It placed tanks in the "striking echelon" of the armored division, and placed the infantry in the "support echelon". A field manual covering the use of the Sherman FM 17—33, "The Tank Battalion, Light and Medium" of September described fighting enemy tanks when necessary as one of the many roles of the Sherman, but devoted only one page of text and four diagrams to tank-versus-tank action, out of pages. By the time M4s reached combat in significant numbers, battlefield demands for infantry support and tank versus tank action far outnumbered the occasional opportunities of rear-echelon exploitation.
United States doctrine held that the most critical anti-tank work stopping massed enemy tank attacks was primarily to be done by towed and self-propelled anti-tank guns, both of which were referred to as "tank destroyers", with friendly tanks being used in support if possible.
This doctrine was rarely followed in combat, as it was found to be impractical. Commanders were reluctant to leave tank destroyers in reserve; if they were, it was also easier for an opposing armored force to achieve a breakthrough against an American tank battalion, which would not have all of its anti-tank weapons at the front during the beginning of any attack. The first production of the Sherman took place at the Lima Locomotive Works , producing them for British use. The first production Sherman was given to the U. Army for evaluation, and the second tank of the British order went to London.
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Army ultimately fielded 16 armored divisions, along with 70 separate tank battalions, while the U. Marine Corps fielded six Sherman tank battalions. Roosevelt had announced a production program calling for , tanks for the Allied war effort. Although the American industrial complex was not affected by enemy aerial bombing nor submarine warfare as was Japan , Germany and, to a lesser degree, Great Britain , an enormous amount of steel for tank production had been diverted to the construction of warships and other naval vessels.
The Army had seven main sub-designations for M4 variants during production: These designations did not necessarily indicate linear improvement; in that "M4A4" did not indicate it was better than "M4A3". These sub-types indicated standardized production variations, which were in fact often manufactured concurrently at different locations.
The sub-types differed mainly in engines, although the M4A1 differed from the other variants by its fully cast upper hull, with a distinctive rounded appearance. The M4A4 had a longer engine system that required a longer hull and more track blocks, and thus the most distinguishing feature of the M4A4 was the wider longitudinal spacing between the bogies. The M4A6 had a radial diesel engine as well as the elongated chassis of the M4A4, but only 75 of these were ever produced.
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Most Sherman sub-types ran on gasoline. There were also two diesel engined variants. Many details of production, shape, strength, and performance improved while in production, without a change to the tank's basic model number. These included more durable suspension units, safer "wet" W ammunition stowage, and stronger or more effective armor arrangements, such as the M4 "Composite", which had a cheaper to produce cast front hull section mated to a regular welded rear hull. British nomenclature regarding Sherman variants differed from that employed by the U.
A volt electrical system was used in the M4. Early Shermans mounted a 75 mm medium-velocity general-purpose gun. Although Ordnance began work on the T20 medium tank series as Sherman replacements, ultimately the Army decided to minimize production disruption by incorporating elements of other tank designs into the Sherman. The M4A3 model was the first to be factory-produced with the horizontal volute spring suspension HVSS system, beginning in August With wider tracks to distribute weight, and the smooth ride of the HVSS, it gained the nickname " Easy Eight " from its experimental E8 designation.
Both the Americans and the British developed a wide array of special attachments for the Sherman, although few saw combat, remaining experimental. Those that saw action included a bulldozer blade, the Duplex Drive system, flamethrowers for Zippo flame tanks , and various rocket launchers such as the T34 Calliope.
British variants DDs and mine flails formed part of the group of specialized vehicles collectively known as " Hobart's Funnies " after Percy Hobart , commander of the 79th Armoured Division. The M4 Sherman's basic chassis was used for all the sundry roles of a modern mechanized force: Army and about 1, to the U.
Devers , ordered that no diesel-engined Shermans be used by the Army outside the Zone of Interior the continental U. Shermans were being issued in small numbers for familiarization to U. Axis forces had taken Tobruk and were advancing into Egypt and Britain's supply line through the Suez Canal was threatened.
The US considered collecting all Shermans together so as to be able to send the 2nd Armored Division under Patton to reinforce Egypt, but delivering the Shermans directly to the British was quicker and over — mostly M4A1s, but also including M4A2s — had arrived there by September The Shermans were modified for desert warfare with sandshields over the tracks and other stowage. At the start of the offensive, there were tanks fit for action. There were losses to both sides.
The M-4 Sherman Tank Was Hell on Wheels - And a Death Trap
On 6 December, near Tebourba, Tunisia , a platoon from the 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment was lost to enemy tanks and anti-tank guns. The M4 and M4A1 were the main types in U. Some M4s and M4A1s continued in U. By the end of the war, roughly half the U. While the US Army fielded 16 armored divisions and 70 separate tank battalions during the war, only a third of the battalions and none of the divisions were deployed to the Pacific Theater.
For this type of terrain, the Japanese and the Allies found light tanks easier to transport and employ. During the early stages of combat in the Pacific, specifically the Guadalcanal Campaign , the U. However, the M2 produced in was newer by five years. Only Type 3s and two Type 4s were built, and none saw combat; they were saved for the defense of the Japanese home islands, leaving s vintage light and medium armor to do battle against s built Allied light and medium armor.
During these later years of the war, general purpose high explosive ammunition was preferred for fighting Japanese tanks, because armor-piercing rounds, which had been designed for penetrating thicker steel, often went through the thin armor of the Type 95 Ha-Go the most commonly encountered Japanese tank and out the other side without stopping. Although the high-velocity guns of tank destroyers were useful for penetrating fortifications, M4s armed with flamethrowers were often deployed, as direct fire seldom destroyed Japanese fortifications.
The Sherman remained a common U. Army replaced the M4 in The Israeli Defense Force used Shermans from its creation in until the s, having first acquired a single M4A2 lacking main armament from British forces as they withdrew from Israel. These were designated Sherman M by the Israelis. M4A3s were also used by British forces in Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution until , when they were passed on to the KNIL , which used them until before they were passed on to the Indonesian Army.
Developed from a land-based anti-aircraft gun, its size and weight made it too large to fit in the turret of the Sherman. Army Intelligence discounted the arrival of the Tiger I in and the Panther tank in , predicting that the Panther would be a heavy tank like the Tiger I, and doubted that many would be produced. However, this only happened at very close ranges and against the thinner side armor. The Army also failed to anticipate that the Germans would attempt to make the Panther the standard tank of their panzer divisions in , supported by small numbers of Tiger I and IIs.
As a result, even weakly armored light German tank destroyers such as the Marder III, which was meant to be a stop-gap measure to fight Soviet tanks in , could destroy Shermans from a distance. The M1A1C gun, which entered production lines in March , was threaded for a muzzle brake, but as the brakes were still in development, the threads were protected with a cap. The addition of a muzzle brake on the new M1A2 gun which also incorporated a faster rifling twist leading to a slight accuracy increase at longer ranges beginning in October finally solved this problem by directing the blast sideways.
Army doctrine at the time emphasized the multirole ability of the tank, and the capability of the high explosive shell was considered important. All of the U. An M4 might only knock out a Panther frontally from point-blank range by aiming for its turret front and transverse-cylindrical shaped mantlet, the lower edge of which on most Panthers especially the earlier Ausf.
D and A versions constituted a vulnerable shot trap. In late summer , after breaking out of the bocage and moving into open country, U. Sherman crews also had concerns about firing from longer ranges, as the Sherman's high-flash powder made their shots easier to spot. This, and the U. Army's usual offensive tactical situation, often contributed to losses suffered by the U.
The projectile contained a tungsten penetrator surrounded by a lightweight aluminum body and ballistic windshield, which gave it a higher velocity and more penetrating power. Because of tungsten shortages, HVAP rounds were constantly in short supply. Priority was given to U. This conversion became the Sherman Firefly. Army for use in their M4 tanks. General Devers insisted on comparison tests between the pounder and the U. Army interest in the pounder waned. Late in , the British began to produce tungsten sabot rounds for the pounder, which could readily breach the armor of even the Tiger II ; these were not as accurate as standard rounds and not generally available.
Interest in mounting the British pounder in U. In February , the U. Approximately conversions were completed by the beginning of May. By then, the end of the war in Europe was clearly in sight, and the U. Army decided the logistical difficulties of adding a new ammunition caliber to the supply train was not warranted.
None of the converted pounder M4s were deployed in combat by the U. McNair was head of the Army Ground Forces from to McNair, a former artilleryman, advocated for the role of the tank destroyer TD within the U. In McNair's opinion, tanks were to exploit breakthroughs and support infantry, while masses of attacking hostile tanks were to be engaged by tank destroyer units, which were composed of a mix of self-propelled and towed anti-tank guns. Armored Force and Tank Destroyer Force doctrine were developed separately, and it was not against Armored Force doctrine for friendly tanks to engage hostile tanks while attacking or defending.
Army self-propelled armored vehicles mounting an artillery piece of heavy caliber were similar to tanks but were lightly armored with open-topped turrets. The tank destroyers were supposed to be faster and carry a more powerful anti-tank gun than tanks although in reality tanks often received more powerful guns before tank destroyers did and armor was sacrificed for speed. In fall , Lieutenant General Devers, commander of U.
Marshall then summarily ordered the tanks to be provided to the ETO as soon as possible. Eisenhower urgently requested heavy tanks, but McNair's continued opposition to mass production due to persistent serious mechanical problems with the vehicles delayed their procurement.
That same month, the War Department reversed course and completely overruled the Army Ground Forces when making their tank production plan for General Marshall intervened again and the tanks were eventually brought into full production. However, only a few T26 tanks by then designated M26 saw combat beginning in February , too late to have any effect on the battlefield.
The Sherman, like its M3 predecessor, was one of the first tanks to feature a gyroscopically stabilized gun and sight. The stabilization was only in the vertical plane, as the mechanism could not slew the turret. In the close fighting of the French bocage , the U. Army's 2nd Armored Division tanks used Culin Hedgerow Cutters fitted to their tanks to push three tanks together through a hedgerow. The flank tanks would clear the back of the hedgerow on their side with canister rounds while the center tank would engage and suppress known or suspected enemy positions on the next hedgerow.
This approach permitted surprisingly fast progress through the very tough and well-defended hedgerows in Normandy. Over sets of these were fitted to US armored vehicles, and many fitted to various British tanks where they were called "Prongs". M4 tank crews discovered that the shell could also be used against the Tiger and Panther—when the burning white phosphorus adhered to the German tanks, their excellent optics would be blinded and the acrid smoke would get sucked inside the vehicle, making it difficult or impossible for the crew to breathe.
This, and the fear of fire starting or spreading inside the tank, would sometimes cause the crew to abandon the tank. This variant was employed in three-vehicle "assault gun" platoons in tank battalions [84] to provide close fire support and smoke. Armored infantry battalions were also eventually issued three of these Shermans. The opening in the front of the M4's turret for the main gun was covered by a rounded Early Shermans that had a periscopic sight for the main gun mounted in the turret roof possessed a small When the Sherman was later fitted with a telescopic sight next to the main gun, a larger The turret side armor was This turret's armor was It had an The Sherman's glacis plate was originally The M4, M4A1, early production M4A2 and early production M4A3 possessed protruding cast "hatchway" structures that allowed the driver and assistant driver's hatches to fit in front of the turret ring.
In these areas, the effect of the glacis plate's slope was greatly reduced.
Production
Later Shermans had an upgraded glacis plate that was uniformly The new design improved overall ballistic protection by eliminating the "hatchways", while also allowing for larger hatches for the driver and bow gunner. The cast hull M4A1 for the most part retained its previous glacis shape even after the larger hatches were introduced; the casting, irrespective of the larger hatches, sat 37 to 55 degrees from the vertical, with the large majority of the piece sitting closer to a 55 degree angle. The transmission housing was rounded, made of three cast sections bolted together or cast as one piece.
It ranged from The M4 had a hatch on the hull bottom to dispose of spent shell casings and to provide an emergency escape route. In the Pacific, Marines often used this Sherman feature in reverse to recover wounded infantry under fire. The armor of the M4 was effective against most early war tank and anti-tank weapons, [86] but needed a compound angle to resist later German tank and anti-tank guns.
The distinctive protruding "hatchways" of the early Sherman compromised the 56 degree-angled glacis plate, making them weak points where the effect of the glacis plate's slope was greatly reduced. In comparison, from a sample of 5 Panzer IV's, 4 tanks burned 80 percent and 1 tank remained unburned, following an average of 1.
M-4 Sherman Medium Tank | HowStuffWorks
The Panther tank burned 14 times 63 percent from a sample of 22 tanks and following 3. Army study in concluded that only 10—15 percent of wet stowage Shermans burned when penetrated, compared to 60—80 percent of the older dry-stowage Shermans. Later models moved ammunition stowage to the hull floor, with water jackets surrounding each stowage bin. The practice, known as wet stowage, reduced the chance of fire after a hit to about 15 percent. Fuel fires occasionally occurred, but such fires were far less common and less deadly than ammunition fires.
Tankers described "fierce, blinding jets of flame", which is inconsistent with gasoline-related fires. Upgrades included the rectangular armor patches protecting ammunition stowage mentioned above, and smaller armor patches in front of each of the protruding hatchway structures in the glacis in an attempt to mitigate their ballistic weakness. Field improvisations included placing sandbags, spare track links, concrete, wire mesh, or even wood for increased protection against shaped-charge rounds. In the only study known to have been done to test the use of sandbags, on March 9, , officers of the 1st Armored Group tested standard Panzerfaust 60s against sandbagged M4s; shots against the side blew away the sandbags and still penetrated the side armor, whereas shots fired at an angle against the front plate blew away some of the sandbags but failed to penetrate the armor.
M-4 Sherman Medium Tank
Earlier, in the summer of , General Patton, informed by his ordnance officers that sandbags were useless and that the machines' chassis suffered from the extra weight, had forbidden the use of sandbags. Following the clamor for better armor and firepower after the losses of the Battle of the Bulge , Patton ordered extra armor plates salvaged from knocked-out American and German tanks welded to the turrets and hulls of tanks of his command.
Approximately 36 of these up-armored M4s were supplied to each of the three armored divisions of the Third Army in the spring of They were "considered highly successful". In its initial specifications for a replacement for the M3 Medium Tank, the U. Army restricted the Sherman's height, width, and weight so that it could be transported via typical bridges, roads, railroads and landing craft without special accommodation.
This greatly aided the strategic, logistical, and tactical flexibility and mobility of all Allied armored forces using the Sherman. The British officer commanding the trial concluded "They are utterly reliable German troops were dug into the town's ruins as well as those of the Abbey above. Vintage sherman tank isolated on white. Old US Sherman tank at the entrance of the famous museum 'family of man' in Clervaux. Woodcut style image of a military tank. Remembrance parade with a Sherman tank on the fifth of may, the day that The Netherlands remembers the end of the second world war.
Model of Sherman tank. World War 2 German and American armor. US Army Sherman Tank. The local landmark displays and restores tanks. Tank of World War II. Snegiri, Russia - June 09, The memorial complex "Frontier of Fame", Moscow region. Tracks of a Sherman Tank. Detail of Sherman tank wheels and tracks.
Tank tracks from a United States Sherman Tank. Vintage sherman tank resting in a peaceful forest. Memorial Sherman tank, Slapton sands. Sherman tank at Overloard museum - Omaha Beach. La Madeleine, France - august 14 Barrel of an American Sherman tank. A military tank from the front. In a deserted area on a very cloudy day. Old battle Tank isolated on white background. Military Vehicle Sherman Flame Tank. Courseulles sur Mer, France - april 22 Sherman tank in the picturesque city.
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