M10 Achilles tank destroyer - at War & Peace Show 2012

[@paulstewartcrane]

She's a Beauty ! My Father when he was alive Loved the Tankers when they said jump on board 'Yank back in 44' 45. It was a long walk over France + Belgium. He was a member of the 28th.110th.

[@PaulDonovan]

Thanks for your comment... much appreciated. Paul

[@PavarottiAardvark]

Armour like paper. Weapon like mjolnir.

[@WindlePoones]

I had two of the engines that drive this baby in my boat. They are Detroit diesels and a terrific bit of kit. They are 2 stroke supercharged diesel engines. One of the great features of them is one turned clock wise and the other counter-clockwise. The rotation is determined by the camshaft tunnel the camshaft is placed in. I just loved those engines. They are still in production today, but with electronic engine management.

[@Mi3k15]

My best British tank in war thunder! :D

[@peteacher52]

"Just park there in the three inch deep mud, boys. Don't worry about your boots; the fairies will clean them!" Great to see and hear this important and nostalgic piece of venerable equipment in such good order. Respect to all involved. Greetings from NZ.

[@CurvedSlightly]

More war than peace!

[@PaulDonovan]

😎

[@kilipow]

nice i like the camo painting , where i can find some ww2 pictures of that schema pattern ?

[@PaulDonovan]

Hopefully someone on here can help ?? regards Paul

[@PaulDonovan]

Excellent response... many thanks. Paul

[@PaulDonovan]

Yours is a credit to you. It was great to see it at War & Peace.

[@didgerb72]

My grandad a M10 tank commander in 21st Anti tank Regt Ra. Guards Armoured Division. So is it a 21st tank or the other Anti tank Regt that was part of Guards Armoured prior to France etc.

[@PaulDonovan]

Thanks for your comment. I don't know but hopefully someone will. Regards Paul

[@PaulDonovan]

Agreed... great looking machine. cheers Paul

[@MrRockitRide]

Too bad the 17 pounder couldn't fire a high explosive round. From everything I have read the 17 pounder could fire an awesome sabo round that could pretty much wipe out any tank it encountered. The book "Tank versus Tank" compares armor and weapons of WWII tanks and the 17 pounder firing a sabo had an unbelievable muzzle velocity. Unfortunately it was a not the most accurate round, but it must have been scary.

[@TheSmudge223]

nope the firefly was just an m4 with a 17 pdr shoved in the turret, the m10 was actulybased on the m4 chassis, if you look at the hull and suspension you'll see why

[@ChaosTicket]

yeah actually it does. the M10 wolverine was based on the m4 sherman. the m10 achilles and sherman firefly were both modified vehicles. the big thing was the smaller hull and turret. tank destoyers were ment to be small.

[@DeltaSniperZRR]

This isn't a 'medium' tank right? Looks heavy to me.

[@R33Racer]

It's classed as tank destroyer. Essentially the M10 Wolverine with a better gun.

[@BloodstainedSinner]

R33Racer I was unaware there was such thing as an M10 Achilles. Does this have the 90mm AT gun on it, instead of the 76mm AT? I thought there was just the 76mm armed M10 Wolverine, then the 90mm armed M36 Jackson.

[@R33Racer]

BloodstainedSinner No it has the British Ordnance 17 pounder (76.2mm I think) gun. It was just much higher velocity and probably more accurate than the Wolverine's varient. The 90mm IIRC was on the Jackson and the Super Pershing which was even better, however that came out much later and got very little combat use in WWII (if any).

[@PaulDonovan]

R33Racer Great reply.... cheers Paul

[@TheSmudge223]

theres plenty of room for a second brit td line, I personaly think it would make a great tier 6 td then you could have something like the archer at tier 5 as well

[@MrRockitRide]

An excellent book on tank destroyers is "The Tank Killers". It seems that although the US strategy of avoiding tank on tank battles and counting on tank destroyers to always be available to handle the panthers was flawed, the 3 inch gun of the M10 was quite a weapon and US tank destroyers had an impressive record against the "Kraut". In fact, the Germans did not fear the Shermans, but did fear the M10, and of course the later tank destroyer wielding the 90 mm gun which could take out Tigers at over 1000 yards according to accounts in the aforementioned book.

[@Ima184mm]

Strong punch Tank Destroyer

[@PaulDonovan]

😀👍

[@Kohl423]

Not a Firefly but carries the same 17pdr weapon. Very deadly against the best German armour when crews were trained correctly and the vehicles were used correctly. The Brits spoke modestly about the 17pdrs performance. The US ignored it because it wasnt American. The German tank crews were ordered to take out any allied armour carrying this weapon as a priority. They regarded it as the British 88. It could kill any German tank.

[@GeorgiaBoy1961]

The Ordnance QF 17-pounder gun was one of the best-kept secrets of the war. In terms of anti-tank performance, using souped-up ammo, it was capable of stupendous muzzle velocities ~ 3,950 fps using APFSDS (armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot) rounds. Not even the fabled German 88mm was able to match that. Accuracy was somewhat erratic at distance due to some unresolved issues with the round and its new technology, but when it worked and was on target, the APFSDS round was a top-notch performer. The U.S. Army was foolish not to take the 17-lb. gun when it was offered to them by the British - they got a case of "not invented here syndrome" instead. Not their smartest move ever....

[@henglongtanks1]

I think that the tank should be at bovington dorset, in my opinion it would be looked after better

[@Creeperboy099]

GM 6046?

[@PaulDonovan]

yes..... I'm pretty sure it is ! regards Paul

[@elmorientez3787]

Lovely looking machine... It isn't a firefly, it's a M10 GMC modified to fit a 17pdr, the same gun that was in the firefly. Was only ever called a M10 Achilles. Bit of a shame going through all the effort to fit an unmodified mantelet for it to get covered over though.

[@errolkim1334]

Parked beside a Comet

[@PaulDonovan]

Yes indeed !! Regards Paul

[@brianlinke1856]

Their variations would have another 'life' in the IDF. Eager for arms... the new state of Israel would 'paw through' the junk yards of Europe (early 50's) looking for military tanks that could be taken back to Israel, refurbished and re-purposed. In films of the 1967 Six Day War you will see a few of these in use. Finally France (for a while) would become Israel's principle arms supplier. However, many WW II surplus 'goods' would appear again in the hands of the IDF as France handed off its remaining U.S. Lend/Lease 'stuff' to Israel... as well as selling new French arms to them.

[@PaulDonovan]

interesting comment... thanks for taking the time to write. Regards Paul

[@llamingo]

it is based in a sherman chassis, carrying a 17 pounder.

[@DONUTK1LLAR]

It's a tank destroyer very little armor

[@captinobvious4705]

its called the wolverin

[@farmerman7947]

Tiger King the British got M 10s and fitted QF-17 PDR guns and was called the achillies

[@1998Jhk]

looks like an m4 sherman

[@PaulDonovan]

Not really...