From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Mon Jan 20 2003 - 01:05:14 PST
Hello again Ryan,
>Well, the M40 GMC carries a 155mm Gun. Not a howitzer.
Damn! Forgot about the M40 and its successor (M41?). There are probably
some others post war that I forgot about.
>More specifically, they're armored vehicles that carry guns or
>howitzers, more specifically, the designation can be applied to the
>same vehicle, it just depends on which gun (or howitzer) is fitted.
>ie the M40 (155mm Gun) or M43 (8in Howitzer) Both share a common
>chassis.
Yup.
>Don't forget that a Gun/Howitzer/Mortar is differentiated by it's
>barrel length/range/muzzle-V. With guns being longer, farther, faster
>and mortars being shortest, closest, slowest for a common caliber.
>Howitzers sit in the middle.
Size doesn't matter :-) Caliber, range, and rate of fire are all
incidental factors specific to the weapon design, not its designation.
The difference is that a Howitzer is low velocity, arced trajectory.
Guns are high velocity, flat trajectory. This is why the designation is
so very important. In WWII most nations had Gun and Howitzers of the
same exact caliber, like 75mm, 76.2mm, and 122mm. Mortars are low
velocity, arced trajectory, fin stabilized. Generally their caliber was
different from Howitzers or Guns (except Germans had 50mm Mortars and Guns).
>Its one of those things of what fits into what circle. Some things
>are in several circles because those circles overlap.
Actually, the problem is that there are redundant terms as well as
missuse. For example, most sources call a Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) a
"SPG", when in fact the Germans called them "Assault Artillery". This
was a specific term used to emphasize that the vehicle was intended to
get into the thick of the figthing, while something like a Hummel was not
and could be correctly called a "SPA". People also use "SPG" to describe
the StuH 42, which is the 105mm Howitzer counterpart to the StuG III,
when the more correct term is "Assault Artillery", "Assault Howitzer", or
perhaps even "SPH".
Adding even more confusion, the StuG III F and G models were in Tank
Destroyers. So the designation "Assault Artillery" by the Germans wasn't
even correct!! However, they were called this because at one point they
sported low velocity 75mm Guns (basically Howitzers) and were exclusively
operated by the Artillery arm of service. Once the gun was changed to
high velocity and employed by the Panzer arm the name did not change
officially even though the role certainly did.
>You can call the G6 a SPH based on it's role, but it's got wheels and
>not tracks. The key thing is that you don't need to tow it around
>behind a prime mover. Ferrets and Saladins are armored cars, one
>clearly out guns the other and is in tank class as far as armament.
Again, see notes above concerning using these designations based on
"role". The Ferret's role is not "Armored Car", but "Armored Recon".
However, by and large such vehicles are called "Armored Cars". But you
are correct, the important designation is that which identifies it as
being able to move under its own power. SPH, SPG, GMC, and HMC all do
this. But if one wants to use the most generic term, SPA is the way to go.
Steve
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