l spent a good chunk of yesterday doing the summer fair thing — walking around looking at exhibits, stepping carefully through the livestock barns, and enjoying food so bad for you it’s good. The Altamont Fair has all kinds of entertainment, rides, vendors, and displays.
This particular exhibit is courtesy of the NY-Penn Military Vehicle Collectors Club:
HISTORY: NY- Penn Military Vehicle Collectors Club (NY-Penn MVCC) was formed in 1986 by a group of history and vehicle enthusiasts in the greater Binghamton/Southern Tier area. This group subsequently became known as "A Company." As interest grew a sister company was formed in the Capital District area in 2004 and named “Hudson Mohawk Chapter”. This chapter includes the Capital District and Hudson and Mohawk Valleys. Shortly thereafter, a third and final chapter was created to cover the greater Syracuse and Central New York area and this became known as "Easy Company”. Today, NY-Penn MVCC is a registered, not-for-profit corporation with associated by-laws and a Board of Directors made up of the leaders of each Chapter. Each Chapter typically has a monthly meeting in their local region and usually several events are held annually that all Chapters may participate in. Typical events may include parades, car shows, veteran support activities, memorial events, trail rides, military vehicle shows, picnics, and com-munity events. Events and meetings are family friendly. Anyone is welcome as long as you have a love of history and all things mechanical. We are not a political organization and strongly discourage politics or political statements in our meetings and events.
Given all of the interest in Ukraine and the weapons appearing on the battlefield there, I thought a photo diary of the kinds of weapons the U.S. relied on to win World War II and the Cold War that followed was worth a look. (Plus some newer stuff.) These were front-line weapons back in the day. So…
Tanks for the memories
The M-47 Patton Tank: a medium tank, this 1952 model was built by ALCO (Schenectady, NY). It weighs 48.6 tons, 4” armor in front, 2” on sides, has a 90mm main gun with 71 rounds stored internally. It sports 2 .30 caliber machine guns, 1 .50 caliber machine gun. The engine is an 810 HP gas-powered V12 with a top speed of 30 mph at 3 gal/mile off road. It takes a crew of 5 to operate it: Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver, Assistant Driver (Bow Gunner)
The Walker Bulldog M41a3 tank was a light tank — smaller main gun, higher top speed compared to the M47 above. Built by Cadillac, it weighed a mere 25.8 tons, had only 1” armor, had a 77 mm main gun with 65 rounds stored in the hull. It had 1 .30 caliber machine gun, 1 .50 caliber machine gun, was powered by a 500 HP V6 gasoline engine, and could hit 45 mph. It took a crew of 4: Commander, Gunner, Loader, and Driver. It was not considered a success; production only ran until 1954. It was replaced by the Sheridan tank. Perhaps if Cadillac had put fins on it...
For comparison purposes, here’s a photo from the Daily Kos library of an M1 Abrams main battle tank. The design came out of the late 1970s, with several upgrades since then - the latest dating from 1999, the M1A2 SEP
Some numbers about the latest variant: Crew of 4, Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver. Top speed: 42 mph. Weight: 69.5 — 73.6 tons. It’s powered by a gas turbine engine producing 1,500 SHP — and an exhaust that makes it impractical for troops to walk too close behind it. The big gun is a M256 (tank gun), smoothbore that can handle a variety of ammo. Three machine guns are standard, with an optional 4th. The basic armor is Chobham armor, with additional add-ons.
The Abrams is loaded with electronics for targeting, special vision capabilities, and more — and the AbramsX demonstrator looks to add new capabilities coming out of lessons from the Ukraine conflict, not to mention reducing emissions…
Artillery anyone?
Here’s a blast from the past: M1917 155 mm Howitzer.
According to the display sign, it was manufactured by Schneider in 1918 — and remanufactured in 1940 for WW II. Its shells weigh 100 pounds. The remanufacturing was mainly about equipping it with a carriage that could move at motor vehicle speeds, rather than horsepower.
Meanwhile, on the seas we had the 3” /50 Naval gun, which was mounted on battleships, cruisers, destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines, frigates, and other vessels. Range: ~14,600 yards.
Ready to go long? Here’s the 1945 M1A1 155 mm Long Tom, weight 15.2 tons, maximum range (with 100 pound projectile) 14.7 miles, maximum rate of fire 40 rounds/hour, crew of 11.
One more thing. Getting the gun that fired this shell out for display would be a bit of trick. (The classic jeep behind it gives an idea of how big the HE projectile is. It was fired from Iowa class battleships of WW II: USS Iowa, USS Missouri, USS New Jersey, USS Wisconsin. According to the sign, it weighs 1,900 pounds, can hit targets 24 miles away, travels at 2,690 feet per second, and the gun tube it’s fired from weighs in at 134 tons. Those 6 bales represent the 6 powder charges that would propel it out of the gun; each weighed 593 pounds. (Or 110 pounds each according to UhDave, which makes more sense considering they would have to be man-handled.)
Heavy Transport
What does it take to move tanks and guns around? Some big machinery. Here’s a picture of what was used to move the Long Tom shown above: an Allis Chalmers M4 High Speed Tractor from 1945.
The big deal with artillery these days is “Shoot and scoot”. Modern counterbattery systems can use radar and computers to detect where shells are being fired from — and shoot back. Best to be elsewhere when those shells arrive. Drones are also making it harder to stay concealed. This is why mobile launch systems like MLRS are all the rage — they can move out in a hurry after firing several rounds in quick succession.
So, when your tank breaks down, how do you get it to the shop? You call in the Oshkosh M1070 Tank transporter. It’s main job — hauling Abrams M1 tanks.
Need something else for heavy hauling? How about the Oshkosh MK48 LVS “Dragon Wagon”? With a 450 HP diesel it can haul 22.5 tons of whatever. The Marines have been using these since 1985.
Some other classics:
Here’s a 1944 “Deuce and a Half” — a GMC CCKW 2 and ½ ton 6x6 truck.
How does the Brass get around the front? If they’re not in a jeep, how about a 1941 Dodge Command Car?
There had to be one of these, of course. I wonder how they’ll be regarded in 70 years?
That’s it for a look at military vehicles on display at the Altamont Fair. If you’re in the area, give it a look — lots of other things to do and see from now through August 20, 2023.