When World War 2 broke out, the light tank was merely a tracked scout with lackluster armor and
armament. Still, the US Army employed the reliable but underwhelming M3 Stuart during its campaign
against General Erwin Rommel in North Africa. However, the expertise learned from this combat
experience led to the creation of the ultimate light tank of World War 2: the M24 Chaffee.
Also known as the Panther Pup for its similarity to the German tank and its inclusion of sloped
armor, the M24 was also armed with an effective 75-millimeter cannon, a .50-caliber machine gun,
and two .30-caliber Browning ones. With a top speed of 35 miles per hour,
a range of 100 miles, and excellent off-road capability, the Chaffee became the spearhead
of armored formations when the Allied forces crossed the Rhine to defeat the Third Reich.
Moreover, its operational service lingered well after that global conflict…
The M3 Stuart Successor British and American combat experience during
the North African campaign showed the severe deficiencies of the M3 and M5 Stuart light tanks.
Although the tanks were reliable and fast, their design went back to the 1930s,
and the M3 was almost obsolete by 1942 standards.
The tank had thin armor and a high silhouette that made it an easy target for Axis tanks.
Furthermore, its 37-millimeter gun was almost useless against the superior German panzers.
Although the idea to replace the M3 Stuart dated back to 1941 while the US was readying
itself for war, the US Army Ordnance Corps took it more seriously until 1943.
In partnership with the Army, the Cadillac company began the development of the T7 tank,
which was to be equipped with either a 57-millimeter or 75-millimeter main gun.
The vehicle eventually became the M7 medium tank but was canceled shortly after,
as it exceeded the weight limit of a light tank.
Cadillac and the Army then began working on the Light Tank T24 project,
which retained some characteristics of the M7, including its 75-millimeter cannon.
By October of 1943, the first prototype was delivered to the Army for testing,
and minor modifications were made, including adding a vision cupola for the tank commander.
After several trials, the Army put an order for 1,000 vehicles,
but it quickly increased to 5,000 to replace the active M3 and M5 Stuarts as soon as possible.
Production began in April of 1944 but really picked up in
June when the M5 Stuart was finally canceled.
Armored Reconnaissance Units The need for a new light tank
with an upgraded gun, and better armor and mobility obeyed several reasons.
The first was the urgent requirement to replace the outdated 37-millimeter cannon, which was no
longer effective against German and Axis armor. Secondly, the armor protection of the M3 and
M5 Stuart was no longer deemed adequate for the rapidly changing circumstances of armored warfare.
The American tanks had become too vulnerable against the superior Wehrmacht panzers and Axis
anti-tank artillery. As such, new protection was needed for the reconnaissance units,
as they were the eyes of the main armored formation of US and British forces.
The tanks’ job was to race ahead of the primary formation and scout the areas
nearby to gather intelligence about hostile enemy strongholds or units in the vicinity.
If located and properly identified, the M3s and M5s had to report the
location of the enemy forces, call in an air strike or an artillery barrage,
and leave the area without making contact with the hostile forces.
These types of lightly armored vehicles were not meant to participate in direct combat actions,
so they relied on their superior speed and maneuverability to get out of harm's way.
Still, the war in North Africa took the role of armored reconnaissance to the next level,
as numerous skirmishes simultaneously took place across vast desert landscapes where dunes,
hilltops, and desert storms occasionally became the hiding spot for ambush units.
With counterparts such as General Erwin Rommel, who earned the nickname “The Desert Fox” for his
leadership and strategic abilities, the Allied forces had to go to great lengths to confront the
Afrika Korps during the North African campaign. M24 Chaffee Light Tank
The M24 Light Tank was nicknamed M24 Chaffee in honor of Major General Adna R. Chaffee Junior, who
was considered the “Father of the Armored Force.” After making the last tweaks to the prototypes,
the final version of the M24 light tank that was shipped to Europe weighed over 19 tons,
had a length of 18 feet with the main gun forward, a width of 9.4 inches, and a height of 8.1 feet.
It had enough space for a five-man crew, which comprised a tank commander, a loader,
a gunner, the main driver, and an assistant driver that was also the radio operator.
The M24 had a conventional tank layout, with the driving compartment located at the front,
the fighting compartment in the center, and the engine section at the rear.
As a light cavalry tank, the M24 Chaffee’s armor was relatively thin when compared
to medium battle tanks. It had a maximum thickness of 1.5 inches at the gun shield.
The front glacis was just one inch or 25 millimeters thick, and the sides and the
turret also measured the same. Meanwhile, the top of the hull was only 10 millimeters thick.
Still, the implementation of sloped armor slightly
increased protection if compared with the thicker but flat armor of the M5 Stuart.
Notably, the armor thickness on the hull was not uniform.
Although the front was 25 millimeters thick, the hull’s side protection decreased significantly
to the point that the area that protected the engine compartment was only 19 millimeters thick.
Power and Armament The M24 Chaffee was powered by
two liquid-cooled Cadillac 44T24 eight-cylinder gasoline engines that generated 110 horsepower
each. As a result, the M24 could achieve a top speed of 35 miles per hour with a maximum range
of 175 miles, thanks to its 100-gallon fuel tank. Wide steel block tracks that were 16 inches wide
provided the traction, and a conventional torsion arm suspension was used for the dual track wheels.
A compensating wheel was placed at the rear of both sides to maintain constant track tension,
while dual controls were provided for both the main driver and the
assistant driver in the case of an emergency. Its main armament comprised a 75-millimeter
gun with 360-degree traverse capability, and the tank had the capacity to shoot 48 rounds.
In addition, secondary armament included an M2 .50-caliber machine gun mounted on a
pintle at the turret’s rear for use against aircraft and two .30-caliber M1919 Browning
machine guns placed in the turret and in the bow for use against infantry.
Finally, the tank had a capacity for 440 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition and 3,750 rounds for
the .30-caliber Browning machine guns, while a 2-inch mortar could fire smoke grenades.
World War 2 The first M24
Chaffee tanks began arriving in Europe after the completion of Operation Dragoon, the Allied
invasion of Southern France, in August of 1944. The first 50 M24 tanks were received by the
US Army 2nd Cavalry Group in France. In fact, the 2nd and 42nd Cavalry squadrons
were the first to operate them in skirmishes across the sectors fortified by the Germans.
From then on, the M24s began slowly replacing the M3s and M5s, which, according to some Armored
Force observers, were so useless that they were used as anti-tank gun bait for the M4 Shermans.
As more M24s began to make their way to the frontlines, Hitler launched one of his last
offensives of the war, Operation Watch on the Rhine, the Ardennes Offensive of December 1944.
When the American forces entered combat against the Germans during the harsh winter,
the first group of M24s followed them, but the fighting quickly turned confusing
because of the constant snowfall and several communication problems. Scattered firefights
soon broke out, and entire units were encircled. In the ongoing chaos of the Battle of the Bulge,
two M24s who were to link up with the 744th Tank Battalion ended up with the 740th.
The two Chaffees saw combat near La Gleize and Stoumont, Belgium,
where Kampfgruppe Joachim Peiper was stopped in his tracks while pushing through the Meuse River.
By early 1945, the Army had begun training more crews with the M24, but given the innovation
of the tank’s sloped armor, many soldiers often confused it with the German Panther.
This earned the American M24 its second nickname, “Panther Pup.”
The M24s were the first tanks to spearhead the crossings across the Rhine in 1945, and they would
see action during the Ardennes and Alsace regions, the Rhineland, Italy, and the campaigns in Central
Europe during the last months of the war. Meanwhile, the United States Marine Corps
rejected the M24, and no Panther Pup ever saw action in the Pacific.
Korean War The British Army
received 300 M24 Chaffees through the Lend-Lease Program prior to the end of the war, but only a
handful of them saw actual combat. Most were sent to India, and others were given to the Dutch Army.
Postwar reports from the armored divisions were mostly positive.
Tankers were pleased with the performance of the M24, especially regarding the 75-millimeter
cannon and its off-road performance. Although the M24 was still inferior
to most German tanks when it came to armor and damage, its 75-millimeter gun
and increased speed and maneuverability still gave US crews a fighting chance.
When the war ended, the American M24 tanks were used in Germany, Austria,
and Japan for occupation duties. These same tanks stationed in Japan for peace duties were then
rushed to South Korea when the Communist North abruptly invaded its neighbor on June 25, 1950.
The Panther Pups were the only tanks the US Far East Command could dispatch to the
Korean peninsula to support its allies. As such, they were rushed to the frontlines
against the Communists to support the 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
Most of these M24s were not adequately maintained and occasionally failed.
Moreover, as light tanks, they underperformed
against the powerful Soviet-made and North Korean-operated T34 vehicles.
Still, the brave American and South Korean forces held the line and the underpowered M24s were able
to destroy eight hostile T34s before the US Army rushed large numbers of M4 Shermans and
M26 Pershings to stabilize the frontline. The surviving M24s were then used
for reconnaissance roles with other vehicles for the remainder of the war.
First Indochina War In the postwar, the US supplied its Allies
with surplus M24s, and NATO allies such as Norway, Turkey, Belgium, and Italy all received tanks.
Out of all the allies, France received the most Panther Pups,
and over 1,250 French Chaffees were used in Algeria and Vietnam for their colonial wars.
The M24s were deployed by the French Army during the escalating tensions against the
Viet Minh and the Communist sympathizers supported by China and the Soviet Union in French Indochina.
While there, the light tanks were mostly used for infantry support missions. However,
the harsh terrain, the weather, and, more importantly, the Viet Minh's use of artillery and
explosives left many Chaffees out of commission. Several M24s were even deployed via airdrops to
support the French troops encircled at Dien Bien Phu during the decisive battle of 1954.
Ultimately, the surviving M24s ended up in the hands of the Army of South Vietnam once the
French retired from the country in 1955, and some were used in the coup attempts of 1963 and 1964.
All in all, more than 28 nations used the M24 as part of their armored forces, and more than 4,700
were produced before the legendary model was replaced by the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank.
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