17pdr SP Achilles

This British variant of the American M10 tank destroyer featured the Ordnance Quick-Firing (QF) 17 pounder high-velocity 76.2 mm (L/55) anti-tank gun in place of the M10's considerably less powerful 3 inch (76.2 mm) Gun M7. In both types, a fully-rotating but open-topped turret mounted the main gun. It also carried one .50 cal (12.7 mm) Browning M2HB machine gun in an anti-aircraft mounting. The British converted 1,100 M10s to Achilles, making it the second most numerous armoured fighting vehicle to carry the 17 pounder gun, behind the Sherman Firefly. A crew of five operated the vehicle, and it had a top speed of 27 mph. The 17 pounder, Self-Propelled, Achilles went ashore on D-Day, equipping units of the Royal Artillery and Royal Canadian Artillery in Armoured Division or Corps Anti-tank Regiments. The British used the type as a quickly deployable anti-tank gun, able to reinforce a position taken by infantry and engage counter-attacking German forces while the slower towed 17-pounders were pulled up and dug in for a more long-term defensive presence. This had the advantage of mitigating the weak armour protection of the Achilles as being used defensively usually allowed it to fire the vital first shot.