LVT-(A)1 Amtank - Revell's No. 03055, released in 2002
LVT-(A)1 Amtank
The LVT-1s that were supplied to the US Marines in July 1941 were used by the amphibious tractor battalions and the soldiers very soon gave them the nickname "Amtrac". The first tests for the "Landing Vehicle, Tracked" were carried out in August 1942 at the landing on the Guadalcanal, where the unarmoured vehicles were used exclusively for transporting supplies. The further development of the LVT-1, the LVT-2 that was introduced at the beginning of 1943, was armoured and designed for amphibious landings. It was clear that these new vehicles were intended to meet the requirement for a suitable amphibious vehicle to provide direct fire support, particularly during the initial landing phase. Consequently, fire support vehicles were made, based on the LVT-2, but equipped with reinforced armour and with the turret from the M5 A1 Stuart light tank with a 37mm cannon and coaxial MG. They also had two mounts for cal.30 (7.62mm) machine guns. These vehicles, designated LVT-(A)1, were made from December 1943 and used by the US Marines and US Army for amphibious land operations. The combat weight of the 7.95 m long, 3.25 m wide and 2.46 m high LVT-(A)1 was 13,610 kg. The Continental engine that developed 250 hp gave it a maximum road speed of 32 km/h. In the water also the tracks provided sufficient propulsion to give a maximum speed of 12 km/h. It had a five-man crew.
