Difference between revisions of "Calliope"

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== Description ==
 
== Description ==
−
''In the description, the first part needs to be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert the screenshot of the vehicle. If the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, they will immediately understand what kind of vehicle it is talking about.''
+
<!--''In the description, the first part needs to be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert the screenshot of the vehicle. If the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, they will immediately understand what kind of vehicle it is talking about.''-->
 +
[[File:GarageImage_Calliope.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
 +
{{break}}
 +
The '''T34 Calliope''' is a premium Rank III American medium tank with the battle rating of 4.3. It was introduced with [[Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory"]]. Though using the base model of a [[Medium Tank M4 Sherman|M4 Sherman]], it has a 60 round rocket rack sitting above the turret that fires 114 mm rockets at a general location. While giving the team a good edge in firepower, the rocket rack also presents a large weak point that can be targeted with a high-explosive round for an ammo-rack kill.
 +
 
 +
This vehicle has guide rails for 114 mm M8 rockets mounted on a M4 tank turret. However, the additional rocket payload makes fire from the main cannon impossible. All rockets have to be used before the 75mm can be fired. The coaxial LMG is not affected by this.
 +
 
 +
The rocket armaments greatest disadvantage is the innaccuracy, despite its finstabilized tail. There is no guidance system, thus every barrage needs to be fired in an arc, greatly increasing the warhead dispersion. Furthermore the stabilizing fins showed little impact in lateral guidance when fired from the ground, in comparison with their aerial version.
 +
 
 +
Another drawback is the small warhead with only a 1.9 kg of high explosive filler. Adequate against barricades and entrenchments, but lacking in stopping power against heavy armoured vehicles such as tanks and pillboxes. Additionally, as with any other ground vehicle firing unguided rockets, the weapon will present a very loud but distinct firing signature, allowing enemies to identify the type of vehicle as well as its location on the map. The distinct smoke trail from fired rockets can also reveal the position of the vehicle. However, the higher fire rate of the M8 rockets allows for multiple volleys of rockets to be fired quickly at a target. The ensueing flash, fire and smoke effects from constant barrage against a target can temporarily blind targets and in some cases can cause sudden software performance dips such as drops in frame rate due to the smoke effects, hindering enemy targeting.
 +
 
 +
This rocket launcher system allowed fire not only from a defilade position but also from point-blank range. So, once all the rockets have been fired, the Calliope may continue to fight as a standard tank.
 +
 
 +
Drawbacks are the inaccuracy of the volleys due arc fire and the lack of anti-tank damage. The warheads are pure HE, thus they need to hit thinly armoured areas, like rooftops and armour hulls above the tracks to be able to deal any sort of damage.
  
 
== General info ==
 
== General info ==
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
−
''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpfull for survival in combat?''
+
<!--''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpfull for survival in combat?''
  
−
''If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.''
+
''If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.''-->
 +
'''Armour type:'''
 +
*Rolled homogeneous armour (Front, Side, Rear, Hull roof)
 +
*Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Transmission area)
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|-
 +
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
 +
|-
 +
| Hull || 50.8 mm (56°) ''Front glacis'' <br> 50.8 mm (12-56°) ''Transmission area'' <br> 50.8 (13-20°) + 25.4 mm (35°) ''Protruding hatches'' || 38.1 mm <br> 38.1 + 25.4 mm ''Appliqué addition'' || 38.1 mm (0-10°) ''Top'' <br> 25.4 mm (33-64°) ''Bottom'' || 19.5 mm ''Sides'' <br> 12.7 mm ''Engine deck and center''
 +
|-
 +
| Turret || 76.2-88.9 mm (4-67°) ''Turret front'' <br> 50.8 + 88.9 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 50.8 mm (0-68°) || 50.8 mm (2-66°) || 25.4 mm
 +
|-
 +
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
 +
|-
 +
| Cupola || 50.8 mm || 25.4 mm
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
'''Notes:'''
 +
* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, bogies are 10 mm thick, and tracks are 17 mm thick.
 +
* Front armour has two protruding areas for driver and co-driver hatches. These are weak points as they present a flat armour surface.
 +
* Belly armour is 12.7 mm thick.
  
 
=== Mobility ===
 
=== Mobility ===
−
''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and maneuverability as well as the maximum speed forward and backward.''
+
<!--''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and maneuverability as well as the maximum speed forward and backward.''-->
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
 +
|-
 +
! Weight (tons)
 +
!colspan="1" | Add-on Armor<br>weight (tons)
 +
!colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
 +
|-
 +
|rowspan="2" | 30.6 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 42 (AB)
 +
|-
 +
|38 (RB/SB)
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="1" | Mode
 +
!Stock
 +
!Upgraded
 +
|-
 +
|''Arcade''
 +
|620
 +
|763
 +
|-
 +
|''Realistic/Simulator''
 +
|354
 +
|400
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="1" | Mode
 +
!Stock
 +
!Upgraded
 +
|-
 +
|''Arcade''
 +
|20.26
 +
|24.93
 +
|-
 +
|''Realistic/Simulator''
 +
|11.57
 +
|13.07
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
 
== Armaments ==
 
== Armaments ==
 
=== Main armament ===
 
=== Main armament ===
−
''Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibilty of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.''
+
<!--''Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibilty of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.''-->
 +
{{main|M3 (75 mm)}}
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="6" | [[M3 (75 mm)|75 mm M3]]
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
 +
! rowspan="1" | Vertical <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="3" | 104 || -10°/+25° || ±180° || Vertical
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
 +
|-
 +
! style="width:4em" |Mode
 +
! style="width:4em" |Stock
 +
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
 +
|-
 +
| ''Arcade'' || 14.28 || 19.80 || 24.0 || 26.60 || 28.20
 +
|-
 +
| ''Realistic'' || 14.28 || 16.80 || 20.4 || 22.60 || 24.00
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
 +
|-
 +
| 6.50 || 5.75 || 5.30 || 5.00
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
===== Ammunition =====
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of <br /> warhead
 +
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
 +
|-
 +
! 10m
 +
! 100m
 +
! 500m
 +
! 1000m
 +
! 1500m
 +
! 2000m
 +
|-
 +
| M72 shot || AP || 110 || 109 || 92 || 76 || 62 || 51
 +
|-
 +
| M48 shell || HE || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10
 +
|-
 +
| M61 shot || APCBC || 90 || 88 || 81 || 73 || 65 || 59
 +
|-
 +
| T45 shot || APCR || 143 || 137 || 127 || 106 || 86 || 70
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="11" | Shell details
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of <br /> warhead
 +
! rowspan="2" |Velocity <br /> in m/s
 +
! rowspan="2" |Projectile<br />Mass in kg
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
 +
''in m:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
 +
''in mm:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g<br /> (TNT equivalent):''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° <br> from horizontal:''
 +
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
 +
|-
 +
! 0%
 +
! 50%
 +
! 100%
 +
|-
 +
| M72 shot || AP || 619 || 6.3 ||  N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
 +
|-
 +
| M48 shell || HE || 463 || 6.3 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 666 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
 +
|-
 +
| M61 shot || APCBC || 618 || 6.8 || 1.2 || 20 || 63.7 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
 +
|-
 +
| T45 shot || APCR || 868 || 3.8 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
 +
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
 +
|-
 +
! Ammunition
 +
! Velocity <br /> in m/s
 +
! Projectile<br />Mass in kg
 +
! ''Screen radius <br /> in m''
 +
! ''Screen time <br /> in s''
 +
! ''Screen hold time <br /> in s:''
 +
! ''Explosive Mass in g<br /> (TNT equivalent):''
 +
|-
 +
| M89 || 259 || 3 || 13 || 5 || 20 || 50
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full<br /> ammo
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |7th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |8th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual<br /> discrepancy
 +
|-
 +
|| '''97''' || 85&nbsp;''(+12)'' || 73&nbsp;''(+24)'' || 61&nbsp;''(+36)'' || 49&nbsp;''(+48)'' || 37&nbsp;''(+60)'' || 25&nbsp;''(+72)'' || 13&nbsp;''(+84)'' || 1&nbsp;''(+96)'' || style="text-align:center" | Yes
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
Turret empty: 49&nbsp;''(+48)''
 +
 
 +
Rocket launcher racks can be easily detonated <br/> by high-explosives when there are rockets.
  
 
=== Additional armament ===
 
=== Additional armament ===
−
''Some tanks are armed with several guns in one or more turrets. Evaluate the additional weaponry and give advice on its use. Describe the ammunition available for additional weaponry. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage. If there is no additional weaponry remove this subsection.''
+
<!--''Some tanks are armed with several guns in one or more turrets. Evaluate the additional weaponry and give advice on its use. Describe the ammunition available for additional weaponry. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage. If there is no additional weaponry remove this subsection.''-->
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="6" | 114 mm M8 rocket
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
 +
! rowspan="1" | Vertical <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Flight <br> speed (m/s)
 +
! rowspan="1" | Range (m)
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="3" | 60 || -9°/+12° || 260 || 4,500
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
 
=== Machine guns ===
 
=== Machine guns ===
−
''Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft, but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.''
+
<!--''Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft, but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.''-->
 +
{{main|Browning (7.62 mm)}}
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="7" | [[Browning (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
 +
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate <br> (shots/minute)
 +
! rowspan="1" | Vertical <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal <br> guidance
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="4" | 3,000 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
 
== Usage in the battles ==
 
== Usage in the battles ==
−
''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''
+
<!--''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''-->
 +
The '''T34 Calliope''' is effective as a close quarters brawler. It should aim to start engagements suddenly and spam rockets primarily at an enemy's main cannon and roof armour. It is a small chance that this will immediately disable or knock out an enemy vehicle. This is usually enough to either finish off the target with rockets or by using the 75mm cannon.
  
 
=== Pros and cons ===
 
=== Pros and cons ===
−
''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Do not use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".''
+
<!--''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Do not use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".''-->
−
 
 
 
'''Pros:'''
 
'''Pros:'''
−
*
+
* Armament:
−
 
+
** Quick-firing 75 mm gun with adequate shell options.
 +
** Is now equipped with 60 rockets, a salvo can blind or even cripple, if not kill other enemy tanks.
 +
* Armour:
 +
** Reasonably good frontal protection, can work nicely when in downtiers.
 +
** Turret is quite strong.
 
'''Cons:'''
 
'''Cons:'''
−
*
+
* Size:
 +
** The Sherman is already a pretty large vehicle, the addition of the rockets makes the Calliope stick out like a sore thumb.
 +
* Armament:
 +
** The 75 mm gun begins to lack the penetration to go up against tougher foes.
 +
** Does not get access to the T45 APCR shot.
 +
** Rockets are inaccurate past ~100 meters.
 +
** Rockets act as a massive (and unarmoured) ammunition rack.
 +
** Rockets only have 29 mm of penetration.
 +
** Loses access to the .50 caliber M2 machine gun.
 +
** The distinctive firing sound of the rockets can lure unwanted enemies to your position.
 +
* Armour:
 +
** Overall armour protection is no longer effective against tougher foes, especially against the German long 75 mm gun.
 +
** The extra 25.4 mm side plating indicates the location of ammunition racks (can be resolved by taking less than 23 cannon rounds).
 +
* Price:
 +
** The Calliope is the most expensive premium vehicle in War Thunder, clocking in at an astounding 9,740 Golden Eagles.
  
 
== History ==
 
== History ==
−
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.''
+
<!--''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.''-->
 +
===Development===
 +
Midway into World War II in 1943, the Western Allies realized that unlike the Soviet Union, they did not have any form of a "multiple rocket launcher system" that the Soviets had with their ''Katyusha Launchers'' trucks. The idea of rocket launchers isn't new at this period, they present some advantage over the standard mortar or howitzer. The rocket launcher can launch massive amounts of high-explosive ammunition at a longer distance at a shorter time with a greater psychological impact than normal artillery, at the price of a longer reload time and less accuracy. The Soviets showed the best utilization of this weapon with their ''Katyushas'', having a whole bunch of them fire at a designated target, minimizing accuracy loss with a full area saturation of fire. The effectiveness of this system prompted the Allies to start producing some form of multiple rocket launcher system as well.
 +
 
 +
In 1943, the project began in United States and the design was to use the current [[Medium Tank M4 Sherman|M4 Sherman]] tanks in service to mount the rocket launchers to bring into combat. The design, developed by Victor Hawkins, had a rocket mount on the Sherman turret with sixty launch tubes, all made to fire the 4.5 in. M8 rockets. The project gave the experimental tank design the designation '''T34''', and the troops adopted the name '''"Calliope"''', which was the name of a steam organ and has a similar look.
 +
 
 +
===Combat usage===
 +
These rocket launcher tanks were sent to France in 1944, although many never saw combat for various reasons. During its development, three different variants were made. The original T34 had 60 tubes for the 4.5 in. rockets with 36 fixed tubes on top and 24 on the bottom able to be jettisoned (except on the [[Medium Tank M4A1 Sherman|M4A1 Sherman]] variant). The second, T34E1, has the 24 jettisonable tubes replaced by 28 tubes, though the total tubes was still 60. The T34E2 had the rocket caliber increased from 4.5 in. to 7.2 in. with the same 60 tubes. This saw combat during the 1944-1945 time span.
 +
 
 +
However, the modifications of the Shermans seem unnecessary as the war progressed, new development had the rocket launcher system mated to trucks, armoured chassis, and jeeps so the tanks could be left alone to do its purpose. But when the Calliope saw service in the Pacific and Europe, its performance was moderately successful. The T34 was replaced by the T40 "Whiz Bang" Sherman, which was a Sherman with a tank-mounted multiple rocket launcher system like the T34, but only saw combat in the last few months of the war and had the 7.2 in. rockets.
  
 
== Media ==
 
== Media ==
−
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''
+
=== Camouflages & skins ===
 +
[http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23calliope Skins and camouflages for the T34 Calliope from live.warthunder.com]
 +
 
 +
===Images===
 +
[[File:T-34-rocket-launcher-France.jpg|x250px|thumb|none|The T34 "Calliope" firing a salvo of 4.5 inch rockets.]]
 +
 
 +
=== Videos ===
 +
{{Youtube-gallery|9_uP-AmUEzA|'''''WW2 News Reel''''':<br>''"1944 M4 T34 Calliope"}}
  
 
== Read also ==
 
== Read also ==
−
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,''
+
[https://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/775/ [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> РСЗО T34 Sherman Calliope]<br/>
−
* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
 
−
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''
 
−
''ETC.''
 
  
 
== Sources ==
 
== Sources ==
Line 51: Line 308:
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''other literature.''
 
* ''other literature.''
 +
 +
{{USA medium tanks}}
 +
{{USA premium ground vehicles}}

Revision as of 17:47, 22 November 2018

Rank VI | Premium | Golden Eagles
Chinese A-5C Pack
Calliope
us_m4_sherman_calliope.png
Calliope
USA flag.png USA
III Rank
Battle rating:
AB RB SB
4.3 4.0 4.0
Class:
PREMIUM
Purchase:9 740 Specs-Card-Eagle.png
Show in game

Description

GarageImage Calliope.jpg


The T34 Calliope is a premium Rank III American medium tank with the battle rating of 4.3. It was introduced with Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory". Though using the base model of a M4 Sherman, it has a 60 round rocket rack sitting above the turret that fires 114 mm rockets at a general location. While giving the team a good edge in firepower, the rocket rack also presents a large weak point that can be targeted with a high-explosive round for an ammo-rack kill.

This vehicle has guide rails for 114 mm M8 rockets mounted on a M4 tank turret. However, the additional rocket payload makes fire from the main cannon impossible. All rockets have to be used before the 75mm can be fired. The coaxial LMG is not affected by this.

The rocket armaments greatest disadvantage is the innaccuracy, despite its finstabilized tail. There is no guidance system, thus every barrage needs to be fired in an arc, greatly increasing the warhead dispersion. Furthermore the stabilizing fins showed little impact in lateral guidance when fired from the ground, in comparison with their aerial version.

Another drawback is the small warhead with only a 1.9 kg of high explosive filler. Adequate against barricades and entrenchments, but lacking in stopping power against heavy armoured vehicles such as tanks and pillboxes. Additionally, as with any other ground vehicle firing unguided rockets, the weapon will present a very loud but distinct firing signature, allowing enemies to identify the type of vehicle as well as its location on the map. The distinct smoke trail from fired rockets can also reveal the position of the vehicle. However, the higher fire rate of the M8 rockets allows for multiple volleys of rockets to be fired quickly at a target. The ensueing flash, fire and smoke effects from constant barrage against a target can temporarily blind targets and in some cases can cause sudden software performance dips such as drops in frame rate due to the smoke effects, hindering enemy targeting.

This rocket launcher system allowed fire not only from a defilade position but also from point-blank range. So, once all the rockets have been fired, the Calliope may continue to fight as a standard tank.

Drawbacks are the inaccuracy of the volleys due arc fire and the lack of anti-tank damage. The warheads are pure HE, thus they need to hit thinly armoured areas, like rooftops and armour hulls above the tracks to be able to deal any sort of damage.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour (Front, Side, Rear, Hull roof)
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Transmission area)
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 50.8 mm (56°) Front glacis
50.8 mm (12-56°) Transmission area
50.8 (13-20°) + 25.4 mm (35°) Protruding hatches 		38.1 mm
38.1 + 25.4 mm Appliqué addition 		38.1 mm (0-10°) Top
25.4 mm (33-64°) Bottom 		19.5 mm Sides
12.7 mm Engine deck and center
Turret 76.2-88.9 mm (4-67°) Turret front
50.8 + 88.9 mm Gun mantlet 		50.8 mm (0-68°) 50.8 mm (2-66°) 25.4 mm
Armour Sides Roof
Cupola 50.8 mm 25.4 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, bogies are 10 mm thick, and tracks are 17 mm thick.
  • Front armour has two protruding areas for driver and co-driver hatches. These are weak points as they present a flat armour surface.
  • Belly armour is 12.7 mm thick.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons) Add-on Armor
weight (tons) 		Max speed (km/h)
30.6 N/A 42 (AB)
38 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 620 763
Realistic/Simulator 354 400
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 20.26 24.93
Realistic/Simulator 11.57 13.07

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: M3 (75 mm)
75 mm M3
Capacity Vertical
guidance 		Horizontal
guidance 		Stabilizer
104 -10°/+25° ±180° Vertical
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 14.28 19.80 24.0 26.60 28.20
Realistic 14.28 16.80 20.4 22.60 24.00
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
6.50 5.75 5.30 5.00
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead 		Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
M72 shot AP 110 109 92 76 62 51
M48 shell HE 10 10 10 10 10 10
M61 shot APCBC 90 88 81 73 65 59
T45 shot APCR 143 137 127 106 86 70
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead 		Velocity
in m/s 		Projectile
Mass in kg 		Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent): 		Normalization At 30°
from horizontal: 		Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
M72 shot AP 619 6.3 N/A N/A N/A -1° 47° 60° 65°
M48 shell HE 463 6.3 0.4 0.5 666 +0° 79° 80° 81°
M61 shot APCBC 618 6.8 1.2 20 63.7 +4° 48° 63° 71°
T45 shot APCR 868 3.8 N/A N/A N/A +1.5° 66° 70° 72°
Smoke characteristic
Ammunition Velocity
in m/s 		Projectile
Mass in kg 		Screen radius
in m 		Screen time
in s 		Screen hold time
in s: 		Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
M89 259 3 13 5 20 50
Ammo racks
Full
ammo 		1st
rack empty 		2nd
rack empty 		3rd
rack empty 		4th
rack empty 		5th
rack empty 		6th
rack empty 		7th
rack empty 		8th
rack empty 		Visual
discrepancy
97 85 (+12) 73 (+24) 61 (+36) 49 (+48) 37 (+60) 25 (+72) 13 (+84) 1 (+96) Yes

Turret empty: 49 (+48)

Rocket launcher racks can be easily detonated
by high-explosives when there are rockets.

Additional armament

114 mm M8 rocket
Capacity Vertical
guidance 		Flight
speed (m/s) 		Range (m)
60 -9°/+12° 260 4,500

Machine guns

Main article: Browning (7.62 mm)
7.62 mm M1919A4
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute) 		Vertical
guidance 		Horizontal
guidance
3,000 (250) 500 N/A N/A

Usage in the battles

The T34 Calliope is effective as a close quarters brawler. It should aim to start engagements suddenly and spam rockets primarily at an enemy's main cannon and roof armour. It is a small chance that this will immediately disable or knock out an enemy vehicle. This is usually enough to either finish off the target with rockets or by using the 75mm cannon.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Armament:
    • Quick-firing 75 mm gun with adequate shell options.
    • Is now equipped with 60 rockets, a salvo can blind or even cripple, if not kill other enemy tanks.
  • Armour:
    • Reasonably good frontal protection, can work nicely when in downtiers.
    • Turret is quite strong.

Cons:

  • Size:
    • The Sherman is already a pretty large vehicle, the addition of the rockets makes the Calliope stick out like a sore thumb.
  • Armament:
    • The 75 mm gun begins to lack the penetration to go up against tougher foes.
    • Does not get access to the T45 APCR shot.
    • Rockets are inaccurate past ~100 meters.
    • Rockets act as a massive (and unarmoured) ammunition rack.
    • Rockets only have 29 mm of penetration.
    • Loses access to the .50 caliber M2 machine gun.
    • The distinctive firing sound of the rockets can lure unwanted enemies to your position.
  • Armour:
    • Overall armour protection is no longer effective against tougher foes, especially against the German long 75 mm gun.
    • The extra 25.4 mm side plating indicates the location of ammunition racks (can be resolved by taking less than 23 cannon rounds).
  • Price:
    • The Calliope is the most expensive premium vehicle in War Thunder, clocking in at an astounding 9,740 Golden Eagles.

History

Development

Midway into World War II in 1943, the Western Allies realized that unlike the Soviet Union, they did not have any form of a "multiple rocket launcher system" that the Soviets had with their Katyusha Launchers trucks. The idea of rocket launchers isn't new at this period, they present some advantage over the standard mortar or howitzer. The rocket launcher can launch massive amounts of high-explosive ammunition at a longer distance at a shorter time with a greater psychological impact than normal artillery, at the price of a longer reload time and less accuracy. The Soviets showed the best utilization of this weapon with their Katyushas, having a whole bunch of them fire at a designated target, minimizing accuracy loss with a full area saturation of fire. The effectiveness of this system prompted the Allies to start producing some form of multiple rocket launcher system as well.

In 1943, the project began in United States and the design was to use the current M4 Sherman tanks in service to mount the rocket launchers to bring into combat. The design, developed by Victor Hawkins, had a rocket mount on the Sherman turret with sixty launch tubes, all made to fire the 4.5 in. M8 rockets. The project gave the experimental tank design the designation T34, and the troops adopted the name "Calliope", which was the name of a steam organ and has a similar look.

Combat usage

These rocket launcher tanks were sent to France in 1944, although many never saw combat for various reasons. During its development, three different variants were made. The original T34 had 60 tubes for the 4.5 in. rockets with 36 fixed tubes on top and 24 on the bottom able to be jettisoned (except on the M4A1 Sherman variant). The second, T34E1, has the 24 jettisonable tubes replaced by 28 tubes, though the total tubes was still 60. The T34E2 had the rocket caliber increased from 4.5 in. to 7.2 in. with the same 60 tubes. This saw combat during the 1944-1945 time span.

However, the modifications of the Shermans seem unnecessary as the war progressed, new development had the rocket launcher system mated to trucks, armoured chassis, and jeeps so the tanks could be left alone to do its purpose. But when the Calliope saw service in the Pacific and Europe, its performance was moderately successful. The T34 was replaced by the T40 "Whiz Bang" Sherman, which was a Sherman with a tank-mounted multiple rocket launcher system like the T34, but only saw combat in the last few months of the war and had the 7.2 in. rockets.

Media

Camouflages & skins

Skins and camouflages for the T34 Calliope from live.warthunder.com

Images

The T34 "Calliope" firing a salvo of 4.5 inch rockets.

Videos

WW2 News Reel:
"1944 M4 T34 Calliope"

Read also

[Devblog] РСЗО T34 Sherman Calliope

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • other literature.


USA medium tanks
M2  M2
M3  M3 Lee · ▃Grant I
M4  M4 · Calliope · M4A1 · M4A1 (76) W · M4A2 · M4A2 (76) W · M4A3 (105) · M4A3 (76) W · M4/T26
M26 Pershing  T20 · T25 · M26 · M26 T99 · M26E1
M46/47/48 Patton  M46 · M46 "Tiger" · M47 · M48A1 · T54E1 · T54E2
M60  M60 · M60A1 (AOS) · M60A1 RISE (P) · M60A2 · M60A3 TTS · M728 CEV · 120S
MBT-70  MBT-70 · XM803
M1 Abrams  XM1 (Chrysler) · XM1 (GM)
  M1 Abrams · M1 KVT · IPM1
  M1A1 · M1A1 HC · M1A1 Click-Bait
  M1A2 Abrams · M1A2 SEP · M1A2 SEP V2
Other  T95E1
Australia  M1A1 AIM
Canada  M4A5
Israel  ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · ▃Merkava Mk.1 · ▃Merkava Mk.2B · ▃Merkava Mk.3D
Turkey  M60 AMBT

USA premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  LVT(A)(4) · M2A4 (1st Arm.Div.) · M3A1 (USMC) · ▃Stuart VI (5th CAD) · M8 LAC · M8A1 GMC
  M18 "Black Cat" · Super Hellcat · T18E2 · M551(76) · T114 · M1128 Wolfpack
Medium tanks  ▃Grant I · M4A5 · Calliope · T20 · M26 T99 · M26E1 · M46 "Tiger" · T54E1 · T54E2 · ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · M728 CEV
  XM1 (GM) · XM1 (Chrysler) · M1 KVT · M1A1 Click-Bait
Heavy tanks  T14 · Cobra King · M6A2E1 · T29 · T30
Tank destroyers  T28 · T55E1

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