M26A1, Truck, Tractor, 12 Ton 6×6

Early in World War II, the U.S. Army identified the need for a system to retrieve disabled or destroyed armored vehicles from battlefields, leading to the Tank Transporter Truck-Trailer M25, which combined the M26 tractor and the M15 trailer, also known as the Dragon Wagon. This was the last time the Army issued a separate designation for a tractor-trailer combination. The Knuckey Truck Company developed the winning design, but because it was too small to produce vehicles in high volume, Pacific Car and Foundry Company took over tractor production. The design included an armored cab to protect the crew on the battlefield, and after arriving in 1943, the M25 combination proved to be a valuable addition to the Army. The M26A1 was fielded in 1944 after operational experience showed that the armored cab was rarely needed and that it strained the front axle and tires, causing a faster failure rate. Removing the armored cab saved 20,000 pounds, reducing wear on the front axle while improving payload and off-road capability. The M26A1 continued to serve the Army into the 1950s, but its advancing age and the growth in armored vehicles led to its replacement by newer designs such as the M123 and the XM523E2. This vehicle later passed through private ownership, its service and history unknown, before being acquired by the Fort Snelling Military Museum and transferred in 2010 to the U.S. Army Transportation Museum.

Newport News, Virginia · United States