M19 tank transporter

M19 tank transporter
M19 tank transporter system
(M20 truck and M9 trailer) carrying a Grant tank
Type45-ton Truck-trailer
Place of originUnited States
Production history
ManufacturerDiamond T (M20 truck)
Fruehauf Trailer Corporation, Winter-Weis, Rodgers (M9 trailer)
Produced1941–1945
No. built6,554 (M20 truck)
Specifications (M20 truck[1])
Mass26,650 lb (12.09 t) empty
45,000 lb (20,000 kg) loaded
Length23 ft 4 in (7.11 m)
Width8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Height8 ft 5 in (2.57 m)

EngineHercules DFXE
201 hp (150 kW)
Transmission4 speed × 3 speed auxiliary
SuspensionBeam axles on leaf springs
Operational
range
300 mi (480 km)
Maximum speed 23 mph (37 km/h)
Specifications (M9 trailer[1])
Mass22,020 lb (9,990 kg) (empty)
112,020 lb (50,810 kg) (loaded)
Length29 ft 8 in (9.04 m) (incl. drawbar)
Width9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Height4 ft 9 in (1.45 m)

SuspensionTrailing beams (front)
center pivot beams (rear)

The M19 tank transporter (US supply catalog designation G159) was a heavy tank transporter system used in World War II and into the 1950s. It consisted of a 12-ton 6×4 M20 Diamond T model 980 truck and companion 12-wheel M9 trailer.

Over 5,000 were produced, and employed by Allied armies throughout all theaters of war. It was superseded in the U.S. military by the M25 tank transporter during the war, but usefully redeployed in other tasks. It was superseded by the Thornycroft Antar in British service by the early 1950s, though a few remained operational in units through 1971.

  1. ^ a b TM 9-768 (1944), pp. 7–9