The T25 Medium Tank was a prototype tank that was developed by the United States during World War II. It did not see active service.
Description[]
The T25 had an armament consisting of a 90 mm anti-tank gun, two 7.62 mm Browning M1919 machine guns, one mounted coaxially and one in the bow, and a 12.7 mm Browning M2HB mount on top of the turret. The vehicle had a crew of five, a weight of 35,100 kg, used the same 474 hp, Ford GAN V8 engine as the earlier T23 Medium Tank, and had a top speed of 48 km/h.[1]
The T25 also used a modified T23 Medium Tank hull, and had a new turret mounting a heavy 90 mm anti-tank gun, the same later used in the M36 Gun Motor Carriage and the tank's predecessor, the M26 General Pershing. The length of the T25 prototype was about 7 meters and the armor protection was about 88 mm thick on the turret and 76 mm on the hull. The T25 utilizes a 3 speed forward, 1 speed reverse electric transmission system and could carry about forty-two rounds of 90 mm ammunition on board.[2]
Prototypes[]
The T25 was developed with a variant which itself was virtually the same, the only difference was that the T25 was built with horizontal volute spring suspension, and the variant T25E1 had the torsion bar suspension later adopted for use in the M26. Only 40 T25 and T25E1 prototypes were built.
History[]
The T25 was originally supposed to compliment the heavier T26, which was also in development at that time. The T26 was identical to the T25, except for thicker armor. Eventually, the Army ground forces rejected the 90 mm gun design, and opted for a 76 mm antitank gun in the same large turret, as the 90 mm encouraged the stalking of, and direct conflict with enemy tanks, a role saved for the tank destroyers. Not long after, the project was cancelled. However, the T26 did not meet the same fate. And after a struggle between the office of ordnance and the Army Ground Forces, the T26E3 was standardized as the M26 heavy tank. However, by mid 1944, some forty T25s had already been produced for service, but due to the fear that the electric transmission would be too complicated for field mechanics, these production models were also kept in storage, never to reach the front.
References[]
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