T28 Super Heavy Tank

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For other uses, see T95 (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 32�22'31.8?N 84�50'45.4?W

T95 Gun Motor Carriage

T28 Aberdeen 1946.jpg
T28 Super Heavy Tank (in T95 form) in Aberdeen Proving Ground 1946
Type Tank destroyer/Super-heavy tank
Place of origin United States
Service history
Used by United States
Production history
Manufacturer Pacific Car and Foundry
Produced 1945
No. built 2
Specifications
Mass 95 short tons (86.2 metric tons)
Length 36 ft 6 in (11.1 m)
Width 14 ft 11 in (4.39 m)
Height 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
Crew 4[1][2]
Armor 12 in (305 mm)
Main
armament
105 mm T5E1 gun, with 62 rounds
Secondary
armament
.50 cal (12.7 mm) Browning heavy machine gun, with 660 rounds
Engine Ford GAF V-8 gasoline
500 hp (372 kW)[1]
Power/weight 5.8 hp/tonne
Suspension double tracks, horizontal volute spring
Operational
range
100 miles (160 km)
Maximum speed 8 mph (13 km/h)[2]
The T28 Super Heavy Tank was an American heavily armored tank/self-propelled gun
designed for the United States Army during World War II. It was originally designed
to be used to break through German defenses of the Siegfried Line, and was later
considered as a possible participant in the planned invasion of the Japanese
mainland.

The 100-ton vehicle was initially designated a heavy tank. It was re-designated as
the 105 mm Gun Motor Carriage T95 in 1945, and then renamed in 1946 as the Super
Heavy Tank T28.

Only two prototypes were built before the project was terminated.[3]

Contents
1 Name
2 Development
3 Surviving vehicle
4 Design
5 Popular Culture
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External links
Name
Initially named Heavy Tank T28 when construction was authorized in 1944, the design
did not fit in the usual categories of vehicles leading to reclassification.[4] As
it did not have its armament in a revolving turret, Ordnance requested a name
change to 105 mm Gun Motor Carriage T95, the change becoming official in March
1945.[5] However, due to its heavy armor and armament�while self-propelled guns in
United States service were lightly armored�it was renamed Super Heavy Tank T28 in
June 1946 by OCM 37058.[6]

Development
The T28/T95 was designed to be used for attacking the heavy defenses expected of
the German Siegfried Line.[3] The 105mm T5E1 gun selected was known to have very
good performance against concrete and "expected to be extremely effective at
reducing heavy fortifications"[4] After the vehicle passed trials, the German
Siegfried Line had already been infiltrated and overwhelmed by the allied forces,
so the designers decided to have the T28/T95 tanks to fight on the Japanese
mainland later in the war. Japan surrendered before the tank was able to be
transported overseas.

The need for an assault tank was first identified in 1943, Ordnance proposing that
25 vehicles could be ready for operations. A conference in March 1944 between
Ordnance Department and Army Ground Forces resulted in agreement to build five. The
Pacific Car and Foundry Company were supplied with the design in March 1945,
completed final design and had the first hull welded by August.[7] By the time the
first tank was completed and ready for combat, the war was over.[1] The plan for
five was reduced to two.

As it did not have a turret, but a fixed casemate mount instead for its main
armament (as German Jagdpanzers and Soviet Samokhodnaya Ustanovka-designation
combat vehicles did), and the 105 mm gun fitted could only elevate from 19.5� to
-5� and traverse from 10� right to 11� left of the centerline, the T28/T95 more
closely resembled a self-propelled gun, and was redesignated as "T95 Gun Motor
Carriage" in 1945, but in June 1946, the vehicle was redesignated again as "Super
Heavy Tank T28".[3]

Two prototypes of the T28 were built. They underwent evaluation at the Aberdeen
Proving Ground and Fort Knox facilities until 1947. In 1947, one of the T28s was
heavily damaged by an engine fire during trials at Yuma Proving Ground and was
broken up and sold for scrap. The T28 never went into service due to the obsolete
design, expensive maintenance costs, and the heavy weight, which prevented it from
being transported across seas, but was retained to test the "durability of
components on such a heavy vehicle". Work on it ended before completion as the War
Department decided to stop the development of vehicles of that sort of weight[8]
and the T28 program terminated in October 1947. By that point, the T29 and T30
turreted heavy tank designs had been built.[3] The T29 mounted the same gun as the
T28 in a conventional rotating turret. The T30 was developed with a larger-caliber
gun and more powerful engine.[3] The T29 program was used to test mechanical
components for future tank designs[9]

Surviving vehicle
In 1974, the last prototype was discovered abandoned in a field at Fort Belvoir,
Virginia. Camouflaged in the middle of some bushes, it is unknown where it spent
the intervening 27 years. It is the sole remaining example of these tanks and was
exhibited at the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor in Kentucky.[1][10] In 2011, it
was shipped to its new home at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was placed in the new
Patton Park, which is a plot of 30 acres where all of the tanks being stored at
Fort Benning are now displayed.[11] Unfortunately, the vehicle was damaged in
January 2017 during transit to another facility for external refurbishment when it
broke loose from the M1070 HET carrying
downhill slope and subsequent turn at a
break and allowing the T28 to slide off
ditch, only minor repairable damage was
units had been removed.[12]
it. The transporter failed to negotiate a
safe speed, causing the securing chains to
the trailer. Despite then rolling into a
sustained to two bogies. The outer track

Design

Side view
The mechanical superstructure was taken from a T23.[2] The original plan was to
build five prototype vehicles, with a production total of 25. Its total weight when
fully equipped would have reached 95 short tons (86 tonnes).[1] To lower ground
pressure, instead of two tracks, it used four tracks that projected forward of the
hull, each 12.9 inches (328 mm) wide.[3] The outer tracks could be detached within
two hours for rail transport: After removal, they could be fixed together to make a
unit that could be towed behind the tank.[6] Due to its extreme weight and low
engine power, the T28 had extremely limited obstacle-crossing ability and could not
cross any of the portable bridges available at the time, and so was considered
impractical in the field and not suitable for production.

The T28 had no conventional turret, with a casemate style hull instead, giving it a
comparatively low profile, as the later examples of the fully enclosed Jagdpanzer-
family of German tank destroyers, not entirely dissimilar to the 50 short-ton
weight German Jagdpanther. Its main armament was a 105 mm T5E1 gun, in a ball-
shaped gun mantlet set into the vertical hull front.[1][2] The traverse was limited
to 10� right and 11� left, and elevation from 19.5� to -5�. When traveling, the gun
was locked at the maximum elevation.[3] The only other armament was a .50 cal.
(12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun on a ring mount above the commander's hatch for
anti-aircraft use.[1][13] The main gun�65 calibres long�had a muzzle velocity of
3,700 feet per second (1,130 m/s), with a range of up to 12 miles (19 km).[1][14]

The armor was very thick compared to other tanks of the time, up to 12 inches (305
mm) thick on the front. This was considered heavy enough to provide protection from
the German 88 mm gun used as tank and anti-tank guns.[3] The lower hull front had
5.25 in (130 mm) of armor, and the sides 2.5 in (64 mm). The suspension system and
lower hull were covered with 4-in (100 mm) thick steel skirts.[3] The engine was a
gasoline-powered Ford GAF V-8, delivering 500 hp,[1] at 2600 rpm through the
Torqmatic transmission; which left the vehicle underpowered, geared down to a top
speed of about 8 mph (13 km/h) and greatly limited its obstacle-climbing
capability.[3][15]

Popular Culture
The T28, or T95 GMC has been affectionately nicknamed the "Doom Turtle" among
online historical tank game communities but in WOT its called the "zoom turtle"
after its top speed was increased. The armor of the tank is a metaphorical shell,
while the limited gun traverse of the vehicle armament metaphorically refers to the
fact that a turtle is unprotected from the back, the low speed of the tank makes it
comparable to a turtle.

See also
List of U.S. military vehicles by model number
Tank classification
Jagdtiger � a comparable German vehicle for anti-tank use. Entered limited
production.
Tortoise heavy assault tank � a comparable British vehicle for attacking
fortifications; only six built.
Notes
"United States � Heavy Tanks". Retrieved 1 October 2008.
Foss, Christopher. The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles.
Spellmount. ISBN 1-86227-188-7. Retrieved October 2008. Check date values in: |
accessdate= (help)[page needed]
Thomas M. Tencza (2000). "Article 1: Americas's Super Heavy Tank". Battle Tanks.
Retrieved 2 October 2008.
Hunnicutt p. 61
Hunnicutt p. 62
Hunnicutt p. 65
Hunnicutt p. 61�62
Hunnicutt p. 65�66
Hunnicutt p. 74
Patton Museum List of Exhibits
http://www.army.mil/article/109642/Pattons__Park_to_display_9_vehicles/
"National Armor and Cavalry Museum". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
Hunnicutt p. 196
Hunnicutt p. 69
Hunnicutt p. 64
Hunnicutt R. P., Firepower: A History of the American Heavy Tank. Presidio.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to T28 Super Heavy Tank.
"This Lumbering Monster Is Newest Antique", January 1946, Popular Science
T28 Super Heavy Tank (Gun Motor Carriage T95) Self-Propelled Gun / Heavy Tank
(1945)
vte
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