Serial No. 2942848; USA 40172310; The ultimate gunship in great running condition!

DESCRIPTION
This vehicle is something the serious collector would like to add to his collection but is rarely offered on the market. Now you have the chance to get a coveted piece of fire power. This is a perfect runner. Fully restored in the late 1990s, early 2000s and recently fully maintained by the current owner including TüV inspection. Very complete also including its operational Maxson Turret.
The halftrack comes with many small details as identified on the pictures and this vehicle is even road registered in Germany!

The armor is ALL original and never cut. It has its original (very rare) floor plates. Tracks showing some light wear but are still 75%.

Some minor issues are post war models such as the Cluster gauge and the speedo and the wiper motors (but they work at least what most often is not the case with the WW-II models). Same for the donkey generator on the Maxson.

The M16 MGMC entered service in early 1944, with the M13 taken out of action soon after. The M16 was nicknamed “The Meat Chopper” for its deadly firepower and was extremely popular with troops. In addition to its anti-aircraft role, the M16 was used in an infantry support role, frequently accompanied by the M15 half-track in the war in Europe, the pacific but also many conflicts after WW-II

If you are interested in the history of WW-II and you are looking for a special armored vehicle on tracks that is also easy to drive, then this is what you are looking for. Intended for the anti-aircraft defense of the US ARMY but also Commonwealth Forces.
Powerfully armed, with 4 x 50 CAL M2 HB machine guns, equipped with a rapid variomatic operated rotation and elevation system as well as
an electric collimator, it proved one of the most effective defenses against the German Luftwaffe.

History

Development

The M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage was armed with four .50 CAL anti-aircraft machine guns in a Maxson turret carried on a M3 half-track. It replaced the earlier twin-gun M13.

The M13 had been accepted for production in July 1942 after a development process that had begun in October 1940 with the T1 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage. The Maxson turret was mounted in the back of the fighting compartment, which retained its sides (the top part of the sides and back could be folded down to allow the gun to fire at low elevations without a very high mount).

The turret itself was carried on a powered turntable, with the gunner sitting in the center.

One .50 CAL gun was carried to each side of the gunner.

A total of 1,103 M13s were built, and some saw combat in Italy during 1943, but it was soon realized that it lacked firepower.

Work began on a new T61 four-gun version of the Maxson turret, and in November 1942 this was accepted for production as the M45 mount. The new mount was very similar to the two-gun version, but with two .50 CAL machine guns on each side of the gunner. The second gun was mounted below and behind the upper gun in order to make space for a second ammo drum on each side.

The new mount was tested on the M3 half-track with the designation T-58, and then accepted for production as the M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage.  Production of the M16 began in May 1943. It was followed by the M17 MGMC, which combined the M45 mount with the M5 half-track and replaced the earlier M14 MGMC. Production of the M17 began in December 1943.

The M16 MGMC was produced in greater numbers than of the other self-propelled guns on half-tracks.

A total of 2,877 were built in 1943-44, 2,323 in 1943 and 554 in 1944. This figure may include the 568 M13s that were upgraded to the M16 standard before being issued to the US Army and the 109 T10 MGMCs that had their 20mm guns removed and replaced with the standard M16 mount in December 1944 but does not include those M16s that were produced in the field by mounting towed M45 turrets on standard half-tracks.

Combat Record

The M16 was normally used alongside the M15 Combination Gun Motor Carriage. They served with the anti-aircraft artillery weapons companies of US Armored Divisions, which were equipped with eight of each type. They were also used in anti-aircraft weapons battalions at the corps and army level, equipped with thirty-two of each type. These battalions were used to defend high-value locations such as headquarters, bridges, or rail junctions.

By the time the M16 entered combat the Luftwaffe had lost an overwhelming number of planes so the M16 was often also used as a ground support weapon. It was very effective in this role and earned the rather gruesome nickname of ‘Meat-Chopper’.

The M16 entered combat in Italy early in 1944. By April 1944 some had reached the Anzio beachhead, where for once they were used as anti-aircraft weapons to help repel heavy Luftwaffe attacks on the beachhead.

The M16 saw most use in the campaign in north-western Europe, fighting from D-Day to the final German surrender. The plans for D-Day had assumed that the Luftwaffe would throw everything it had at the beachhead, but this threat never really developed, and by July the M16 was already mainly used as an infantry support weapon.

There was more Luftwaffe activity as the Allies approached the German border late in 1944, but during the battle of the Bulge the M16 was once again used as an infantry support weapon.

The M16 was seen as an anti-aircraft weapon early in 1945. On 1 January 1945, the Germans launched Operation ‘Bodenplatte’, a mass attack on Allied airfields in the Low Countries and France. This was a disaster for the Luftwaffe, which lost irreplaceable pilots in an attack that had no impact on the outcome of the war. The second and final major use of the M16 as an anti-aircraft weapon came in March 1945 after US troops captured the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. The Luftwaffe made a series of attacks on the bridge, and a few M16s took part in the determined American defense of the area.

The M16 was also used by the Polish 1st Armored Division during the campaign in France in 1944, appearing in British colors.

The M16 saw limited use in the Pacific, but it did fight on Luzon during 1945, where it was used by the 209^th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.

The M16 was one of the few half-track weapons to remain in use after the war, remaining in use into the 1950s and seeing combat in Korea. In 1947 most variants on the M3 were declared obsolete, and many surplus M3s were converted into anti-aircraft weapons such as the M16A1. The standard M3 lacked the folding sides of the M16, and so on the M16A1, the turret was mounted on a higher pedestal. Some M16A1s were given ‘bat-wing’ armored shields, which extended past the sides of the turret to protect the loaders.

The M16 was used extensively during the Korean War, normally as a ground support weapon. It was very effective against Chinese massed infantry attacks. After the Korean War the M16 was replaced in Army service by the M42 Duster twin 40-mm gun vehicle, but it remained in use with the National Guard into the 1960s and some were deployed during the 1967 Newark Riots. Officially it was declared obsolete by the U.S. Army in 1958

Only a handful of M16s were exported during the Second World War. The Free French received the most, getting seventy, while only two went to the UK. After the war they were exported in large numbers, and were often given to America’s allies, where some remained in use for many years.

Lot-0235-02-TT-US-Halftrack-M16-Rev-2.0

Brochure: Lot 0235-02 T&T US Halftrack M16 Rev 2.0