They Called Them “Hellcats”

They Called Them “Hellcats”. The M18 Tank Destroyer. , Officially known as the M18 76mm Gun Motor Carriage, the M18 was hardly comparable to the horse and buggy. It was actually the jaguar of heavy armor during World War II. Nicknamed the “Hellcat” by the men who served in them, the M18 could reach speed of 50 mph on the open plain. It also carried quite a punch with a 76mm gun capable of firing a variety of ammunition and the close range ability to knock out most tanks. The M18 Tank Destroyer gained the reputation among the Anti-Tank battalions as an effective “Tank Killer”, infantry support weapon, and mid-range mobile artillery. The role of infantry support was unintended and often created problems of mobility. The Hellcat lost its advantage of speed when it had to support a slogging Infantry., The Hellcat only had three deficiencies. The open turret was susceptible to ground and aircraft fire. In order to achieve its incredible speed, it sacrificed armor plating with as little as one inch as compared to the Sherman Tank’s four inches. Finally, the M18 used a smaller Continental nine cylinder gasoline engine as compared to larger and more powerful diesels that were coming into service. The M36 tank destroyer was the diesel-driven replacement for the M18. All of the Hellcats were built by Buick Motors Division.,

M18 Tank Destroyer. Gun: 76mm , Length: 22 feet , Width: 9 feet , Height: 8.5 feet , Ammunition: A.P., H.E. , The torsion bar suspension, like a luxury car, gave the tank destroyer the smooth ride necessary to reach high speeds.

, [Captions:] , Crew of an M18 from the Fifth Army, Visomo, Italy, celebrate the arrival of their Christmas Dinner, 1944., A tank destroyer of the 824th Tank Destroyer Bn rolls through a captured town. (SOC)