American light tank M24 Chaffee was developed taking into account the experience of world tank building, accumulated during the years of the Second World War. In the external appearance of the tank, sharply different from all previously created American light combat vehicles. The tank was created to replace the tank M3 Stuart. Intended for use as reconnaissance and airborne. The first American tank with torsion bar suspension. Produced by Cadillac Sag Division, American Sag and Foundry and Massey Harris. From April 1944 to June 1945, 4070 units were manufactured.
American light tank M24 (eng. Light tank M24) – US light tank during the Second World War. He is also widely known under his British name “Chaffee” (Eng. Chaffee) or, rarely, “General Chaffee” (Eng. General Chaffee), given to him in honor of E. R. Chaffee Jr., the first commander of US tank forces.
The hull and turret are welded, armor plates, about the same thickness as the tanks of the M5 series, located at significantly greater angles of inclination to the vertical. The power plant was located in the aft part of the tank, and the turning mechanism and the side gears – in the bow. The 75 mm gun (an upgraded version of the aircraft gun used on the B 25G Mitchell aircraft) was supplied with a stabilizer in a vertical plane of the Westinghouse type. The power plant and transmission were borrowed from the M5 light tank, and the suspension from the M18 self-propelled gun. A special feature of the M24 is the presence of duplicate drive control drives for a machine gunner (he is also an assistant driver mechanic). In the fighting compartment there was an additional (fifth) seat for the unit commander.
Since the summer of 1944, the M24 tanks began to enter the troops and intensively oust outdated “stearts” from the combat units. M24 took part in the Second World War, although due to its relatively late appearance it was used by troops in limited quantities. The combat debut of the M24 took place in December 1944 as part of the 740th tank battalion of the 82nd airborne division, while repelling the German offensive in the Ardennes. These battles confirmed that neither Chaffee nor the armament nor the booking can fight with German medium tanks. And although at the battle account of the new American cars and recorded several padded “panthers” and even “tigers”, these successes can be attributed to accidents. Nevertheless, the M24 was used quite intensively by the Americans and the British.
As an airborne “Chaffee” was supposed to use the same way as the M22, that is, transporting the tower from him inside the C 54 aircraft, and everything else on the outer suspension. Only the appearance of a transport plane C 82 with a carrying capacity of 10 tons made it possible to transport a tank without a turret inside the fuselage. Due to the complexity of transportation, the M24 did not find widespread use in the airborne troops of the US Army.
After the Second World War, the M24 was used by American troops in Korea, and by the French army in Indochina. In the 1950s, the tank was intensively exported and for a long time was (and some of which still is) in service in Greece, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay and Vietnam.
In the online game World of Tanks American light tank M24 Chaffee is at level 5. Compared with classmates, it has the highest maximum speed, excellent visibility, the ability to install a vertical stabilizer, but a mediocre weapon with low armor penetration and not the highest damage. Going into battle at least without a small amount of premium shells is not worth it, since there are serious strands with which you just can not cope.
The American light tanker M24 Chaffee World of Tanks disguises a very decent one, like all fireflies, but still this device has quite impressive dimensions, mainly high silhouette, so in terms of invisibility it is far from the best.
Driving performance is the strength of an American among classmates. Light tank M24 Chaffee has a good maximum speed, which is 62 kilometers per hour and an excellent ratio of horsepower per ton of weight. As well as enviable maneuverability, which makes it a very dynamic and nimble machine.
On the American light tank M24 Chaffee it is comfortable to play from the relief, the gun can be lowered 10 degrees down. That, in turn, may affect the survivability and provide decent resistance to enemy tanks. Since in the case of detection, you can quickly hide and with minimal risk of firing.
