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The M4 Sherman Tank
By Evan Allen
All too often the question "Is this the right model of
Sherman for my army?" pops up on various forums and I’m going to
attempt here to provide a general breakdown of which country used which
models. This isn’t going to be a regiment-by-regiment or day-by-day
list but more a guide to making informed choices about which model you
would most likely have found in the Force you’ve chosen to create.
Having said that there are really only two models of Sherman (not
counting the conversions/special purpose vehicles) either armed with
the 75mm gun or the 76mm gun. All other differences are down to
differing power plants, suspension, extra Armour/ ammo stowage etc. and
not really affecting combat performance to any great degree.
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Did you know?
A few facts about the Sherman to start off:
- The Sherman pilot model first saw the light of day in September 1941
- The name "General Sherman" came from the British
- 11 factories were involved in making
approximately 49,000 Sherman tanks.
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The T6 prototype for the M4 Sherman series
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This was considered the largest
total of any single tank type built during the war but has now been
relegated to second place by new information from Soviet records which
put production of T34 gun tanks at a whopping 58,000 wartime examples
and 3000 more postwar.
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- The combat debut of the Sherman, along with the M7 Priest, was with the British 8th Army with, 285 operational, mainly M4A1’s and a few M4A2’s, at El Alamein on the 23rd October 1942.
UNITED STATES - 75mm gun armed tanks
The M4A1 (cast hull) was the first
Sherman into production in February ’42 and equipped the first American
armoured units to have Shermans. It was used by the U.S. throughout the
war.
Left: US042 M4A1 Sherman
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The M4 (welded hull) was the third
model of Sherman into production in July ’42 and the reason it appears
in this order is because it was common to find M4’s and M4A1’s in the
same platoon as both had identical power plants, the Wright R-975
"Whirlwind" radial aircraft engine.
The last production run of the M4
armed with the 75mm gun was a hybrid vehicle with the frontal portion
of the hull replaced by the front of a late model cast hull Sherman
with larger hatches and as it was mechanically the same as a normal
Sherman M4 anyway, it was considered just another M4 and issued as such.
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US040 M4 Sherman
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M4A2 Welded Hull
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The M4A2 (welded hull) saw production start on April ’42. The only Diesel powered version of the Sherman with twin GM 6-71diesel engines to see combat with U.S. forces and then, only with the Marines. The Marines preferred it to the M4A3 but as the Army supplied the tanks to the Marines well.
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The M4A3 (welded hull) was the second
model to reach production in June ’42 and became the standard U.S. Army
issue Sherman. They were kept in their own units because this model had
a new purpose designed tank engine, the Ford GAA V-8 petrol engine. In
1944 an improved hull design with a new 47 degree glacis plate and hatch
arrangement enabling the installation of "wet ammo stowage", was
incorporated but still retained the 75mm gun and turret. The M4A3
series of Shermans was almost exclusively used by U.S. forces. |
US046 M4A3 Sherman
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This M4 clearly shows the appliqué armour patches over the
ammo stowage, fuel tanks, and in front of the
driver & co-driver
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"Ronson!" The First Modifications
The first major modifications to the Sherman were
brought about by the need to improve its crew safety features. Having
earned the sobriquet "Ronson" (light first time) from Allied crews and
"Tommy Cooker|" from the Germans because of its tendency to catch fire
very quickly when hit, a study of damaged tanks and test shooting of
examples to determine why this occurred was undertaken. One of the
major conclusions was that the unprotected ammunition stowage was
mainly to blame. The temporary fix was to add 1" thick appliqué armour
patches over the ammo stowage, fuel tanks, and in front of the driver
& co-driver.
The next step was to redesign the hull to allow
Glycol/water liquid protected bins for ammo stowage, or "wet stowage",
to be fitted and also larger hull hatches for quicker crew evacuation -
hedging your bets! This gave us the 47degree glacis plate that got rid
of the box extensions for the front hatches, which were weak points
anyway.
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The cast hull Sherman, the M4A1 got this treatment as well with
the hull casting modified to allow bigger hatches canted out at an
angle. Then came the T23 turret to enable the 76mm M1 gun to be fitted
and this, theoretically, gave Sherman crews the ability to mix it with
the best Germany had to offer! |
76mm Shermans
The M4A1(76)W was the first Sherman with the
redesigned hull and wet ammo stowage to be fitted with the new T23
turret and 76mm M1gun. They first appeared in France just after the
Normandy landings. This tank still had the same radial engine as
previous M4A1 models so you wouldn’t find it mixed with M4A3 (76)W
models.
Right: M4A1 (76)W
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The M4A3 (76)W was introduced not long after and
followed the same path to Normandy and beyond and again, would only be
likely to be found in all M4A3 equipped units.
Left:
M4A3 (76)W
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The last models of Sherman to be mentioned for US forces
are the 105 howitzer armed tanks and the Sherman "Jumbo". The howitzer
armed Shermans equipped the assault gun platoons in armoured battalions
and were all built on either M4 or M4A3 47degree glacis plate hulls but
the "wet stowage" was replaced by armoured bins for ammo stowage.
Right:
Sherman M4A3 (105)
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Sherman Jumbo
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The M4A3E2 "Jumbo" was an attempt to provide a heavily
armoured "Assault" tank able to withstand powerful German anti tank
guns. It had armour up to 150mm thick on the front of the newly
designed turret and 100mm on the glacis plate. They were all built on
the late hull version of the M4A3 but without "wet ammo stowage". Track
grousers were fitted as standard to help cope with the weight increase
to 42 tons and the 75mm gun was fitted to all of them, but some had
salvaged 76mm guns from wrecked Shermans fitted in place of the 75mm
gun from the end of 1944.
The "Jumbos" were issued to the independent Tank
battalions at first but then the Armored Divisions got a few to lead
their dashes across France and Germany as well.
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As a last little teaser for the Americans some
Sherman M4A4 Fireflies were issued in Italy to the 555th tank battalion
for a short period and, recently it’s come to light that approx. 80
M4A3 Shermans, both early and late hull types, were converted to
Fireflies with the British 17pdr fitted. The war ended before they
could be issued but there’s always what if?
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The last Modifications
From late 1944 you can now start to add a few Sherman
M4A3(76)W with the new HVSS suspension system and wider 23" track. It
didn’t make the Sherman any faster top road speed wise but did give
much better "flotation" or cross country ability and enabled them to
move just as fast as the German wide tracked Panthers and Tigers across
rough terrain, unlike the earlier VVSS style suspension and narrow track
which was very limiting in muddy or soft going. These tanks were
popularly known by their trial designation M4A3E8, or "Easy Eight".
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Sherman with HVSS suspension known as the Easy Eight
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The German hollow charge warhead weapons, like
Panzerfaust, were starting to be noticed by now and American crews
quickly added extra armour protection. This could be anything from
sandbags held by steel frames to welded on steel plates cut from
wrecked tanks so be creative!
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Last Updated On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 by Wayne at Battlefront
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