M7 Priest

M7 Priest
M7 preserved at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
Type	Self-propelled artillery
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	U.S. Army Argentine army Belgian army British Army Canadian Army Israel Defense Forces Pakistan Army Philippine Army Philippine Constabulary Taiwanese Army
Production history
Manufacturer	American Locomotive Company (M7) Pressed Steel Car (M7, M7B1) Federal Machine and Welder (M7B2)
Produced	April 1942–1945
No. built	M7: 3,490 M7B1: 826 M7B2: 127
Variants	M7, M7B1, M7B2
Specifications
Weight	50,640 lb (22.97 metric tons)
Length	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Width	9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) with sandshields
Height	8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) over AA machine gun
Crew	5, 7
Armor	12–62 mm
Main armament	105 mm M1/M2 Howitzer 69 rounds
Secondary armament	1 x 0.5 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun 300 rounds
Engine	Continental R-975 C1 400 or 340 hp (298 or 254 kW)
Suspension	Vertical volute spring
Operational range	120 mi (193 km)
Speed	24 mph (39 km/h) on road 15 mph (24 km/h) off road

The 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle produced during World War II. It was given the official service name 105 mm Self Propelled Gun, Priest by the British Army, due to the pulpit-like machine gun ring, and following on from the Bishop and the contemporary Deacon self-propelled guns.

Witnessing the events of the war, U.S. Army observers realized that they would need a self-propelled artillery vehicle with sufficient firepower to support armored operations. Lessons learned with half-tracks (such as the T19 Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC) with a 105mm howitzer on the M3 Half-track chassis) also showed that this vehicle would have to be armored and fully tracked. It was decided to use the M3 Lee chassis as the basis for this new vehicle design, which was designated T32.

The pilot vehicles used the M3 chassis with an open-topped superstructure, mounting an M1A2 105 mm howitzer and, following trials, adding a machine gun, the T32 was accepted for service as the M7 in February 1942 and production began that April. Before production had begun, the British Tank Mission had requested 2,500 to be delivered by the end of 1942 and a further 3,000 by the end of 1943, an order which was never fully completed.

As the M4 Sherman tank replaced the M3, it was decided to continue production using the M4 chassis (the M4 chassis was a development of the M3). The M7 was subsequently supplanted by the M37 HMC (on the "Light Combat Team" chassis that also gave the M24 Chaffee light tank). While the first M7s were produced for the U.S. Army, some were diverted to support the British in North Africa. Ninety M7s were sent to the British Eighth Army in North Africa, who were also the first to use it in battle during the Second Battle of El Alamein as well as their own Bishop, a self-propelled gun based on the 87.6 mm calibre Ordnance QF 25-pounder gun-howitzer.