T57 Heavy Tank - Father of the T54E1

[FiftiesMan50]

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

• Yes
• No

History
The T57 program began in the early 1950s. The U.S. Ordinance Department was developing the then T43 heavy tank (to become the M103). With the French developing their autoloading tanks in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the United States wanted to test the viability of an oscillating turret designed tank with an autoloader. The Rheem Manufacturing Company built two turrets that were mounted to the T43 hull for testing. The apparent goal was to see if a 120mm gun tank could reload faster than the 14–16 seconds it took with the T43 prototype.

Before the tank could be tested completely in trials, the U.S. government moved away from heavy tank designs, (the M103 was already in service). They wanted to have lighter tanks with better mobility, while retaining the firepower. This would lead to the main battle tank doctrine. Before it could even be tested, the T57 was doomed to fail. The tank weighed in at 53.44 tons, could only move at 22 mph, and had an operating range of 80 miles. The program was officially cancelled in 1957, and both turrets were unfortunately scrapped, with no models being preserved.

Specifications
120mm Gun Tank T57
Crew: 4
Weight: 53.44 metric tons
Powerplant: Continental AV-1970-7

• 810 gross horsepower @ 2,800 rpm
• 690 net horsepower at 2,800 rpm
• Power-to-weight ratio: 15.28 hp/ton gross (13.02 hp/ton net)
• Top Speed: 22 mph

Armament

• 120mm Tank Gun, T179 (8 rounds in autoloader cylinder, 10 in hull. Total 18+1 rounds)
  Rate of fire: Was projected to fire 30 rounds per minute. Realistically, it would most likely have been 8–10 rounds per minute.
  Traverse: 15 seconds/360 degrees
  Elevation: 4 degrees/sec + 15 / -8 degree range
• Cal .30 machine gun, coaxial M37 (Browning M1919)
• Cal .50 machine gun, mounted on turret M2HB Browning

Armor

• Hull
  Front
  Upper: 5 in @ 60 degrees
  Lower: 4.5 in @ 45 degrees
  Side
  Upper: 3 in @ 0 degrees
  Lower: 3 in @ 0 degrees
  Rear
  1.5 to 1 in @ 30 to 60 degrees
  Top
  1 in
  Floor
  0.5 to 1.5 in

• Turret
  Front
  5 in @ 60 degrees
  Side
  5.375 to 2.75 in @ 20 to 40 degrees
  Rear
  1.5 in @ 40 degrees
  Roof
  1.5 in
  Gun Shield
  10 to 4 in @ 45 degrees

Additional Equipment

• T50 Stereoscopic Rangefinder
• 8 cylinder autoloader

Source

-Office, Chief of Ordnance. Development of 120 mm Gun Tank, T57 https://web.archive.org/web/20170210062448/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/395258.pdf
-T57 heavy tank - Wikipedia
-120mm Gun Tank T57 - Tank Encyclopedia
-Presidio Press, Firepower: A History of the American Heavy Tank, R. P. Hunicutt - Page 152-156 https://archive.org/details/firepowerhistory0000hunn
The USA Historical AFV Register - Page 152 https://www.afvregister.org/Downloads/The%20USA%20Historical%20AFV%20Register%204.4a.pdf

[jon_man1199]

A +1 from me. Would be nice to see this, the T58, the T69, and the T77 all pop up in the TT eventually

[foxmeup]

it’s a no, paper vehicle with an already existing real version in-game.

@FiftiesMan50

Weight: 53.44 metric tons

@FiftiesMan50

• Upper: 5 in @ 60 degrees
  Lower: 4.5 in @ 45 degrees
  Side
  Upper: 3 in @ 0 degrees
  Lower: 3 in @ 0 degrees
  Rear
  1.5 to 1 in @ 30 to 60 degrees
  Top
  1 in
  Floor
  0.5 to 1.5 in
• Turret
  Front
  5 in @ 60 degrees
  Side
  5.375 to 2.75 in @ 20 to 40 degrees
  Rear
  1.5 in @ 40 degrees
  Roof
  1.5 in
  Gun Shield
  10 to 4 in @ 45 degrees

convert everything to metric, thank you. imperial is a barbaric unit.

[hugo_B757]

not needed really, there is allready a production variant in the game, so its no juse pissing ppl off by adding a purely paper tank

[azekill_DIABLO]

I concur, it would make for a nice change of pace in the midst of the american TT filled with slow reloading guns!

[EL337GH0ST]

Don’t get your hopes up on it getting a realistic reload rate, the T54E1 in-game has a massively butchered reload of only 12 RPM, slower than all French oscillating tanks, when it should be much superior at a similar 30+ RPM like the T57, T58 and T69 should have.

[jon_man1199]

@foxmeup

it’s a no, paper vehicle with an already existing real version in-game.

It was hardly a paper vehicle. Turrets and guns were built, and the hull was just a T43 hull. The question, more so at the moment, is whether they were ever mated, but even then, it’s not a significant issue.

@hugo_B757

a purely paper tank

See above

[foxmeup]

@jon_man1199

The question, more so at the moment, is whether they were ever mated, but even then, it’s not a significant issue.

My bad, i should have read the suggestion entirely before commenting. it’s an american surbaissé, france sent an oscillating turret in exchange of the 120mm.

@FiftiesMan50

120mm Tank Gun, T179 (8 rounds in autoloader cylinder, 10 in hull. Total 18+1 rounds)
Rate of fire: Was projected to fire 30 rounds per minute. Realistically, it would most likely have been 8–10 rounds per minute.

reload would most likely be 5-6 seconds (and gaijin would most likely tweak it for balancing reasons).

Still need al the metrics measurements tho (alos it’s cast armor, so you’re gonna need to specify min and max values of each cast part) :)

[jon_man1199]

@foxmeup

france sent an oscillating turret in exchange of the 120mm.

Not exactly, The turret itself was designed and built by the Americans. But yeah, in effect, this is an American Surbaissé gameplay-wise.

[foxmeup]

i didn’t mean that it was a french turret, i mean that the concept was french and that the american made an exchange because they were interested by the auto-loader. But yeah it’s an american design, just like the t54e1.

[azekill_DIABLO]

No matter how it’s implemented I’ll be glad to play it