[ARC5] Command and Liaison Sets for Tanks

[Mike Morrow]

Wayne wrote:

> I have been reading the Haynes M4 Sherman Tank Owner's Workshop Manual....

> The book has very little on the radios, but what is there is interesting.
> It says the SCR-508/528/538/608B type radios were used...

I suspect that the SCR-508-* (10 channels, 20.0 to 27.9 MHz, two BC-603-* receivers, one BC-604-* transmitter all on a single mounting) was about all that would be typically found in US tanks.  The SCR-528-* is the same set minus one of the receivers.  The SCR-538-* was only one receiver and had no transmitter.  Then there's the AN/VRC-5, similar to the SCR-528-* except the receiver and the transmitter are mounted on separate mounts.  These systems were intended for "...tanks, scout cars, half-tracks, and command cars..." per the manuals.

The similar SCR-608-* (27.0 to 38.9 MHz, two BC-683-*, one BC-684-*) and SCR-628 (minus one receiver) were intended for "...antiaircraft and antitank warnimg and control nets, for base stations at battalion command posts, for fire control and fire direction nets, and for interbattalion communication..." per the manual.

In essence 20.0 to 27.9 MHz sets were armor service while 27.0 to 38.9 MHz sets were artillery service.  SCR-508-* components are much more common than SCR-608-* components.

In WWII, the only tactical VHF-FM set was the backpacked SCR-300-* (40.0 to 48.0 MHz, BC-1000-*).  This set can not communicate with either the armor or artillery sets.  This brings us to one more tank radio system...the AN/VRC-3.  This is a BC-1000-* with vehicular vibrator power supply, intended for tank installation to allow communications with infantry.

> ...but also mentions that command tanks had additional radios, such as the
> SCR-193, SCR-245, or SCR-506.

I'm doubtful that many SCR-506-A HF sets were in combat field service before war's end...maybe in the PTO, but I wouldn't bet a lot on it.

> So it appears that the tanks had the low band VHF radios for local "Command"
> use in a manner similar to the SCR-274-N in aircraft, while the Command tanks
> also had the HF radios for use in Liaison functions, in a manner analogous to
> the BC-375 and BC-348 in aircraft.

It's not closely the same, IMHO.  The aircraft liaison communication paths were hundreds of miles long and usually MORSE, while armor HF paths were likely a very small fraction of that and usually VOICE.  HF liaison sets were in almost every multi-engine aircraft in flights of hundreds of aircraft, instead of just a few "command vehicles" in an armored force.

But...one thing that would bolster the analogy is substituting (in the ETO at least) the VHF SCR-522-A for the HF SCR-274-N.

Mike / KK5F