after the fall of France, there was an immediate need for artillery vehicles to accompany the tank units to provide indirect fire support. Since it would take some time to develop such vehicles, the Ordnance department decided to manufacture two expedient types which could be fielded quickly. These were the T30 75mm howitzer motor carriage (HMC) and the TI9 105 mm HMC, both based on the standard M3 halftrack. Production of the T19 105mm HMC began in January 1942 and 324 were built; T30 production began in February 1942 and 500 were completed. The T19 was mainly used in armored field artillery battalions in the armored divisions. The T30 75mm HMC were intended for use as assault guns and were deployed in the armored divisions' reconnaissance battalions. Infantry divisions in North Africa deployed a cannon company in each of their three regiments with six T30 75mm HMC and two T19 105mm HMC. The Army regarded both the TI9 and T30 as marginally satisfactory and began replacing them as soon as newer and more suitable vehicles became available. The T19 was replaced by the new M7 105mm HMC beginning in the campaign in Sicily in the summer of 1943. though a handful of T19 were still in use in Italy and southern France a year later. The T30 remained standard through the Sicily campaign and during the Salerno operation, but began to be replaced by the M8 75mm HMC in the summer of 1943 due to the late production start of the M8 75mm HMC. Some T30 кemained in use in Italy until the summer of 1944.