American armored vehicle
The first version of the American-style armored combat tractor. Attention is drawn to wheels with pneumatics, which were completely unsuitable for a combat vehicle.
When you go out to war against your enemy and see horses and chariots, and more people than yours, then do not fear them, for the Lord is with you ...
Deuteronomy 20:1
Deuteronomy 20:1
The original armored vehicles of the Second World War. After the articles about the Odessa tank "NI" were published, several VO readers expressed a wish that the topic of "combat tractors" be continued. But ... it's not so easy to find about such tanks-surrogates interesting stuff. But, nevertheless, we managed to find something, and today we will tell you about one such "combat tractor". And the most interesting thing is that it appeared not in the USSR, and not in England, where a wide variety of "self-made" combat vehicles were created on the eve of the landing of German troops, but, in general, prosperous USA. That is, far from the land line of contact of the Allied forces with the German troops ... There is nothing special, however, in this vehicle there is nothing. However, she is kind of "wild, but cute." And most importantly, this tank-tractor was not tracked, but moved on pneumatic wheels. What was his manufacturer hoping for, offering the military a chassis so vulnerable to bullets and shrapnel, but, apparently, he still hoped for something. But the Lord God was clearly not on his side, but on the side of the American military, who in the end refused to accept him for service!
And it so happened that shortly before the United States entered the Second World War, an American manufacturer of agricultural machinery and, in particular, wheeled tractors, and, of course, an undoubted patriot of his country - a certain John Deere, thought about the fact that a sufficient number of tanks for the war the American army does not yet have it. And ... he offered his services to the military as a manufacturer of armored vehicles. The idea was simple - it couldn't be easier: to create a combat vehicle, covered with armor, on the basis of the tractor it produced, which could then be produced in large quantities and with the most minimal cost of financial resources and materials. At the same time, Deer came to the remarkable conclusion that just cheap and small agricultural tractors, and, of course, it was his production, were perfect for this purpose. He set three tasks for his designers: first - to create a combat tank-tractor, second - to provide for the use of this tractor as a tractor-transporter and also in the version of a training vehicle, so that there was something to teach tank driver mechanics.
In this version, both machine guns are installed in the onboard sponsons in such a way that they only look forward. But the designers left the wheels without any armor cover, which, of course, was very bad. But putting armored casings on them would be even worse, since this would further increase the weight of the car and reduce its traction characteristics. Of course, if the drive wheels on this "tank" were from the "Fordzon", that is, they were metal and with developed lugs, then there would be no need to arm them. But such wheels are extra weight, and it was not small anyway. And besides, the Dir plant simply did not produce such wheels and therefore could not use them!
Most likely, it was proposed to use a Model G or Model H tractor, equipped with a two-cylinder gasoline engine with a working volume of 321 cc, for revision and booking. Both the driver's seat and his engine were completely covered with armor plates, with a thickness of 4 to 9,5 mm. Since there was simply nowhere to put a turret on this tractor, the newly-made "tank" had two machine-gun sponsons on both sides, which housed a machine gunner and one 7,62-mm Colt Browning machine gun. Interestingly, according to the initial idea of the designers, the left sponson of the tank was to be turned back, and the right one - forward. In this way, the designer of the machine tried to compensate for the lack of circular fire on it. The tractor had a dry weight of 5500 pounds (2495 kg), but armor plates added 3500 pounds (1588 kg). In general, it was not that much. But here it is necessary to take into account the not too high engine power of this ersatz tank, and its purely tractor chassis.
An improved version of the Armored Model A Tractor looked like this ...
The built vehicle received the designation Armored Model A Tractor and was presented to the military in early 1941. But as a combat vehicle, this surrogate did not make an impression on them, although - yes, both of its other functions - a tractor and a training vehicle, they considered quite feasible and even acceptable.
This is what the driver's seat looked like inside the wheelhouse of this ersatz tank.
The vehicle was tested at the Aberdeen Tank Range. They began on January 10 and lasted until the beginning of February 1941. The result was an official act prepared by the military commission, the content of which was, however, very far from encouraging and, of course, Deere was not at all happy. The simplicity of the design of the machine was undoubtedly noted, but the tractor itself did not meet the requirements of the military in terms of cost / efficiency. The developer promised to produce up to 100 of these vehicles per day, but without taking into account the work on their armor and the installation of weapons. In addition, the very first tests of the armored vehicle on the ground showed its completely unsatisfactory passability. Thus, he could still apply for the role of a tractor and ammunition transporter, but as a combat vehicle it had no value. Its poor maneuverability and low speed characteristics were also noted, which were especially pronounced when driving just over rough terrain.
The front wheels on it were double, and, as it turned out, such a scheme did not provide the armored tractor with either proper maneuverability or good controllability, and the car itself often got stuck in mud and sand. The extremely low specific power of the engine also "contributed" to all this - suffice it to say that it was not higher than 7 liters. with. per ton of weight.
The machine gunner's seat inside the sponson was downright Spartan
Among the shortcomings, the military noted a very poor view, both from the driver's seat, who could not see the road directly in front of him and along the sides, and from machine-gun sponsons. They also criticized the car's rigid suspension, which caused the crew to experience severe discomfort when driving it over rough terrain. Firing tests only added to the shortcomings. It turned out that the shooters in the onboard sponsons are also very cramped. Inside, there was clearly not enough room to accommodate even one person with the very minimum of ammunition. There were cases when machine gunners in the literal sense of the word were bombarded with hot casings. In addition, due to the not very good location of the machine guns, it was possible to shoot through the front wheels. Well, the review from sponsors, as already noted, was also recognized by the military as completely insufficient.
However, according to the military, the replacement of the "proprietary" front axle with a conventional one (with two single wheels) made it possible to operate this vehicle normally as a tractor or as an improvised light tank. As for the cost, the tractor itself was estimated at $ 2000. But since each sheet of armor had to be bought separately at a price of $ 1 for each pound of weight, the final price of the Deer armored vehicle could already be from $ 6500 to $ 8000, depending on the purpose and the presence of weapons on it.
These engineers from "John Deere Company" accepted the comments and based them on the revision of the project. A conventional front axle was installed on the tractor, and the armored body was redesigned. At the same time, the driver's seat was slightly raised to improve visibility, and the engine hood received a slightly more rational shape.
In this form, the modified Armored Model A Tractor again went for testing in the spring of 1941, but the army was unambiguously inclined to the opinion that it could be used only for training or as a light tank of the "second line".
In April, the following variant was also tested: "prime mover" (transporter) - in fact, the same tractor, but without machine-gun armament and sponsors. However, by that time the opinion prevailed in the army that conventional tanks and armored vehicles would cope with the assigned tasks more efficiently than such purely civilian tractors. Therefore, the army team refused from J. Deere's offer, and all the tractors he built were scrapped.
Both "tanks" by J. Deere. Well, in his own way, he, too, tried as best he could, trying to bring the day of victory closer ...
The performance characteristics of the Armored Model A Tractor armored vehicle mod. 1941:
Combat weight: 4309 kg;
Crew: 3 people, a driver and two gunners;
Overall dimensions, mm: length - 2000, width - 1100, height - 1200;
Armament: 2x7,62 mm Colt Browning machine gun;
Reservation, mm: hull forehead, hull side, hull feed - 9,5; roof, bottom - 4;
Engine: "Deer", gasoline, liquid-cooled, 60 hp. with.;
Transmission: mechanical type with manual gearbox (6 + 1);
Chassis: wheel arrangement 3x1 or 4x2, front wheels are steered, rear wheels are driven, pneumatic tires, suspension from leaf springs;
Highway speed, km / h: 21.
Such a somewhat unusual Yankee armored tank-tractor turned out. It is clear that for a country like the United States, a country with a well-developed automotive industry, this kind of cars were unacceptable in principle. And no initial shortage of tanks, and it really existed, since the United States entered the war with only 330 tanks of all types, could not force the American military to launch a large-scale production of such armored freaks! They did not have to fear the invasion of German tanks, and, sitting overseas under the protection of their naval fleet, they could very well wait until the engineers create real tanks for them, and the American factories and "Rosie's riveters" will release them!
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