Current and Finished Projects > Profiles and Pixels
Apophenia's Offerings
Geist:
:-*
apophenia:
This was prompted by one of those vague, whiffy notions of 'Hey! What would a [blank] look like with [blank feature] added on?' Lame, I know. But I really wanted to see a Polish 7TP on a Czech suspension.
Once I got rolling, I was also wondering about a light tank-based tank destroyer (instead of faffing about with tankette TDs). So, I've done both variants and cobbled together a backstory of sorts ...
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The 8TP (8-Tonowy Polsky) was an early-model 7TP jw tank rebuilt with running gear based on the Czechoslovak THN-S light tank. Other than adopting the 'dk' ('Big Wheel') suspension, the initial 8TP model was largely unchanged from the 7TP roots of its 'donor' hull.
Top An 8TP of 1 bczl (Batalion czołgów lekkich), commanded by the head of 1 kompanii, kpt. Antoni Sikorski. At Odrzywo, 1 pluton 1 kompanii attacked a column of German tanks, destroying three panzers. However, in that exchange, this 8TP was also lost along with its commander.
Like all 8TPs, this vehicle is in the standard 'horizontal' scheme for Polish armour. Markings include the 'circled bison' emblem of 1 bczl on its turret and a company commander stripe on the hull.
The 8TP np (nowa produkcja or new production) model was to adopt the imported Swedish Scania-Vabis 1664 water-cooled 6-cylinder petrol engine producing 125 hp. [1] However few - if any - of the 8TP np variants had been delivered by the beginning of September 1939.
As the name suggests, the 8TP nc (for niszczyciel czołgów) was a dedicated tank destroyer variant. The 8TP nc was armed with the new 55 mm ar.pepanc wz.38 'ZS' - an anti-tank gun reworking of the Zakłady Starachowice anti-aircraft gun proposal of 1936. [2] A new, open-topped fighting compartment was adopted which was somewhat wider than the tank's superstructure. Although new production was planned, all completed 8TP nc (and 7TP nc models) were conversions of existing twin-turreted 7TP dw hulls.
In total, no more than 17 niszczyciel czołgów were delivered - at least twelve of those being 7TP nc models with the 'Zawieszenie Vickersa' ('Vickers suspension'). Only a handful of 'Big Wheel' 8TP nc were available in September 1939.
Bottom A rare operational 8TP nc conversion. This vehicle features an 8mm Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun. The unit goes unrecorded but most 8TP nc tank destroyers were assigned to bolster tankette-equipped armoured dywizjons. Note the 'Polish Eagle' marking with the name 'Poznańskie' beneath. [3]
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[1] The purpose of this substitution was to conserve stocks of the 110 hp Saurer VLDBb (PZInż.235) 6-cylinder diesel engines for remaining 7TP (5th series) assembly.
[2] The anti-aircraft gun - which lost out to the 40 mm Bofors L/60 - was based on an earlier infantry gun. That 1933 gun was a belated attempt to combine an infantry gun with an anti-tank weapon. The 'ZS' gun was also to replace the 65 mm Armata wz. 1906 mountain gun. Such a combination was doomed to failure. However, by fitting a longer 'tube' and a new mount, inz Wacław Stetkiewicz hoped to produce a 55mm anti-aircraft gun. Instead, that AA gun would form the basis for the 55 mm ar.pepanc wz.38 tank destroyer weapon.
Stetkiewicz seems also to have 'borrowed' features from the 7TP's smaller 37 Bofors - both in the design of the breech and the 'pepperpot' muzzle brake. Unfortunately, Zakłady Starachowice was slow in delivering these 55 mm guns. Several of the 7TP nc went into battle armed with the rather aenemic 47 mm wz.35 gun.
[3] 'Poznańskie' after one of the Second Polish Republic's voivodeships - there were 15 voivodeships proper plus the City of Warsaw and the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship.
Old Wombat:
:smiley:
apophenia:
Another of those 'What would a [blank] look like with [blank feature] added on?' whifs.
In April of 1942, the General Motors of Canada Company of Oshawa received inquiries from the War Office on behalf of the Long Range Desert Group. A month earlier, the LRDG had begun using Chevrolet 1533x2 4x2 30cwt trucks sourced in Egypt. The Canadian-made trucks with their ad hoc local patrol modifications were such a success that the LRDG specifically requested more of the same. Could GM Canada supply these vehicles?
The response from Oshawa was an unexpected one. Yes, the Canadian Chevrolet trucks could be provided. However, GM Canada had an alternative suggestion based upon information provided by one of its suppliers - the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. Firestone had prototyped a half track derivative of the White armoured car and provided technical details to GM Canada for a projected gun tractor design. The latter had come to naught, but GM Canada believed that Firestone's Kégresse-style rubber track system would be ideal for maintaining traction in the challenging terrain of the Western Desert.
A contract was duly signed and the Chevrolet began producing Model 1533HT 30cwt Patrol Half-Tracks at their Oshawa plant. [1] The LRDG received their first 'Chevy' half tracks in July 1942, just in time for diversionary raids in support of the First Battle of El Alamein. The half tracks proved somewhat slower on 'solid footing' than their 4x2 equivalents ... but much faster over soft sand. Generally, the half tracks were rather underpowered but fulfilled their patrol and 'gun truck' roles until 1943. [2]
This sideview was based on photos of a Brett Green/Chris Wauchop build on Missing Links and a photo of a 1:1 scale M3.
-- http://www.missing-lynx.com/gallery/britain/chevy30cwtbg_1.html
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[1] Internally, these vehicles were known to GM Canada as the Chevrolet YR-HT series.
[2] Most of the Chevy half tracks became 'gun trucks' as they were eclipsed in the patrol role by Bantam 'Jeeps'. In May of 1943, the LRDG was moved to the eastern Med and its role changed utterly.
Jeffry Fontaine:
I like where this is going with the LRDG Half-Track Patrol Vehicle. Great concept and it makes you wonder if the LRDG ever considered using half-tracks for patrol vehicles.
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