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This vehicle is not currently on display at the Museum
Both Britain and the USA experimented from about 1942 with recovery vehicles based on tank hulls. The earliest British adaptation of the US Sherman tank was the ARV Mark 1 which consisted of a turretless tank fitted with lifting and towing equipment but no winch. The next British version, the Mark 2, had a dummy turret and gun, but the turret was a fixed housing for a winch which fed to the rear. A hinged spade anchor at the rear provided stability when winching. Relatively few Sherman Mark 2 ARVs were built as the Second World War ended and the Churchill became the standard British ARV.
The US Army developed a Sherman based tank recovery vehicle (TRV) which was produced under the designation M32. It incorporated a fixed winch housing in place of a turret. This was coffin shaped to allow a folding ‘A' Frame on the front of the hull to fold back into a near horizontal position for travel. The M32 winch could operate to the rear or forward. No spade was fitted but detachable chocks could be placed against the tracks to prevent movement. This arrangement was not a great success. Some M32s were used by the British Army.
After World War 2 an improved Sherman TRV was produced using the version of the M4 hull with a huge Ford petrol engine. The hull and winch arrangements were similar to those of the M32 but the tank used the wider tracks and the horizontal volute spring suspension of the later Shermans. The TRV was designed to winch from the front at full power and had a front mounted spade anchor. The winch rope could be fed over the ‘A' frame to provide heavy lifts.
The Museum's example of an M74 represents a type used by the allied armies but not by REME itself. The M74 remains in service with some of these armies.
Length |
7.92 m (26 ft) |
Width |
3.04 m (10 ft) |
Height |
3.04 m (10 ft) |
Weight |
38 tons |
Winch |
40 US tons capacity |
Engine |
Ford Model GAA 8 cylinder |
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Page produced by Peter Eldred - Last updated 24 July 2004