M10 Tank Destroyer
Technical Information
Background
The 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage T35 was the prototype of the M10. It was equipped with a 3-inch (76.2 mm) gun in a new sloped, circular, open-topped turret, developed from the Heavy Tank T1/M6 turret, and mounted on an early-production Medium Tank M4A1 hull.
This prototype was further developed by sloping the hull, using an M4A2 chassis, and replacing the circular turret with a pentagonal version; this model was designated 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage T35E1. In June 1942 the T35E1 was finalized as the 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage M10 and ordered into full production.
Wartime History
The M10 was numerically the most important U.S. tank destroyer of World War II. In its combat debut in Tunisia in 1943 during the North African campaign, the M10 was successful as its M7 3-inch gun could destroy most German tanks then in service. The M10's heavy chassis did not conform to the tank destroyer doctrine of employing very light high-speed vehicles, and starting in mid-1944 it began to be supplemented by the 76mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 "Hellcat". Later in the Battle of Normandy the M10's gun proved to be ineffective against the frontal armor of the newer German Tiger and Panther tanks, and although it remained in service until the end of the war, by the fall of 1944 it was beginning to be replaced in US service by the improved 90mm Gun Motor Carriage M36. In the Pacific war, US Army M10s were used for infantry support but were unpopular due to their open-topped turrets, which made them more vulnerable than a fully-enclosed tank to Japanese close-in infantry attacks.
Production
In addition to the US Army, the M10 was also supplied to Free French, USSR and British. The British variant, designated "17pdr SP Achilles", was developed by mounting the successful 17-pounder anti-tank gun in a modified turret.
