The 8-inch Howitzer Motor Carriage M43 was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle built on a widened and lengthened medium tank M4A3 chassis, but with a Continental engine and HVSS that was introduced at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The M43 shared the same chassis as the more widely produced M40 Gun Motor Carriage, which instead mounted a 155 mm gun, and were designed by the

Pressed Steel Car Company The Pressed Steel Car Company was a builder of railroad cars and equipment based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that was founded in 1899, and had facilities in Pittsburgh and Chicago. It operated until 1956. Before World War II The Pressed Stee ...

. A production run of 576 was planned originally, but in the end only 24 were produced and another 24 were converted from M40 hulls. The M43 went on to serve in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, and was retired after its conclusion.

History

Equipped with a M115 203 mm (8-inch)

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

, it was designed to replace the earlier M12 gun motor carriage. Its prototype designation was the T89, but this was changed to the M43 in March 1945. The 41.5-ton vehicles struggled to keep up with mechanized formations, but were successful when employed in more stationary roles.

Operational service

A single pilot vehicle was deployed in Europe before the end of World War II and was used in action by the 991st Field Artillery Regiment, first seeing action as part of Zebra Force in February 1945 in the capture of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. M43s were used in action in the

, where they were well suited to the static fighting there, their high angle of fire permitting them to hit the rear slopes of hills.

Variants

* 8-inch Howitzer Motor Carriage M43 – HMC, standardized August 1945; 48 were built. * Cargo Carrier T30 – a few built before cancellation in December 1944 to make more chassis available for GMCs. * The Army planned to use the same T38 chassis for a family of SP artillery.

Surviving vehicles

* one at the

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...

museum, OK * one in Wyoming, MI * one in The American Military Museum, South El Monte, CA

In popular culture

Despite its small production run, the M43s are featured in the computer games

World of Tanks ''World of Tanks'' (''WoT'') is an armoured warfare-themed multiplayer online game developed by Wargaming, featuring 20th century (1910s–1970s) era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play ...

and R.U.S.E.

Notes

External links and references

Tech Manual TM9-747Surviving M40 and M43
* SNL G232 {{WWIIAmericanAFVs Self-propelled howitzers of the United States Self-propelled artillery of the United States World War II self-propelled artillery World War II armored fighting vehicles of the United States Cold War armored fighting vehicles of the United States Tracked self-propelled howitzers 203 mm artillery Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944