|
|
The T64 155mm Howitzer Motor Carriage was a self propelled gun that mounted a howitzer on a lengthened M5A1 Light Tank chassis. The T64 never entered production, but a modified version based on the M24 Chaffee chassis did enter production as the M41 Howitzer Motor Carriage.
In May 1941 the US Army began work on the T16 4.5in Gun Motor Carriage, which was originally to use a chassis with components from the M3 Light Tank and the T7 Light Tank project. Most of the design work was done by Cadillac, who were also working on the M5 Light Tank. Their solution to the problem of fitting a big gun in the small chassis of the M3/M5 Light Tank was to produce a lengthened chassis based on the M5, with a third two-wheel bogie on each side. This modified chassis was then used on a variety of projects, including the T64.
Two prototypes of the T16 were ordered. The first was completed with the 4.5in gun, but the second was built with a 155mm howitzer and given the designation T64 155mm Howitzer Motor Carriage. It had the same layout as the T16, with the engine in the centre of the vehicle and the gun at the rear. Work on the T64 began in December 1942 and the single prototype underwent successful trials in 1943. By this point work had begun on the T24 Light Tank, which was expected to replace the M5 and so in August 1943 the Ordnance Board began to develop the T64E1, combining the T24 chassis with the basic layout of the T64. A pilot vehicle was authorised on 20 January 1944 and the type entered production as the M41 Howitzer Motor Carriage.