M74 Armored Recovery Vehicle

M74 Armored Recovery Vehicle
A M74 in the Sinsheim Museum
Type Armored recovery vehicle
Place of origin United States
Service history
Used by United States
Belgium
Israel
Spain
Portugal
Wars Yom-Kippur War
Production history
Designer Bowen-McLaughlin-York
Designed 1953
Manufacturer Bowen-McLaughlin-York
Produced 1953-1958
No. built ≈1000
Specifications
Weight 42.5 tons
Length 7.95 m (26 ft 1 in)
Width 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)
Height 3.11 m (10 ft 2 in)
Crew 4
Armor 108 mm maximum
Main
armament
 1× .50 caliber Browning M2HB machine gun
1× .30 caliber Browning M1919A4 machine gun
Engine Ford GAA V-8 gasoline engine
450 hp
Power/weight 10.6 hp/tonne
Transmission Synchromesh transmission
(5 forward and 1 reverse gears)
Suspension Horizontal volute spring suspension (HVSS)
Fuel capacity 168 U.S. gallons (636 litres)
Operational
range
 160 km
Speed 34 km/h (21 mph)

The M74 tank recovery vehicle (M74)[1] was an engineer vehicle used by the U.S. Army in the 1950s. It was designed to cope with the heavier weights of the M26 Pershing and M47 Patton. It could also be suitable for light dozing, since it had a hydraulic, front-mounted spade.[2] It was produced in the thousands by Bowen-McLaughlin-York and were also converted from M4A3 Shermans by Bowen starting in 1954. Later, some were converted from M32B1s by Rock Island Arsenal until 1958.[3]

Development

After the Korean War the M74 was designed to cope with the heavier weights of the new vehicles that were being introduced.[4][5]

Designed in 1953,[6] it based on the M4A3 HVSS medium tank, it was developed to cope with the heavier M26 Pershing and M47 Patton which were entering service, which the M32 Armored Recovery Vehicle (ARV) was unable to retrieve. Using the standard Ford GAA and wide tracks, the chassis would be rebuilt. It was replaced in service with the U.S. Army by the M88 Hercules.[3][5]

Design

The M74 was fitted with a 60,000 lb (27,000 kg)[3][5] hydraulic winch as well as a lighter-duty general purpose one, a hydraulic A-frame, and hydraulic front-mounted spade, which was suitable for light dozing, as well as serving as an anchor for heavy winching operations.[2][7] It had a .50-caliber M2 machine gun atop the hull and a .30-cal M1919A4 machine gun in the right bow.

Production

A M74 near Ulm, Germany, in 1954

The M74 was produced from 1953 to 1955 by Bowen-McLaughlin-York in the thousands. The mass conversion of M4A3 Shermans into M74 recovery vehicles was started by Bowen in 1954.[8] Some were also converted from old M32B1 ARVs by Rock Island Arsenal until 1958.[3]

Operators

  •  United States – Used in post-World War II Germany. It was the standard recovery vehicle of the U.S. Army in the 1950s.[5]
  •  Belgium - Used in 1954-198x, 56 in 1976[9]
  •  Israel – Used in the Yom-Kippur War[10]
  •  Spain – Lent by the United States from 1953 to 1968.[11]
  •  Portugal – Had about 20 most probably from the United States.

See also

References

  • Berndt, Thomas. Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles, 1940–1965. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1993.
  • Brown, Jerold E. Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Army. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001.
  • TM 9-7402 M74 Recovery Vehicle (1956)
  • TM 9-7403-2 M74 Recovery Vehicle Misc. Components (1956)

Notes

  1. ↑ Spence. Army Vehicle Identification Numbers ISBN 0-938242-10-5
  2. 1 2 Berndt, Thomas. Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles, 1940–1965 (Krause Publications, 1993), p. 193.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "M74 Tank Recovery Vehicle – Olive Drab.com". Olive Drab.com LLC. October 12, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  4. ↑ Conners, Chris (2011). "Medium Tank Recovery Vehicle M74". Chris Conners. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Skaarup, Harold (2011), p. 172.
  6. ↑ Brown, Jerold E. (2001). Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Army. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 27. ISBN 0-313-29322-8.
  7. ↑ Chant (2014), p. 21.
  8. ↑ Doyle, David (2011). Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles (Second ed.). Iola, WI: Krause Publications. pp. 417–418. ISBN 1-4402-2572-9.
  9. ↑ https://www.cairn.info/revue-courrier-hebdomadaire-du-crisp-1981-10-page-1.htm#no73
  10. ↑ Dunstan, Simon (2007), p. 92.
  11. ↑ Manrique, La Brunete, p. 69

Sources

  • Berndt, Thomas (1993). Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles. Iola, WI: Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-223-0.
  • Brown, Jerold E. (2001). Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Army. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-29322-8.
  • Chant, Christopher (2014). A Compendium of Armaments and Military Hardware (Routledge Revivals). London, UK: Routledge. p. 21. ISBN 1-134-64668-2.
  • Dunstan, Simon (2007). The Yom Kippur War: The Arab-Israeli War of 1973. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84603-288-1.
  • Manrique, José María; Lucas Molina. La Brunete: 1ª Parte (in Spanish). Valladolid, Spain: Quirón Ediciones. p. 80. ISBN 84-96016-27-7.
  • Skaarup, Harold (2011). Ironsides: Canadian Fighting Vehicles and monuments. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse. ISBN 1-4620-3465-9.
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