Britain Antitank SP17pdr M10 (Achilles) Ordnance classification - M10

The Antitank SP17pdr M10 was designed in 1942, manufactured by the British Army based on the existing fully tracked American M10 Tank Destroyer and was in use from 1944 to 1945. General Details 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 designed in 1942, manufactured by the British Army based on the existing fully tracked American M10 Tank Destroyer and was in use from 1944 to 1945. 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 which could penetrate 186 mm of flat plate at 200 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 Bren 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(AP) 7.70mm 0.017Kg 783M/Sec Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.15 Penetration(mm@30°) 4 Penetration(mm@0°) 5 Hit Probability(%) 98 Standard british .303 round - HPBT(MG) 7.70mm 0.01Kg 761M/Sec Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.17 Penetration(mm@30°) 1 Penetration(mm@0°) 2 Hit Probability(%) 98 Weapon Details 0.5 inch Browning Machine Gun M2 Calibre 12.70mm Rate of Fire 480 rpm Number of Rounds  420     Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content MG(MG) 12.70mm 0.04Kg 884M/Sec Quoted Penetration 22mm@100m Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.13 0.28 Penetration(mm@30°) 7 5 Penetration(mm@0°) 9 6 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 Weapon Details Ordnance Q.F. 17pdr Manufactured 1942 - unknown Calibre 76.20mm Length L/55 Number of Rounds  50     Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content AP(AP) 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 0.22 0.44 0.94 1.5 2.13 2.85 3.69 Penetration(mm@30°) 174 161 147 129 113 97 84 71 Penetration(mm@0°) 201 186 170 150 131 113 97 82 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 98 88 60 34 22 APC(APC) 76.20mm 7.71Kg 883M/Sec Quoted Penetration 130mm@915m Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.11 0.23 0.48 1.01 1.61 2.29 3.07 3.97 Penetration(mm@30°) 162 151 137 121 106 91 78 66 Penetration(mm@0°) 188 175 159 140 123 106 91 77 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 98 81 57 25 22 17pdr HE(HE) 76.20mm 6.1Kg 550M/Sec 0.480Kg explosive Maximum Range 10000 Mtr Range(Mtr) 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Flight Time(Secs) 2.09 4.93 9 15.32 26.45 51.33 156.99 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.

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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