us m2 medium tank

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Peter Hartup 2011 www.ammssydney.com

Shermans Granddad The US M2 Medium Tank

Background

During and immediately after World War I, the United States acquired stocks ofEuropean made or designed tanks, such as the French FT17 (also produced in

the US under license) and the Mark VIII International, jointly developed with theUK as a heavy assault tank for use in the campaigns in 1919 and beyond.

The War ended in 1918 and the US acquired significantly less heavy tanks thanoriginally projected.

During the years following the Armistice of 1919, a mixture of isolationism andthe economic disaster of the Great Depression of the 1930s led to a generalatrophication of the US military in general. Research and developmentproceeded at a slow pace in a number of areas (eg aeronautics, development ofaircraft carriers and heavy artillery for the Army). But new production was either

deferred or very limited, especially for the Army.

In this environment, the development of the US armoured forces suffereddisproportionately, especially compared with the experimental work taking placein the UK and even in Germany (under covert arrangements in the Soviet Union).

Stateside, in the first of a number of artificial divisions which would plague USarmoured forces until late in WWII, it was decreed that only the Infantry branch


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could field tanks, locking these weapons into the close infantry support role. TheCavalry was thus confined to relatively lightly armoured vehicles, wheel basedand of course, the good old horse.

Overarching these doctrinal limitations was a general lack of funding from

Congress, starting with general disarmament after the conclusion of WWI (thefirst peace dividend?) and continuing with greater force through the GreatDepression. The US was not alone in this.

The net result of these factors was that the limited development of armour in theUS was focussed on light, cheap vehicles (and limited production of these), andthe retention in service of the WWI vintage Mark VIIIs as the heavy armourcomponent of the infantry. The Cavalry managed to acquire light tracked armourthrough the semantic device of designating M1 light tanks as combat cars.

To be sure, some experimental developments were considered such as J W

Christies revolutionary designs with a small handful ofprototypes acquired, butessentially, the design and procurement pathways for US armour has been setuntil the radical break represented by the M26 Pershing in the mid-forties.

This design would be based on the riveted hull, vertical volute suspensionvehicles using rear-mounted, petrol fuelled, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines andcarrying four or five man crews. While welded or cast hulls would be introducedover the course of production, these basic design elements would remain thesame from the early light tanks M1, M2 and M3, through the medium tanks M2,M3 and M4 until the end of WWII and the introduction of the Pershing / Pattonfamily of vehicles which served as main battle tanks in US service until theintroduction of the M1 Abrams in the 1980s.

The M2 Medium

The downward spiral of events in Europe starting with the election of the NationalSocialists (Nazis) in Germany in 1933 led to general alarm in the West andgradually increasing calls for rearmament.

Eventually, the lessons of tank development in Europe were recognised in theUS, and a requirement for a heavier vehicle for the breakthrough and exploitationrole was issued. This was to be based on existing automotive components anddesign, essentially a scaled up, improved development of the existing M2 / M3light tanks.

What emerged from this development process in 1939 was the M2 Medium. Thisdesign featured an angular, riveted hull constructed of flat armour plates, rearmounted 9 cylinder air-cooled, radial aero engine, and a small, well sloped turretmounting a 37mm gun.


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The need for heavier armour and armament was made clear, and experimentaldesigns mounting a 75mm howitzer in the hull of the M2 (retaining the turretmounted 37mm for anti tank work) were rapidly developed into the M3 Medium(Lee / Grant), which served as a stop gap until the M4 Medium (Sherman) could

be fielded with a 75mm gun mounted in a rotating turret.

As such, the M2 Medium is truly Shermans Grandad.

References and Preserved Vehicles

In most books dealing with the development of the Sherman, there is usually apicture of an M2 Medium. For some reason, I was attracted to this hedgehog ontracks, with its angular design hinting at what was to come with the M3 and M4.

When I bought a copy of Hunnicutts Sherman (back in the days when youcould still find them in shrink wrap on bookshop shelves, and at a price whichdidnt involve a second mortgage), I was delighted to find 1:48 scale plans forboth the M2 and M2A1. There were now no excuses for not starting this project.

Along the way, I managed to acquire a photocopy of most of an operatorsmanual for the M2.

There are only two preserved vehicles of which I am aware - one at AberdeenProving Ground in Maryland, the other at the Patton Museum at Fort KnoxKentucky.

I found two wonderful sets of images of the APG vehicle on the Internet. Thisvehicle is in fact a test-bed, on which a prototype of the turret developed for theM2A1 was mounted on a straight M2 hull. There is also a picture of this vehiclein Hunnicutt. Therefore, this vehicle is a great reference for the M2 hull.

The Patton vehicle is a full-on M2A1. I have only seen in=mages of this vehiclein the virtual tour on the museums website. Unfortunately, the vehicle has beenplaced in diorama showing an engine hoisted above the engine compartmentusing what looks like an expedient timber log lifting frame. The display is builtinto a corner which means that an all-round view would appear impossible. Twopoints should be noted in using this vehicle as a reference:

1. The engine shown, while of the correct type (Wright Whirlwind R975)appears to be configured for a Sherman. The exhaust outlets are locatedat the top of the collector ring, whereas they are in an 8 oclock / 4 oclockconfiguration on the M2 series.


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2. Exhaust mufflers appear to have been replaced by a rough approximation.The units look too small, and the holes are in a square grid patternwhereas the real items are larger and arranged in a diamond pattern.

Apart from these points, the vehicle appears to be a well-preserved example of

an M2A1.

Also useful was a 1940 recruiting / propaganda film from Warner Brothers inglorious technicolour, The Tanks are Coming. This little 20 minute gem was anadditional feature on a DVD Operation Burma, starring Errol Flynn! It revolvesaround the training of the new Armored Force which is equipped with M2 Lightand M2 / M2A1 Medium tanks.

Also present in the exercise sequence are XXX half tracks towing 75mm PackHowitzers, M2 White Scout Cars and a CO whos a swell guy! At least theydidnt say he was gay.

As I said, its in brilliant colour and is a great reference for crew uniforms andmarkings.

The final reference is a series of articles written by Charles Lemons (curator ofthe Patton Museum) which appeared in the now defunct Journal of MilitaryOrdnance magazine. Fortunately, these have been expanded substantially into anew book from Schiffer, US Armor Markings 1919 - 1940. This is a must-havereference on unit organisation and markings for this period. It will be a classic inyears to come, so get it while you can! Maybe get two so you can fund yourretirement on eBay in years to come.

The Model - An Overview

The M2 was constructed of butt-jointed armoured plates riveted to an underlyingframe. I by and large followed this construction method, cutting and joining theplates to match the originals.


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I did not try to replicate the scale thickness of every plate - rather I settled onusing the 1 (25.4mm) plate thickness overall for the hull structure. This scalesout to 30 thou (0.75mm) in 1:35 scale. Apart from the 1.25 plating under thetransmission and drivers position, this was the thickest plate used on the M2,and in 1:35 scale provided a good basis for construction, allowing minimalinternal bracing with virtually no distortion.

Various aspects of construction are considered below:

Suspension: Bogies are heavily modified Tamiya units from their M3 Grant kit.I suspect that these units are perhaps about 1mm too long.

But given wherethe distortionoccurs I decidedthat it could belived with -correction wouldmeanscratchbuildingthe entire bogies(two halves) andI considered thegain in accuracy


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would not be worth the effort.

Drive sprockets and rear idlers (including mounts) came from the AcademyM12 kit, as did the transmission cover and drive mount. Road wheels werefrom the Tamiya Early M4 since they were made to fit the axles of the M3

suspension units without the need to precisely drill out the axle holes.

Tracks: What can I say? Guilty as charged of masochism! Given that many ofthe suspension components resin casts of modified kit parts which would besuper glued to the plastic hull, I didnt like the idea of using rubber band styletracks tensioned correctly (i.e. to remove any sagging). Also there would theproblem of cutting down any suitable M4 set to the correct width. Cuttingdown the width was necessary since the M2s tracks ran well within the line ofthe overhanging fighting compartment / rear fuel tanks. Full width M4 trackswould be unacceptably wide in this regard.

Accordingly, I settled on using the AFV Club T51 individual link tack set, witha single track shoe cut down to the correct width, and copies cast. And cast,and cast. Seventy nine per side plus spares.

As a rare concession to sanity, I used the injection moulded connectors fromthe AFV set.


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37mm Gun and Mount: The M2 used the early M21 mount (with shoulderbrace) and an earlier version of the standard 37mm tank gun mounted in theM2 / M3 series light tanks. This featured a longer recoil / recuperatorassembly beneath the barrel.

As a base, I used the beautifully moulded 37mm gun and mount from the AFVClub M3A3 kit. The gun was modified with the longer recoil / recuperatorassembly, and the mount modified with the shoulder brace on the left handside.

To provide a good mount for the gun assembly inside the turret, I used thecast bulge from the front plate of the AFV M3A3 turret (which was just aboutthe correct size and shape as the M2 equivalent), and after correctionmounted it in the front plate of the M2 turret.


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The outer mantelet from the M3A3 was cut down and shaped into an M2version.

Instead of using the barrel from the M3A3 kit, I substituted a turned aluminiumversion from Jordi Rubio. The kit barrel looks OK - the JR version is a bitmore refined in shape, and I figured it would be a bit more resilient over time.

Rivet Detail: Rivet positions were marked out on the templates for each plateand each position was drilled out with a motor tool after centre punchingwith a needle held in a pin vise. The holes were then fitted with Grandt Linerivets of correct size and shape. (0.32 / 0.75mm round headed).

Various bolt heads were shaved off the spares moulded onto the sprues ofthe AFV Club M3A3 and the Academy M3 kits. These spares were the

source of rounded, slotted bolt heads used to secure the glacis plate, and ofthe flat hex shaped bolt heads used elsewhere.

Riveted angle iron was fitted along the top of the lower hull, and on top of therear fuel tanks up against the sides of the engine compartment. This wasfabricated using Evergreen angle strip, riveted with Grandt Line rivets. Onestrip was thus fabricated, with additional strips cast from this master, then cutand fitted as needed.


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Finally, repeat after me, rivets are my friends. Keep this chant in mind. Itwill help. Really.

Finishing and Markings

US Army vehicles were finished in Olive Drab overall. For a time, regulationsstated that they should be finished with a coat of spar varnish which in additionto imparting a satin finish, tended to darken the appearance of the OD to thenaked eye.

In the Inter War period, for a time US armour carried full colour regimentalbadges on turret sides. Unfortunately, by the time the M2 came into service, thispractice was dropped, and with it the opportunity to add a splash of colour!

Markings were confined to alphanumeric company vehicle designators (eg F2)carried on the glacis and on engine compartment doors in the rear plate in white,with vehicle registration numbers in blue drab on hull sides at the rear on fueltank side armour, though I have seen photographs of these numbers in white.

Around the base of the turrets was painted a broken ring or stripe in a coloursignifying the regiment. At the time there was only one medium tank regimentattached to each division, and the colour used varied with each division. In the1st Armored Division, the medium regiment was the 67th Armoured Regiment,and the colour used was blue.

However, a splash of colour can be found in additional markings applied to 1ADM2s for the Louisiana Manoeuvres of 1941. These tanks carried the ArmouredForce tri-coloured triangle on the glacis plate above the white tactical marking.

So that settled the matter - I was building a 1st Armored Division M2 onmanoeuvres in 1941.

us m2 medium tank

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