In 1965, U.S. and Dominican Tanks Fought Brief, Violent Skirmishes

War Is Boring ^

[ameribbean expat]

Tanks have rarely been used in battle in the Western Hemisphere — and fights between tanks are even rarer.

But the Dominican Republic in 1965 was one of the exceptions, when Constitutionalist rebels fought the armored vehicles of invading U.S. Marines in the streets of the capital city, Santo Domingo.

Stranger yet, the Dominicans were using Swedish tanks.

[Rockpile]

Wasn’t the Ontos and M56 on the same chassis? Those Ontos compartments were tight; too small for me. :<}

Even the M48s were too cramped. Amtracs had some room in them-—— just hoped they didn’t sink, Ha!

[dsc]

Thanks for the info. I’ll look for the book.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Here is the Senate testimony of Gen. Wessin Y Wessin I mentioned.
“Testimony of Brigadier General Elias Wessin Y Wessin (This volume is a continuation of the hearings series on the “Communist Threat to the United States Through the Caribbean” (MM - which numbered over 20-25 volumes over the years). Hearings, Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Committee on the judiciary, 89th Congress, 1st Session, October 1, 1965 (Subdoc # 54-548 O).

From the Foreword:

“This testimony by Brig. Gen. Elias Wessin y Wession is one of two volumes of testimonuy dealing with the Dominican Crisis, which represents a continuation of the subcommittee’s series of hearings on the “Communist Threat to the United States Through the Caribbean.” The companion volume contains the testimony of Juan Isidro Tapia Adames.”

Testimony was taken in Executive Session on Oct. 1st (Wessin) and Oct. 15th Adames, and released for publication on Oct. 19, 1965.

[MasterGunner01]

No, both the ONTOS and the SPAT did not use the same chassis. They both had their engines in the front, but the ONTOS driver sat next to the engine. The SPAT driver sat behind the gun shield for the 90mm gun. The gunner, commander, loader, and driver we completely exposed on the M56 SPAT. The driver, loader, and commander were carried inside the M50/M50A1 ONTOS. Both SPAT and ONTOS carried ready rounds beneath the fighting compartment floor; ONTOS had an armored cover over its ready rounds. The ONTOS had to pull out of action so the loader could reload the six external 106mm recoilless rifles from the ready racks. ONTOS carried 12 rounds; six in the rifles and six in the ready racks. The M56 SPAT carried 29 ready rounds.

[Rockpile]

Well, now I had to actually look up the two vehicles. The Ontos prototypes at first had the running gear of the M56. Reckon that is what I dredged out of the memory mud.

The Ontos was a cramped sucker inside, too tight for my tastes.
Only M56 I have seen was outside a VFW hall. Gone now.

[archy]

Stranger yet, the Dominicans were using Swedish tanks.

And Swedish armored cars as well. Some of the DomRep light tanks have been misidentified as WWII German Pzkw IIs. Nope. There were also French AMX-13 light tanks involved as well; I believe the M48 tank kill of another tank was an AMX kill.

[archy]

Interesting background info. Thanks. My cousin was involved in the Dominican Republic action.

Officially, Operation Power Pack, for those websearching military history.

[archy]

Treadhead ping.

Target! Cease fire....