5716 M88 ARMORED RECOVERY VEHICLE.pdf

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5716
David Doyle
Walk Around®
Don Greer 2010
About the Walk Around®/On Deck Series®
The
WalkAround~/On Deck~
series is about the details ofspecific military equipment
using
color and
black-and-white
archival
photographs
and photographs ofin-service,
preserved,
and
restored equipment.
Walk
Around~
titles are
devoted
to aircraft and
military
vehicles, while
On
Deck
~
titles are
devoted
to warships. They are picture books of 80
pages, focusing
on
operational
equipment, not one-off or experimental subjects.
Copyright 2010 Squadron/Signal Publications
1115
Crowley Drive, Carrollton, TX
75006-1312
U.S.A.
Printed in the U.S.A.
All
rights
reserved. No part
of
this publication may be
reproduced, stored
in
a
retrieval
system, or transmitted
in
any
form by means
electrical, mechanical, or
otherwise,
without
written
permission
of
the publisher.
ISBN
978-0-89747-599-0
(Front
Cover) An
M881ifts a disabled M113 onto a recovery trailer. The initial
order
for
the
M88 armored recovery vehicle was placed in 1959. By the time that U.S. armored forces
If
you
have
any
photos
of aircraft, armor,
soldiers,
or ships of
any nation, particularly
were on the ground in Vietnam, the M88 was the standard recovery vehicle, and also the
wartime snapshots, please share
them
with
us
and
help make
Squadron/Signal's
books
all
the
largest and heaviest armored vehicle operated by the U.S. Army in
that
country.
Military/Combat Photographs and
Snapshots
more interesting
and complete
in the future. Any photograph
sent to
us
will
be
copied and
(Back Cover) Remarkably, more than 30 years later when U.S. troops went into the
returned.
Electronic
images
are
preferred.
The
donor
will
be fully
credited
for any photos used.
Mideast in Operation Desert Storm, the M88A1, a Diesel-powered variant, was still
Please
send
them
to:
America's primary armored recovery vehicle.
Squadron/Signal Publications
1115 Crowley Drive
Carrollton, TX 75006-1312 U.S.A.
www.SquadronSignalPublications.oom
(Title Page) An M88A1 armored recovery vehicle from the 1st Platoon, 48th Brigade,
108th Armored Division, Georgia National Guard, rolls toward a training area at Ft.
Stewart, Georgia, to participate in Exercise COMPANY TEAM DEFENSE. (U.S. Army)
Acknowledgments
This
book
would
not have been possible
without the generous assistance
of the late
Jacques Littlefield
and
the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation;
Chris
Hughes;
Michael
Green; Tom
Kailbourn; John Adams-Graf, Verne
Kindschi;
and the
staff
of
the
TACOM
History Office.
Special
thanks to Denise
- who
patiently inspires me to
persevere -
and
the veterans
who crewed
these
vehicles.
All
photos by the
author
unless
otherwise
noted.
As tanks
grew
bigger and heavier over time, the need for
specialized
recovery equipment
increased. Through
the
1940s
and
1950s,
the U.S. Army relied on armored recovery
vehicles
based first on the M3 Medium
Tank,
and later the M4 family of medium tanks.
The
latter
reached
its
zenith with
the
M74. Plans for a new generations of tanks were in
place,
and
it was evident that the M74 would be overburdened.
An
armored recovery
vehicle based on the components of the MI03 heavy tank, designated the M51, was
developed, but it was huge, and placed
a considerable
burden on the logistics
system,
and
like the rank upon which it
is
based, was produced only in limited numbers.
Hence,
yet
another vehicle was developed. Designated M88, this
vehicle
combined
the power plant of the M51, suspension components of the M48, and an all-new hull
and
recovery
system.
Bowen-McLaughlin-York Inc., of York, Pennsylvania, developed the
vehicle
and was awarded
a contract
for 1,075 of them in 1959. Remarkably, the
standard
armor
recovery
vehicle
(ARV) of the U.S. Army as of 2010 is the M88A2, an updated
version of the 1959 model.
The original, gasoline-powered M88
served
admirably in Vietnam. In the
1970s,
however, the army began a move toward an all-Diesel tactical vehicle fleet,
and accordingly
the M88 retrievers were re-engined with Diesel powerplants. At the
same
time,
a
Diesel-
powered
Auxiliary
Power Unit
(APU) was installed. The
Diesel-powered retriever was
classified
as
the M88Al, and is readily distinguished by the APUs grille just behind the
right
side
door of the retriever.
·
M88A1 pro d uctlon en d
e
d·m 1989
a
ft
er 3042
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a
d ro
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th
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was
paced
111
storage,
and BMY even had the foresight to cast
and store some extra
hulls.
These
allowed a quick restart of production to meet foreign orders in 1991.
The
design of
the
armored
hulls is similar to those of a tank,
and,
as mentioned, many of the
suspension
and
drive train components are common to the
M48/M60
Medium Tanks that were its
contemporaries.
The
lower portion
of
the
cast-armor
hull is occupied by two hydraulically powered
winches
- one to operate the hoist, and
a
massive 90,000-lbs capacity main recovery
winch.
The recovery winch, mounted near the front of the
vehicle,
is
wrapped
with 200
feet of 1.25-inch diameter wire rope. The hoisting winch
is
used in conjunction with a
hydraulically raised A-frame boom
and
is
equipped
with
400
feet of
5/8"
wire rope. The
winch
is rated with a 50,000-lbs.
capacity
when the front ground
spade
is lowered. There
are,
however,
several
films
showing two
M88s being used in
concert
in Vietnam to lift
an
M48 and drive, tank dangling, to
a
recovery trailer, onto which the tank is then lowered.
The
hoist winch is mounted near the center of the vehicle, beneath the floor plates.
Other
equipment
incorporated in the design include a hydraulically-driven heavy duty
impact
wrench,
a
hydraulically operated
refueling
pump,
and
the bow-mounted blade.
This
blade
was
to be used primarily for
stabilizing
the vehicle during heavy lifts,
and as a
ground anchor
during heavy winching
operations.
It
could
also be used for minor
earth
work
in
conjunction
with recovery operations, but despite the use by
some
crews, was
specifically
not for use in heavy
earth
moving
such
as preparing defensive positions.
.
_ _
0 -·.·
..
.
=t=--j;..JI
An early
U.S.
design for a tank recovery vehicle was the T2, shown here using the boom
and stiff legs to lift the front end of an M3 medium tank, upon which the T2 design
was based. The T2's maximum lifting capacity of 30,000 pounds was later dwarfed by
the 50,000-pound capacity of the M88 tank recovery vehicle.
(U.S.
Army Transportation
Museum)
The M74 medium recovery vehicle w.as a postwar
d~sign
based on the
.M4A3
medi~m
tank. Produced by Bowen-McLaughlin-York, the vehicles had a collapsible boom With
a 25,000-pound . lifting
.
capacity, a towing winch with a gO,OOO-pound capacity, as well
.
. .
as several auxIliary Winches. The concept of the spade for braCing the front end during
heavy lifting operations was later applied to the M88. (Verne Kindschi)
i
.
o
w'
The M51 heavy recovery vehicle, developed in the early 1950s, was based on the M103
heavy tank. It featured a 30-ton crane mounted behind the crew compartment and a
hydraulic main winch rated at 45 tons capacity. Like the earlier M74 and the later M88, it
had a stabilizing spade at the front of the vehicle; it also had a spade at the rear of the
hull. (The Patton Museum)
The M728 combat engineer vehicle was based on the M60 tank. At one time consideration
was given to combining the roles oftank recovery vehicles and combat engineer vehicles.
Features included a turret-mounted boom rated at a hoisting capacity of 17,500 pounds
with a 360
0
traverse; a hydraulically operated, 146"-wide bulldozer blade; a two-speed
hydraulic winch, and a 165mm M135 short-barreled gun for demolition. From 1966 to
1972,243 ofthese vehicles were manufactured. (TACOM LCMC History Office)
The M32-series recovery vehicles saw heavy use in World War II and the Korean War.
Based on several versions of the M4 medium tank, they had a tubular boom pivoted
near the front of the hull and a winch in the center of the vehicle. Rated at 60,000 pounds,
the Gar Wood 6M814 winch could recover any U.S. Army vehicle at the time the M32 was
introduced. The boom served many lifting duties. On the glacis was a roller assembly
for routing a drag line to the front of the vehicle. (The Patton Museum)
4

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