- Yes
- No
Hello, and welcome to the suggestion for the T29E3! This is the final prototype of the T29 heavy tank, noted for its panoramic telescopes and coincidence rangefinders, the latter of which form the distinctive “ears” on the sides of the turret. Most importantly, this would provide an opportunity to have a tech tree T29, and a backup for those who already own the in-game T29.
History
An M26 in Euskirchen, Germany, March 5th, 1945
In 1944, the American heavy tank was stagnant. The M6 heavy tank had failed, and while M10s and M4s were making do, reports of a Tiger II in Normandy on July 18th, 1944 reached American the upper echelons of the U.S. Army. This and further reports of new German heavy tanks revived interest in building American heavy tanks. Initially, it was attempted to mount a modified turret mounting a 105 mm T5E1 gun on an M6 chassis, but this resulted in an extremely heavy and overburdened M6 chassis.
On September 14th, 1944, OCM 25117 recommended development and manufacture of four pilots for a new heavy tank design. Two would be designated T29 and be armed with the 105 mm T5E1 gun, and the other two were to be designated T30 and armed with a 155 mm T7 gun. By the end of 1944, the M26 Pershing entered service in Europe, and though it was designated as a heavy tank, it was not able to fulfill the role of one, hastening development on the T29 and T30.
The first production pilot T29 at Aberdeen Proving Ground, October 31st, 1947.
The resulting T29 was a 64 ton tank mounting a large turret on a chassis powered by a 770 hp V-12 Ford GAC engine, coupled to a new CD-850-1 cross-drive transmission designed by General Motors. In the turret was the long barreled 105 mm T5E1 in a combination gun mount T123, capable of firing T32 and T13 Armor Piercing, T30E1 High Explosive, and T29E3 Hyper Velocity Armor Piercing rounds. The T29’s secondary armament was heavy too, consisting of two .50 caliber machine guns coaxially, a .30 caliber machine gun in the hull, and a .50 caliber machine gun on the roof. It was manned by 6 crew, with two in the hull, and four in the turret, including two loaders.
Procurement of the T29 was approved on April 12th, 1945, but the numbers ordered was reduced to 1,152 from 1,200. Four further pilots were ordered, but one was to be armed with the 120 mm T53 gun, to be designated T34. As the war began to wind down, and eventually ended, the production contract was cancelled with Pressed Steel Car Company, with all material transferred to Detroit Arsenal for the completion of ten pilots for further study. By May of 1948, three T29s had been delivered to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where they primarily underwent evaluation of their power train components, as well as engineering and endruance tests.
The T29E3 at Aberdeen Proving Ground, May 4th, 1948.
While the first T29 was diverted to use a new Allison V-1710-E32 engine, and the second to use a hydraulic power turret traverse mechanism and T5E2 gun, T29 #8 was modified to install the T31E1 rangefinder and T93E2 telescope in the T136 mount. Provisions were made to mount the T141, T144, and T145 panoramic sights to evaluate their use for indirect fire. The T145 was mounted in the turret roof, while the former two would be used by the gunner’s periscopic sight. This was part of early attempts to look into integrated fire control systems. Much like how the first and second T29s were redesignated T29E1 and T29E2, #8 was redesignated T29E3. While on paper the T31E1 rangefinder would allow the gunner to give a target his undivided attention, it worked poorly in practice. Despite the poor results, the tests did show that the stereoscopic rangefinder was useful for spotting purposes, and furthered enthusiasm about the design’s ability to enable a crew to hit their first shot at distances over 1,000 yards.
At the end of its trials, T29E3 was moved to Fort Knox, which ultimately saved it, as the T29s moved to Fort Knox were saved, while all other T29s were scrapped. Though the T29 program ended in light of newer designs, its technology was vital for American tank development, and today the T29 and T29E3 are on display at the National Armor and Cavalry Museum at Fort Benning, remnants of some of the last existing American heavy tanks.
The T29E3 prototype at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Specifications
- Crew: 6
- Length: 12.6 m
- Width: 4.15 m
- Height: 3.5 m
- Main armament: 105 mm T5E1
- Main armament elevation angles: 15/-10°
- Main armament ammunition stowed: 63 rounds
- Secondary armament: 3× 12.7 mm M2HB & 1× 7.62 M1919A4
- Maximum speed: 30 km/h
- Engine: 770 hp Ford GAC
- Transmission: CD-850-1
Sources
- Hunnicutt, R. P. (1988). Firepower, A History of the American Heavy Tank. Presidio Press.
- https://www.tankarchives.com/2019/08/when-late-is-not-better-than-never.html
- https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-usa-heavy-tank-t29/
