M7 Priest

Creator: OZZA

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The 105mm Howitzer Motorcycle M7 was an American self-propelled artillery piece produced during World War II. Due to the pulpit-like machine gun ring, and following the Bishop and contemporary Deacon self-propelled guns, the British Army received the official service designation 105 mm self-propelled gun, Priest.

Witnessing the events of the war, U.S. Army observers realized they needed a self-propelled gun with sufficient firepower to support armored operations. Lessons learned from half-tracks, such as the T19 Howitzer Motor Cart (HMC) using a 105mm howitzer on an M3 half-track chassis, also indicate that the vehicle must be armored and fully tracked. It was decided to use the M3 Lee chassis as the basis for the design of this new model, which was named the T32.

The test vehicle used an M3 chassis with an open top structure and an M1A2 105mm howitzer. After testing, a machine gun was added. The T32 accepted service as the M7 in February 1942 and began production in April. Before production could begin, the British Tank Mission had requested the delivery of 2,500 aircraft by the end of 1942 and a further 3,000 by the end of 1943, an order that was never fully completed.

When the M4 Sherman tank replaced the M3, it was decided to continue production using the M4 chassis (the M4 chassis was a development of the M3). The M7 was subsequently replaced by the M37 HMC (also given to the M24 Chaffee light tank on the "Light Combat Team" chassis).

Although the first M7 aircraft were produced for the U.S. Army, some were diverted to support the British in North Africa. Ninety-seven M7s were sent to the British Eighth Army in North Africa, who were also the first to use it at the Second Battle of El Alamein along with their own Bishop, a self-propelled gun based on the 87.6mm Ordnance QF 25-pounder howitzer.