T18 Boarhound
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The T18 Boarhound was an American heavy armored car produced in small numbers for the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
during the
Second World War 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 ...
.


History

In July 1941, the
United States Army Ordnance Corps The United States Army Ordnance Corps, formerly the United States Army Ordnance Department, is a Combat service support (United States), sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Gregg-Adams, Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia ...
issued specifications for a heavy armored car (along with another specification for a medium armored car, which resulted in the
T17 Deerhound The T17 armored car, sometimes referred to as the M5 medium armored car and by the British as the Deerhound, was an American six-wheeled Armored car (military), armored car produced during the Second World War. The T17 lost out to the T17E desi ...
and
T17E1 Staghound The T17E1 armored car was an American Armored car (military), armored car manufactured during the Second World War. It saw service with United Kingdom, British and other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth forces during the war under the nam ...
) to be built for supply to the British. The prototype was developed in 1942 by the Yellow Coach Company. It was a large 8x8 (eight wheels, all driven; called an "eight-by-eight") vehicle with four front wheels used for steering. Thick armor brought the weight to 26 tons, about the weight of contemporary
medium tank A medium tank is a classification of tanks, particularly prevalent during World War II, which represented a compromise between the mobility oriented light tanks and the armour and armament oriented heavy tanks. A medium tank's classification ...
s. Initial armament consisted of a 37 mm gun M6 in a turret with a coaxial .30 inch machine gun and another .30 inch MG in the bow mount. By then, it was clear that the anti-tank performance of the 37 mm gun was insufficient and the production version, the T18E2, which was named Boarhound by the British, received the 57 mm gun M1, the US-manufactured variant of the British QF 6 pounder. The
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
had only shown minimal interest in the vehicle and retained the first 3 production vehicles. The
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
placed an order for 2,500 units, but high production costs and poor cross-country performance led to cancellation of the order with only 27 being delivered to North Africa. The T18 was never used widely in combat; however, a number were made use of by defending bases of operation in North Africa, with a few even taking part in convoy operations. There are accounts that a limited few were refitted for special duties in the rear echelon as well. Late in 1942, orders were issued for upwards of some eight Boarhounds to be assigned to the Eighth Army, which used them sparingly as supporting armored vehicles and, to some extent, in reconnaissance roles. None are said to have seen heavy action.General Orders pursuant to Armoured Actions - North Africa - Reference: Available Armoured Stockpiles-1942-7-12 and 1942-7-23 - The National Archives (TNA) at Kew, West London The only surviving vehicle is displayed in
The Tank Museum The Tank Museum (previously the Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about north of the village of Wool and west of the major port of Poole. The collectio ...
, Bovington, United Kingdom. For a wheeled vehicle, especially one made during the height of the African Campaign (which made it likely to serve in desert conditions) the T18 was simply too heavy. At 80 kilometers an hour, it did have a relatively high-top speed, but acceleration and turning were hampered by the somewhat thick frontal armor, which could reach 40mm in some places.


Variants

*T18 - original version with 37 mm gun. *T18E1 - six-wheeled version. Development stopped January 18, 1943 *T18E2 - version with 57 mm gun.


See also

G-numbers This is the Group G series List of the United States military vehicles by (Ordnance) supply catalog designation, – ''one'' of the alpha-numeric "standard nomenclature lists" (SNL) that were part of the overall list of the United States Army ...


Notes


References

*SNL G133 *George Forty - ''World War Two Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Self-Propelled Artillery'', Osprey Automotive. *Haugh, Davi
T18E2 data sheet
Warwheels.net *R.A.C Technical Situational Reports No 7


External links



{{WWIIBritishAFVs World War II armoured cars World War II armored fighting vehicles of the United States Armored cars of the United States Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944 Eight-wheeled vehicles