Re: [DS] Why tank destroyers?

At 11:21  5/09/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Showing my complete ignorance, did the UK have TD designs?  How were
they
>applied/used?

The Deacon, a 6 pdr mounted in the back of a truck, also used a 2 pdr 
portee in the Western Destern. these 'trucks with guns' were pressed
into 
service because of a lack of suitable armoured vehicles.

 From 1940 onwards there was a stream of experimental gun carriers armed

with 2, 6 and 25 pdrs but these were unsuitable. One example was the 
Churchill 3in gun carrier (late 1941), while the 3in gun would have 
preformed the churchill chassis was slow and ponderous.

More successful was the Archer, a Valentine chassis mounting a 17 pdr 
facing to the rear (shoot and scoot), introduced in 1944. Initially a 
interim measure the Archer was so successful it remained in service
until 
the 1950s

The A30 Challenger was also adapted for the TD role, but due to
develpment 
problems it didn't make it into the war. 230 were delviered to the RA in
1946.

The British also took delivery of some lend-lease M10s Wolverines, and
they 
replaced the 3in gun with the local 17 pdr and renamed it the Achilles. 
this also remained in service after 1945.

Guess what I've been reading :)

Derek

Derek Fulton
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