Description

The T17 and the T17E1 were two American armored car designs produced during the Second World War. Neither saw service with frontline US forces but the latter was supplied, via the United Kingdom, to British and Commonwealth forces during the war and received the service name Staghound. A number of countries used the Staghound after the war, with some of the vehicles continuing to serve into the 1980s.In July 1941, the US Army Ordnance issued specifications for a medium armored car alongside a specification for heavy armored car (which resulted in the T18 Boarhound). Ford Motor Company built a six wheels, all driven (6 x 6) prototype which was designated T17 and Chevrolet a four wheels, all driven (4 x 4) model designated T17E1. At the same time, the British Purchasing Commission was also looking for medium and heavy armored cars for use in the war in North Africa. Had the U.S. adopted this, it would have been called the M6. Both the T17 and T17E used the same turret which was designed by Rock island Arsenal with British requirements driving some of the design features such as putting at least two crew in the turret and placing the radio in the turret so that it was close to the commander.The T17 was armed with a 37 mm gun in a rotating turret, a coaxial machine gun and a bow machine gun. Power was from two Hercules JXD engines. In the interests of standardization, these replaced Ford's initial 90 hp engines. The British gave the name Deerhound to the T17. Production started in October 1942. The US military eventually decided to adopt the lighter M8 Greyhound vehicle instead; as an interim measure T17 production continued until M8 production could be started. These were to be supplied as "International Aid" but US Army tests in early 1943 showed the T17 was lacking compared to the T17E and so Britain turned them down. The 250 units produced were disarmed and given to the United States Army Military Police Corps for use in the States.The British allocated the name Staghound to the T17E series. British liaison officers had had contact with Macpherson, the Chevrolet engineer in charge of the project and felt they had influenced him sufficiently to produce something that met all their requirements. Accordingly in December the British Purchasing Commission "formally requested" production of 300 vehicles; the US Army authorized production of 2000 in January 1942. The British order was confirmed in March 1942 when the pilot T17E was delivered to the Aberdeen Proving Ground. Testing showed flaws but these were expected to be correctable and a further 1,500 were contracted for.Production started in October 1942. The US Army convened a board to examine the state of the multitude of armored car projects and recommended in December 1942 the cancellation of the larger designs and standardization on a smaller vehicle. This lighter vehicle would appear as the M8 Greyhound vehicle. However the British applied for T17E1 production to be continued for the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease. Approximately 4,000 Staghounds were produced in total.