M10, M36 tank destroyers: why open-topped turrets?

[mike]

On Jun 10, 7:43 pm, "Doug" <barronbranek-spamme... at sbcglobal.net>
wrote:
> Thanks Mike et. al. The other question I had was W.R.T. the counterweight.
> What would've happened had it been removed? Was it just dead weight (I'm
> imagine they could put something useful there [batteries, radio equipment,
> ammo])?

Big Cast Iron chunks. Later M10 weights were shaped so the crew got
some storage space for personal gear with hinged doors.

The M36 had better designed turret, with the counterweight as a
integral rear bustle, that was the ready ammo rack

Both had one Machine Gun in AA mount at the rear(again, every
bit of weight to the rear, help the poor balance. no Coax or
Hull gun like the M4, limiting use against infantry.


>
> How did these tank destroyerss (M36 and M10) stack up against the Tigers
> (armor, main gun velocity, armor penetration capability at range etc.)?


 _Seek, Strike, and Destroy: U.S. Army Tank Destroyer Doctrine in
World War II_
credits a M36 (IIRC from the 776th TD)with a Panther kill at
3200 Yards, and other sources mention the accuracy of the
M3 90mm in pillbox reduction, able to fire thru the slits at range.
Generally, the M3 90mm and the KwK 36 were fairly equal in
performance.
Armor wise, the less said the better.

The M7 3" Gun was a couple hundred pounds lighter than the M3
90mm, but is performance wasn't all that great, the 76mm was made
to duplicate its performance, but lighter for M4 tanks

for the M10 at Anzio, read this period piece thats online
http://www.lonesentry.com/brassingoff/index.html

Only Slugger crews felt anywhere comfortable about engaging
Tigers before the T26 showed at the end of the War

Tigers had a better suspension system- smoother ride, and a
regenerative gearbox that allowed easy turns, while the M10/M36
 shared the M4's Cletrac that was pretty much unchanged from
1920s Bulldozers. M10s were Diesel, while M10A1/M36 were Gas.
All US Tanks were far easier to maintain than the Nazi Armor

**
mike
**