M10 and M36 Tank Destroyers - USA: Books - History, Types and Construction

M10 Gun Motor Carriage: and the 17-Pounder Achilles Tank Destroyer

Based on the M4A2 and M4A3 Sherman tank chassis, and fitted with a 3-inch M7 gun, the M10 was numerically the most important US tank destroyer of WWII. The M10 was built in response to the stunning successes of the German armored Blitzkrieg at the outset of the war in Europe.
Fitted with a turret - unlike most self-propelled artillery of the era - the vehicle was more heavily gunned but more lightly armored than a tank. M10 crews were expected to make the most of their vehicle's speed and agility.

The M10 received its baptism of fire in Tunisia in 1943, where it demonstrated its ability to destroy most German Panzers then in service. The British upgraded the design by rearming some of the 1,700 M10s that they received with the superb Ordnance Quick Firing 17-pounder antitank gun.
These vehicles were designated by the British as 17-pounder SP M10 Mark IC/IIC, popularly known as the Achilles.

M10 / Achilles - A Visual History of the U.S. Army's WWII Tank Destroyer

In late 1941 the concept of a separate tank destroyer force began to jell. This force would be armed with specialized weapons. While the army's primary antitank weapons of the late 1930s were 37mm towed anti-tank guns, these were soon deemed to be inadequate against enemy armor. Accordingly, the quest for larger weapons began, as did the desire for a self-propelled antitank gun, or Gun Motor Carriage.
The initial efforts, which involved adapting 3/4-ton, Dodge trucks to mount antitank weapons (the M6, née WC-55), which were intended as interim and training vehicles. In the same manner, half-tracks were fitted with cannon, yielding the M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage. But, the quest was on to create a specialized and ideal tank destroyer, utilizing a tank chassis as the basis.

By January of 1942 a prototype was in the works to mount the weapon in an open topped turret on the chassis of the twin GM Diesel-powered M4A2 Sherman Medium tank.
After some months of development a design was finalized for a vehicle sharing the suspension, lower hull, and engine with the M4A2 but with an upper hull made up from thinner, but sloping, armored plate. Initially designated T35E1, when the design was standardized it was redesignated M10. In addition to the 6,700-plus Diesel-powered M10 tank destroyers, a further 1,700 M10A1 vehicles were built, these being driven by Ford GAA gasoline engines.

While the 3-inch weapon of the M10 was superior to that found on earlier U.S. tank destroyers, it was inadequate against the ever-increasing weight of German armor. The British addressed this by rearming some of the 1,700 M10s that they received with the superb Ordnance Quick Firing 17-pounder antitank gun. These vehicles were designated by the British as 17-pdr. SP M10 Mark 1c. After the war the name Achilles was given these vehicles.

Photo coverage includes plentiful period shots and copious amounts of detail photos of the M10, M10A1 and Achilles.

M10 Tank Destroyer vs StuG III Assault Gun - Germany, 1944

The Allies' M10 Tank Destroyer and the Germans' Sturmgeschütz (StuG) lll were the unsung workhorses of the northwest European battlefields of 1944-45. While their mission was not principally fighting one another, their widespread use ensured their frequent encounters, from the Normandy Bocage, to the rubble-strewn streets of Aachen.
The StuG lll was the quintessential assault gun, a low-slung, heavily armoured, turret-less vehicle intended to provide direct fire support for infantry formations, whilst the M10 3in Gun Motor Carriage was originally developed as a tank destroyer. However, by 1944 the 3in gun proved ineffectual against the most thickly armored German tanks, and was consequently relegated to infantry support too.
Widely deployed in roles their designers had not envisaged, these two armoured fighting vehicles clashed repeatedly during the 11-month campaign, which saw the Allies advance from Normandy to the heart of the Reich. Fully illustrated with specially commissioned artwork, this is the story of their confrontation at the height of World War ll.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design and Development - Technical Specifications - The Combatants - The Strategic Situation - Combat - Statistics and Analysis - Further Reading - Index.

M10 and M36 Tank Destroyers 1942-1953

The US Army had a unique tactical doctrine during World War II, placing the emphasis for tank fighting on its Tank Destroyer Command whose main early-war vehicle was the M10 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage, based on the reliable M4A2 Sherman tank chassis. This durable and versatile vehicle saw combat service from the North Africa campaign in 1943. By 1944, its gun was not powerful enough and it was rearmed with the new 90 mm gun, becoming the M36 90mm Gun Motor Carriage.

This book details one of the only US armoured vehicles capable of dealing with the Panther and Tiger during the Battle of the Bulge.

Contents: Introduction - Tank destroyer origins - Initial production - Into service - Production changes - Combat in France - Tank destroyers in the Pacific - The M10 in British service - Other Lend-Lease use - Postwar use - Bibliography - Color Plate Commentary - Index.

M36 / M36 B1 Tank Destroyer - Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives

Going into WWII, the prevailing strategy of the US command was that tanks were not to be used to engage enemy tanks in combat. Rather, tanks were to be the armored spearhead to breach enemy positions. Enemy tanks were to be dealt with by specialized weapons, aptly named tank destroyers.

While the 3-inch weapon of the M10 was superior to that found on earlier US tank destroyers, it was still found to be inadequate against the ever-increasing weight of German armor. An even larger gun, the 90 mm M3, was placed in a new, bigger open-topped turret on 100 new hulls purpose built for this, and by remanufacturing M10 A1s, primarily from US-based training units. As the supply of these chassis was depleted, additional vehicles were created by converting Diesel-powered M10s, resulting in the M36B2.

The M36 B1 was built from the ground-up as a tank destroyer, using a hull based on that of the M4 A3 but featuring a standard M36 turret. Examination of rare surviving vehicles indicate that the M36 B1 hulls were manufactured expressly for this purpose, and were not merely M4 A3 hulls that were converted.
While US antitank doctrine changed, rendering all the tank destroyers obsolete post-WWII, many of these vehicles were supplied to other nations, and in fact some survived as combat vehicles into the 21st century.