M5A1 Late Production (E9-9 Flamethrower)

Suggestions Ground
1
Would you like to see the M5A1 mounting the E9-9 flamethrower in game?
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

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M5A1 “Stuart” Late Production
Mounting E9-9 Flamethrower

USA

Background

Spoiler

In April of 1943, the Standard Oil Company of Indiana was contracted to develop a new flamethrower for the M5A1. The M5A1 chosen was one of the late production variants, which identifiably excludes the pistol ports located on either side of the turret. The objective of the contract was to produce a flamethrower with a large fuel capacity, a range of around 182 m, and would not take away from the M5A1’s anti-tank capability. The idea for the project would be for use in the Pacific Theatre

The E9 was designed to fit the flamethrower component into the M5A1 whilst all other components would be mounted on a trailer roughly the size of the tank itself. The trailer itself was connected to the M5A1 via a 254mm Socket, with this connection point the M5A1 was only able to make turns of 105°. The fuel line passed through this joint, and special valves were manufactured which allowed the M5A1 to jettison the trailer without any fuel spilling from the tank.

Unfortunately, the testing phase of the E9 was never completed. During one of the tests a compressor failure occurred and shortly thereafter the trailer exploded, which was followed by the M5A1 being swallowed by flames. Catastrophically, All 4 crew members burnt to there death, and 9 more were wounded by the explosion. studies after the explosion revealed faults in the tanks designed, it was poorly welded, didn’t meet industrial standards, and the weakened springs and oil deposits of the compressor resulted in its valve to stick open, which later resulted in ignition of said oil buildup. following this, the development of the project was canceled as the trailer was completely destroyed, the pilot vehicle was damaged beyond repair, and with the passing of the crew, interest in the project was dropped.

Technical Data

Tank Specifications

Crew - 4

Length - 4.8387 m

Width - 2.286 m

Height - 2.5654 m (Including MG Mount)

Tread - 1.86182 m

Fire Height - 1.96596 m

Ground Clearance - 0.4191 m

Powerpack - Twin Cadillac Serie 42 (8 x 2) Cylinder Engines

Net kW - 164.054 kW at 3,400 rpm

Net Torque - 661.639 Joule

Fuel - 80 Octane Gasoline.

Combat Weight - 15,195.344 kg

Combat Weight w Trailer - 26,081.64 kg

Power to Weight Ratio - 0.010796 kW/kg (13.1 Hp/Ton)

Power to Weight Ratio W Trailer - 0.00629 kW/kg (7.65 Hp/Ton)

Transmission - Hydramatic, +4 / -2

Maximum Speed 57.9364 km/h

Maximum Speed with Trailer - 55.1 km/h

Turret Ring Diameter - 1.18745 m (Inside)

Max Turn Angle - 105°

(Note that it is possible for the Trailer to be jettisoned from inside the Stuart)

Armor

Hull Composition - Rolled Homogeneous Steel

Assembly - Welded

UFP - 28.58mm

LFP (Cast) - 38 ↔ 64mm

Sides - 25mm

Rear - 25mm

Roof - 13mm

Floor - 9.53 ↔ 13mm

Turret Composition- Rolled Homogeneous Steel

Gun Mantlet - 51mm

Front - 44.5mm

Sides - 31.8mm

Read - 31.8mm

Roof - 13mm

Trailer Specifications

Length - 4.3 ~ 4.6 m (Artificially Measured)

Width - 2.2 ~ m (Artificially Measured)

Height - 2.6 ~ m (Artificially Measured)

Tank Maximum Fill - 5,455 Litre

Tank Normal Fill - 3,637 Litre

Air Compression - 800 PSI

Trailer Combat Weight - 10886.2 kg

Armament

1 x 37mm M6 Cannon in M44 Mount

Ammo - M74B1, M51B1, M63, M2

RoF - 30 rpm

Traverse - 360° / +20° / -12° (15 Seconds for full 360°)

1 x 7.62mm MG M1919A5 in Coaxial Mount

Ammo - ~2,250 Rounds (Estimation)

RoF - 535 rpm

Traverse - 360° / +20° / -12° (15 seconds for full 360°)

1 x E9 Flamethrower in Bow Mount

Fuel - 3,367 Litre’s of Napalm Thickened Gasoline.

Range - 182.22 m

RoF - 29.9678 Litre (19.05 mm Nozzle) 3.40687 Litre (6.35mm Nozzle) (800 psi)

Traverse - <60 / 60> / +25° / -15°

Electronics

Either SCR 508, 528, or 538 Radio. (Not documented)

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Sources

Spoiler

STUART, A History of the American Light Tank, Vol 1. R.P. Hunnicutt (1992)

E9-9 Mechanized Flamethrower - Tank Encyclopedia

Secret Weapons, Forgotten Sacrifices | National Archives

4 Likes
2

+1 Hopefully we get TT flame tanks (in folders preferably)

2 Likes
3

Suggestion Updated

Added “Armor” to vehicle’s Technical Data

4

+1 please tech tree

5

At least according to Tank Encyclopedia, the vehicle’s official designation was “E9-9 Mechanized Flame Thrower” (although I assume it was referred to often as E9-9 for simplicity sake). E9-9, however, is only the name of the flamethrower itself, that being the E9 Fuel System and E9 Flame Gun. So calling this vehicle E9-9 would technically be incorrect.

Therefore, ingame I think we could abbreviate “Mechanized Flame Thrower” to “MFT” leaving the tank’s name as “E9-9 MFT”

6

Or M5A1 (L) E9-9

1 Like
7

If we were to condense the name of your suggestion yes, but since the E9 flamethrower was not used on any other vehicle to my knowledge, there is no need to mention the model of tank as “E9-9 Mechanized Flame Thrower” already refers to it.

Not that it matters much, I just think mine is a bit more historical.

8

I just want this because of the comically large trailer

1 Like
9

+1, good event or BP tank. Stuarts alone are underrated. Kinda wish flames/naplam did more damage in game though, like setting engines on fire through their decks. (This may have been changed since last I encountered a flame vehicle in GRB.

Although in service flamethrower stuarts were called "Satan"s IIRC. So all hail the satan.

10

IIRC it was only the M3A1 fitted with the Ronson FT that was called that, but I could be mistaken.

I have a few Stuarts on my to do list.

M3 (FT)
M3A1 “Satan”
M3A1 (E5R1-M3 FT)
M3A1 (E5R2-M3 FT)
M5A1 (E7-7 FT)
M5A1 (E8 FT).

1 Like
11

Okay, then. Because the “Stuart” encompasses the M2, M3, and M5 Light Tanks, designations can be confusing, sorry.

1 Like