Halftracks ... what's the point?

[ASL Veteran]

What really is the advantage of having something half tracked and half wheeled? To the best of my knowledge, nobody made halftracks either before or after WW2. I can't see how the two christmas ornament wheels up front could possibly force the tracks to go in any direction they didn't want to go. Why the heck did Germany (and later the US) make these hybrids? Why not just make a fully tracked APC, or a fully wheeled APC? It would seem to me to be a more efficient and effective use of resources to make one or the other.

[Guest Big Time Software]

The French made halftracks as well, but not sure if many other nations did.

The concept is not readily apparent, I agree. I think the major benefit is a longer and heavier vehicle with less running gear. This reduces weight and maintainence, as well as lowering production costs. The front wheels act a lot like the front skids on a snowmobile (sorta!!). They support weight and offer guidence to the rear tracks.

In WWII fully wheeled APCs would be hard to do (BIG engines I would guess) and wouldn't be usefull in all terrain and all weather. Armored cars were all wheels, but they were much smaller and had a shorter wheel base (or more wheels). It is interesting to note that all wheeled APCs are coming back into style. From what I hear the US Army is trying to find a replacement for the Bradleys and it is likely to be all wheels.

In short... the halftrack is really just that. Half the benefits of a full tracked vehicle and half the benefits of an all wheeled one. Same for drawbacks.

Steve

[This message has been edited by Big Time Software (edited 06-22-2000).]

[Bullethead]

This question is something I've never seen directly discussed in any of my books on armor evolution. However, piecing things together, I have come up with some theories of my own.

From what I can tell, halftracks began in WW1 when various companies started making mod kits for standard wheeled 3-axle trucks that linked the rear axles with tracks. This helped a lot in muddy WW1 battlefields where intense bombardments had totally wrecked both roads and ground drainage systems and most truck tires were only about 4" wide.

Between the wars, the idea was remembered and eventually led to a series of purpose-built, unarmored, cargo truck-type halftracks. This series continued in use into WW2 by both the Germans and the US.

Then some German started thinking blitzkrieg thoughts and realized he needed an APC to allow the grunts a) to keep up with fast armored columns on the road and to arrive at the tactical objective more or less immune to MG and light arty fire. At this point in time, nobody had an APC and the tank-based experiments of WW1 had been failures. But this guy needed to start building APCs RIGHT NOW so couldn't wait on extended development. Thus, took something that was already designed to carry troops and had better cross-country performance than a regular truck (ie, the unarmored halftrack) and built an armored body for it. Voila, the WW2 armored halftrack was born.

Once seen in action, the idea caught on in the US for similar reasons--we were doing a crash armored expansion ourselves. Thus, we took a proven halftrack chasis and added the body of a wheeled armored scout car.

So it seems to me that the WW2 armored halftracks were hasty expedients committed to mass production at the last minute before the war. And the availability of the unarmored halftracks to start from was a holdover from WW1 and the lack of budget between the wars to make a fully tracked cargo carrier. During the war, the inadequacies of the halftrack were duly noted and they were replaced with fully tracked APCs of modern type shortly thereafter.

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-Bullethead

It was a common custom at that time, in the more romantic females, to see their soldier husbands and sweethearts as Greek heroes, instead of the whoremongering, drunken clowns most of them were. However, the Greek heroes were probably no better, so it was not so far off the mark--Flashman

[This message has been edited by Bullethead (edited 06-22-2000).]

[Formerly Babra]

B-head is correct. Don't think of a halftrack as a tracked vehicle with front wheels. Think of it as a truck with tracked rear wheels. That's how they began and the concept worked so they stuck with it. The next logical step for military applications was to arm and armour it.

However, I agree with you. It is far simpler from a production standpoint, if nothing else, to have either a fully wheeled or fully tracked APC. The success of the kangaroo proved this conclusively.

[ntg84]

Can't have a fully tracked APC if no one thought of it, so no one obviously thought of one at the time, hence there wasn't one. Half track wasn't that bad. More advantages than an APC, like ARTY towing, field work shops, etc.

[Bullethead]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Can't have a fully tracked APC if no one thought of it, so no one obviously thought of one at the time, hence there wasn't one.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, the Brits had thought of it in WW1 and even built some. They were called the Mark IX Tank and looked a lot like the Brit MBTs of the period except without gun sponsons. Instead, they had 2 entry doors on each side and could carry about a full platoon.

They failed as APCs, however. Basically, the WW1 tanks were HELL inside, what with no suspension, an unmuffled engine leaking all kinda fumes in the middle of the crew compartment, and no forced ventilation. Thus, grunts jammed inside shoulder-to-shoulder arrived at the objective in no shape to fight. So the Mark IXs ended up being used as cargo carriers instead.

NOTE: the above conditions were nearly as bad for regular tank crewmen. Apparently Brit WW1 tankers could last for less than 1 hour, often much less, before having to park, go outside, and recuperate. If getting out into flying lead and poison gas was an improvement, that gives you an idea of the conditions inside . Even on motor marches, the minimum number of people drove the tank in shifts with the rest walking along outside, which was less tiring than riding inside.

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-Bullethead

It was a common custom at that time, in the more romantic females, to see their soldier husbands and sweethearts as Greek heroes, instead of the whoremongering, drunken clowns most of them were. However, the Greek heroes were probably no better, so it was not so far off the mark--Flashman

[GreasyPig]

As I under stand the 4" tires were quite popular for a reason. Engine torq of those old trucks were quite low and the narrow tires allowed them to sink into the mire and find more "firm" footing underneath (within reason). However I understand they were useless on ice.

This is not to mention that rubber was as good as gold in those days and 4" allowed many more tires to be produced.

Not argueing your point though

GreasyPig

[This message has been edited by GreasyPig (edited 06-23-2000).]

[Bullethead]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>As I under stand the 4" tires were quite popular for a reason.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Never knew that. I just thought narrow tires were a holdover from wagon wheels that nobody'd thought of changing yet.

BTW, you should create a signature file for this forum. Just use the line, "God is a batchelor." I'm still cracking up over that post.

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-Bullethead

It was a common custom at that time, in the more romantic females, to see their soldier husbands and sweethearts as Greek heroes, instead of the whoremongering, drunken clowns most of them were. However, the Greek heroes were probably no better, so it was not so far off the mark--Flashman