The Antitank SP17pdr M10 was a Tank Destroyer designed in 1942, manufactured by the British Army, it was based on the fully tracked American M10 Tank Destroyer chassis and was in use from 1944 to 1945. It was commonly called a Achilles. General Details (Tank Destroyer) Specifications Operational Date(s) 1944 - 1945 Ordnance classification M10 Quantity Produced 1100 Weight 29.6 tonne Crew 5 M.G's small 1 M.G's large(>10mm) 1 Length 6.03 mtr Width 3.08 mtr Height 2.49 mtr Engine Details/Performance Max Road Speed 32 mph Max Cross Country Speed 20 mph Range Road 322 miles Range Cross Country 186 miles Fuel Type Diesel Fuel Capacity 165 gal Horse Power 375 hp Power/Weight 12 hp/tonne General Information The Antitank SP17pdr M10 was a Tank Destroyer designed in 1942, manufactured by the British Army, it was based on the fully tracked American M10 Tank Destroyer chassis and was in use from 1944 to 1945. It was commonly called a Achilles. The vehicle was powered by General Motors 'General Motors 6046' diesel powerplant producing 375 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 32 mph with a range of about 322 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was good providing a max speed of about 20 mph and a range of about 186 miles. It was armed with 1 light machine gun , a Bren Gun. and 1 large machine gun. consisting of 0.5 inch Browning Machine Gun M2 Its main armament consisted of an Ordnance Q.F. 17pdr firing a shell weighing 6.1 kg to a maximum range of 10,000 metres. The Achilles was a British modification to the American M10 Tank Destroyer utilising the 17pdr gun instead of the American 3" (76.2 mm) Gun M7, which improved the anti-tank capability significantly. The original turret was open topped making it vulnerable to high explosives and grenades, and was manually rotated, so was slow to change directions. The Achilles had a modified roof of 20mm armour reducing the vulnerability of the M10. Armour Details Turret Front 57mm @ 45° (81mm) Side 25mm @ 75° (97mm) Rear 25mm @ 0° (25mm) Top 19mm @ 90° (19mm) Superstructure Front 38mm @ 35° (46mm) Side 19mm @ 52° (31mm) Rear 19mm @ 52° (31mm) Top 19mm @ 90° (19mm) Hull Front 51mm @ 34° (62mm) Side 25mm @ 0° (25mm) Rear 25mm @ 0° (25mm) Top 20mm @ 90° (20mm) Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°) Effective Armour - Maximum 97 mm - Minimum 20 mm Weapon Details Ordnance Q.F. 17pdr (Anti Tank Gun) Manufactured 1942 - unknown Calibre 76.20mm Length L/55 Number of Rounds  50 Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content 17pdr MkI - MkIII (AP Armor Piercing) 76.20mm 7.65Kg 950M/Sec Quoted Penetration 130mm@915m Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.11 0.21 0.44 0.9 1.39 1.91 2.45 3.02 Penetration(mm@30°) 142 138 132 120 109 99 90 82 Penetration(mm@0°) 164 160 153 139 126 115 105 95 Hit Probability(%) 93 93 93 87 77 64 52 23 17pdr HE/Red (HE High Explosive) 76.20mm 6.1Kg 550M/Sec 0.480Kg explosive Maximum Range not shown as gun elevation is limited Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.18 0.37 0.76 1.57 2.44 3.36 4.34 5.38 lateral dispersion means the side to side variation of the shell from the aiming point 50%(CEP) of shells land within +/- (mtr) 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.21 0.32 0.43 0.53 0.64 80% of shells land within +/- (mtr) 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.27 0.41 0.55 0.68 0.82 95% of shells land within +/- (mtr) 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.41 0.63 0.84 1.04 1.25 range dispersion means the back to front variation of the shell from the aiming point 50%(CEP) of shells land within +/- (mtr) 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.27 0.40 0.53 0.67 0.80 80% of shells land within +/- (mtr) 0.19 0.19 0.19 0.35 0.51 0.68 0.86 1.02 95% of shells land within +/- (mtr) 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.53 0.78 1.04 1.31 1.57 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.18 0.37 0.77 1.61 2.52 3.51 4.57 Hit Probability(%) 93 93 90 64 35 14 8 Blast/Fragmentation Effects Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill 2 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill 5 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill 13 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr 1 mm An explosion within 2 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal. An explosion within 5 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's. An explosion within 13 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties. The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will penetrate 1 mm of the tank armour including the roof. Weapon Details 0.5 inch Browning Machine Gun M2 (Machine Gun) Calibre 12.70mm Rate of Fire 480 rpm Number of Rounds  420 Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content MG (AP Standard Small Arms) 12.70mm 0.04Kg 884M/Sec Quoted Penetration 29mm @ 100mtr/0° Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.11 0.23 0.45 0.91 1.36 1.81 Penetration(mm@30°) 19 17 15 11 8 6 Penetration(mm@0°) 23 20 18 13 10 7 Hit Probability(%) 74 74 74 70 62 52 Weapon Details Bren Gun (Machine Gun) History The Bren gun was licenced from the Czechoslovak ZB vz.27 light machine gun which was designed and manufactured in Brno from 1935. It fired the standard British .303 rifle round. Manufactured 1930 - 2004 Calibre 7.70mm Length L/82 Rate of Fire 500 rpm Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content Standard british .303 round - HPBT (BALL Standard Small Arms) 7.70mm 0.01Kg 761M/Sec Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.13 Penetration(mm@30°) 1 Penetration(mm@0°) 2 Hit Probability(%) 74 Standard british .303 round (BALL Standard Small Arms) 7.70mm 0.017Kg 783M/Sec Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.13 Penetration(mm@30°) 1 Penetration(mm@0°) 2 Hit Probability(%) 74 About Penetration Figures All penetration figures in this database are calculated to a common standard based on German WWII testing criteria (complete penetration with functioning fuze). This allows direct comparison between all nations' guns. Original national test figures would be higher for some nations due to different criteria: German: 1.00? (baseline - strictest) British: 1.02? (slightly looser) American: 1.05? (50% mass through plate) Soviet: 1.10? (75% mass through plate) For example, a Soviet gun showing 159mm here would be published as ~175mm in Soviet documents, and a German gun showing 120mm would be published as 120mm in German documents. The 159mm figure is directly comparable to the German 120mm - the Soviet gun really was more powerful. National Testing Standards German: 1.00? - Complete penetration, fuze functions (strictest) British: 1.02? - Complete penetration American: 1.05? - 50% of shell mass through plate Soviet: 1.10? - 75% of shell mass through plate All database figures are normalized to German standard for direct comparison. Multiply by the factor above to see original national test figures.

Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.

The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre, the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.

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