- Yes, as a tech tree vehicle
- Yes, as a premium vehicle
- Yes, as an event vehicle
- Yes, as a squadron vehicle
- No, I would not like the T69 in game.
T69 prototype at Aberdeen, summer 1955.
History
The 90mm Gun Tank T69 was a concurrent development of the family of oscillating turret tanks created by the United States in the immediate postwar period. One of the requirements for the 90mm Gun Tank T42, which started development in 1948, was an automatic loading system. This turned out to be impossible to fit in the T42’s turret. A study by Rheem Manufacturing Company determined that an oscillating turret design would enable the inclusion of an auto loader system. This concept would be explored in other vehicles, such as the T54E1 that we have in game, but for this suggestion, we will specifically focus on the turret created for installation on the T42 chassis. The completed vehicle was called the 90mm Gun Tank T69.
The T69 turret shows off one of its unique features: a hydraulic actuating turret roof for easy access to the auto loading system, also serving as an emergency escape hatch.
Like other American auto loading tanks of the time, the T69 featured an oscillating turret, where the bottom part, which traversed the turret, stayed still, while the top part elevated and depressed the entire turret, rather than only the gun like a traditional tank turret. This moved the loading mechanism when the turret moved. The loading mechanism itself was an 8 round drum with a selector switch able to handle three different kinds of ammunition at once, enabling the loader to switch shells rapidly. The gun was the 90mm T178. It was essentially the T139 (M41) cannon of the M48 mounted upside down in order to accept shells from the loading mechanism. This meant it could fire the standard suite of M48 ammunition, including APCBC, HE, HEP, HVAP, and smoke rounds. It could fire at 30 rounds per minute, apparently managing 33 rounds per minute when using a single type of ammo, and 18 rounds per minute if switching to other types. Once a shell had been fired, the tank would automatically eject the casing through a hole in the back of the turret. It was able to hold 40 shells, 8 in the magazine and 32 in the hull. The ballistic profile of the turret was very strong if the lower part could be obscured. Hull armor was around the same level as the M48, but overall the tank was much lighter, albeit with a worse engine.
Preserved T69 photographed at Aberdeen sometime in the 80’s or 90’s.
The tank seemed promising overall, but it took a long time to develop. The first turret wasn’t complete until 1955, by which point the M48 had already entered service. When it came time to test this tank, the auto loading mechanism proved too unreliable to work with, and the project was dropped. The T69 pilot vehicle was preserved at Aberdeen and now resides with the U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection at Fort Benning in Georgia.
Specifications:
90mm Gun Tank T69
Crew: 4
Weight: 38 tons
Powerplant: Continental AOS-895-3
- 500 gross horsepower
- 370 net horsepower
Power to weight ratio: 13.2 hp/ton gross (9.7 hp/ton net)
Maximum Speed: 32 mph (51.5 km/h)
Armament:
- Main gun: T178 90mm cannon (40 rounds)
- Rate of fire (eight shots): 30 rounds/min
- Traverse: 24 degrees/sec, 360 degree range
- Elevation: 4 degrees/sec, + 15 / - 9 degree range
- Coaxial machine gun: .30 caliber Browning M1919A4 (3,500 rounds)
- Anti-aircraft machine gun: .50 caliber Browning M2HB (1,000 rounds)
Armor:
- Hull:
- Upper glacis: 4 in (102 mm) CHA at 60 degrees
- Lower glacis: 4 in - 2.5 in (102mm - 63.5mm) CHA at 54 degrees
- Side front: 3 in - 2.5 in (76mm - 63.5 mm) RHA at 0 degrees
- Side rear: 1.5 in (38 mm) RHA at 0 degrees
- Rear: 1 in (25 mm) RHA at 60 degrees
- Turret:
- Turret face: 4 in (102mm) CHA at 60 degrees
- Sides: 3.0 in (76 mm) CHA at 0 degrees
- Rear: 5.8 in (147 mm) CHA at 40 degrees
Additional equipment:
- T46E2 stereoscopic rangefinder
Sources:
- AD0395256
- Patton: A History of the American MBT (Vol. 1) by R.P. Hunnicutt (1984)
- TOADMAN'S TANK PICTURES T42 LIGHT TANK