Two killed in WW2 tank explosion

This is a piece of an article for Small Arms Review.


While the OH-6A did not attend, military vehicle collector Steve Preston did bring his fully restored M18 Hellcat tank destroyer named “Rachel” (after his wife) on Sunday. He had a M2HB .50 cal. Browning machine gun mounted atop the tank, available for anyone wishing to experience the mighty .50 Browning machine gun.

Steve started the day with a demo run around the ARPC grounds, to the delight of armor enthusiasts. One such tank fan, Gerald Hay, happened to be sitting upon the vehicle chatting to the maintenance crew-member when Steve fired up “Rachel.” As a result, Gerald found himself going for an unscheduled tank ride. “Rachel” and crew raced across the right edge of the range, plowing through brush and hillside before stopping briefly at center stage, much to the delight of the many spectators. Afterwards, Gerald described the ride as “a definite highlight in my life” and himself as “the happiest man there.”

By “fully restored,” please note that the main gun, a 76mm cannon, is now functional as well. Steve has managed to acquire a new breech ring and has actually fired the gun three times. However, the firing pin was broken at this time, so no main gun demo this weekend. “Rachel” was built by the Buick division of GM in 1944, one of 2,507 such Hellcats produced by Buick.

https://smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=2887


A few photos from TankFest Northwest, held at the Flying Heritage Collection museum in Everett WA this past May.

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Steve is at the fence, talking to fans

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Showing off his tank to young fans

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He named his tank after his wife.
 
Sad story. Perhaps we will never know the cause. If one is going to test or experiment with heavy ordnance having a destructive potential it's a wise idea to do the proof/trial firing by remote initiation, kind of the old long string and rubber tire idea.
 
Looks like it was a hang fire according to guys at G503, round misfired and went of when they opened the breech block to get it out. Not good in a enclosed space like a turret. Very sad, Steve was a good guy and very knowledgable.
 
purple said:
Sad story. Perhaps we will never know the cause. If one is going to test or experiment with heavy ordnance having a destructive potential it's a wise idea to do the proof/trial firing by remote initiation, kind of the old long string and rubber tire idea.
Click to expand...

The men were attempting to fire a round from the armored tank destroyer's cannon when the round exploded at 3:09 p.m. Tuesday.
 
76mm out of battery ignition.:sok2

I had one once in an AR with a .22 conversion kit. Detonation happened as the round was being seated. Like a grenade.
 
purple said:
Sad story. Perhaps we will never know the cause. If one is going to test or experiment with heavy ordnance having a destructive potential it's a wise idea to do the proof/trial firing by remote initiation, kind of the old long string and rubber tire idea.
Click to expand...

True, but the new breech ring had been fired several times prior to this.
 
Could be a couple things/reasons why the round went off. Could be a hang fire and not running the clock out on it, could be a SKS like firing of the round as it is being chambered and the pin is protruding or something as simple as the round being dropped and the percussion primer getting stuck on a vehicle fitting.
 
hpschiem said:
Looks like it was a hang fire according to guys at G503, round misfired and went of when they opened the breech block to get it out. Not good in a enclosed space like a turret. Very sad, Steve was a good guy and very knowledgable.
Click to expand...

The M18 has an open-topped turret, but with a 76mm cartridge case blowing up in your face, that hardly matters.

tac
 
Good guys, and a real shame. I spent a few weekends being chased by Steve and Austin (the other gentleman that passed away in the accident) in that freaking Hellcat. Missed it once with a Panzerfaust, but that's as close to revenge as I ever got. Remember the Hellcats were the fastest 'tank' until well passed the WWII era. Even more impressive (and frightening) in person.

Reports from some of the guys present that I know were that it was a hang fire that detonated when they opened the breech. So, either a slow burn, or the action of the breech block scrapping across the primer set it off. Either way, very sad and very unfortunate. Austin passed almost immediately, Steve hung on long enough to call his wife at home. Fantastic guys, both.
 
Sad news.
Condolences to the families.

Some of the comments at the end of that article are rude and crass - supprised the news outlet would open it up to the peanut gallery.
 
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