This article uses bare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot. Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style. Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting, such as reFill (documentation) and Citation bot (documentation). (August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable. Please help improve this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Unreliable citations may be challenged and removed. (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
T2 Medium Tank
TypeMedium tank
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In serviceprototype only
Used byUnited States Army
Production history
DesignerRock Island Arsenal
Produced1930
No. built1
Specifications
Mass13.6 tons
Length16 ft (4.9 m)
Width8 ft 0 in (2.44 m)
Height9 ft 1 in (2.77 m)
Crew4 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Armor0.25 to 1 in (6.4 to 25.4 mm)
Main
armament
47 mm (75 rounds) turret
37 mm M5, L/50 gun, hull
Secondary
armament
12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun (2000 rounds)
7.62 mm M1919 Browning machine gun (4500 rounds)
EngineLiberty L-12 V12 gasoline engine water-cooled
338 hp (252 kW)
SuspensionVickers type leaf springs with roller pairs
Operational
range
121 miles
Maximum speed paved 25 mph (40 km/h)
terrain 15 mph (24 km/h)

The T2 Medium Tank was an American design that replaced three prototype medium tank designs started in the 1920s for an experiment conducted by the United States Army. The T2 tank never saw combat nor left prototype stages and due to lack of funds was not mass-produced with only one built in 1930 by Rock Island Arsenal. Its legacy, however, was the M2 light tank, developed into the M2 medium tank, and onto the M3 Lee and M4 Sherman medium tanks.

Design

Following the testing of the Medium Tank M1921 two new medium tank projects were approved in 1926, one of which was for a lighter 15 ton tank design. The first design, armed with a gun in the hull front and a smaller gun in the turret, did not progress due to lack of funding and instead the Light Tank T1E1 was used as a basis.[1]

The design of the T2 was largely inspired by the British Vickers Medium Mark II and was later developed into the M2 light tank. When the T2 Medium Tank was built, its weight had to be reduced drastically because the US War Department had set a maximum weight of 15 tons. The T2 weighed only 14 tons when it was combat-loaded. The secondary armament was a 0.5 inch (12.7mm) machine gun and a 0.3 inch (7.62mm) machine gun at the front of the hull on the right; these were later replaced with a single .30 cal machine gun. The primary armament was a 47mm semi-automatic gun mounted on the turret and it initially had an additional 37mm cannon placed on the hull but that was abandoned in 1931. Only one T2 was produced; it is currently on display at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia.[2]

References

  1. ^ Rickard
  2. ^ "Preserved Tanks .Com | Tank Types". preservedtanks.com.
Categories