Cold War Armor: the M24 Chaffee Light Tank by Kelly Bell

Buy Now! Tanks Home Cold War Armor: The M24 Chaffee Light Tank By Kelly Bell he US Army’s M3/M5 Stuart light tank was small, fast, maneuverable and hard-to-hit, T but it lacked the fi repower and armor needed to deal with enemy tanks that were bigger and more heavily gunned. The Stuart’s performance in World War II made it clear its duties lay strictly in reconnaissance and infantry support. Something else was needed to match more massive opponents; therefore, in 1943 the new M24 Chaffee light tank went into production. 56 MODERN WAR 11 | MAY–JUN 2014 MODERN WAR 11 | MAY–JUN 2014 57 Buy Now! Tanks Home while wide tracks made it an effec- tive off-road vehicle. Even so, its relatively large turret was slow to turn and made for an easy-to-hit target. It was deployed in late 1944 and therefore saw only limited service in the closing months of World War II. There would, however, be plenty of opportunities for the Chaffee to prove itself in later wars. saw the US deploy heavier armor to The M24 saw extensive duty with Korea, such as the M41 and M47. American forces in Korea, with the The Chaffee, however, continued French in Indochina and Algeria, and to prove successful in its missions as a in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Specifi cations second tank hadn’t even been hit and reconnaissance and infantry support The tank’s mechanical reliability, had begun moving again by pushing vehicle. Having gained a reputation off-road mobility and powerful main Main 1 x 75mm gun the one in front out of the way. as a formidable battlefi eld weapon gun endeared it to both the men who Armament From about 200 yards the Chaffee’s when used in situations that suited its crewed it and the infantry it supported. gunner scored a hit on the T-34’s attributes, the Chaffee was purchased In the Korean War the M24 was the Machineguns 1 x 12.7mm, 2 turret, without effect, and then fi red by several foreign governments and fi rst American tank to face the North x 7.62mm two more rounds that bounced off saw action in many far-fl ung theaters. Koreans’ Soviet-made T-34, itself a the enemy’s glacis (frontal armor). The French Expeditionary Corps respected veteran of World War II. Speed 56 kilometers The T-34 then fi red a single round in Indochina made good use of the In one such encounter an M24 per hour that struck the Chaffee at the base tank in their “mobile groups,” where An M24 moving through a ruined German city in the spring of 1945. crew atop a hill watched as two T-34s of its main gun, wrecking its turret. it provided fi repower and mobil- Five crewmen manned the 20-ton a range of 100 miles on a single tank came under attack from US aircraft. Weight 19.9 tons Though unable to return fi re, the crew ity against Viet Minh guerrillas and Chaffee, named after the army’s of fuel. Its automatic transmission Thinking they’d knocked out both found their tank was still mobile and regulars. In December 1953 the French pioneering tank general, Adna Chaffee. made it easy to drive, and its 75mm enemy machines, the pilots departed. Length/ 5.48/2.95/2.45 managed to escape. That incident aerially shipped 10 disassembled Its twin Cadillac 44T24, 1,109 hp rifl ed gun was a big step up from Moments later the American tankers width/height meters illustrated the M24’s vulnerability on M24s to their besieged garrison at engines ran on high-octane gasoline the Stuart’s 37mm. Its 25mm armor noticed the lead communist tank battlefi elds populated with heavier Dien Bien Phu. After being hastily and could propel it at up to 35 mph for plating gave reasonable protection, was still moving. As it turned out, the Crew 5 East Bloc armor. Episodes such as that reassembled, those tanks were rushed 58 MODERN WAR 11 | MAY–JUN 2014 MODERN WAR 11 | MAY–JUN 2014 59.

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