M18 Hellcat: Development, High-Speed Tank Destroyer Doctrine, Combat Service, and the Fastest American Armored Vehicle of World War II - Couverture souple

Grant, Kurt

Couverture souple

ISBN 13 : 9798172222320

Editeur : Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

Speed, firepower, doctrine, and survival came together in one of the most distinctive American armored vehicles of the Second World War. Behind its famous performance was a deeper story of experimental design, rapidly changing requirements, battlefield improvisation, and crews learning how to exploit extraordinary mobility without the protection of a conventional tank.

M18 Hellcat follows that story from the origins of U.S. tank-destroyer doctrine through development, production, frontline combat, crew experience, variants, and postwar legacy.

Built around carefully researched historical evidence, this volume explains not only what the Hellcat was, but why it was designed this way, how it was actually used, and what happened when doctrine met the realities of combat.

Inside, you will discover:

• THE DOCTRINE BEHIND THE MACHINE — how the U.S. Army envisioned fast tank-destroyer forces responding to enemy armored breakthroughs, and how those ideas shaped the Hellcat from the beginning.

• FROM T49 TO T70 TO M18 — the little-known development path, experimental changes, production decisions, Buick’s role, and the engineering choices that produced exceptional speed.

• COMBAT FROM ITALY TO BASTOGNE AND BEYOND — documented operations at Anzio, Arracourt, the Ardennes, Germany, and even the Pacific, showing how Hellcat crews adapted the vehicle to missions far beyond its original doctrine.

• CREWS, AMMUNITION, MAINTENANCE, VARIANTS, AND LEGACY — practical realities inside the open turret, battlefield survivability, field modifications, the M39 and experimental derivatives, foreign service, and the evidence behind the Hellcat’s enduring reputation.

Along the way, lesser-known episodes, development decisions, crew practices, and operational details reveal a vehicle far more interesting than its famous top speed alone suggests.

Part of the Armored Legends Field Guide series by Kurt Grant, this volume gives military-history readers, tank enthusiasts, modelers, and collectors a focused yet substantial understanding of the M18 Hellcat and the wartime system that created it.

Finish the book understanding not only how fast the Hellcat could move, but why speed became a weapon—and what it cost to build an armored fighting vehicle around that idea.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Independently published
• Date d'édition: 2026
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 13: 9798172222320
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 130
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Manufactured by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg