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The M42 "Duster" as it now sits in William's
Park, Gibsonburg, OH!
M42 Duster Photo Gallery
- Did we "buy" this tank? - No.
The Duster is "on loan" from the
National Museum of the U.S. Army
- What needs to be done?
- Repair the Duster as required
- Grit-blast to remove rust, corrosion, and paint
- Paint to preserve the Duster's heritage
- Create a plaque to tell the Duster's story
- Landscape around the display
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Description:
The M42 “Duster” first entered service in
1953 to fill an Army need for an anti-aircraft gun able to
escort armored and motorized formations. The Cadillac Motor
Car Division of GMC produced over 3,700 M42’s between 1952
and 1957. The twin 40mm guns are able to fire 240 rounds per
minute and are loaded from 4-round clips. While the 40mm
guns are very effective, the lack of a radar control system
and the evolution of jet aircraft have made the “Duster”
obsolete. The M42 was last used in Vietnam against ground
targets and was replaced by the “Vulcan” and “Chaparral”
weapons systems.
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"The Duster"
M-42A1 self-propelled 40mm anti-aircraft gun system |
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Crew |
6 [usually 4 in actual combat
conditions] |
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Armament |
Twin 40mm cannon, one 7.62 mm
machine-gun |
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Ammunition |
Main anti-aircraft: 480 rounds |
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Types: Armor-Piercing Tracer
and High Explosive Tracer |
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Armor |
All-welded steel - thickness:
9mm-25mm (0.35-0.99in) |
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Dimensions |
Length (including guns): 20ft
10in (6.356m) |
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Length (hull): 19ft 1in
(5.819m) |
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Width: 10ft 7in (3.225m) |
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Height: 9ft 4in (2.847m) |
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Weight |
Combat: 49,500lbs (22.452kg) |
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Ground pressure |
9.24lb/in2 (0.65kg/cm2)
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Engine |
Continental (or Lycoming)
six-cylinder air-cooled gasoline engine developing
500bhp at 2,800rpm |
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Fuel Capacity |
140 US gallons (530 liters) |
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Performance |
Road speed: 45 mph (72km/h) |
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Range: 100 miles (161km) |
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Vertical obstacle: 2ft 4in
(0.711m) |
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Trench: 6ft 4in (1.828m) |
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Gradient: 60 % |
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Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the
World's Tanks and Fighting Vehicles |
- History and More Information
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Production of the
M41 Walker Bulldog tank was undertaken by the Cadillac
Car Division of the General Motors Corporation at the
Cleveland Tank Plant and first production models were
completed in 1951. The M41 was the first member of a
whole family of vehicles sharing many common components.
The family included the M42 self-propelled anti-aircraft
gun or Duster as it is also known, which was in
production from early 1952 to December 1959. Production
of the M42 amounted to 3700 units.
The driver and radio
operator are seated at the front of the vehicle with the
other four crew members in the turret, which is in the
center of the hull. The engine and transmission are in
the rear. The M42 has torsion-bar suspension consisting
of five dual rubber-tired road wheels with the idler at
the front and the drive sprocket at the rear, and three
track-return rollers. The first, second and fifth road
wheel stations have a hydraulic shock absorber. The
steel tracks have replaceable rubber pads.
- Source: The Illustrated
Encyclopedia of the World's Tanks and Fighting Vehicles
- The main armament consists of
twin 40 mm cannon mounted in an open-topped turret.
These have hydraulic elevation from -3 degrees to +85
degrees, and traverse through a full 360 degrees. Manual
controls are also provided, and with these the guns can
be depressed a further 2 degrees. Each barrel has a
cyclic rate of fire of 120 rounds per minute. Maximum
anti-aircraft range is 5,000 meters and maximum
ground-to-ground range is 9,475 meters.
- Source: The Illustrated
Encyclopedia of the World's Tanks and Fighting Vehicles
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"Light air-defense
guns, of calibers from 20 to 40 millimeters, were
developed in the 1930s for protection against dive
bombers and low-level attack. The most famous of these
was a 40-millimetre gun sold by the Swedish firm of
Bofors. Virtually an enlarged machine gun, this fired
small exploding shells at a rate of about 120 rounds per
minute--fast enough to provide a dense screen of
fragments through which the aircraft would have to fly.
Fire control was largely visual, though some guns were
equipped with predictors and power control."
-Source: Encyclopedia Britannica
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"The Duster's Bofors
40mm guns had been well tried by both sides in World War
II. Loaded with four round clips, the guns could fire at
a rate up to 240 rounds per minute to a theoretical
extreme range of 9,200 meters. All 40mm ammunition was
tracer, however, and the system was designed primarily
for direct fire on pinpoint targets at ranges of
approximately 2,000 meters, where the gunner could see
the strike of the rounds. The two-round HEIT projectile
used in Vietnam was point-detonating and designed to
self-destruct at 3,500 meters.
-Source: Charles E. Kirkpatrick, in "Arsenal", Vietnam
magazine
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US Army M42A1 "Duster"