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M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer

The M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer was used during World War II in Europe, 1944-1945. It featured high speed and a low silhouette giving its crews an advantage over the slower and heavier German Panzers. U.S. units with the Hellcat adopted hit and run tactics to knock out German tanks before they could respond.

The M18 Hellcat (also called the 76mm Gun Motor Carriage M18) was armed with a 76mm M1A1C main gun and a .50 cal. machine gun, able to penetrate the armor of almost any German tank. The 18.5 ton vehicle was powered by a Continental R975-C4 400hp radial engine that gave the M18 Hellcat a road speed of up to 55 mph. About 2,507 M18 Hellcats were produced.

The M18 Hellcat Gun Motor Carriage chassis was the basis of the M-39 Armored Utility Vehicle (AUV).

Find additional photos and hi-res versions of the M-18 Tank Destroyer at the Olive-Drab Military Mashup:

76mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 (Tank Destroyer) guarding a street intersection in Brest, on the Brittany peninsula, France, early September 1944.
M18 tank destroyer rebuild and assembly line, Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, TX, 1946.
M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer with jeep and truck in right background. The M-18 was manufactured by Buick Division of General Motors during WWII.
M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer on its way to a demonstration at open house, Camp Edwards, MA, 23 October 2010. Re-enactment groups from Civil War, WW II and others had events at Camp Edwards that day. Search YouTube for videos.
Ferrying vehicles and equipment across the Po River, Italy, in support of the infantry assault, Ostiglia, 25 April 1945. The large vehicle is an M18 Tank Destroyer (76mm Gun Motor Carriage).
Americans move up with a 13th Tank Destroyer Battalion M-18 and fire into roads and the valley town of Firenzuola in the Gothic Line sector, northern Italy, circa September 1944.

M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer Photo Gallery

M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer at 4th Infantry Division Museum, Ft. Hood, TX, 2 December 2005. Photo: Courtesy of Bob Pettit
M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer at 4th Infantry Division Museum, Ft. Hood, TX, 2 December 2005. Photo: Courtesy of Bob Pettit.

M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer at 4th Infantry Division Museum, Ft. Hood, TX, 2 December 2005. Photo: Courtesy of Bob Pettit
M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer at 4th Infantry Division Museum, Ft. Hood, TX, 2 December 2005. Photo: Courtesy of Bob Pettit.

M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer on its way to a demonstration at open house, Camp Edwards, MA, 23 Oct 2010
M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer on its way to a demonstration at open house, Camp Edwards, MA, 23 Oct 2010.

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