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.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

T95 GMC


In March 1944, it was formally requested to procure five pilot vehicles of the T28 Super-heavy tank. The original specifications had been modified, increasing the vehicle's frontal protection to 12 inches and raising the weight to around 95 tons. The vehicle had a crew of four and had a very low silhouette compared to other tanks in the US arsenal.

 In February 1945, it was requested that the T28 be renamed to the T95 gun motor carriage, as the cannon was not in a turret and thus did not properly fit the definition of a heavy tank. The vehicle was fitted with the 105 mm T5E1 gun, although proposals were made for mounting the 120 mm M1 antiaircraft gun (which would go on to become the T53 tank gun) and the 155 mm M2 gun, the Long Tom (the predecessor M1 was used on the M12). A mount was also designed for the 155 mm T7, although the gun itself was never given proper consideration. 

 The T95's power package was the same Ford GAF engine used in the M26 Pershing. This was a 500 hp engine, but it was now pushing a vehicle more than twice the M26's weight. As a result the vehicle was limited to just 8 mph (13 km/h) so the engine could handle it. The incredible weight also required the installation of a second set of outboard tracks to improve the vehicle's ground pressure. These tracks could also be removed for rail transport.
The outboard track set being towed behind a T95 pilot vehicle.

By 1946, it was realized the T95 GMC did not really meet the criteria for either a tank or a self-propelled gun. At this time it was also redesignated as the T28 Super-heavy tank on account of its heavy armor and firepower. Regardless, the purpose for which the vehicle was designed had expired, and the war itself had ended. In Late 1947 the program was terminated. Only two pilots would be built and saw use as stress-test vehicles to evaluate the durability of various transport systems. They were both presumed destroyed, until after 27 years when one of them was found sitting behind a bush in an open field in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
World of Tanks' spotting mechanics in action.

I'm not really changing anything for the T95 GMC in World of Tanks. I would like to see the vehicle's engines made historical, resulting in a worse power-to-weight ratio, and givn it some great ground resistance values when mounting the second set of tracks. Those tracks should only be available with the top/alternate hull, where they also provide improved track health and spaced armor to the tank, and maybe some hit points too. Otherwise, I would just change the name a bit to better distinguish it from the T95 Medium.



Guns: 105 mm Gun T5E1; 120 mm Gun T53; 155 mm Gun T7

Engines: Ford GAF (500 hp); Ford GAN (525 hp)

Suspensions/Alternate Hulls, Total Weight (metric tons): T95 GMC 2-Track (??); T95 GMC 4-Track (86.18)

Hull Armor (mm): 305/102/51

Top Speed: 20 km/h

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



Parent: T28 Prototype
Children: TS-5
See Also: T95(155M2)

Sources:
Hunnicutt, R. P. Firepower, 2017
Moran, Nicholas. Can Openers, 2017 
http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/533229-t28t95-historicity/ 
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1 comment:

  1. laxmiDecember 2, 2021 at 1:39 AM

    nice article ............!
    https://www.autoparts-miles.com/used-FORD-500-engines

    ReplyDelete

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