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.

Friday, May 18, 2018

M2A1 AT


Although tank destroyers as a separate entity did not emerge in the United States Army until WWII, specialized self-propelled guns in this role were considered much earlier. On 9 October 1936, the Infantry Board outlined the characteristics for such a vehicle. Procurement was then authorized for one soft steel turret armed with a 47 mm gun for installation on the hull of a M2A1 light tank. The 47 mm gun was based on the 37 mm M1 antiaircraft gun. The ammunition was loaded in five-round clips and fired shells at 1500 fps.

 The main idea behind this design was that the vehicle could destroy antitank guns that other tanks could not on account of their limited vision. Unfortunately, the 47 mm gun jammed frequently and it did not meet the penetration requirements. As a result of these failed tests, further work on the project was cancelled.

 As the penetration for this tank is supposed to be poor, it should rely on its fast-reloading autoloader in order to have a better chance of dealing damage. The vehicle is also rather mobile, being based on the body of a light tank with no real changes to it outside of the turret. Because of this, we can carry over the engines from the M2 Light.

 It should be noted that the name M2A1 AT is a constructed name, as I don't know the name of the actual vehicle.
Guns: 37 mm Gun M1 (autoloader); 47 mm Gun (autoloader)

Engines: Continental R-670-3C (235 hp); Gubierson T-1020 (245 hp); Continental W-670-9A (262 hp)

Turrets (Turret Armor (mm)): M2A1 AT (16/16/16)

Suspensions/Alternate Hulls, Total Weight (metric tons): M2A1 AT (??); M2A1 AT Improved (??)

Hull Armor (mm): 16/13/6 

Top Speed: 72 km/h

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

Parent: T13 Light
Children: T50 GMC, T56 GMC

Sources:
Hunnicutt, R. P. Stuart. 1992. 
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