Up Close & Personal with the M18 Hellcat | 360° WWII Tank Destroyer Tour

Welcome to *Up Close & Personal* - a new series where we'll be exploring some of the most iconic military vehicles of WWII and beyond as you've never seen them before. Using 360° 8K video recording technology, we'll get into the fighting compartments of some of these legendary vehicles to help capture the ultimate reference footage for scale modelers and military history enthusiasts alike. In this first video, I'm be partnering with the good folks over at the Collings Foundation's *American Heritage Museum* in Hudson, Massachusetts to learn all about their fully-restored 76mm GMC M18, commonly known as the M18 Hellcat. Developed by the engineering team at Buick in 1943, this purpose-built Tank Destroyer first saw service on the Italian Front in the spring of 1944 and quickly proved itself as a dangerous and effective adversary against the mighty German Panzers prowling across the battlefields of Western and Southern Europe. By war's end, the Hellcat had gone down in history as one of the most effective American tank destroyers to ever see combat during the Second World War. A huge thank you to Andrew, Matthew & the rest of the incredible team at the American Heritage Museum - be sure to check out their channels below to learn more about the museum's world-class collection and upcoming tank demonstration & reenactment events - or visit anytime Wednesdays through Sundays 10am to 5pm! Website: https://www.americanheritagemuseum.org/ YouTube Shorts: https://youtube.com/@AmericanHeritageMuseumShorts?si=KTfUsEC8ehJdnKNa Main Channel: https://youtube.com/@AmericanHeritageMuseumShorts?si=KTfUsEC8ehJdnKNa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americanheritagemuseum/ 00:00 Intro 00:50 History of the M18 03:25 Running Gear & Tracks 07:48 Turret Overview 10:00 Commander's Position 13:20 Gunner's Position 17:40 Loader's Position 20:05 Driver's Positions 24:30 Gunner's Drill 25:17 Outro