M7 Priest
The Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle produced during World War II. It was gave it the nickname Priest, believed to be because the shape of its machine gun mounting resembled a pulpit to British gunners.
History
Witnessing the events of the war, American observers realized that they would need a self-propelled artillery vehicle with sufficient firepower to support infantry operations. Lessons learned with half-tracks (such as the T19) also showed that this vehicle would have to be armored and fully tracked. It was decided to use the M3 Lee chassis as the basis for this new vehicle, which was designated T32.
After reworking the M3 by providing an open topped superstructure, mounting a 105mm howitzer and, following trials, adding a machine gun; the T32 was accepted for service as the M7 in February 1942 and production began that April.
While the first M7's were produced for the US Army, supply was soon diverted to support the lend-lease policy. 90 M7's were sent to the British 8th Army stationed in North Africa, who were also the first to use it in combat during the Second Battle of El Alamein. The M7 soon proved itself successful and the British requested 5,500 of them, an order which was never fully completed.
They did find problems with the M7 though, as the primary armaments were of American, not British standard. This meant that the M7's had to be supplied seperately, causing logisitical complications. It was a problem that was only truely resolved in 1944 on arrival of the Sexton. Until that time though, the British continued to use the M7 throughout the North African Campaign, the Italian Campaign and even a few during the early days of the Normandy Invasion. After the Sexton did appear, most British M7's were converted into armored personal carriers dubbed Kangaroos.
A total of 3,490 M7's were built and they proved to be reliable weapons, contining to see service in the U.S. and allied armies well past World War II.
Variants
M7
The first M7's produced were modified M3 Lee medium tanks. In order to maintain a low silhouette, the howitzer elavation had to be restricted to 35°.
<p>In May 1942, after only a month of production, the vehicle was altered to increase its ammunition stowage from 24 to 69 rounds. This was achieved by placing seven rounds on the left wall, five on the right, and storing the remainder under floor plates.
<p>The M7 also went through a fairly rapid shift from being based on the M3, to having more commonality with the M4 Sherman. The first major example was an adoption of the M4's three piece housing, single piece casting and suspension.
<p>In British service, some M7's carried a wireless radio by sacrificing 24 rounds of ammunition.
<p>M7B1
Completeing the shift, the M7B1 was fully based on the M4A3 Sherman chassis. It was standardized in September 1943, and declared subsitute standard in January 1945.
<p>M7B2
During the Korean War, the limited elevation of the howitzer became noticeably problematic and it was increased to 65°. The machine gun mount also had to be raised to give a 360° firing arc.
<p>Kangaroo
A British APC conversion of the M7, the Kangaroo could carry 20 infantry plus a crew of two. 102 were converted between October 1944 and April 1945.
