- Yes!
- No!
The M55 was a heavy self-propelled gun based on he hull of the M47 tank, that was adopted by the newly formed West-German army in 1957 to 1958. The M55 replaced the M7 Priest SPG which was used in the first year of the new German army as essentially training equipment.
The M55 was named “sPzH M55” in German service and remained in use until 1966.
Logistically, the M55 was quite a bit more complicated to maintain than the other two main SPG’s used by the Bundeswehr, the M44 and M52, which were based on the M41, as the M55 was the only German SPG based on the M47, meaning a separate support-line for M47 parts had to be established independently from tank-brigades, specifically for the artillery groups that used the few M55s.
Not many M55s were in German service, instead, only a few were available on division-level, with the M44 and M52 being the much more popular SPGs during these early years of the new German Republic’s army.
Eventually the M110 would replace the M55 as the large SPG in the West-German arsenal, starting in the 1950’s, culminating in the retiring of the M55 in 1966.
Specifications:
Crew: 6
Weight: 44 tons
Armor: 25mm max
Engine: Continental AV1790-5B (810 HP)
Armament: 1x 203,2mm M47 howitzer (10 shells), 1x 12,7mm M2HB (900 rounds)
Conclusion:
I think the M55 would be an excellent large gun platform for the German tech-tree, not so much as an artillery piece, as the standard match ranges are less than 1km, but instead it would be a great assault gun with a huge HE filler, similar to the Sturmtiger, but with much better ballistic handling.
Let me know what you think!