Where was the flamethrower fuel tank for Pacific War Shermans?
Thanks in advance,
Fred
Which fuel tank? The one for the engine or the one for the flame gun?
Something I read from a forum post on a different site.
The flamethrower barrel is a very different animal than the ballistic barrel; a lot of testing and research went into making them pass the 10 ft rule as far as the Japanese were concerned as the flame tanks became priority targets as well as being resistant to small arms and 50 cal impacts. The barrels were made of sectioned, rolled, and hardened armor plate.
The flame barrel is actually able to be disassembled to access the wand / flame thrower tip inside - if the tank was a flame thrower unit there would be significant mods to the turret basket as well - the large flame fuel tanks and propellant tanks are stored in the sponsons of the tanks and down low - there is a great big high pressure rotating seal / spool up the center which carries the different fluids and gasses along with several electrical circuits for operating the flamethrower.
The system uses a gasoline priming circuit with ignitor spark plugs on buzz coils which would ignite the thickened fuel which was projected by compressed air or nitrogen - the co-driver had control of the system with a firing switch and a foot pedal for the fuel valve - they system could project fuel with or without it being ignited.
There was also a CO2 snuffer extinguisher to put out dribble fires in the barrel that was operated by the co-driver.
Most of the time older dry storage tanks were converted to be flame tanks as it was easier and more productive to do vs upgrading them to wet stowage
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There were different types.
The one with the trailer was the crocodile version only found in Europe.
The photo with two tanks was the Version you were probably thinking of,
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Mark, that is correct. I am curious where was the fuel tank for the flamethrower.
Thank you for the replies.
FB
Inside the tank, I believe in the fighting comprtment, but Iām sure it depended on the flamethower.
KL
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