M5A1 TD
| This page is about the light tank M5A1 TD. For other versions, see M5 Stuart (Family). For other uses, see M5 (Disambiguation). |
Contents
Description
The Light Tank M5A1 TD Stuart is a gift rank II American light tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB) and 2.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Hot Tracks" as reward for watching Enlisted streams on Twitch.TV. It represents a tank named "Carol" that served in C Company, 3rd Battalion, 33rd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, U.S. Army.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour
- Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Lower glacis)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 28.5 mm (49°) Front glacis 63.5 mm (33-37°) Lower glacis |
28.5 mm | 28.5 mm (46°) Top 25.4 mm (1°) Middle 25.4 mm (20°) Bottom |
12.7 mm |
| Turret | 44.4 mm (11-13°) Turret front 50.8 mm (2-43°) Gun mantlet |
31.75 mm (1°) | 31.75 mm (1°) | 12.7 mm |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels, bogies, and tracks are 15 mm thick.
- Tracks are placed on the turret side and rear that can provide about 10 mm of extra armour.
- An extra 12.7 mm RHA metal plate is present on the right side of the turret near the pintle 7.62 mm machine gun.
- A 5 mm Structural steel box is present, mounted on the vehicle rear.
Mobility
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 65 | 17 | 15.7 | 459 | 565 | 29.24 | 35.99 |
| Realistic | 58 | 15 | 262 | 296 | 16.69 | 18.85 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
The M5A1 Stuart is armed with a 37 mm cannon as its main armament, the same gun as the preceding M3A3. While being at 2.3, the gun still packs a fierce punch if aiming at the correct area and firing at the correct distance. It is a small calibre fast-firing gun with a maximum penetration of 84 mm at 100 m (M51B1 shell), being able to penetrate most of the opponents it will face. The penetration power and gun accuracy drop a lot beyond 500 m and become unreliable past 700 m. The gun is equipped with a vertical stabiliser, giving the M5A1 Stuart a huge advantage in some cases as you can fire precisely while moving, but keep in mind that it activates only when the tank is driving under 10 km/h.
While it lacks the post-penetration damage to disable most enemies in one shot, it can quickly finish them off with its fast reload. Knowledge of enemy vehicle layouts is essential with ammunition lacking post-penetration explosive damage. Make sure to target modules and crew positions to maximise the damage. Disabling the enemy gunner on your first shot will be critical to win engagements as you'll most likely need several shots to destroy an enemy vehicle.
| 37 mm M6 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 147 | -12°/+20° | ±180° | Vertical | 22.8 | 31.6 | 38.4 | 42.5 | 45.2 | 3.77 | 3.33 | 3.07 | 2.90 |
| Realistic | 14.3 | 16.8 | 20.4 | 22.6 | 24.0 | ||||||||
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| M74B1 | AP | 79 | 76 | 65 | 54 | 45 | 37 |
| M63 shell | SAPHEI | 32 | 31 | 26 | 21 | 16 | 13 |
| M51B1 | APCBC | 87 | 84 | 73 | 60 | 50 | 41 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| M74B1 | AP | 883 | 0.87 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 47° | 60° | 65° |
| M63 shell | SAPHEI | 792 | 0.73 | 1.2 | 9 | 38 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| M51B1 | APCBC | 883 | 0.87 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 48° | 63° | 71° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 147 | 135 (+12) | 111 (+36) | 56 (+91) | 1 (+146) | No |
Notes:
- Racks disappear after you've fired all shells in the rack.
Machine guns
| 7.62 mm M1919A4 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 3,000 (250) | 500 | -10°/+70° | ±60° |
| Coaxial | 3,500 (250) | 500 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
The M5A1 Stuart preserves the Rank I style of fighting. With very good mobility and fast reload, the light tank can speed to an optimal position on the enemy's side and riddle them with the 37 mm cannon. It is recommended to attack from the flanks as the weak armour on the Stuart makes it vulnerable to the newer enemy guns that can penetrate the armour with ease.
With the fast reloading 37 mm cannon, the M5A1 Stuart can deliver some good-hitting rounds if shooting at the flank at the enemies. A frontal engagement is possible but detrimental as Stuart's thin armour makes any incoming shot lethal. If coming up to heavily armoured vehicles like the KV-1, load the M74B1 AP round for maximum penetration. In the case the M5A1 does come across a KV-1, the recommended course of action to take it out is to get in a point-blank range and fire at the turret ring or engine rear, otherwise, there is no way for the Stuart's 37 mm to penetrate the armour.
With its weak overall armour, most enemies are able to penetrate the M5A1 Stuart. A specific concern should be to vehicles with a high rate of fire weaponry such as the SPAA, which might be able to penetrate through weak points around the Stuart with enough effort. Enemies with strong shells like the Panzer IV with it's short 75 mm and its HEAT rounds could also destroy the Stuart with ease.
With its speed and relatively small size, as well as the ability to scout, the Stuart can be used as a reconnaissance vehicle. Even if you cannot penetrate heavily armoured opponents, you can help your allies by scouting the opposing tanks. This, combined with its decent firepower, makes the Stuart an amazing scout vehicle.
Enemies worth noting
- Sd.Kfz.234 family: When your opposite team has Germany, you might want to reconsider the option of capping a point straight away, since the German Sd.Kfz.234 series are very likely to be there first. The Sd.Kfz.234/2 (also known as the Puma) is a turreted 8-wheel vehicle with a small profile, extremely high on-road speed and a powerful 50 mm gun. But it cannot turn in place, has a very slow turret traverse and only 8 mm of side hull armour, so a good tactic is to circle with it and utilise your rather quick turret traverse and fast reload. In an intense tank "dogfight", you want to aim with the greatest care, as your 37 mm shells won't do much damage, so even a slight miss will result in the failure of knocking out the enemies' crew. The Sd.Kfz.234/3 and Sd.Kfz.234/4, although being equally deadly, are turretless. You can use some quick turns to avoid their guns or tear through the thin armour plate protecting their gunners with your 7.62 mm MG. Note that the penetration of the MG isn't great, so aim for their side armour.
- T-34 (all variants). The M5 can sometimes face the T-34 tank. They possess 76 mm cannons that fire APHE rounds with massive amounts of explosive filler - disabling the Stuart in one shot most of the time. The T-34s are also very mobile and will often be the first medium tanks to get to the battlefield. To boot they have very strong frontal armour, the UFP is immune to the 37 mm M6 carried by the M5A1. Against those foes, try to shoot at their weaker sides. If a head-on encounter is inevitable, the driver's hatch can be exploited, knocking out the driver, gunner, and often the engine, leaving the enemy completely debilitated, easy to finish off. The turret cheeks can also be exploited on the 1940 and '41 models. The turret ring should be targeted on the '42 and '43 models.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- High top speed, good acceleration especially on flat terrain
- Better handling than its predecessors, quick turning speeds
- Sloped armour can deflect some shots from small calibre projectiles
- Good rate of fire
- Gun can penetrate most tanks of this rank
- Can quickly rotate in place while not in forward or reverse motion
- Roof mounted .30 cal is useful for engaging aircraft
- Has access to scouting ability
Cons:
- Crew of four leaving one spare, vehicle efficiency decreases after the spare crew is used up
- Exposed engine and fuel tank, prone to fires
- As with the American 37 mm cannons, AP rounds does not contain HE filler
- AP Shots often fail to fragment when penetrating other vehicles
- Relatively tall for a light tank, a challenge to find adequate defensive positions
- 37 mm cannon has low penetration which makes it difficult to fight enemy tanks at its BR
- Little armour; can easily be penetrated by enemy tanks
- Although armour is better than the the previous Stuarts, its at an higher battle rating meaning plenty more vehicles can penetrate it
- Weighs three more tons than its predecessor, noticeably slower acceleration
History
The M5A1 TD represents an early production M5A1 Stuart, designated 3051254-S. It was used by C Company, 3rd Battalion, 33rd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, U.S. Army in Normandy, France, November 1944. It's designation in the unit was C-34 and it was given the name "Carol".
Media
- Skins
- Skins and camouflages for the M5A1 can be used for the M5A1 TD.
- Images
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| USA light tanks | |
|---|---|
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