Prototypes Experiments with a close-support version of the
M3 Stuart began with the
T18 howitzer motor carriage. This essentially combined an M3 light tank chassis with the gun mount of a
M3 Grant medium tank mounting the much smaller
75mm pack howitzer. This produced a tall design with the gun well forward, which led to the tank being nose-heavy. They also found the fighting compartment was too cramped and the cut-down sides provided no protection to the crew for shots anywhere but the front. The T18 was cancelled in 1942 in favor of a new design, the T41. This moved to the updated M5 chassis, differing from the M3 mostly in its engine, while introducing a new fighting compartment with a well-sloped front that provided more room and much better protection. However, the new layout also moved the gun even further forward and produced wear on the front wheels that was considered unacceptable. A further revision moved the gun to one side to free up room and change the balance, which was successful enough to consider production on surplus M3 chassis. By this time a competing concept had proved superior and production was cancelled in favor of the new T47. Some further work was carried out on a T41 with the
105 mm M2A1; this work was later spun off as the T82 project. The T47 was also developed on the basis of the M5 chassis, but replaced the fixed fighting compartment with a new manually-turned turret mounting the same gun. This not only provided much better protection for the crew, but also offered far better tactical freedom than any fixed-mount system. The prototype was designated the
75 mm howitzer motor carriage T17E1 Production After a mock-up had been produced, it was ordered into production as the
75 mm howitzer motor carriage M8. Like the M5, the M8 had a crew of four; commander, gunner, driver, and assistant driver/loader. When the M8 was in action, the commander positioned himself at the antiaircraft machine gun and directed his crew, the gunner sat in the turret on the right side of the howitzer, the assistant driver/loader moved up from his seat in the right front hull, and the driver stayed at his position. Due to the larger turret, the driver compartment crew hatches on the top of the hull had to be removed. These hatches served double duty on the M5, offering crew access as well as allowing the driver and assistant driver/loader to raise their seats and drive with their heads out of their hatch for greatly improved visibility. In the M8, the hatches were replaced with smaller hinged plates on the front of the glacis that could be opened by rotating them upward or lowered to "button up". To provide visibility when the hatches were closed, periscopes were placed on the top of the hull in front of the driver and loader. These openings were too small to be used for crew access, so those crew members had to access the tank through the open-topped turret. In early 1944, production was phased out in favor of the
M4 or M4A3 armed with the
M101 howitzer, having better protection, firepower and mobility (albeit not as fast).
Armor The M8 was based upon the light tank M5 (itself a descendant of the light tank M3), and so had relatively thin armor. The lower hull armor ranged from to on the sides to on the lower front and on the lower rear. The lower hull sides were vertical, while the lower hull front was sloped at 18 degrees from the vertical, and the lower hull rear, which protected the engine and radiator, was sloped at 17 degrees from the vertical. The hull floor ranged from thick at the front to thick at the rear. The
glacis plate of the M8 was sloped at 45 degrees from the vertical and was thick. The upper hull sides, like the lower hull sides, were vertical and thick at the front, thinning to thick at the rear. The upper rear hull was a vertical plate, . The plate sloped at 50 degrees for a short distance before it met the hull roof, which was uniformly thick, and flat. The turret of the M8 was of cast steel. It was thick at the front, which was rounded, sloping from 0 to 63 degrees from the vertical. The sides and rear were thick and sloped at 20 degrees from the vertical. The cast
gun shield, which covered the barrel of the 75 mm Howitzer M2/M3, was thick and rounded.
Armament The armament of the M8 consisted of a new open-topped turret armed with a
75 mm M2 howitzer, later a
75 mm M3 howitzer. The M8 carried 46 rounds of 75 mm ammunition; 11 rounds at the right rear of the fighting compartment, 20 rounds at the left rear of the fighting compartment, 9 rounds in the left hull sponson, and 6 "ready" rounds stored between the driver and assistant driver's positions. The most common types of ammunition carried were the M89
white phosphorus shell and the M48 high explosive shell. Unlike the standard M5 light tank, the M8 featured no hull-mounted or coaxial
Browning M1919A4 .30 caliber machine gun. A
Browning M2HB .50 caliber machine gun with 400 rounds was mounted on the right rear corner of the turret for local defense and anti-aircraft purposes. For self-defense, the vehicle driver was provided with a
Thompson submachine gun, while the other three crew members were issued
M1 carbines. ==Production==