With the outbreak of the Second World War and in view of the successes of German tanks in the Blitzkrieg, the US Army decided to press ahead with the development of anti-tank guns on self-propelled mountings in order to counter the German tanks. The US Army's tank destroyers were characterised by a design that was diametrically opposed to that of the German Jagdpanzer: they were equipped with a 360-degree rotating turret and had thin armour to increase manoeuvrability. Based on this strategy, the M18 Hellcat with a top speed of 80 km/h and a 76 mm gun was developed, followed by the M10 tank destroyer, which was based on the chassis of the M4 Sherman tank and equipped with a 76mm gun, and finally the M36 tank destroyer, which mounted the US Army's most powerful gun, the 90 mm M3 gun, on the chassis of the M10 to combat the Tiger and Panther tanks. This book explains the development, design and production of these three vehicle types.
Group
Books (first-hand)
Title
American Tank Destroyers
Details
Japanese text, paperback, many photos, some drawings. 136 pages.
