|
Posted on 08/02/2004 11:23:22 PM PDT by SAMWolf
|
|
 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
|
| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
|
 The M41 is historically significant because it was the first example of new American tank design theory after lessons learned from World War II. It was truly "modern" in concept. The M41 was the first American tank designed around its powerplant - and not its main gun - as recognition of how important the powerplant really is for an AFV. Previous vehicles were set by drawing up its general dimensions - and then efforts were made to find an engine to fit inside of the new vehicle and meet the power requirements of the tank. This practice often created underpowered AFV's, or AFV's with less armor plating than conceived for its intended mission.  The M41 was the first American tank to be equipped with a bore evacuator to clear the gun tube of fumes after firing. It was intended to be fitted with an autoloader (would have been another first) in effort to reduce the number of crew in the Turret to two men and increase the rate of fire, however, lack of funding curtailed development of the autoloader. It would be dropped from the production design. The integrated fire control system that better coordinated accurate laying of the gun survived into production, however. The Gun was fully stabilized and quite accurate for the time.  The M41 Tank was originally dubbed "Little BullDog", but was renamed early on in honor of US Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker after his death during the Korean War. Also, early on in the M41's history (November 1950), the US Army changed the designation system it used for tanks from weight to the caliber of the vehicle's main gun. Under the old system, the M41 (at 26 tons) would have been designated a "light" tank, and would be called so in most references. The M41 Walker BullDog was actually a swift reconnaissance vehicle, agile and fast enough to venture behind enemy lines. It carried extensive radio equipment (evidenced by its large Turret Bustle) to allow it to communicate its findings back to base. And, it carried a formidable 76mm Gun giving it the capability of taking on all but the largest of enemy force vehicles to fight its way back out.  The lineage of the Walker BullDog is as interesting as learning about the different marks of German WW II Panzers. Differences between M41, M41A1, M41A2, and M41A3 in US service are mostly internal improvements - and not readily identifiable by external features. All of them served side-by-side - even in the same unit, during their service life. I'll list these differences here, and the use them in modeling the four variants as I go. The thinking employed in development and fielding of the M41 would pave the way to the successful deployment of future American AFV's. The early M41 had round, cast steel, Muzzle Brakes. These were replaced later on by T-shaped Muzzle Brakes. The Bore Evacuator is located just behind the Muzzle Brake. These early-production vehicles' Turrets are characterized by high weld marks on their sides - marking the demarcation between rolled steel and cast steel components. The bottom edge of the rolled steel side plates ran straight back to the bottom edge of the Turret Bustle. A Stowage Bin was attached to the rear of the Turret Bustle, extending its length even more, and creating a large overhang above the Engine Deck. Early M41 Turrets came equipped with a coaxial mounted .50cal Machine Gun. These were replaced during the production run by a .30cal Machine Gun because the smaller weapon allowed more ammunition stowage.  On the roof of the Turret externally, the Commander's .50cal AA Machine Gun was mounted on a pintle located between the Gunner's Hatch and the Commander's Hatch. The Gunner's Hatch also was cast with a "gutter" - a raised lip around it that helped keep water from splashing down into the Turret if opened in the rain. Spare Track Links were commonly mounted on the Turret sides. Internally, the M41 Turret contained a Pulse Relay and Gun Control System that allowed power traverse for the Gunner with override for the Tank Commander. The Gunner has a manual hydraulic elevation control for the 76mm Gun, but the Commander had none.  M41 IN SOUTH VIETNAMESE TRAINING OPERATION The M41 came equipped with an Auxiliary Generator (AUX GEN) powered by a small engine located in the right upper side of the Engine Bay - to provide power for Turret operation. M41 Walker BullDog Vehicles 1 through 1367 did not come equipped with a Muffler / Exhaust for the AUX GEN. The next 922 M41's came with the Muffler / Exhaust for the AUX GEN mounted on the right Engine Muffler Cover. Later vehicles after this batch came with the AUX GEN Muffler mounted at the front right side of the tank - co-located with the Pioneer Tool Rack. AUX GEN Muffler locations don't denote differences in variants. Neither do the Fenders or Idler Wheel / Drive Sprocket combinations, as much as they indicate production period. The early M41 Walker BullDogs came equipped with both square-ended Fenders and Track Skirts. Later production vehicles deleted the Track Skirts, and the Fenders were replaced with angled (clipped) Fenders. The Pioneer Tool Rack was commonly mounted on the front, center, of the Glacis Plate.  The M41 came equipped with a 6-cylinder, supercharged, Continental AOS-895-3 Engine with a remarkably short range of 100 miles - despite 140 gallons of fuel carried internally. This was one of the last gasoline-powered engines to go into an American tank for this reason - despite the fact that the gas-powered M41 could get up over 45mph on roads. The Engine equipping the Walker BullDog was extremely loud, and the Mufflers got so hot that they glowed at night. Early M41's came equipped with a non-rubber rimmed Idler Wheel, which was slotted (10 holes), like that employed on the M18 HellCat. Later production vehicles came with a rubber tired Idler Wheel identical to the other Road Wheels - either style could be fitted. The M41's 12-tooth Drive Sprocket had four lightening holes. Later production vehicle Drive Sprockets did not have lightening holes.  The Cadillac M41 Walker BullDog entered service in 1951, with 1792 vehicles built during the production run. Some sources cite the M41 as seeing limited deployment to Korea and as having success against the Soviet T-34/85 Medium Tank.
|
They only had 5 M-41's available for the Bay of Pigs invasion? You'd almost think Kennedy wanted the invasion to fail.
Plus since production had been stopped on the M-41 we had to get rid of the "surplus" ones somehow. ;-)
They have feather burkas? ;-)
LOL!!! ;)
LOL! Hell of a way to fight a war.
I thought the ARVN haad some M-24's, thanks for the confirmation.
((LOL))No, I just bought a couple of t-shirts and that's about it.
Can't go wrong with T-Shirts. ;-)
LOL!
Size and mass matters, ask a Yugo versus Caddy...
Lunar Treadheads!
Yugos and Geos. I cringe when I see those death traps on the road.
There was an M-41 on static display in front of the 2-69 AR Motor Pool at Harmony Church. My Platoon Sergeant had been an M41 tanker in Germany. Heard more about them than I ever cared to know.
The Duster hull was a modified version of the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank and included most of the same automotive components including the engine and transmission.
On this Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on August 03:
1753 Charles Earl Stanhope, England, radical politician/scientist
1770 Frederik Willem III, king of Prussia (1797-1840)
1811 Elisha Graves Otis inventor (safe elevator)
1820 William Miller, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1909
1823 Thomas Francis Meagher, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1824 William Burnham Woods, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1851 Lady Isabella Caroline Somerset temperance leader
1867 Stanley Earl Baldwin, (C) British PM (1923-24, 1924-29, 1935-37)
1872 Haakon VII Charlottenlund Denmark, King of Norway
1887 Rupert Brooke British WW I poet (1914)
1894 Harry Heilmann SF Cal, baseball hall of famer outfielder (Detroit)
1900 Ernie Pyle correspondant during WW II
1900 John T Scopes Tennessee teacher convicted for teaching evolution
1901 John Stennis (Sen-D-Miss)
1902 Habib Bourguiba 1st president of Tunisia
1904 Clifford D Simak, US, sci-fi author (Hugo, Empire, Way Station)
1905 Dolores Del Rio Mexico, actress (What Price Glory?)
1918 James MacGregor Burns political writer (The Lion & the Fox)
1920 P.D. James mystery writer (Cover Her Face)
1923 Anne Klein fashion designer (Anne Klein II)
1924 Leon Uris US, novelist (Exodus, QB VII)
1926 Tony Bennett Queens NY, singer (Left a body part in SF)
1930 James Komack NYC, writer/director/actor (Courtship of Eddie's Father)
1931 Alex Cord actor (Brotherhood, Fire, Street Asylum)
1935 Georgi S Shonin cosmonaut (Soyuz 6)
1935 Richard D Lamm (Gov-D-Colo)
1940 Lance Alworth Houston Tx, NFL hall of famer (Charger, Cowboys)
1940 Martin Sheen actor (Subject Was Roses, Wall St)
1950 John Landis director (Twilight Zone)
1952 Jay North North Hollywood Calif, actor (Dennis the Menace, Maya)
1953 Ian Bairnson Shetland Isles Scotland, guitarist (Alan Parsons Project, Pilot)
1976 Sarybel Velila, Miss Universe-Puerto Rico (1996)
LOL! Platoon Sgts, they could get carried away with their "stories".
Now "Dusters", I saw a lot of! Always likes seeing those on the berm line.
I do have to admit, had a Geo Metro once.
For being a 3 cylinder it had zip to it.
So I did get it to move out of teh way when I needed it to do so.
Liek when a Yellow Freight driver doing 40 in a 65 zone got angry at being passed and tried to ram me, I floored it and zipped past him doing 80 (And accelerating!).
So now, whenever I see a Yellow Fright semi driving by, I mutter "best Drivers in the business, or best DOOBIES in the business?"
I have yet to see one of their drivers navigating his vehicles like he knows what he's doing.
But, the Metro is a deathtrap.
The trick is to be maneuvering enough to not get hit.
Lunar Treadheads!
LOL!!!!!!!!
Hail To Thee, Fat Person
I would like to explain how it came to pass that I got fat.
Ladies and gentlemen, I got fat as a public service.
When I was a child, my mother said to me,
"Clean the plate, because children are starving in Europe."
And I might point out that that was years before the Marshall Plan was ever heard of.
So I would clean the plate, four, five, six times a day.
Because somehow I felt that that would keep the children from starving in Europe.
But I was wrong. They kept starving. And I got fat.
So I would like to say to every one of you who is either skinny or in some other way normal--
When you walk out on the street, and you see a fat person,
Do not scoff at that fat person. Oh no!
Take off your hat. Hold it over your heart.
Lift your chin up high. And in a proud, happy voice say to him,
"Hail to thee, fat person!
You kept us out of war!"
Alan Sherman
Darksheare's Geo. One liter of raw power, 3 cylinders of asphalt-tearing terror on thirteen-inch rims. It's stock, but it pushes the barely 2000 pounds of Geo around with AUTHORITY. He's always catching mopeds and 18-wheelers by surprise.
Yeah, my car's got all the options except for the last cylinder. LOL!
Well, my current car is a '95 Jetta GL, with teh 2.0 liter engine..
Outperforms the Metro anyday of the week without even trying.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
