The Amtank, Lessons at Tarawa, and "what ifs"

Non-naval discussions about the Second World War. Military leaders, campaigns, weapons, etc.
steffen19k
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Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 5:31 pm

The Amtank, Lessons at Tarawa, and "what ifs"

Post by steffen19k »

LVT series tracked vehicles changed the way amphibious war was fought when they first debuted. And this was exceptionally well highlighted, when the Reefs of Tarawa prevented the landing craft from reaching the shingle to drop their ramps, and the first troops of the first wave to actually hit the beach were deployed from Amtracs.

The "Amtank" variants were as follows.
All variants, (except LVT (A)1 "early" model) sported a .30 machine gun in a ball mount on the assistant Drivers side (bow gun)
LVT (A)1 had M3/M5 Stuart Turret with 37mm main gun, coaxial mounted .30, and two gun tubs mounting a single .30 each.
LVT (A)4 had an M8 HMC turret with 75mm pack howitzer with dual axis stabilization to permit firing while in the water, and a turret fitted .50 cal ring mount.
LVT (A)5 replaced the .50 with pintle mounted .30s on either side of the turret, and featured vision blocks to enable crews to see around vehicle without exposure to sniper fire, as well as other, internal improvements.

There was even an experiment conducted for the US Army by Food Metal Corporation where they tried mounting an M24 Chaffee Turret on an Amtank. The experiment had the promise of being the greatest of the Amtank designs, but by that point, the war was winding down and was never put into production.

So my question is What If M24 Turreted Amtanks had been available for Normandy Beach?
Here is everything I know about war: Someone wins, Someone loses, and nothing is ever the same again. Here is everything I know about life: The only certainties are death and taxes.
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