It was built in two variants. The M10 GMC used the M4A2 Sherman chassis and the M10A1 used the M4A3 chassis. Production of the two models ran from September 1942 to December 1943 and October 1942 to November 1943, respectively.
The M10 is often referred to by the nickname "Wolverine", an unofficial name that sometimes appeared in wartime Chrysler advertising, but that was not used by U.S. troops; [ 3 ] the M10 was never officially assigned a nickname or referred to with one when used by American soldiers, who simply called it a "TD" (a nickname for any tank destroyer in general) beyond its formal designation. [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
After the formation of the Tank Destroyer Tactical and Firing Center at Camp Hood , Texas in November 1941, the Army began testing to standardize on a configuration for the new tank destroyer battalions. The Tank Destroyer board began to examine several hundred Ordnance Department prototype proposals for a tank destroyer mounting a 3-inch gun, initially focusing the most interest on two:
As there were fears that the production of M4A2 chassis would be inadequate for M10 production, an alternate design, the 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage M10A1 based on the M4A3 medium tank chassis, was also authorized for production. [ citation needed ]
The manually rotated turret of the M10 was a pentagonal shape. The sides were sloped 15 degrees inward from the vertical and were 1 inch (25 mm) thick. The rear of the turret was also 1 inch thick. The partial roof on the front third of the turret opening was 3 ⁄ 4 inch (19 mm) thick. The triangular cast gun shield sported the thickest armor on the vehicle, 2 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches (57 mm). It was sloped at 45 degrees from the vertical and horizontal.
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