When was the American pastor M7 self-propelled artillery invented?

19 17 France invented the first American M7 priest self-propelled gun. Shortly after the birth of tanks in World War I, the French installed field guns on the chassis of tracked tanks, which made the heavy-duty towed guns have better maneuverability and can quickly think about changing positions in various terrain conditions, thus making them have motor off-road performance. However, the self-propelled artillery at this time has no armor protection and is only suitable for fire support for infantry.

The world's first turret-type self-propelled gun with armored protection was made in Germany. The towed anti-tank gun, which emerged in the First World War, has poor maneuverability and protection. Germany believes that only by making these guns run as fast as enemy tanks can we effectively fight against tanks. In addition, due to the small caliber and weak firepower of the early tanks, it is necessary to have an artillery to accompany the tanks, provide fire support for the tanks, and have certain protective performance.

1September, 939, Nazi Germany occupied Czechoslovakia and obtained a large number of Czech-made 47mm anti-tank guns with superior performance at that time. Alcatel Berlin, Germany installed the gun on the T- 1 tank panel, and designed and manufactured a box-shaped armored turret with an open back. The turret cannot rotate, but the gun can rotate from left to right 15 degrees.

Alcatel made the world's first self-propelled anti-tank gun in 1939, and the actual use effect is good. Later, Germany developed self-propelled anti-tank guns with larger caliber and stronger firepower, such as T-III, Ferdinand and Black Cheetah, which were widely used in World War II. Self-propelled anti-tank guns are also called "strong guns" because they are mostly used to accompany tank attacks and operations. After Germany, the Soviet Union, Britain, the United States and other countries also developed assault guns similar to Germany.

After gaining war experience, the US military realized that it needed a powerful self-propelled gun to cover infantry operations. In addition, after learning the lesson that the armor of the semi-tracked vehicle is too weak, the American authorities hope to thicken the armor of this self-propelled gun and replace it with a full crawler. The authorities also decided to use the chassis of American M3 tracked vehicle as the basis of this self-propelled gun, and named it T32 self-propelled gun.

00, M3 medium-sized chariot chassis used for manufacturing self-propelled guns has been designed with a convertible, mounted with a 105mm howitzer and a Bai Langning machine gun. 1942 February, T32 self-propelled gun was renamed M7 self-propelled gun and put into production.

Pastor M7 Self-propelled Artillery of the United States Although the earliest M7 self-propelled artillery was made for the US military, according to the "Lease Act" proposed by the United States, the United States promised to provide war materials for its allies, so 90 M7 self-propelled artillery pieces were transported to North Africa to assist the British Eighth Army in its operations.

The British army used these self-propelled guns for the first time in the second battle of El Alamein, and conducted actual tests for this kind of self-propelled guns. Later, M7 self-propelled artillery was a great success in the battlefield in North Africa, and Britain even asked the United States for 5,500 self-propelled artillery pieces. However, due to the huge number of requests, this request was not completed until the end of the war.

However, M7 self-propelled artillery has some problems. Because the early M7 self-propelled artillery was produced for the US Army, some parts did not meet the standards of the British Army. This means that the M7 self-propelled artillery used in the United States and the M7 self-propelled artillery shipped to Britain need to be manufactured separately, which makes the logistics of the US military more complicated. It was not until 1944 that Britain improved the M7 priest-style self-propelled gun into a "housekeeper-style self-propelled gun" that it was completely solved.

Before that, the British army had been using M7 self-propelled guns in the battlefields of North Africa, Italy and Normandy. It was not until the introduction of engineer-type self-propelled guns that these M7 self-propelled guns were improved into "kangaroo armored personnel carriers". In the US Army, the M7 self-propelled artillery has achieved great success in the battle. Each armored division of the US Army is also equipped with three M7 self-propelled guns to provide effective fire support.

The United States produced a total of 3,490 M7 self-propelled guns, and even after World War II, the US military continued to use such self-propelled guns. For example, in the Korean War, the United Nations used this kind of self-propelled artillery against the North Korean army.