M4 Sherman

The M4 Medium Tank tank was the main tank designed and built by the US for use in World War II. In the UK lend-lease M4s were dubbed M4 General Sherman after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, continuing a practice of naming American tanks after famous Generals. The name is often shortened to M4 Sherman or simply Sherman, and quickly became popular in the US as well.
Its high profile and rounded top made it an easy target, but it was rather fast and maneuverable, reliable, and easy to produce and service.

Production History

The M4 was based on the chassis of the M3 Lee, improved by mounting the single main 75mm gun in a traversing turret. Over 49,000 were produced during the war, for use by the armies of Britain, the United States, France and Poland.

Special versions were developed for the Battle of Normandy. Developed under the leadership of Major-General Percy Hobart, these vehicles included "swimming" Duplex Drive Sherman tanks, mine clearing tanks (the Sherman Crab, a normal Sherman tank with a flail sticking out on the front that destroyed all mines without damage to the tank), bridge-laying tanks and road-laying tanks. Some prior testing of these vehicles had been undertaken at Kirkham Priory in Yorkshire, England.

Early models were fitted with a 75 mm low-velocity gun which had limited anti-armour performance but fired a useful explosive charge.

Later American Shermans were fitted with a 76 mm gun with improved anti-tank performance.

Some British Shermans were retro-fitted with the powerful British 17 Pounder (8 kg) anti-tank gun to produce the Sherman Firefly variant. A 1944-pattern British armoured company had one Firefly per platoon (or troop) of 4 Shermans. Fireflies were also notable for the early use of a sabot round to improve anti-armour penetration.

After World War II, Israeli Shermans were fitted with the French 105 mm gun, as used in the AMX-30.

Combat Performance

The Sherman was a reliable tank which was produced in large numbers and was effective in World War II. Early models are often criticised for the 75 mm gun chosen by the artillery branch of the US Army. While it was an effective weapon in 1942 when the Sherman was introduced, by the Normandy landings of 1944 the Sherman lacked effectiveness against contemporary German tanks, especially the Panther and Tiger. The 75 mm gun was, however, a solid weapon against infantry and anti-tank artillery. Later models had a somewhat more powerful gun, but the Sherman was still outgunned by Axis armor.

The Sherman was also relatively under-armoured by late in the war. While Shermans could take on Panzer III medium tanks in the North African campaigns, they were unable to resist the weapons mounted on late-model Panzer IV, Panther and tiger tanks encountered in Italy and Normandy. Combined with the weakness of the 75mm gun, the Sherman was no more than adequate for the US Army.

According to Belton Y. Cooper in his memoir of his 3rd Armored Division service, Death Traps, the final combat losses of the division were nothing less than breathtaking. The division was nominally assigned by table of organization 232 medium tanks (a total which included ten M26 Pershing tanks that made it into combat). It lost 648 tanks totally destroyed in combat, and 1,100 needing repair. Of those 1,100 tanks, nearly 700 had been knocked out in combat. According to Cooper, the 3rd Armored therefore lost close to 1,350 medium tanks in combat, for a total loss rate of 580 percent.

Although the M4 has been derided as inferior to German armor, the limitations of the Sherman must be looked at in context. Stephen Ambrose stated in Citizen Soldiers that, in accordance to Army doctrine at the time, the tank was designed to help infantry exploit a breakout rather than to engage in armor vs. armor combat. The United States Army was influenced by the German Panzer IV, used successfully in the Blitzkrieg tactics in the 1939 Polish Campaign to support fast moving infantry. The Sherman's high speed and reliability made it adequate in this role. Ther US did produce Tank Destroyers, that met with more success fighting the German Panzers.

The comparatively compact size of the Sherman also made it suited for transportation across the Atlantic and for amphibious operations. According to Ambrose, General George C. Marshall favored the M4 because experiments showed two Shermans could be loaded onto an LST while only one larger tank could be accommodated. In the relatively few Pacific tank battles, the Shermans outclassed the Japanese in every engagement, often switching to HE (High Explosive) ammunition because other types would simply punch cleanly though the armor of the Japanese tanks.

Variants

• M4
  • M4(105 mm)
• M4A1
• M4A2
• M4A3
  • M4A3R3 (flame tank)
  • M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo
  • M4A3E8 (Easy Eight)
• M4A4
• M4A5
• M4A6

UK variants

• Sherman I - M4
  • Sherman IB - M4 with a 105 mm howitzer.
  • Sherman IC - M4A1 with a 17-pdr (8 kg) gun.
• Sherman II - M4A1 with a 75 mm gun.
  • Sherman IIA - M4A1 with a 76 mm gun.
• Sherman III - M4A2 with a 75 mm gun.
• Sherman IV - M4A3 with a 75 mm gun.
  • Sherman IVB - M4A3 with a 105 mm howitzer.
  • Sherman IVC - M4A3 with a 17 pdr (8 kg) gun.
• Sherman V - M4A4 with a 75 mm gun.
  • Sherman VC - M4A4 with a 17 pdr (8 kg) gun.

Shermans retrofitted with the 17 pdr (8 kg) gun were known as Fireflies.

Later models of production Sherman with the 76mm gun were not given this designation.

Characteristics

M4A2

• Length: 19 ft 5 in (5.92 m)
• Width: 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m)
• Height: 9 ft (2.74 m)
• Weight: 30 tons
• Speed: 30 mph (48 km/h)
• Range: 150 miles (240 km)
• Crew: 5
• Armament:
  • Primary: 75 mm Gun
  • Secondary:
    • One .50 caliber (12.7 mm) Browning M2 MG
    • Two .30 caliber (7.62 mm) Browning M1919 MG
• Power plant: 375 hp (280 kW) General Motors 6046 12 cylinder inline diesel

M4A4 VC Firefly

• Length: 19 ft 4 in (5.89 m)
• Width: 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m)
• Height: 9 ft (2.75 m)
• Weight:
• Speed: 25 mph (40 km/h)
• Range: 120 miles (193 km)
• Crew: 4
• Armament:
  • Primary: 76 mm (17 pounder) Gun
  • Secondary:
    • One .50 caliber (12.7 mm) Browning M2 MG
    • One .30 caliber (7.62 mm) Browning M1919 MG
• Power plant: Chrysler Multibank 30 cylinder (5 x inline-6) gasoline

See also:

• Vickers Tank Periscope MK.IV

External links

• Britannica Online (http://search.eb.com/normandy/articles/Sherman_tank.html)
• Sherman Register (http://web.inter.nl.net/users/spoelstra/g104/)
• OnWar (http://www.onwar.com/tanks/usa/index.htm)

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