MISSION STATEMENT

This website is to serve as a catalog of historical information for various tanks, across various stages of development, created for use by the United States from Pre-WWII through to the 1970s. However, the primary purpose for this website is to illustrate a proposal for what an "endgame" could look like for the US tech tree in the game, World Of Tanks, and to show that there's still plenty of life left to breathed into this game.

My aim is to see as many tanks in the game about tanks as possible, and I hope to show that in a way that respects both the historicity of the tanks shown and the balance of the game overall. As such, I will not be going into great detail on individual statistics. Rather, I will only be showing the possible modules for each tank, changes that could be made to make it more historically authentic, a historical overview, and how the tank's playstyle may be represented in-game. I will also attempt to future-proof this by including alternate hulls, half-tracks, and wheeled vehicles.

This is certainly not perfect and everything is subject to change. This is still a work in progress, and updates are frequent if not daily. This is a fan project and a labor of love. Do enjoy.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

M-4/5


Parallel with the development of the T48 tank during the middle of 1951, other studies were being conducted to consider various improvements and an eventual successor. To review these new concepts, the Questionmark conferences were created to stimulate greater interaction between tank designers and tank users. The first of these conferences was held in March 1952.

One study investigated the advantages of an excessively large 100-inch diameter turret ring. Such a turret ring allowed for the mounting of heavier weapons and increased the available interior space for the crew. Seven medium tank concepts were proposed to explore the use of the enlarged turret ring.

 The fourth and fifth concepts—the M-4 and the M-5—were practically identical except for the engines. The M-4 used the AX-1100 and the M-5 used the AOS-895. The turrets mounted the same 90 mm T139 found on the T48 tank. The turret was installed on the rear of the tank. Like on the previous designs, the front hull armor was 4 inches thick and sloped at 60 degrees from the vertical.

However, the M-4 and M-5 did have some differences. The M-5 was half a ton heavier, and the chassis was 135 inches wide and 212 inches long, as opposed to the 127-inch width and 217-inch length of the M-4. The turret rings were reduced to 85 inches.

The vehicle I'm proposing, the M-4/5, is a combination of these two designs and takes advantage of the use of alternate hulls. Aside from the side and rear armor of the turret and hull, everything else I look for is thankfully given. However, I've also given the tank the 90 mm Gun T139E1, found on the M47E2, This was basically the same gun as the T139, but with a concentric recoil mechanism, which improved handling of the gun.

 This tank can probably be thought of as a US equivalent of the USSR Object 416. However, the vehicle is significantly larger in exchange for a fully rotating turret and possibly improved gun handling.
Guns: 90 mm Gun T139; 90 mm Gun T139E1

Engines: Continental AOS-895 (500 hp); Continental AVS-1195 (685 hp); GMC AX-1100 (717 hp)

Turrets (Turret Armor (mm)): M-4 (102/??/??); M-5 (102/??/??)

Suspensions/Alternate Hulls, Total Weight (metric tons): M-4 (34.47); M-5 (34.92)

Hull Armor (mm): 102/??/??

Top Speed: 48 km/h

Crew: 4 (Driver; Gunner; Loader; Commander/Radio)

Parent: T23
Children: M-1/2
See Also: M-7/6

Sources:
Hunnicutt, R. P. Abrams, 2015. 
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