There is an interesting monument in the Israeli Armored Forces Museum. There are three tanks on a pedestal of stones - the British Cromwell and the American Sherman. The symbolism is clear: these are the machines that won the Second World War. And the “Sherman” suffered no less trials than the “thirty-four”.

From 1942 until the end of the war, M4s formed the backbone of American tank forces, fighting Japanese militarists in Asia and the Nazis in Europe. As part of the British troops, Shermans fought in Africa and landed in Italy. Soviet M4s liberated Ukraine and reached Berlin. And for many years, the tank, developed in the early forties, was actively used and won battles with more modern vehicles.

History of the creation of the tank

The United States greeted the beginning of World War II by just starting production of the M2 medium tank. An analysis of the battles in Poland showed that the tank did not meet the real conditions of the war at all, after which the order was reduced and the produced tanks were reclassified as training tanks.

To replace the M2, the M3 tank (later named “Lee” and “Grant”) was developed in an emergency manner (even prototypes were not made). It was considered a temporary measure, and the creation of a new modern tank began immediately after the completion of work on the Lee.

To reduce the time for development and introduction into production, the tank was maximally unified with the M3.

Specifically, the engine, lower casting and suspension were carried over with minimal changes.

In September 1941, a prototype with a cast hull was built, designated T6. It differed from subsequent production vehicles by the presence of two additional machine guns in the front of the hull, as well as the presence of a hatch for the crew on the side of the hull.

Serial production of M4 tanks began in the winter of 1942. The first tanks were assembled at the Lima locomotive plant and belonged to the M4A1 series. And these first tanks were produced for Britain.

Design

The Sherman has the following layout: the transmission is in the front of the hull, the engine is in the stern. The fighting compartment and turret are located between them, almost in the center. The height of the transmission box and the need to place a radial engine in the body predetermined the size of the tank - it turned out to be tall.

All modifications of the Sherman, except for the M4A1, had a welded hull made of rolled armor.

On the M4A1 the body was cast. Common to all versions was the lower frontal part of the body, which also served as a transmission cover. The upper armor plate had a thickness of 51 mm and was installed at an angle of 56 degrees (later - 47 degrees). The sides are vertical, 38 mm thick, the aft armor has the same thickness.

The thickness of the forehead of the cast turret is 76 mm (at a tilt of 60 degrees), the sides and rear are 51 mm. Early turrets had one hatch for the commander and gunner; later a loader's hatch was added. The tower had an electro-hydraulic or electric drive for the rotation mechanism.

In case of failure of the mechanism, it was possible to turn it manually.

The turret of the “long-barreled” Sherman was distinguished by the thickness of its armor – 64mm all around.

Armament

The Sherman's original armament was a 75mm M3 gun. This gun was a development of the French field gun of the 1897 model, adopted by the United States. In the M2 version, the gun was installed on early M3 tanks, and the later Lees and Shermans received the M3 with a barrel length increased to 40 calibers.

The armor penetration of the gun when using a solid M72 projectile reached 110 mm, while the M61 chamber projectile penetrated armor a little worse - up to 90 mm. In the initial period of the war, however, this was enough to fight any enemy tanks.

The three-inch M1 gun was developed in 1942, when the characteristics of the short-barreled M3 became insufficient, and the more powerful M7 gun for the Sherman turned out to be too heavy.

The “long-barreled” Shermans went into battle in 1944. The penetration of the M62 armor-piercing chamber projectile exceeded 120 mm, which was no longer enough to combat the most heavily armored German vehicles. But the M93 sub-caliber projectile penetrated over 200 mm at short distances.

It is interesting that the production of Shermans with the M3 gun did not stop - the previous gun had a more powerful high-explosive fragmentation projectile, which was critically important for American tank doctrine. Within its framework, the main task of the tanks was to support the infantry, which the “long-barreled” Shermans were less able to cope with.

More than two thousand “Sherman” modifications M4A1 and M4A4, delivered to Great Britain, were rearmed with a “17-pounder” 76.2 mm caliber gun. These machines were named Firefly. A solid armor-piercing projectile fired from a “seventeen-pounder” penetrated armor up to 157 millimeters thick, which made the “Firefly” capable of fighting any German tanks.

The front-mounted machine gun from the Fireflies was removed to increase the gun's ammunition capacity. This also entailed a reduction in the crew to four people. The gun stabilizer was removed.

Some Shermans of the M4 and M4A3 series were armed with the 105mm M4 howitzer. They were supposed to become "assault guns" for direct infantry support. The howitzer Shermans were not intended to be used for anti-tank purposes, but, nevertheless, the ammunition included the M67 cumulative projectile, which penetrates up to 130 mm of armor.

Such vehicles also had some design differences - the gun did not have a stabilizer, and the frontal armor was strengthened.

Additional weapons, according to the standards of that time, consisted of a frontal machine gun mounted in a ball mask in the frontal plate and a machine gun coaxial with a cannon.

In both cases, the M1919A4 model was used. Caliber – 7.62mm (.30-06). The gunner-radio operator fired from the front machine gun, and the gunner fired from the coaxial machine gun, using an electric trigger.

Above the commander's hatch in the turret mount was located a 12.7mm M2HB machine gun, suitable for anti-aircraft fire. Equipping a tank with a large-caliber anti-aircraft machine gun was an innovation at that time, and only towards the end of the war it began to be used everywhere.

Since 1943, all Shermans were equipped with a mortar for setting up smoke screens.

Crew accommodation and tank equipment

The crew of five people was placed in the tank as follows: the driver and his assistant (also a gunner-radio operator) were placed on both sides of the transmission box. Each had a hatch with an observation periscope, located in the protrusion of the frontal part or in the roof in front of the tower. The gunner and tank commander sit behind each other in the right half of the turret, and the loader occupies the left half.

On linear Shermans, a VHF radio station was installed, located in the rear niche of the turret. Its antenna was located on the roof of the tower. Command tanks additionally had a short-wave radio station in the right fender, with an antenna located through the frontal armor plate.

The tank intercom was part of a standard radio station; an additional telephone could be installed to communicate with the tank of the accompanying infantry.
For driving in difficult weather conditions, the tank was equipped with a gyrocompass.

The tank with a 75mm gun was equipped with a three-fold telescopic sight M55 and a reserve sight M38A1 built into the gunner's periscope.

Howitzer tanks had the M77C model instead of the M38A1 sight. “Long-barreled” M4s were equipped with M51 and M47A2 sights.

Later they were replaced with a universal M10 periscope, into which two telescopic sights were built - six-fold and without magnification. This device replaced all the previous variety of sights. For firing from closed positions, a gun aiming angle indicator was used. The M3 and M1 guns had a gyroscopic stabilizer.

Engine and transmission

Different versions of the Sherman had different engines. The M4 and M4A1 were equipped with an R975 aircraft radial engine. The M4A2 received a power plant consisting of two interlocked GM 6-71 two-stroke diesel engines. The M4A3 was equipped with a Ford GAA eight-cylinder gasoline engine (developed as an aircraft engine, but found use only in armored vehicles).

A structure of five six-cylinder automobile engines produced by Chrysler was mounted in the elongated hull of the M4A4 tank. Finally, the low-production M4A6 had a Caterpillar radial diesel engine. Engine power ranged from 350 to 500 hp.

In contrast to the variety of engines, there was only one gearbox for the Sherman - a five-speed manual with synchronizers.

The transmission was located in the frontal part of the hull, and its outer armored steel casing simultaneously served as the lower frontal part.

This placement of the transmission ensured better weight distribution, increased its maintainability, and in the event of a hit, its components could protect crew members from injury. The disadvantage was the increased vulnerability of the transmission itself, which could be disabled by secondary armor fragments even without penetrating it.

Chassis

The tank's suspension is generally similar to that used on the M3 tanks, with three double-roller bogies. Each of the trolleys has two vertical springs. During combat use, the shortcomings of such a suspension were revealed - on a soft surface the tank's maneuverability decreased, and the service life of the components was low.

As a result, by the end of the war, a suspension with horizontal springs and dual rubber-coated rollers went into production.

The early suspension was designated as VVSS, the later - HVSS.

Special tanks, self-propelled guns and armored vehicles

The M4A3E2 “Jumbo” assault tank was created on the basis of the A3 series tank. Additional 38mm thick armor plates were welded onto the front plate and top of the side, and the transmission cover was reinforced. “Jumbo” was not intended for tank battles, it carried an M3 cannon, but later some tanks were rearmed with a long-barreled M1 and used as heavy tank destroyers.

The Calliope MLRS was installed on the roof of the turret of some tanks - 60 guides for launching M8 missiles of 114mm caliber. There were several versions of the Sherman flamethrower.

“Shermans” equipped with mine trawls and bulldozer knives were used in engineering units. The amphibious modification DD was used when crossing rivers.
On the basis of the Sherman, “tank destroyers” were built - highly mobile lightly armored vehicles with an open turret. These include the M10 with a 76mm gun and the M36 with a 90mm gun.

The M7 self-propelled gun was equipped with a 105mm howitzer in an open wheelhouse, and guns with a caliber of up to 203mm were installed on a special chassis with an open platform.

For repair and evacuation work, the M32 and its modernized version M74 were created. They were equipped with a crane, winches and a bulldozer blade. The M32, without recovery equipment, served as an artillery tractor.

Post-war options

After the war, countries that could not afford the latest tanks tried to improve the Sherman's effectiveness with upgrades.

In Israel, Shermans underwent their first rearmament in 1956. They were assigned the index M50. Three hundred of these tanks received a French 75mm gun. During the next modernization, in 1962, the Israeli M4A1 was equipped with Cummins VT8-460 diesel engines, the gun was replaced with a 105mm gun, and called the M51. In the 1970s, some vehicles were transferred to Chile, where they served until the 90s.

The Egyptian “Shermans” were M4A4, with a diesel engine from the M4A2. Instead of the “native” turret, an AMX-13 light tank swinging one was installed. The turret was supplied with a 75mm gun and an automatic loader.

Lend-Lease supplies and combat use

British troops received 17,181 Sherman tanks. The Shermans were modified to meet British standards and received new designations. The changes included, for example, the replacement of radios with British ones, the installation of a smoke mortar, and additional fire extinguishing systems.

For the first time, British Shermans went into battle in Africa in mid-1942.

As part of the British forces, they took part in the battle of El Alamein, and, according to the British, made a significant contribution to the victory. At the end of the same year, American Shermans also appeared in Tunisia. The African campaign proved the high combat qualities of the M4, but after the appearance of German Tiger tanks in Tunisia, the insufficient armament of the tank became obvious.

Since 1943, diesel M4A2s have been supplied to the USSR, amounting to 4065 units.

The Red Army appreciated the tanks - the crews praised the ease of use, the quality of the instruments and communications. The less noisy nature of the Sherman made them ideal for covert attacks. At the same time, insufficient maneuverability in winter conditions and a tendency to rollover due to the high center of gravity were noted.

In the Soviet Union, the first Shermans took part in the Battle of Kursk. True, then there were few of these tanks. But since 1944, the number of incoming Shermans has made it possible to create even separate hulls from them. Soviet M4A2s took part in all subsequent battles of the war, including the defeat of the Kwantung Army.

In Europe, Shermans appeared during the landing in Sicily. And by the time of the invasion of Normandy, modifications with enhanced weapons had already been prepared. But during the first battles, the M4 tanks failed to realize (due to specific natural conditions) their advantage in mobility, and the tankers suffered heavy losses.

The situation changed only after the Allied forces entered the operational space. Also during the battles, the Sherman’s insufficient adaptability to urban battles became obvious. But by this time the tank was already assessed as obsolete, and this problem had to be solved with new tanks.

In the Pacific theater of operations, Shermans were rarely seen. Enemy tanks were too few in number and weak in armament to be an effective force. The nature of the fighting made it possible to fully reveal all the strengths of the American tank, as well as its missile and flamethrower modifications.

By the beginning of the Korean War, the Sherman was already considered obsolete, but only the Shermans could be quickly transferred to the front from Japan.

And later it turned out that the more powerful and modern M26s in the Korean mountains lacked mobility. So the Sherman remained the main American tank in that war. In battles with the T-34-85, both tanks showed themselves to be approximately equal opponents, and often the outcome of the battle was decided by the best training of the American tank crews.

During the Suez Crisis, modernized Egyptian Shermans clashed with modernized Israeli ones. As a result, most of the Egyptian vehicles were either destroyed or captured by the Israelis.

By the 1967 war, Israeli Shermans were used in secondary directions, but they managed to prove themselves there too, destroying, for example, a column of Egyptian T-54s.
Shermans were used as second-line vehicles by both sides in the Indo-Pakistani wars. According to some reports, in the 1990s, Shermans were used in Yugoslavia, but there is no exact evidence of this.

Performance characteristics

The table shows the characteristics of the “early” and “late” Shermans in comparison with its closest analogues.

It should be noted that the modification of the Pz.IV tank shown in the table is “intermediate” between the early and late ones. But it differed from the previous T-4 mainly in its optimized design without changing the main characteristics, and in later series the changes were reduced to simplification and reduction in cost. So the Sherman was clearly not inferior to its main rival, and if it had been able to meet it in 1941, it would have surpassed it.

Machine evaluation

The Sherman’s armament at the time of its appearance can be considered “adequate.” The 75mm M3 cannon matched the characteristics of the Soviet F-34 and ZiS-5 guns, allowing it to fight any enemy medium tanks. The appearance of Pz.IV tanks with reinforced armor, as well as Tigers and Panthers, made it ineffective.

The 76mm M1 gun was only slightly inferior in terms of armor penetration to the Soviet 85mm D-5 cannon, and even surpassed it when using a sub-caliber projectile. Such “Shermans” could fight even heavy enemy tanks. The main disadvantage of the gun was the low power of the high-explosive fragmentation projectile. Due to the high initial speed, the thickness of the projectile walls had to be increased, while reducing the mass of the explosive charge to a minimum.

In general, the M4 was comparable in armament to its contemporary medium tanks, and even surpassed it in the efficiency of its use - due to high-quality optics and the presence of a stabilizer.

When assessing the security of the Sherman, it should be remembered that during the years of its development, the typical armament of most tanks were 40-45mm guns.

And the infantry had at its disposal only anti-tank rifles and heavy machine guns. In comparison with the T-34, the Sherman was inferior to it in terms of the thickness of the sides, which were devoid of slope. But the sides of even the later versions of the German Pz.IV were thinner than those of the M4.

According to the results of German tests, the frontal armor of the Sherman could withstand hits from the 88mm Tiger gun with a slight additional rotation of the hull. The M4A4E2 with enhanced armor was, of course, superior to its competitors in terms of protection, but there were few such tanks.

Early Shermans with ammunition racks located in the fenders suffered from detonation of ammunition when the hull was penetrated. This drawback was corrected by placing the ammunition rack on the floor of the hull in boxes with a water jacket (the so-called “wet” ammunition rack).

The tactical and strategic mobility of the Sherman was highly rated. Due to its small dimensions, the tank was easily loaded onto all types of transport, including railway. When moving under its own power, the engine capacity allowed it to cover long distances, the rubber-coated tracks did not break up the roads, and the suspension design provided the crew with some comfort.

The Sherman had good speed and good maneuverability, which was somewhat limited by the inability to turn on the spot. On tanks of the E2 series, to maintain mobility with increased weight, other transmission ratios were used.

Reliability

The high production culture at American factories gave the Shermans high quality workmanship and very good reliability. The tank components did not require frequent adjustments. The maintainability of the tank also deserves the highest praise. Soviet tanks were also inferior to the Sherman in this regard.

Due to low production standards and technological equipment, the tolerances were such that the components had to be adjusted manually.

Back side tanks became more demanding regarding the level of qualifications of maintenance personnel.

Tank analogues

The Soviet analogue, the T-34, was somewhat superior to the Sherman in terms of the effectiveness of its side armor, was approximately similar in armament, and was significantly inferior in terms of crew comfort.

The later T-34-85 had a powerful high-explosive fragmentation projectile (the absence of which forced the continuation of the production of “short-barreled Shermans”), and its efficiency improved due to the separation of the duties of the gunner and commander. It is worth noting that in the “fire hazardous” Sherman, the fuel tanks were located in the engine compartment, and in the T-34 - in the fighting compartment.

The main German analogue of the M4 was the Pz.IV.

Its early models were inferior to the Sherman in all respects, but by the middle of the war they were approximately equal in armament and armor protection. At the same time, the later “Panthers” (Pz.V (T-5)) were distinguished by poor build quality.

Although the Panther was superior to the Sherman both in terms of armament power (with an equal gun caliber) and in armor thickness. Its main drawback was low reliability.
The British Army had two tanks of its own design, roughly similar to the Sherman. The first was the Cromwell, which went into battle in 1944. Its 57mm gun was inferior to American guns, and it was weaker in protection.

The second tank is the Komet, armed with a shortened version of the 17-pounder cannon. In terms of firepower, it was approximately equal to the American Shermans (but somewhat inferior to the Fireflies), had equivalent protection and greater mobility due to its powerful engine.

The Sherman tank was a real triumph of American industry. Without much experience in tank building, the Americans were not only able to quickly develop a tank of a successful and well-thought-out design, they mass-produced it, maintaining high quality workmanship and finishing. And the modernization potential of the Sherman allowed it to successfully withstand more modern tanks.

Video

What is the M4 Sherman - the main American medium tank of the Second World War. It was widely used in the American army at all battlefields, and was also supplied in large quantities to the allies (primarily Great Britain and the USSR) under the Lend-Lease program.

M4 Sherman tank - video

After World War II, the Sherman was in service with the armies of many countries around the world, and also participated in many post-war conflicts. The M4 was in service with the US Army until the end of the Korean War. The M4 tank received the name “Sherman” (in honor of the American Civil War general William Sherman) in the British army, after which this name was assigned to the tank in the American and other armies. Soviet tank crews had the nickname “emcha” (from M4).

The M4 became the main American tank platform during World War II, and a large number of special modifications, self-propelled guns, and engineering equipment were created on its basis.

A total of 49,234 tanks were produced from February 1942 to July 1945 (not counting Canadian-made tanks). This is the third (after the T-34 and T-54) most produced tank in the world, as well as the most produced American tank.

By the beginning of World War II, the United States did not have a single model of medium or heavy tank in production or service, except for 18 M2s. Enemy tanks were supposed to be destroyed by anti-tank artillery or self-propelled anti-tank guns. The M3 "Lee" medium tank, urgently developed on the basis of the M2 and put into production, did not satisfy the military already at the development stage, and the requirements for a new tank intended to replace it were issued on August 31, 1940, even before work on the M3 was completed. It was assumed that the new tank would use M3 components that had already been developed and mastered by industry, but its main gun would be located in the turret. However, work was suspended until the previous model was fully tested and put into mass production, and began only on February 1, 1941. The prototype, called T6, appeared on September 2, 1941.

The T6 retained many of the features of its M3 predecessor, inheriting its lower hull, chassis design, engine, and M2 75mm tank gun. Unlike the M3, the T6 received a cast hull and a classic layout with the main armament placed in a rotating cast turret, which eliminated most of the disadvantages inherent in the M3 design.

The tank was quickly standardized, designated M4, and mass production began in February 1942. The first tanks were the M4A1 cast-hull variant, and were produced by Lima Locomotive Works under contract to the British Army. Despite the fact that the tank was supposed to be equipped with an M3 gun, due to the unavailability of the new gun, the first tanks received the 75 mm M2 gun, borrowed from its predecessor.

The M4 was simpler, more technologically advanced and cheaper to produce than the M3. The cost of various M4 variants ranged from $45,000 to $50,000 (in 1945 prices), and was about 10% lower than the cost of the M3. The most expensive was the M4A3E2 (Sherman Jumbo), it cost $56,812.

The Sherman's 75-mm gun was suitable for infantry support and allowed the tank to compete equally with the PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV when used in North Africa. The penetration of the M3 gun was lower than that of the KwK 40 L/48. Shortly before the end of the battles in North Africa, the tank began to be confronted by the PzKpfw VI Tiger I, which was completely superior to the M4 and could only be destroyed by a joint attack of several Shermans at close range and from behind.

Initially, the artillery technical service began to develop the T20 medium tank as a replacement for the Sherman, but the US Army decided to minimize the division of production and began modernizing the Sherman using components from other tanks. This is how modifications M4A1, M4A2, and M4A3 appeared with bigger tower T23, equipped with a 76 mm M1 cannon with improved anti-tank properties.

Tigers were rare after D-Day, yet half of all German tanks on the Western Front were Panthers, which were clearly superior to the early Sherman models. Shermans with a 76 mm gun were sent to Normandy in July 1944. The anti-tank properties of the 76 mm M1 gun were approximately equal to those of the Soviet T-34/85 tank. The M4A1 was the first Sherman with the new gun used in real combat, followed by the M4A3. By the end of the war, half of the American Shermans were equipped with a 76 mm gun.

One of the most important improvements to the Sherman was the redesign of the suspension. Combat use revealed the short service life of the spring suspension, taken from the M3 tank, and could not withstand the greater weight of the Sherman. Despite the high speed on the highway and over rough terrain, the tank's maneuverability sometimes left much to be desired. In the North American desert, rubber tracks worked well; in the hilly landscape of Italy, Shermans outperformed German tanks. On soft surfaces, such as snow or mud, narrow tracks showed worse maneuverability than German tanks. To temporarily solve this problem, the US Army has released special track connecting bars (duckbills) that increase the width of the track. These platypuses were included as a factory option on the M4A3E2 Jumbo to compensate for the increased weight of the vehicle.

To eliminate these shortcomings, a new suspension, HVSS (Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension), was developed. In this suspension, the buffer springs were moved from a vertical position to a horizontal position. HVSS and the new track increased the weight of the vehicle by 1300 kg (with T66 tracks) or by 2100 kg (with heavier T80).

The new model was designated E8 (which is why M4 tanks with HVSS were nicknamed “Easy Eight”). The tank was equipped with a 76 mm gun (the initial speed of the anti-tank projectile was 780 m/s, the projectile penetrated 101 mm of armor at a distance of 900 m).

Production of the M4A3E8 began in March 1944 and continued until April 1945. New tank entered service 3 (English)Russian. and 7 armies (English)Russian in Europe, where it received the nickname "Super Sherman". Despite the fact that the tank still could not compete with the Panther or Tiger, its reliability and powerful weapons ensured its long life.

After launching full-scale mass production of M4 tanks and a line of derivative armored vehicles, International Harvester Corp. won a government contract for the production of three thousand M7 medium tanks, however, the contract was soon revoked by the customer and only seven production samples were produced.

Production

The T6 prototype was manufactured by military personnel at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. The serial production of Sherman tanks involved ten large American contractors from the private sector (in the field of mechanical engineering and production of rail rolling stock), each of whom was responsible for the production of one or another modification of the tank or armored vehicles on its chassis (indicating structural divisions and modifications made).

Of which, 6,281 M4 tanks were produced at the Lima, Paccar and Pressed Steel plants until December 1943. Chrysler and Fisher plants produced 3,071 M4A3 tanks. In total, until the end of World War II, 49,422 M4 tanks of all modifications and armored vehicles on its chassis were produced (it is traditional to round this figure to fifty thousand). Locomotive industry enterprises produced 35,919 tanks (or 41% of the total number of tanks produced). In general, locomotive-building enterprises were more prepared for the transition to tank production than automobile manufacturing enterprises, which had to catch up with them in terms of production rates and quality of products directly during the production process, and the former successfully combined the production of tanks with the production of industrial rail rolling stock, manufactured in the same workshops and on the same equipment as armored vehicles. In addition to American contractors, engineering companies from other participating states were involved in the production, repair and re-equipment of tanks, individual components and assemblies. anti-Hitler coalition. Own production was established in Canada:

Montreal Locomotive Works - 1,144 M4 tanks in total, including 188 Grizzly I tanks.

Not all enterprises had a full production cycle, so in addition to the production of tank hulls and assembly, a limited number of enterprises were engaged in the production of tank turrets, supplying them to everyone else for assembly. In addition, not all of the enterprises listed above had engine manufacturing capabilities, so even aircraft manufacturing companies were involved in the production of the engine and transmission group.

The production of tank guns was established at the Watervliet Arsenal of the US Army, Watervliet, New York, as well as at the following private enterprises:

Empire Ordnance Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
- Cowdrey Machine Works, Fitchburg, Massachusetts;
- General Motors Oldsmobile Division.

Design

The M4 tank has a classic English layout, with the engine compartment located at the rear and the transmission compartment at the front of the tank. Between them is the fighting compartment, the circular rotation turret is installed almost in the center of the tank. This arrangement is generally typical for American and German medium and heavy tanks from WWII. Despite the abandonment of the sponson mounting of the tank's main gun, the height of the tank's hull, although smaller compared to the M3, still remained significant. The main reason for this is vertical arrangement star-shaped aircraft engine used on this tank, as well as the front location of the transmission, which determines the presence of a high box for cardan transmissions from the engine to the gearbox.

Armored hull and turret

The hull of most modifications of the M4 tank has a welded structure made from sheets of rolled armor steel. The NLD, which is also the cover of the transmission compartment, is cast, assembled from three parts and fastened with bolts (later replaced with a single part). During the production process, there were many variants of the tank hull, differing slightly in shape and very significantly in manufacturing technology. The tank was originally intended to have a cast hull, but due to difficulties in mass producing castings of this size, only the M4A1 received a cast hull, which was produced simultaneously with the welded M4.

The lower hull was the same as the M3 tank, except that welding was used rather than riveting, including the cast hull tanks. In the first versions of the tank, the upper frontal part of the hull had a slope of 56 degrees and a thickness of 51 mm. The VLD was weakened by protrusions welded into it with hatches for inspection devices. On later modifications, the hatches were moved to the roof of the hull, the VLD became solid, but due to the transfer of the hatches it had to be made more vertical, 47 degrees.

The sides of the hull consist of vertically mounted armor plates 38 mm thick, and the rear part has the same armor. On the prototype, there was a fairly large hatch on the side of the tank for the crew, but this was abandoned on production vehicles.

In the bottom of the hull, behind the gunner-radio operator's position, there is a hatch designed for the crew to leave the tank relatively safely on the battlefield under enemy fire. In some cases, this hatch was used to evacuate wounded infantrymen or crew members of other tanks from the battlefield, since the Sherman's interior was large enough to temporarily accommodate several more people.

The tank's turret is cast, cylindrical in shape with a small aft niche, mounted on a shoulder strap with a diameter of 1750 mm with a ball bearing, the thickness of the turret front armor is 76 mm, the sides and rear of the turret are 51 mm. The turret's forehead is beveled at an angle of 60°, and the gun mantlet has 89 mm armor. The turret roof has a thickness of 25 mm, the hull roof is from 25 mm in the front to 13 mm in the rear of the tank. There is a commander's hatch in the turret roof, which is also the entrance for the gunner and loader. Late production turrets (from August 1944 onwards) have a separate hatch for the loader. The commander's hatch cover is double-leaf; an anti-aircraft machine gun turret is installed on the hatch. The turret rotation mechanism is electro-hydraulic or electric, with the possibility of manual rotation in case of failure of the mechanisms, the full rotation time is 15 seconds. On the left side of the turret there is an embrasure for firing a pistol, closed by an armored flap. In February 1943, the pistol embrasure was abandoned, but at the request of the military, it was reintroduced at the beginning of 1944.

The gun's ammunition is placed in horizontal ammunition racks located on the sides of the hull in the fenders (one ammunition rack in the left sponson, two in the right), in a horizontal ammunition rack on the floor of the turret basket, as well as in a vertical ammunition rack in the rear of the basket. Additional armor plates 25 mm thick are welded externally to the sides of the hull where the ammunition rack is located (with the exception of tanks of the earliest series). The combat use of the Shermans showed that when armor-piercing shells hit the sides of the hull, the tank is prone to ignition of powder ammunition charges. From mid-1944, the tank received a new design of ammunition racks, which were moved to the floor of the fighting compartment; water mixed with antifreeze and a corrosion inhibitor was poured into the spaces between the shell nests. Such tanks received the designation “(W)”, and externally differed from earlier versions in the absence of additional side armor plates. The “wet” ammunition rack had a significantly lower tendency to catch fire when the sides of the tank were hit by shells, as well as in a fire.

Most of the tanks produced had an internal foam rubber lining, designed to protect the crew from secondary fragments when the tank was hit by shells.

Armament

75mm M3

When the M4 went into mass production, its main armament was the American 75 mm M3 L/37.5 tank gun, inherited from later versions of the M3 tank. In the first series of tanks, the gun was mounted in an M34 mount. In October 1942, the installation was modernized, receiving a reinforced gun mantlet, covering not only the gun itself, but also the coaxial machine gun, as well as a direct telescopic sight for the gunner (before that, aiming was carried out through a telescopic sight built into the periscope). The new installation received the designation M34A1. The gun's vertical aiming angles are −10…+25°.

The M3 has a caliber of 75 mm, a barrel length of 37.5 calibers (40 calibers is the full length of the gun), a wedge semi-automatic bolt, and unitary loading. The rifling pitch is 25.59 calibers.

The M3 was generally equivalent to the Soviet F-34, and had a slightly shorter barrel length, similar caliber and armor penetration. The gun was effective against German light and medium tanks (except for the latest modifications of the PzKpfw IV), and in general met the requirements of the time.

The gun is equipped with a Westinghouse gyroscopic stabilizer that operates in a vertical plane. The unusual feature of mounting a gun in a tank is that it is mounted rotated 90 degrees to the left relative to the longitudinal axis of the gun. This made the loader's job much easier, since with this mounting the bolt controls move horizontally rather than vertically.
Ammunition capacity is 90 rounds.

76mm M1

During the war, with the appearance in German armored units of medium tanks PzKpfw IV with long-barreled 75 mm guns, medium tanks PzKpfw V "Panther" and heavy tanks PzKpfw VI "Tiger", the problem of insufficient armor penetration of American 75 mm M3 guns arose. To solve this problem, work was carried out to install the M4 turret of an experimental T23 tank with a 76-mm M1 long-barreled gun in an M62 mask mount. Serial production of M4 tanks with the T23 turret continued from January 1944 to April 1945. All Sherman tanks with 76 mm guns received the designation “(76)”. The new tower had a commander's cupola. T23 turret armor is circular, 64 mm.

M1 rifled gun, caliber 76.2 mm, barrel length 55 calibers, semi-automatic sliding bolt, unitary loading. There are several weapon options. The M1A1 differs from the M1 in having trunnions shifted forward for better balancing, the M1A1C has a thread at the muzzle end of the barrel for installing an M2 muzzle brake (if the muzzle brake is not installed, the thread is closed with a special protective coupling), the M1A2 has a shortened rifling pitch, 32 calibers instead of 40.

17 pounder gun

In the British army there were also variants rearmed with the British 17-pounder MkIV anti-tank gun, called the Sherman IIC (based on the M4A1) and Sherman VC (based on the M4A4), better known under the general name Sherman Firefly. The 17-pounder gun was mounted in a conventional turret; the mask mount was specially designed for this gun. The gun stabilizer was removed due to the heavy weight of the gun barrel.

Ordnance QF 17 pounder Mk.IV cannon, rifled, caliber 76.2 mm, barrel length 55 calibers, rifling pitch 30 calibers, horizontal sliding bolt, semi-automatic, unitary loading. The gun was equipped with a muzzle brake with a built-in counterweight.

The gun's ammunition capacity is 77 rounds, and is placed as follows: 5 rounds are placed on the floor of the turret basket, another 14 rounds are placed on the driver's assistant's seat, and the remaining 58 rounds are placed in three ammunition racks on the floor of the fighting compartment.

An interesting fact is that the British, not satisfied with the power of the M3 gun, began work on equipping the M4 with a 17-pounder gun long before the American command was seriously concerned about this issue. Since the British obtained very good results, they suggested that the Americans produce a 17-pound gun under license and install it on American Shermans, especially since its installation did not require a new turret. Due to the reluctance to install foreign weapons on tanks, the Americans, after several experiments, decided to abandon this decision and began installing their own less powerful M1 gun.

SVDS shells first appeared in the British Army in August 1944. By the end of that year, the industry produced 37,000 of these shells, and another 140,000 before the end of the war. The shells of the first series had significant manufacturing defects, which allowed them to be used only at short distances.

105 mm M4 howitzer

A number of M4s of various types received as their main armament the American 105-mm M4 howitzer, which was a modified M2A1 howitzer for use in a tank. These tanks were intended for direct artillery support of infantry.

The howitzer is mounted in an M52 mask mount, the ammunition capacity is 66 rounds, and is placed in the right sponson (21 rounds), as well as on the floor of the fighting compartment (45 rounds). Two more shots were stored directly in the turret. The turret does not have a basket, since the latter makes access to the ammunition rack difficult. Due to difficulties with balancing the gun, there is no stabilizer; in addition, the turret does not have a hydraulic drive (it was returned to some tanks in the summer of 1945).

M4 rifled howitzer, caliber 105 mm, barrel length 24.5 calibers, rifling pitch 20 calibers. The bolt is sliding, unitary loading.

The M4 Howitzer can also fire all types of artillery rounds designed for the Army's M101 Howitzer. All shot types except the M67 have a variable charge.

Auxiliary weapons

The M1919A4 rifle-caliber machine gun is paired with the tank's cannon. The gunner fired from the coaxial machine gun using an electric trigger made in the form of a solenoid mounted on the body of the machine gun and acting on its trigger guard. The same machine gun was installed in a movable ball mask on the front frontal part, and was fired by an assistant driver. On the roof of the turret, in a turret mount combined with the commander's hatch, there is an M2H heavy machine gun, used as an anti-aircraft machine gun.

Ammunition capacity is 4,750 rounds for coaxial and forward machine guns, 300 rounds for a heavy machine gun. Cartridge belts for the course machine gun were placed in the fender shelf to the right of the driver's assistant's seat, belts for the coaxial machine gun were placed on a shelf in the turret niche.

Beginning in June 1943, the tank was equipped with a 51 mm M3 smoke mortar mounted in the roof of the turret on the left side at an angle of 35°, so that its breech was located inside the tank. The mortar is a licensed version of the English “2 inch bomb thrower Mk.I”, has a regulator that allows you to fire at a fixed range of 35, 75 and 150 meters, and has an ammunition capacity of 12 smoke shells. The fire from it was usually carried out by the loader. Conventional mines from a 50mm mortar were also used.

In order to increase the defense capability of the crew, tanks of all modifications were equipped with an M2 machine gun for the M1919 machine gun and a Thompson submachine gun.

Crew accommodation, instrumentation and sights

The tank's crew consists of five people, for all modifications except the Sherman Firefly. In the tank hull, on both sides of the transmission, there is a driver (on the left) and a gunner-radio operator (driver assistant), both of which have hatches on the top of the frontal part (in early modifications) or on the roof of the hull in front of the turret (in later modifications). The fighting compartment and turret house the tank commander, gunner and loader. The commander's position is located in the rear right part of the turret, the gunner is located in front of him, and the entire left half of the turret is given to the loader. The seats of the driver, assistant driver and tank commander are adjustable and can move in the vertical direction in a fairly wide range, about 30 cm [not in the source]. Each crew member except the gunner has a 360-degree rotating M6 surveillance periscope, and the periscopes can also move up and down. Early model tanks had viewing slots for the driver and his assistant, but they were later abandoned.

Sights consist of an M55 telescopic sight with triple magnification, rigidly mounted in the gun mantlet, and an M4A1 gunner's periscope, which has a built-in M38A2 telescopic sight, which could be used as a backup. The sight built into the periscope is synchronized with the gun. Two metal indicators are welded on the roof of the turret, so that the tank commander can turn the turret in the direction of the target while observing through the periscope. The directional machine gun does not have sights. Tanks armed with a 105 mm howitzer received the M77C telescopic sight instead of the M38A2. For the 76 mm gun, the M47A2 was used instead of the M38A2 and the M51 instead of the M55. Subsequently, the sighting devices were improved. The tank received a universal gunner's periscope M10 (or its modification with an adjustable sighting reticle M16) with two built-in telescopic sights, with one-time and six-time magnification. The periscope could be used with any type of gun. Straight telescopic sights M70 (improved quality), M71 (five-fold magnification), M76 (with an extended field of view), M83 (variable 4-8× magnification) were also installed. The tank gun has vertical and horizontal aiming angle indicators, which made it possible to conduct fairly effective artillery fire from covered positions.

The tank is equipped with a VHF radio station of one of three types mounted in the turret niche - SCR 508 with two receivers, SCR 528 with one receiver or SCR 538 without a transmitter. The radio antenna is located on the left rear side of the tower roof. Command tanks were equipped with an SCR 506 HF radio station located in front of the right sponson, with an antenna located in the upper right part of the VLD. The tank is equipped with an internal intercom BC 605, which connects all crew members and is part of the radio station. An optional RC 298 infantry escort communication kit could also be installed, equipped with an external BC 1362 telephone located on the right rear of the hull. The tank could also be equipped with a mobile radio station AN/VRC 3, which served for communication with infantry SCR 300 (Walkie Talkie). The T23 turret has a commander's cupola with six fixed periscope observation devices. Later versions of tanks with 105 mm howitzers were equipped with the same turret. For operations in poor visibility conditions, the tank is equipped with a gyrocompass. In Europe, gyrocompasses were practically not used, but were in demand in North Africa during sandstorms, and were also occasionally used on the Eastern Front, in winter conditions.

Engine

Among other medium tanks of WWII, the Sherman stands out, perhaps, for the widest range of engines installed on it. In total, the tank was equipped with five different propulsion system options, resulting in six main modifications:

M4 and M4A1 - Continental R975 C1 radial aircraft engine, 350 hp. With. at 3500 rpm.
- M4A2 - twin six-cylinder diesel engines GM 6046, 375 hp. With. at 2100 rpm.
- M4A3 - specially developed petrol V8Ford GAA, 500 hp. With.
- M4A4 is a 30-cylinder Chrysler A57 multibank powerplant, consisting of five L6 automobile gasoline engines.
- M4A6 - Caterpillar RD1820 diesel.

Initially, the tank's layout and engine compartment dimensions were designed for the star-shaped R975, which provided enough space for installing other types of engines. However, the 30-cylinder A57 power unit was too large to fit into a standard engine bay, and the M4A4 version featured a longer hull, which was also used in the M4A6.

M4A2s were supplied to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program, since one of the requirements for a tank in the USSR was the presence of a diesel power plant. In the American army, diesel tanks were not used for logistical reasons, but were available in the Marine Corps (which had access to diesel fuel) and in training units. Also, diesel tanks accounted for approximately half of those delivered to the UK, where both gasoline and diesel vehicles were used.

The tank is equipped with a gasoline single-cylinder auxiliary power unit, which serves to recharge batteries without starting the main engine, as well as to warm up the engine in low temperatures.

Transmission

The tank's transmission is located in the front part of the hull; torque from the engine is transmitted to it by a driveshaft running in a box along the floor of the fighting compartment. The gearbox is manual 5-speed, there is a reverse gear, 2-3-4-5 gears are synchronized. The transmission has a double differential of the “Cletrac” type and two separate brakes, with the help of which control is carried out. The driver's controls are two brake levers (with a servo drive), a clutch pedal, a gear shift lever, a foot and hand accelerator, and a hand parking brake. Subsequently, the hand parking brake was replaced with a foot brake.

The cast transmission housing is also the lower frontal part of the tank hull; the transmission compartment cover is cast from armor steel and is bolted to the tank hull. The massive parts of the transmission to a certain extent protected the crew from damage by armor-piercing shells and secondary fragments, but on the other hand, this design increased the likelihood of damage to the transmission itself when shells hit its body, even if there was no penetration of the armor.

During the production process, the transmission design was not subject to significant alterations.

Chassis

The tank's suspension generally corresponds to that used on the M3 tank. The suspension is blocked and has three support bogies on each side. The bogies have two rubberized support rollers, one support roller on the rear side, as well as two vertical buffer springs. The earliest production tanks, until the summer of 1942, had the M2 bogie suspension, the same as the early M3 variants. This suspension option is easily distinguished by the support rollers located on the tops of the bogies.

Small-link caterpillar, with rubber-metal parallel joint, 420 mm wide, 79 tracks on M4, M4A1, M4A2, M4A3, 83 tracks on M4A4 and M4A6. The caterpillar tracks have a steel base. The first versions of the tracks were equipped with a fairly thick rubber tread, which was even thicker to increase the service life of the track. As Japan began to advance in the Pacific, access to natural rubber became limited, and tracks with riveted, welded, or screwed steel treads were developed. Subsequently, the situation with raw materials improved, and the steel tread began to be covered with a layer of rubber.

The following track options were available:

T41 is a track with a smooth rubber tread. Could be equipped with a spur.
- T48 - track with a rubber tread with a chevron-shaped lug.
- T49 - track with three welded steel parallel lugs.
- T51 - track with a smooth rubber tread, the tread thickness is increased compared to T41. Could be equipped with a spur.
- T54E1, T54E2 - track with welded steel tread in the form of a chevron.
- T56 - a track with a simple steel bolt-on tread.
- T56E1 - track with a steel chevron tread on bolts.
- T62 - track with a steel tread in the form of a chevron with rivets.
- T47, T47E1 - track with three welded steel lugs, covered with rubber.
- T74 - track with a welded steel tread in the form of a chevron, covered with rubber.

The Canadians developed their own type of C.D.P. caterpillar. with cast metal tracks with an open metal sequential joint. These tracks were very similar to those used on most German tanks of the time.

This suspension is designated VVSS (Vertical Volute Spring Suspension, “vertical”); this abbreviation was usually omitted from the name of the tank.

At the end of March 1945, the suspension was modernized, the rollers became double, the springs were horizontal, the shape and kinematics of the balancers were also changed, and hydraulic shock absorbers were introduced. The suspension received wider, 58 cm, T66, T80 and T84 tracks. Tanks with such a suspension (called Horisontal Volute Spring Suspension, “horizontal”) had the abbreviation HVSS in the designation. The “horizontal” suspension differs from the “vertical” suspension in that it has a lower specific pressure on the ground, and gives modernized tanks slightly greater maneuverability. In addition, this suspension is more reliable and less demanding on maintenance.

The HVSS suspension track had three main options:

T66 - Cast steel tracks, sequential metal open joint.
- T80 - rubber-metal hinge, tracks with a steel tread in the form of a chevron covered with rubber.
- T84 - rubber-metal hinge, tracks with rubber tread in the form of a chevron. Used after the war.

Modifications

Main production variants

A feature of the production of the M4 was that almost all of its variants were not the result of modernization, but had purely technological differences and were produced almost simultaneously. That is, the difference between the M4A1 and the M4A2 does not mean that the M4A2 denotes a later and more advanced version, it only means that these models were produced at different factories and have different engines (as well as other minor differences). All types underwent modernizations, such as changing the ammunition rack, equipping them with a new turret and gun, and changing the type of suspension, generally at the same time, receiving the army designations W, (76) and HVSS. Factory designations are different and include the letter E and a numeric index. For example, the M4A3(76)W HVSS was factory designated M4A3E8.

The production versions of the Sherman were as follows:

M4— a tank with a welded hull and a Continental R-975 carburetor radial engine. It was mass-produced from July 1942 to January 1944 by Pressed Steel Car Co, Baldwin Locomotive Works, American Locomotive Co, Pullman Standard Car Co, Detroit Tank Arsenal. A total of 8,389 vehicles were produced, 6,748 of them were armed with the M3 cannon, 1,641 M4 (105) received a 105 mm howitzer. The M4s produced by Detroit Tank Arsenal featured a molded front section and were called the M4 Composite Hull.

M4A1- the very first model to go into production, a tank with a cast hull and a Continental R-975 engine, almost identical to the original T6 prototype. Produced from February 1942 to December 1943 by Lima Locomotive Works, Pressed Steel Car Co, Pacific Car and Foundry Co. A total of 9,677 vehicles were produced, 6,281 of them were armed with the M3 cannon, 3,396 M4A1(76)W received the new M1 gun. The tanks of the very first series had a 75 mm M2 cannon and two fixed forward machine guns.

M4A2- a tank with a welded hull and a power plant of two General Motors 6046 diesel engines. Produced from April 1942 to May 1945 by Pullman Standard Car Co, Fisher Tank Arsenal, American Locomotive Co, Baldwin Locomotive Works, Federal Machine & Welder Co. A total of 11,283 tanks were produced, 8,053 of them were armed with the M3 cannon, 3,230 M4A2(76)W received the new M1 gun.

M4A3— had a welded body and a Ford GAA carburetor engine. Produced by Fisher Tank Arsenal and Detroit Tank Arsenal from June 1942 to March 1945 in the amount of 11,424 units. 5015 had an M3 gun, 3039 M4A3(105) a 105 mm howitzer, 3370 M4A3(76)W a new M1 gun. In June-July 1944, 254 M4A3s with the M3 cannon were converted into M4A3E2.

M4A4- a car with a welded extended body and a Chrysler A57 Multibank power unit consisting of five automobile engines. Produced in the amount of 7499 pieces by Detroit Tank Arsenal. All were armed with the M3 gun, and had a slightly modified turret shape, with a radio in the rear bay and a pistol firing port on the left side of the turret.

M4A5- a designation reserved for the Canadian Ram Tank, but never assigned to it. The tank is interesting because, in fact, it was not a version of the M4, but a very heavily modernized version of the M3. The Ram Tank had a British 6-pounder gun, a cast hull with a side door like the T6 prototype, a cast turret of the original shape, and the chassis was the same as the M3, except for the track tracks. Montreal Locomotive Works produced 1,948 units. The Ram did not participate in battles due to its too weak gun, but it served as the basis for numerous armored vehicles, for example the Kangaroo TBTR.

M4A6- welded body, similar to M4A4, with a cast frontal part. The engine is a Caterpillar D200A multi-fuel diesel engine. 75 tanks were produced by the Detroit Tank Arsenal plant. The turret was the same as the M4A4.

Grizzly Bear- M4A1 tank, mass-produced in Canada. Basically similar to the American tank, it differed from it in the design of the drive wheel and track. A total of 188 were produced by Montreal Locomotive Works.

Prototypes

Tank AA, 20mm Quad, Skink- English prototype of an anti-aircraft tank on a Canadian-made M4A1 chassis. The tank was equipped with four 20-mm Polsten anti-aircraft guns, which were a simplified version of the 20-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun. Although the Skink was brought into mass production in January 1944, only a few were made, as total Allied air superiority precluded the need for air defenses.

M4A2E4- an experimental version of the M4A2 with an independent torsion bar suspension, similar to the T20E3 tank. Two tanks were built in the summer of 1943.

Centipede— an experimental version of the M4A1 with spring suspension from the T16 half-track transporter.

T52- American prototype of an anti-aircraft tank on an M4A3 chassis with one 40 mm M1 gun and two.50 M2B machine guns.

Special tanks based on the Sherman

The conditions of the war, and especially the desire of the Allies to provide heavy armored vehicles for their large-scale landing operations, led to the creation of a large number of specialized Sherman tanks. But even ordinary combat vehicles often carried additional devices, for example, blades for passing through the "hedges" of Normandy. Specialized versions of tanks were created by both the Americans and the British, the latter being especially active.

The most famous specialized options:

Sherman Firefly- British Army M4A1 and M4A4 tanks, rearmed with a “17-pounder” (76.2 mm) anti-tank gun. The modifications consisted of changing the gun and mask mount, moving the radio station to an external box mounted on the rear of the turret, eliminating the driver's assistant (in its place was part of the ammunition) and the front-mounted machine gun. Moreover, due to long length the relatively thin barrel, the traveling fixation system for the gun was changed, the Sherman Firefly turret in the traveling position was rotated 180 degrees, and the gun barrel was fixed to a bracket mounted on the roof of the engine compartment. A total of 699 tanks were converted and supplied to British, Polish, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand units.

M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo— assault heavily armored version of the M4A3(75)W. It differed from the regular M4A3 Jumbo by additional 38 mm thick armor plates welded onto the VLD and sponsons, a reinforced transmission compartment cover, and a new turret with reinforced armor, developed on the basis of the T23 turret. The M62 mask installation was strengthened by welding on additional armor, and received the name T110. Despite the fact that the M62 was usually equipped with an M1 cannon, the Jumbo received a 75 mm M3, since it had a projectile with a greater high-explosive effect, and the Jumbo was not intended for tank combat. Subsequently, several M4A3E2s were rearmed in the field, given the M1A1 gun, and used as a tank destroyer. The Sherman Jumbo's armor was as follows: VLD - 100 mm, transmission compartment cover - 114-140 mm, sponsons - 76 mm, gun mantlet - 178 mm, forehead, sides and rear of the turret - 150 mm. Due to the enhanced armor, the weight increased to 38 tons, as a result of which the top gear ratio was changed.

Sherman DD— a specialized version of the tank, equipped with the Duplex Drive (DD) system for swimming across water obstacles. The tank was equipped with an inflatable rubberized canvas casing and propellers driven by the main engine. The Sherman DD was developed in England in early 1944 to carry out numerous amphibious operations that the Allied armies were to conduct, most notably the Normandy landings.

Sherman Crab- the most common English specialized minesweeper tank, equipped with a striker trawl for making passages in minefields. Other variants of mine-resistant Shermans are AMRCR, CIRD, and others, mainly of the roller type.

Sherman Calliope- M4A1 or M4A3 tank equipped with a turret-mounted rocket system volley fire T34 Calliope, with 60 tube rails for 114 mm M8 rockets. Horizontal guidance of the launcher was carried out by turning the turret, and vertical guidance was carried out by raising and lowering the tank gun, the barrel of which was connected to the launcher guides with a special rod. Despite the presence of missile weapons, the tank fully retained the armament and armor of the conventional Sherman, which made it the only MLRS capable of operating directly on the battlefield. The crew of the Sherman Calliope could fire missiles while inside the tank; withdrawal to the rear was required only for reloading. The downside was that the rod was attached directly to the gun barrel, which prevented it from being fired until the launcher was reset. This deficiency has been eliminated in the T43E1 and T34E2 launchers.

T40 Whizbang— a variant of a missile tank with a launcher for 182 mm M17 missiles. In general, the launcher was structurally similar to the T34, but had 20 guides and armor protection. Such tanks were used mainly in assault operations, including in Italy and the Pacific theater of operations.

— a Sherman variant with an M1 or M2 bulldozer blade mounted in the front. The tank was used by engineering units, including for mine clearance, along with special mine-resistant variants.

Sherman Crocodile, Sherman Adder, Sherman Badger, POA-CWS-H1- English and American flamethrower versions of the Sherman.

Self-propelled guns based on Sherman

Since the Sherman was the main tank platform in the American army, a fairly large number of self-propelled artillery systems for various purposes, including heavy tank destroyers, were built on its base. The American concept of self-propelled guns was somewhat different from the Soviet or German, and instead of installing a gun in a closed armored cabin, the Americans placed it either in a rotating turret open on top (on tank destroyers), in an open armored cabin (M7 Priest) or on an open platform, in the latter case firing was carried out by personnel located outside.

The following variants of self-propelled guns were produced:

The 3in Gun Motor Carriage M10 is a tank destroyer also known as the Wolverine. Equipped with a 76 mm M7 gun.
- 90mm Gun Motor Carriage M36 is a tank destroyer known as the Jackson. Equipped with a 90 mm M3 gun.
- 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 - self-propelled 105 mm Priest howitzer.
- 155 mm GMC M40, 203 mm HMC M43, 250 mm MMC T94, Cargo Carrier T30 - heavy gun, howitzer and ammunition transporter based on the M4A3 HVSS.

The British had their own self-propelled guns:

Tracked self-propelled 25 pounder Sexton I, II is an approximate analogue of the M7 Priest on the chassis of the Canadian Ram Tank.
- Achilles IIC - M10, rearmed with an English 17-pounder Mk.V gun.

The Sherman chassis also served as the basis for the creation of self-propelled guns in some other countries, such as Israel and Pakistan.

ARV

The American army had a fairly wide range of armored repair and recovery vehicles, created mainly on the basis of the M4A3:

M32, M4A3 chassis, with an armored superstructure installed instead of the turret. The ARV was equipped with a 6-meter, thirty-ton A-shaped crane, and had an 81-mm mortar to provide protection for repair and evacuation work.

M74, a more advanced version of the ARV based on tanks with HVSS suspension. The M74 featured a more powerful crane, winches, and a front-mounted bulldozer blade.

M34, an artillery tractor based on the M32 with the crane removed.

The British had their own versions of BREM, Sherman III ARV, Sherman BARV. Canadians also produced the Sherman Kangaroo TBTR.

Post-war options

Several hundred M4A1 and M4A3 tanks with 75 mm guns were rearmed with 76 mm M1A1 guns without replacing the turret. The conversion was carried out at the Bowen-McLaughlin-York Co. (BMY) in York, Pennsylvania, and at the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois. The tanks received the index E4 (76). These machines were supplied in particular to Yugoslavia, Denmark, Pakistan and Portugal.

Israeli Shermans

Of all the numerous post-war modifications of the Shermans, perhaps the most interesting are the M50 and M51, which were in service with the IDF. The history of these tanks is as follows:

Israel began purchasing Shermans during the War of Independence, in September 1948, mainly M1(105) purchased in Italy in an amount of about 50 units. Subsequent purchases of Shermans were carried out from 1951 to 1966, in France, Great Britain, the Philippines and other countries, in total about 560 units of various modifications were purchased. Basically, dismantled tanks left over from the Second World War were purchased, their restoration and completion were carried out in Israel.

In the IDF, "Shermans" were designated by the type of gun installed, all tanks with an M3 cannon were called Sherman M3, tanks with a 105 mm howitzer were called Sherman M4, tanks with a 76 mm gun were called Sherman M1. Tanks that had HVSS suspension (these were M4A1(76)W HVSS purchased in France in 1956) were called Super Sherman M1 or simply Super Sherman.

In 1956, Israel began re-equipping the Shermans with the French 75 mm CN-75-50 gun, developed for the AMX-13 tank, in Israel it was called the M50. Ironically, this gun was a French version of the German 7.5 cm KwK 42 mounted on Panthers. The prototype was made by Atelier de Bourges in France, and the rearmament work itself was carried out in Israel. The gun was installed in an old-style turret, the rear part of the turret was cut off, and a new one with a large niche was welded in its place. The IDF designated the tanks Sherman M50, and in Western sources they are known as “Super Sherman” (despite the fact that in Israel they never bore that name). In total, approximately 300 tanks were rearmed before 1964.

In 1962, Israel expressed interest in rearming its Shermans with even more powerful guns to counter the Egyptian T-55s. And here the French helped again, offering the 105-mm CN-105-F1 gun, shortened to 44 calibers, developed for the AMX-30 (in addition to the shortened barrel, the gun also received a muzzle brake). In Israel, this gun was called M51, and was installed on Israeli Sherman M4A1(76)W in a modified T23 turret. In order to compensate for the weight of the gun, the tanks received a new SAMM CH23-1 recoil system, new American Cummins VT8-460 diesel engines, and modern sighting equipment. The suspension of all tanks was replaced with HVSS. In total, about 180 tanks were modernized, designated Sherman M51, and became better known in Western sources as the “Israeli Sherman”, or simply “I-Sherman”. Israeli Shermans took part in all the Arab-Israeli wars, during which they faced both tanks from the Second World War and much newer Soviet and American tanks.

In the late 1970s, approximately half of the 100 M51s remaining in Israel were sold to Chile, where they remained in service until the end of the twentieth century. The other half, along with some M50s, was transferred to South Lebanon.

In addition to the original Shermans, as well as the mentioned modifications, Israel also had a large number of self-propelled guns, armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers of its own production based on the Sherman. Some of them are still in service today.

Egyptian Shermans

Egypt also had Shermans in service, and they were also rearmed with French CN-75-50 guns. The difference from the Israeli Sherman M50 was that the M4A4 was equipped with an FL-10 turret from the AMX-13 tank, along with a gun and a loading system. Since the Egyptians used diesel fuel, gasoline engines were replaced with diesel engines from the M4A2.

All work on the design and construction of the Egyptian Shermans was carried out in France.

Most of the Egyptian Shermans were lost during the Suez Crisis of 1956, and during the Six Day War of 1967, including in clashes with Israeli Sherman M50s.

Reviews

“The Sherman was much better than the Matilda in terms of maintainability. Do you know that one of the designers of Sherman was the Russian engineer Timoshenko? This is some distant relative of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko.

The high center of gravity was a serious disadvantage of the Sherman. The tank often tipped over on its side, like a nesting doll. I am leading a battalion, and, at a turn, my driver hits the car on a pedestrian curb. So much so that the tank overturned. Of course, we were injured, but we survived.

Another drawback of the Sherman is the design of the driver's hatch. In the first batches of Shermans, this hatch, located in the roof of the hull, simply tilted up and sideways. The driver opened part of it, sticking his head out so that he could see better. So we had cases when, when turning the turret, the gun hit the hatch and, falling, it broke the driver’s neck. We had one or two such cases. Then this was eliminated and the hatch lifted and simply moved to the side, like on modern tanks.

Another big plus of the Sherman was recharging the batteries. On our thirty-four, to charge the battery, we had to run the engine at full power, all 500 horses. Sherman had a charging gasoline walk-behind tractor in the fighting compartment, small, like a motorcycle. Started it up and it charged your battery. This was a great deal for us! »

D. F. Loza

Lend-Lease supplies

To UK

The UK was the first country to receive the M4 under the Lend-Lease program and the first to use these tanks in combat. In total, the British received 17,181 tanks, of almost all modifications, including diesel vehicles. The Shermans delivered to England were de-mothballed before they entered service and underwent minor modifications to ensure their compliance with the standards accepted in the British army. The modifications consisted of the following:

The tanks were equipped with the English Radio Set #19, consisting of two separate radio stations and an intercom. The radio stations were placed in an armored box welded to the rear of the turret; a hole was cut in the rear wall of the turret for crew access.
- An English 2-inch smoke mortar was mounted on the turret, and subsequently it began to be installed on all Shermans at the factory.
- The tank was equipped with two additional fire extinguishing systems.
- Boxes for spare parts were mounted on the turret and rear hull plate.
- Some tanks received a rear-view mirror mounted on the right front part of the hull.

In addition, the tanks were repainted in standard colors accepted for theater operations, received English markings and decals, and also underwent minor modernization depending on the intended location of use. For example, tanks intended for operations in North Africa received additional wings above the tracks to reduce the cloud of dust raised when moving. All these alterations were carried out in specialized workshops after the tanks arrived in England.

The British army adopted its own designation system, different from the American one:

Sherman I - M4;
- Sherman II - M4A1;
- Sherman III - M4A2;
- Sherman IV - M4AZ;
- Sherman V - M4A4.

In addition, if the tank was armed with a gun other than the standard 75 mm M3 gun, then the letter was added to its own English model designation:

A - for the American 76 mm M1 gun;
B - for the American 105-mm howitzer M4;
C is for the British 17-pounder gun.

Tanks with HVSS suspension received an additional letter Y.

The full list of designations adopted by the British is as follows:

Sherman I - M4, 2096 units delivered;
- Sherman IB - M4(105), 593 units delivered;
- Sherman IC - M4, with an English 17-pounder gun (Sherman Firefly), 699 units;
- Sherman II - M4A1, 942 units delivered;
- Sherman IIA - M4A1(76)W, 1330 units delivered;
- Sherman IIC - M4A1, with an English 17-pounder gun (Sherman Firefly);
- Sherman III - M4A2, 5041 units delivered;
- Sherman IIIA - M4A2(76)W, 5 units delivered;
- Sherman IV - M4AZ, 7 units delivered;
- Sherman V - M4A4, 7167 units delivered;
- Sherman VC - M4A4, with an English 17-pounder gun (Sherman Firefly).

Many tanks delivered to the UK served as the basis for various British-made combat vehicles.

American tank M4A3E8 HVSS "Sherman" of the 21st Tank Battalion of the 10th Armored Division on the street of Rosswalden in Germany. Nowadays it is a district of the city of Ebersbach am Vils.

IN THE USSR

The USSR became the second largest recipient of Shermans. Under the Lend-Lease law, the Soviet Union received:

M4A2 - 1990 units.
- M4A2(76)W - 2073 units.
- M4A4 - 2 units. Trial deliveries. The order was abandoned due to gasoline engines.
- M4A2(76)W HVSS - 183 units. Delivered in May-June 1945, they did not take part in hostilities in Europe.

In the USSR, Shermans were often called Emcha (instead of M4). In terms of their main combat characteristics, Shermans with a 75-mm cannon roughly corresponded to the Soviet T-34-76, and those with a 76-mm cannon corresponded to the T-34-85.

The tanks arriving in the USSR were not subjected to any modifications, not even repainted (Soviet identification marks were applied to them at the factory, since the stencils of American and Soviet stars generally identical, it was only necessary to change the color), many tanks did not have any national identification marks at all. The tanks were reactivated directly by the troops, with tactical numbers and unit identification marks manually applied to them. A certain number were re-equipped with F-34 cannons by field workshops, due to the fact that at the initial stage of operation in the Red Army there was a shortage of American 75-mm shells. After the supply was established, the alterations stopped. The exact number of rearmed tanks, called M4M, is unknown; apparently it is insignificant.

At first, in conditions of autumn-spring thaw and in winter, the troops welded spurs onto the tracks using a makeshift method. Later, Shermans were supplied with removable spurs included, and such a modification was no longer necessary. Some tanks were converted into ARVs by dismantling the gun or turret; as a rule, these were tanks damaged in battle. No other alterations were made in the USSR. Despite some shortcomings, such as poor quality armor on the first batch of vehicles (a shortcoming that was soon eliminated), the M4s earned a good reputation among Soviet tankers. In any case, having received a classic layout with the main gun in a 360-degree rotating turret, they differed very favorably from their predecessor, the M3 medium tank. Another plus was the presence of powerful radio stations.

The Americans had special representatives in the USSR who monitored the operation of American tanks directly among the troops. In addition to serving as technical consultants, these representatives were also responsible for collecting feedback and complaints, sending them to manufacturing companies. The noticed shortcomings were quickly eliminated in the following episodes. In addition to the tanks themselves, the Americans also supplied repair kits; In general, there were no problems with repairs and restoration. However, quite a large number of battle-damaged Shermans were disassembled for spare parts, and the parts were used to restore their more successful brothers. The Sherman's equipment included coffee makers. Which made a great impression on the Soviet mechanics who were preparing the tanks for operation.

In addition to Great Britain and the USSR, Shermans were supplied under Lend-Lease to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Free France, Poland, and Brazil. Canada also had its own production of the M4.

Combat use

North Africa

The first Sherman arrived in North Africa in August 1942, an M4A1 with an M2 gun, used to train tank crews and maintenance personnel. The first batch of new tanks arrived in September, and on October 23 they entered the battle at El Alamein. In total, at the beginning of the battle, the British 8th Army had 252 M4A1s as part of the 9th Tank Brigade and the 1st and 10th Tank Divisions. Despite the fact that by that time several dozen PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV with long-barreled guns had already entered service with the Afrika Korps, the Shermans performed very well, demonstrating good reliability, maneuverability, adequate weapons and armor. According to the British, the new American tanks played a fairly significant role in their victory in this battle.

The Americans first used Shermans in Tunisia on December 6, 1942. The inexperience of the American crews and miscalculations by the command led to heavy losses in counterattacks against a well-prepared anti-tank missile system. Subsequently, American tactics improved, and the main losses of the Shermans were not due to resistance from German tanks, but to anti-tank mines (which led to the development of the Sherman Crab), anti-tank artillery and aviation. The tank received good reviews among the troops, and very soon the Sherman became the main medium tank in American units, replacing the M3 medium tank.

In general, the M4 turned out to be a very suitable tank for operations in the desert, which was confirmed by its post-war history. In the very vast and flat African expanses, its reliability, good speed, ease of operation for the crew, excellent visibility and communications turned out to be very useful. The tank did not have enough range, but the Allies solved this problem with excellent supply services; in addition, tankers often carried extra fuel with them in cans.

On February 14, 1943, in Tunisia, the first clashes between the Shermans (1st Tank Regiment and 1st Armored Division) and the new heavy German tank PzKpfw VI Tiger (501st Heavy Tank Battalion) took place, in which the inability of the M4 to fight on equal terms was revealed. with heavy German armored vehicles.

Eastern front

Shermans began arriving in the USSR in November 1942 (the 5th Guards Tank Brigade received the first tanks), but this tank appeared in noticeable quantities in Soviet troops ah only at the end of 1943 (several dozen Shermans took part in the Battle of Kursk - 38 M4A2s as part of the 48th Army and 29 Shermans as part of the 5th Tank Corps). Beginning in the spring of 1944, Shermans took part in almost all battles on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War. Tankers received American tanks well, especially noting the ease of operation of the crew compared to Soviet tanks, as well as the very high quality of instrumentation and communications equipment. Getting to serve in a foreign car was considered lucky. The positive assessment of the tank was also influenced by the fact that, on the one hand, it was much more advanced than its predecessor M3, and on the other, the Red Army had already mastered the intricacies of operating American equipment by that time.

The winter of 1943 revealed some shortcomings of the M4A2, specific to winter Russian conditions. The tanks supplied by the USSR had a smooth rubber tread on the track tracks, which caused quite serious problems when driving on icy winter roads. The insufficient adhesion of the tracks to the ground was aggravated by the high center of gravity, and the tank overturned quite often. In general, the tank was almost identical to the Soviet T-34 (inferior to it in terms of protection on the sides) and was used in the same way, without any special differences. The much lower noise level of the Shermans compared to Soviet tanks was often used, and infantry fire from the armor was also practiced while moving, which was ensured by the soft suspension. The T-34-85 already had additional advantages in the caliber of the gun and the protection of the frontal projection of the turret.

In the USSR, they tried to unite tanks received under Lend-Lease into separate units (at the level of tank battalions or brigades) to simplify crew training and supplies. A large number of Shermans entering the USSR made it possible to create entire corps (for example, the 1st Guards Mechanized Corps, the 9th Guards Tank Corps) armed only with this type of tank. American medium tanks and Soviet-made T-60 and T-80 light tanks were often used in the same units. The M4A2(76)W HVSS received in the summer of 1945 were sent to Far East, and took part in the war against Japan.

"Shermans" in Western Europe

The first use of the M4 in Europe dates back to the landings in Sicily on July 10, 1943, where the 2nd Armored Division and the 753rd Independent Tank Battalion operated. By the time Operation Overlord began, the Allied command realized that the Sherman, which appeared in mid-1942, was already outdated in 1944, since clashes with heavy German equipment in Italy showed the insufficiency of the armor, and most importantly, the Sherman’s weapons. The Americans and the British reacted to this situation differently.

The British urgently began work on installing their new 17-pound anti-tank gun on their existing Shermans, which showed excellent results in the fight against German tanks, including heavy Tigers and Panthers. The work went quite successfully, but the scale of rearmament was limited by the insignificant production of the gun itself and its ammunition. The Americans, who were offered to produce the 17-pound gun at their factories, refused this offer, preferring to produce their own models. As a result, by the beginning of active hostilities in France, the British had only a few hundred Sherman Fireflys, distributing them among their tank units, approximately one per tank platoon.

The Americans, despite having by that time quite a solid experience in using tanks (albeit less than the British), were of the opinion that tanks should primarily be used to support infantry, and to fight enemy tanks it was necessary to use special highly mobile tank destroyers. This tactic might have been effective in countering Blitzkrieg tank breakthroughs, but it was not suitable for the type of fighting that characterized the second half of World War II, since the Germans no longer used the strategy of concentrated tank attacks.

In addition, after the victories in North Africa, the Americans were characterized by some arrogance. The Commander-in-Chief of the American ground forces, General McNair, stated in particular:

The M4 tank, especially the M4A3, has been hailed as the best battle tank to date. There are signs that the enemy believes the same. It is clear that the M4 is the perfect combination of mobility, reliability, speed, armor protection and firepower. Apart from this strange request, representing the British view of the problem, there was no evidence from any theater of operations about the need for a 90-mm tank gun. In my opinion, our troops do not feel any fear of the German T.VI (Tiger) tanks... There is and cannot be any basis for the production of the T26 tank, except for the concept of a tank destroyer tank, which, I am sure, is unfounded and unnecessary . Both British and American combat experience demonstrated that anti-tank guns, in sufficient numbers and in the right positions, were completely superior to tanks. Any attempt to create a heavily armored and armed tank capable of outperforming an anti-tank weapon inevitably leads to failure. There is no indication that the 76mm anti-tank gun is inadequate against the German T.VI.

— General Leslie McNair.

As a result of this approach, the Americans approached the landing in Normandy with only M4 medium tanks, including those with enhanced armament, despite the existence of quite successful programs to replace the M4 with a new type. The production program for the M26 Pershing heavy tank was also not implemented.

In addition to conventional tanks, such a colossal amphibious operation also required a huge amount of engineering and engineer equipment, which spawned a large number of specialized variants of the M4, the most famous of which was the Sherman DD. The creation of such equipment was carried out mainly by the British, in the Hobart group, using not only American, but also British tanks. In addition to amphibious tanks, there were also Shermans, which received snorkels to overcome shallow waters.

During the landing itself, the “Hobart toys” were supposed to clear the road from mines and other obstacles of the Atlantic Wall, and the Sherman DDs that came ashore were supposed to support the infantry breaking through the coastal fortifications with their fire. This was largely what happened, except that the Americans largely neglected specialized assault equipment, relying mainly on their infantry and naval gun support. The situation was aggravated by the fact that at the Omaha landing site, the amphibious tanks were launched much further from the shore than planned and, as a result, sank before they could go ashore. In the remaining areas, amphibious, assault and engineer tanks worked perfectly, and the landing took place without any significant losses.

An American M4 abandoned by its crew at the Utah Beach landing site during Operation Overlord. The tank is equipped with two snorkels for operations in shallow water.

After capturing the bridgehead, the Allies had to come face to face with the German tank divisions, which were sent to defend Fortress Europe, and it turned out that the Allies had underestimated the degree to which the German troops were saturated with heavy types of armored vehicles, especially Panther tanks. In direct clashes with German heavy tanks, the Shermans had very little chance. The British, to a certain extent, could count on their Sherman Firefly, whose excellent gun made a great impression on the Germans (so much so that the crews of German tanks tried to hit the Firefly first, and then deal with the rest). The Americans, who were counting on their new weapon, quickly found out that the power of its armor-piercing shells was still not enough to confidently defeat the Panther head-on.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that the natural conditions of Normandy, especially its “hedges,” did not allow the Shermans to realize their advantage in speed and maneuverability. In addition, these same conditions did not make it possible to make tank breakthroughs of a strategic scale, for which the Sherman, with its speed and reliability, was perfectly suited. Instead, the Allies had to slowly gnaw through the “hedges”, suffering very heavy losses from the German tanks and “faustpatronki” operating against them (the latter taking advantage of the terrain in order to come within actual fire range).

As a result, the Allied tankers mainly had to rely on their overwhelming numerical superiority, excellent repair services, as well as on the actions of their aviation and artillery, which processed the German defenses before the tanks attacked. Allied aviation very effectively suppressed the communications and rear services of the German tank forces, which greatly constrained their actions.

According to the book “Death Traps” by Belton Cooper, who was responsible for the evacuation and repair of tanks, the 3rd Armored Division alone lost 1,348 Sherman medium tanks in battle in ten months (more than 580% of its regular strength of 232 tanks). ), of which 648 were completely destroyed. In addition, non-combat losses amounted to approximately 600 tanks.

In Normandy, many Shermans were subjected to field modifications, for example, home-made and factory-made devices for overcoming “hedges” were installed on them, armor was strengthened by welding on additional armor plates, and also simply by hanging spare tracks, sandbags, and improvised anti-cumulative screens. The underestimation of infantry cumulative anti-tank weapons led to the fact that the American industry did not produce such screens until the very end of the war.

After the Allied armies entered the operational space in France, the excellent strategic mobility of the Shermans was fully demonstrated. On the other hand, it turned out that the M4 was not very suitable for urban combat, mainly due to weak armor and the small caliber of tank guns. There were not enough specialized Sherman Jumbos, and artillery support tanks with 105 mm howitzers in the city were too vulnerable.

Missile variants of the Shermans, as well as flamethrower tanks, were very actively and successfully used (especially during the assault on long-term fortifications on the German border). But the actions of the M10 tank destroyers were not very effective, since, in addition to the insufficient power of their guns, there was also insufficient armor; in addition, the crews in the open turrets turned out to be very vulnerable to mortar and artillery fire. The M36 performed better, but it also had an open turret. In general, the tank destroyers failed to cope with their task, and the brunt of tank battles fell on the shoulders of conventional Shermans.

Sherman DDs were quite actively used for crossing rivers, such as the Rhine.

By the end of 1944, there were 7,591 Shermans in service with American and British forces, not counting reserves. In total, at least 15 American tank divisions operated in the Western European theater of operations, not counting 37 separate tank battalions. The main problem for American tank forces in this theater was not the shortcomings of the M4 itself, which proved to be very effective weapon, but the fact that there were no heavier types of armored vehicles in service that could compete on an equal footing with German tanks. The Sherman was conceived as an infantry support tank, and in this capacity it showed its best side, but in operations against the Germans' Panthers, Tigers and Royal Tigers it was not very effective.

Marines take cover behind a tank on Saipan. M4A2 tank, with a snorkel installed for operations in shallow water (apparently, this tank was in the forefront during the landing on the island).

"Shermans" against Japan

The first Shermans appeared in the Pacific Ocean during the operation at Tarawa, November 20, 1943, as part of American Marine Corps formations. Since the American fleet had no problems with diesel fuel, it was mainly the diesel versions of the M4A2 that operated against the Japanese. After Tarawa, the Sherman became the main type of American tank in the Pacific theater, completely replacing the M3 Lee, which remained mainly in garrison service. In addition, the Shermans also replaced the Stuarts, since the use of light tanks in assault operations was considered inappropriate (their advantage in mobility meant nothing on small islands). The situation in the Pacific theater of operations was fundamentally different from the actions in Europe and North Africa. Japanese tanks were very few in number, outdated, and for the most part were light types; they could not directly resist the American M4. Developed in 1944 specifically to counter the Shermans, the new type of “Chi-Nu” did not take part in hostilities, since it was intended for the defense of the Japanese islands directly.

Since almost all operations of the American Marines and the Army in this theater of war were in the nature of breaking through the long-term defense of the Japanese, the Shermans mainly served as infantry support tanks, that is, exactly the role for which they were created. Japanese tanks could not provide sufficient resistance due to the weakness of their weapons, which were unable to penetrate the armor of the Shermans. The Americans, as a rule, had no problems with defeating Japanese tanks. This led to the Japanese mainly using their tanks as improvised long-term firing points, operating from specially prepared trenches. Attempts to actively use Japanese tanks were also hampered by the very weak tactical training of Japanese tank commanders who had no experience in tank battles. The Americans encountered the greatest activity of Japanese tank units in the Philippines, where the 2nd Tank Division of the Shobu Group operated, under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita. In total, the Japanese had about 220 tanks there, most of which were lost during the American advance towards San Jose.

In the Pacific theater of operations, the Sherman established itself as an excellent infantry support tank; its relatively light weight and size were also a plus, which made it easy to transfer tanks from island to island. The tank turned out to be suitable for operations in hot, humid climates, and did not have any special problems with reliability and maneuverability. The main losses of American tanks occurred from explosions on anti-tank mines. Lacking sufficiently effective anti-tank artillery and infantry anti-tank weapons, the Japanese often used suicidal attack tactics, sending their infantrymen with backpack, magnetic and pole mines, anti-tank grenades, etc. against American tanks. Rocket tanks, artillery support tanks, and also flamethrower tanks.

The specific nature of the fighting led to the fact that tanks were used as part of separate tank battalions that supported infantry divisions. Tank divisions were not formed in the Pacific theater of operations, due to the lack of need to concentrate armored vehicles, and also due to the impossibility of strategic maneuver of tank units.

Post-war conflicts

The post-war history of the tank turned out to be no less eventful.

In the US Army, Shermans of the M4A3E8 and M4A3(105) modifications were in service until the mid-1950s, and in National Guard units until the end of the 1950s. A large number of tanks remained in Europe, where they were in service with the American and British occupation forces. A large number were also transferred to the armies of the liberated countries as military assistance.

Shermans had the opportunity to take part in almost all world conflicts of the 50s, 60s, and even 70s. The geography of their service included almost the entire globe.

Korean War

The offensive of North Korean troops put the American command in a very difficult position - the only tanks in South Korea were a number of light American M24 Chaffee. The solution could be the urgent transfer of tanks from Japan, but there were only variants with 75-mm M3 guns, since the need for a 76-mm gun during the war in the Pacific Ocean never arose. Since these tanks were seriously inferior in firepower to the T-34-85s available in the Korean People's Army, it was decided to rearm them with 76 mm M1 guns. The re-equipment was carried out at the Tokyo Arsenal, the guns were installed in conventional M4A3 turrets, and a total of 76 tanks were converted. The first rearmed Shermans arrived in Korea on July 31, 1950, as part of the 8072nd Medium Tank Battalion, and entered battle at Chungam-Ni on August 2. Subsequently, tanks began to arrive from the United States, and a total of 547 Sherman tanks of various modifications, mainly M4A1E4 (76), took part in the Korean War. The Sherman Firefly was in service with the British forces.

The main opponent of the Sherman in this war was the T-34-85, which was in service with the North Koreans and Chinese. After the arrival of American medium and heavy tanks, the T-34's dominance on the battlefield came to an end, and tank battles usually ended in favor of the American tankers. Having approximately equal armor to the T-34, the Sherman was superior in accuracy and rate of fire of the gun, mainly due to better optics and the presence of a stabilizer. The guns of both tanks were powerful enough to penetrate each other's armor at almost all real combat distances. But the main reason for the failures of Korean and Chinese tankers was the higher level of training of their American opponents.

From July 21, 1950 to January 21, 1951, 516 M4A3 tanks took part in combat operations as part of the 8th Army and the 10th Army Corps, of which, according to incomplete data, 220 tanks were lost (120 irretrievably). The level of irretrievable losses was the highest among all mass-used tanks. A large number of tanks that broke down and were abandoned during the retreat were captured by the North Koreans and Chinese. On April 1, 1951, there were 442 M4A3 tanks in Korea. From January 21 to April 8, 1951, 178 tanks of this type were lost. From April 8 to October 6, 1951, 362 Sherman tanks were lost.

At the beginning of the war, the Americans quite widely used the heavier M26 Pershing tanks, but it soon became clear that despite the powerful gun and good armor, this tank could not operate effectively in the Korean mountains, since it had the same engine as the Sherman. at significantly higher weight. As a result, the Shermans bore the brunt of the war, despite being less well armed and more lightly armored.

In general, the combat service of the Shermans in Korea was quite successful, except that the insufficient power of 76-mm high-explosive shells was once again evident. The artillery Shermans were more successful in this sense. The passive phase of the war was distinguished by the large scale of tank battles, and the main role played by American tanks was infantry support, patrolling, and firing at the enemy from indirect artillery positions. Tanks were also used as a kind of mobile firing points, helping the infantry to repel Chinese “human waves.”

Arab-Israeli wars

Only two M4A2 tanks participated in the War of Independence, which the Israelis inherited from the British. By the time of the Suez Crisis of 1956, the IDF had 122 Shermans (56 Sherman M1 and Sherman M3, 25-28 Sherman M50 and 28 Super Sherman M1), and they formed the backbone of the Israeli armored force; Israeli Sherman losses are unknown, probably amounting to half of 30 lost tanks. Egypt had several dozen M4A2s, including those with French turrets, of which 56 were lost in battle.

In 1967, Israel had 522 Shermans of various types, which constituted approximately half of its tank fleet. By this time, it was the only country in the Middle East that had these tanks in service. However, during the Six-Day War they were used mainly in secondary directions, the main striking force being the British heavy Centurions, which had heavier weapons and better armor. On the Sinai front, there was an incident when a company of Super Shermans, coming to the aid of a unit attacked by the Egyptians, destroyed five more modern Egyptian T-55s.

Before the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Shermans were gradually withdrawn from service, and after the war they were either converted into self-propelled guns and other vehicles, or sold to other countries.

Indo-Pakistani wars

India received its first tanks during World War II, and they took part in the fighting in Burma. These were both American and British versions of the Shermans. Subsequently, tanks were actively purchased by both India and Pakistan.

In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Shermans participated on both sides of the conflict. At the outbreak of the war, India had 332 Shermans of various types, and Pakistan - 305. These were mainly M4A1 and M4A3, many tanks that had a 75 mm gun were rearmed with a 76 mm M1 gun. In India, attempts were made to rearm with a French cannon similar to the Israeli Sherman M50. Indian Shermans took part in the defeat of Pakistani M47/48 Pattons during the Battle of Asal-Uttar.

Despite the fact that Shermans made up slightly less than half of the tank fleet of both sides, they were used mainly in secondary axes, as well as for flank attacks. The first line tanks were less mobile, but more heavily armed and better armored Pattons (from the Pakistani side) and Centurions (from the Indian side).

War in Yugoslavia

According to M. Baryatinsky, Sherman tanks were used during the civil war in Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1995.

Machine evaluation

Design and development potential

The layout of the Sherman was typical of American and German WWII tanks, with the engine located in the rear of the tank and the transmission in the front. One of the most distinctive features of the M4 was its height, greater than that of any other comparable tank except the M3. There are three reasons for this. Firstly, the transmission is located at the front, which increases the height of the tank due to the need to place the driveshaft in the fighting compartment. Secondly, the tank was designed for a star-shaped engine located vertically. Thirdly, the high-mounted crankshaft of the engine was connected to the transmission by an inclined driveshaft, which ran quite high above the floor of the fighting compartment. German designers solved this problem by using composite driveshafts, or by trying to position the engine so that its crankshaft was at the same height as the transmission input shaft. The Americans did not take these measures, primarily for reasons of simplifying the design.

Due to the vertical sides and general high altitude, the M4 was distinguished by a large amount of reserved space, still being one of the leaders in this indicator (but inferior to the M3). Despite the fact that this did not have the best effect on the tank’s security (the vertical sides, which also had a decent area, were especially vulnerable), the tank was loved by the crews for the convenience of its internal placement. Vertical sides and large fenders made it possible to create a large-diameter turret ring. In general, the tank’s layout did not contribute to improving its combat qualities (especially security and stealth), but it had a positive effect on the comfort of the crew, made it possible to distribute vital components in space, and, in addition, gave the tank decent potential for further modernization.

The design of the chassis was typical of pre-war tanks; by the time the Sherman appeared, it was somewhat outdated. However, no particular complaints about chassis there was none, and tracks with a rubber-metal joint were a fairly progressive solution at that time. Initially, the suspension design was designed for the lighter M2 and M3, but with the start of mass production, the bogies were strengthened. Subsequently, the tank received an HVSS suspension with horizontal springs and support rollers on the hull. The visibility of the tank was quite acceptable, the quality of the viewing optics was good. The tanks of later production differed for the better, since they had a commander's cupola. However, the Sherman was slightly inferior to the German tanks in this regard, but was significantly superior to the Soviet ones. The design of the tank, by American standards, is very technologically advanced and suitable for mass production in automobile factories. The components used were also suitable for mass production. The only technologically complex part was the gun stabilizer, but the Americans had very developed instrument making (working mainly for the needs of aviation).

The Sherman had a very large potential for modernization, mainly due to the large volume of the fighting compartment, which made it possible to place ammunition for fairly large guns, and also because of the large diameter of the turret ring, which made it possible to replace the turret with a more spacious one. In addition, the placement of the chassis elements made it possible to almost completely change its design without affecting the remaining parts of the tank in any way (the chassis was also replaced on already produced tanks). The tank had a significant weight reserve, and the spacious engine compartment made it possible to have a wide range of engines. In general, the design of the Sherman was quite successful and modern. On the other hand, there were no innovative solutions for the world tank building in the design of this tank, and to a certain extent it was a simple and quick response of American industry to the requirements of the army. The layout of the tank, the design of its chassis, the type of transmission, etc. did not become a standard, and the Sherman was not destined to become the founder of the post-war series, unlike the T-34, which was further developed in the T-44 and T-54 models .

Destroyed German Pz.Kpfw tank. VI Ausf. E "Tiger" from the 508th heavy tank battalion (schwere Panzer-Abteilung 508) and a New Zealand American-made M4 Sherman tank from the 20th Armored Regiment (20th Armored Regiment) on the road between Giogoli and the city of Galuzzo (Galuzzo) south of Florence.

Armament

When the Shermans appeared on the battlefield, its 75 mm M3 gun could successfully fight all types of German and Italian tanks. In terms of armor penetration, it was inferior to the German 7.5 cm KwK 40 L/43, installed on the PzKpfw IV Ausf. F2. However, almost simultaneously with the Sherman, the PzKpfw VI Tiger I began its military career, whose frontal armor was not penetrated by the Sherman's gun, and the 8.8 cm KwK 36 gun was significantly superior to the M3 in all respects. Since the American military industry at that time had not produced tanks with more powerful weapons, we can say that the Sherman’s weapons were outdated almost at the moment of their appearance. The M3 gun was almost identical to the Soviet F-34 mounted on the T-34, differing only in the lower initial velocity of armor-piercing shells. The American M48 75-mm high-explosive fragmentation projectile, also used in British tank guns of this caliber, had a mass of 6.62 kg and contained 670 g of explosive and was inferior to Soviet high-explosive fragmentation projectiles in effectiveness. In addition, unlike the F-34, the M3's ammunition load did not include mass-produced cumulative or sub-caliber projectiles.

The 76-mm M1 gun surpassed the 7.5 cm KwK 40 L/48 in armor penetration, and was almost equal to the 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56 Tiger 1, but was significantly inferior to the 7.5 cm KwK 42 “Panther”, and 8. 8 cm KwK 43 " Royal Tiger" In relation to the fight against unarmored targets, rearmament with the M1 was rather a step back, due to the less damaging effect of the fragmentation projectile, and the smaller range of ammunition. The M1 gun had comparable armor penetration with the same types of shells to the Soviet 85-mm D-5 and ZIS-S-53, but the supply of M93 tungsten-core shells was established earlier than the BR-365P sub-caliber ones.

A very big advantage of the Sherman's weapons was that its gun was equipped with a gyroscopic stabilizer that operated in a vertical plane. Since the telescopic sight was paired with the gun, and the periscopic sight was synchronized with it, the gunner’s field of view also remained stabilized. The performance of the stabilizer did not allow targeted cannon fire on the move, but it worked as a very effective vibration damper - the target remained in the gunner’s field of vision at all times, and the interval between stopping the tank and opening fire was very short. In addition, the tank could conduct targeted fire on the move from a coaxial machine gun. On the other hand, effective use of the stabilizer required certain crew training, so many crews preferred to turn it off.

The presence of a stabilizer, the high quality of the cannon barrels and shells, as well as the good quality of the tank's optics made the Sherman's fire very accurate, which partially compensated for the insufficient power of the gun. Compared to the T-34, the hydraulic drive of the turret was much more accurate and smooth, compared to German tanks - it provided a faster (16 sec.) full rotation of the turret (for the T-34-85 - 12 sec., for the T-34). 34 - 14 seconds; 26 seconds for PzKpfw IV, 69 seconds for Tiger). The disadvantage of such a drive was its greater fire hazard compared to electric drives. Another important feature of this tank's armament was that it was equipped with a Browning M2 heavy machine gun in the turret above the commander's hatch; no other tank of that time had a heavy machine gun except the heavier IS-2. The downside was the lack of sighting devices for the forward machine gun. It was assumed that it would be fired blindly, using tracer ammunition, under the direction of the tank commander. In practice, this did not always work.

In general, we can say that the armament of the Sherman tank corresponded to the armament of the T-34, and, like the latter, was inferior to the armament of German medium and heavy tanks, starting in March 1942. The Sherman's gun made it possible to fight all types of light and medium German tanks, but was not powerful enough to fight heavy types. Rearmament could not fundamentally change the situation, although it allowed it to surpass the German medium tank PzKpfw IV in this indicator.

Security

The Sherman's armor is roughly on par with other WWII medium tanks. The turret armor was more powerful compared to the T-34, and approximately the same as that of the T-34-85 and PzKpfw IV. The smaller angle of inclination of the frontal armor of the hull was compensated by greater thickness, but the large size and vertical side reduced protection. The downside was that the ammunition rack was placed too high, which was later eliminated. In an effort to maximize the maintainability of the tank, the designers equipped it with a front transmission that can be easily removed even in field conditions and externally located suspension units. But this led to the relatively low survivability of these nodes. The front location of the transmission and its insufficient protection were guaranteed to deprive the tank of mobility when the lower part of the frontal armor was penetrated, and could also burn the crew with hot oil, and when shooting at the lower part of the side, even from small arms, the suspension failed. Therefore, the Sherman crews had to pay for their high maintainability with more frequent repairs due to combat breakdowns. They combated the last drawback by hanging external armor plates from the sides, which, however, were thin and could be penetrated by any type of artillery weapons. In addition to the likelihood of hot oil splashing from the gearbox when the front armor is penetrated, the fire-hazardous electro-hydraulic turret rotation drive and use on most modifications of gasoline engines also deserve attention. However, the placement of tanks in the engine compartment, the armored partition between the engine and fighting compartments, and the presence of an automatic and manual fire extinguishing system made the tank relatively safe even despite its potentially high flammability. Compared to heavy German and Soviet tanks, the Sherman's armor was insufficient. The exception was the M4A3E2, but these tanks were produced in small quantities and, for the most part, had relatively weak weapons.

The Sherman's armor was not cemented, and therefore was more ductile than that of German and Soviet tanks. This reduced the likelihood of shells ricocheting or splintering, but such armor produced much less secondary fragments, which was highly appreciated by the crews.

Early Sherman models suffered from a tendency to catch fire when hit by a high-velocity projectile. Shermans received such ominous nicknames as “Tommycooker” (from the Germans, who called English soldiers “Tommy”) and “Ronson” (from the British, after a brand of lighter that was advertised with the slogan “Lights the first time, every time!"). Polish tank crews called them “burning graves,” and Soviet tank crews nicknamed the tank a “mass grave for five.” This vulnerability increased crew losses and greatly reduced the repairability of damaged tanks. A US Army investigation found that the main reason for this was the storage of ammunition in sponsons without proper protection. The prevailing belief that the gasoline engine was to blame for the fires remains unconfirmed; most tanks of that era had gasoline engines. Initially, the problem was solved by welding additional inch-thick armor plates onto the vertical sponsons at the locations of the ammunition baskets; in subsequent models, the ammunition was moved to the bottom of the hull, with additional water jackets surrounding the shell storage. This modification significantly reduced the likelihood of "frying".

Mobility

Strategic mobility

The M4 fulfilled all the requirements for a medium tank in terms of strategic mobility. Its light weight and small width made it easy to transport by all means of transport, including rail. Loading and unloading was also not a problem. The reliability and service life of the power units, transmission and chassis made it possible to transport Shermans over long distances under their own power; the rubber-coated track did not break up roads, and the tank could withstand most bridges. The speed was acceptable, the soft suspension maintained relative comfort for the crew. In this regard, the Sherman was superior to all Soviet tanks, as well as most German ones.

The disadvantage was high fuel consumption (more than other medium WWII tanks), and as a result - a small range, on most early gasoline modifications - no more than 190 km, and later ones even less - 160 km.

Tactical mobility

In terms of tactical mobility, the Sherman was also rated quite highly. The power supply was good, at the level of the best WWII medium tanks, depending on the type and model of the installed engine. Formally, the tank was inferior in this regard to the Soviet T-34, but in practice the difference in engine power was compensated by the Sherman’s more successful transmission and better selection of gear ratios in the gearbox. The speed was good both on the highway and over rough terrain, and control of the tank was easy, thanks to the amplifiers. The tank was not prone to pitching like the T-34. The tank's maneuverability was somewhat limited by its large length-to-width ratio, as well as the use of a Cletrac-type transmission, the disadvantage of which was the inability to turn on the spot. This caused certain difficulties when maneuvering on the battlefield, and was especially evident when maneuvering in cramped conditions, for example when loading or unloading.

The soft ground performance of the M4 with VVSS suspension was worse than that of Soviet and German tanks due to the higher specific ground pressure. The HVSS suspension brought Sherman to one of the leading positions in this indicator. The tank's geometric maneuverability was limited by its high center of gravity; if one track hit a high obstacle, the tank could overturn, especially if the collision occurred at high speed. The advantage was the high ground clearance. The grip properties of the tracks depended on the type of tracks, and were generally satisfactory, but the tank was inferior to German and Soviet models when moving on ice and other slippery surfaces. The problem was partially solved by removable spurs, but it mainly manifested itself during operations in Russia, and very little in other theaters of operations.

Rubber-metal hinges and rubber-coated tracks made the tank quiet in motion, which was complemented by the quiet operation of the engines. This made it possible, firstly, for a relatively covert regrouping of tanks directly on the front line, and secondly, it allowed for covert maneuvers, which was especially evident on the Eastern Front (Soviet tanks were very noisy, and the quiet Shermans were often an unpleasant surprise for the Germans).

Reliability

The reliability of almost all Sherman units was very high; however, this applied to almost all American tanks of that time. The reason for this was the high engineering and production culture, as well as the use of fully used units, the source of which was the automobile and tractor industries. The design of the tank was relatively simple, which also had a positive effect on its reliability.

The engines of all variants had a long service life, rarely required maintenance, and required almost no adjustments, which distinguished American tanks from both Soviet and German models. The transmission also did not pose any problems. The caterpillar, thanks to the rubber-metal hinge, had a resource that exceeded the resource of all other types of tracks. Requirements for the quality of fuels and lubricants were at an average level, varying depending on the type and model of the engine. As a rule, tanks worked well on available fuels and lubricants.

Overall, the Sherman was one of the most reliable and unpretentious tanks of WWII, and the best medium tank of the war in this regard. The downside was its lower maintainability compared to Soviet tanks, especially in field conditions. In addition, the tank required more qualified maintenance and repair personnel.

The crew of the American tank "Sherman" M4A3E2 (Sherman M4A3E2 Jumbo), Company C, 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, was the first to enter the city of Bastogne on December 26, 1944, marking the beginning of the relief of American troops surrounded in the city. The car had its own name “Cobra King”.

Analogs

The Sherman belonged to the category of medium tanks, the most numerous and diverse of all those introduced during WWII and after it. Almost every country that had a tank industry at the time produced a tank comparable to the M4:

The T-34 is the closest analogue of the Sherman in terms of characteristics, which appeared several years earlier. It is somewhat superior to the latter in terms of mobility and side armor, and is approximately equivalent to it in terms of armament power (in comparison with the Sherman with a 75-mm cannon), just as the Sherman has an outdated chassis, but less reliability and significantly worse working conditions for the crew.

T-34-85 - a modernized version of the T-34, appeared six months earlier than the Sherman with a 76-mm cannon. It is also somewhat superior to the Sherman in terms of mobility and side armor. Armor penetration is similar to the 76-mm M1A2 cannon (inferior, however, in armor penetration to the Sherman Firefly version), the power of the high-explosive fragmentation projectile is much higher. Like the T-34, it has worse working conditions for the driver, but otherwise the gap with the Sherman has been reduced.

PzKpfw IV - the main German analogue, also older. It had comparable characteristics, surpassing American tanks in mobility (except for the M4A3) and gun power (with the PzKpfw IV Ausf F2 modification compared to the Sherman with a 75-mm cannon). The tank was not equipped with a stabilizer, but had better sighting devices.

PzKpfw V - The Panther became the main and most serious opponent of the Shermans on the Western Front. Despite the fact that "Panther" belongs to the heavier weight category, according to the German classification it is considered a medium tank, which corresponds to the degree of saturation of the German troops with these tanks by the end of the war. The Panther is completely superior to the Sherman in all major combat indicators, second only to reliability. The Panther appeared a year later than the regular Sherman, but earlier than the M4 (76), while surpassing both of them. Comparable only with the small-scale M4A3E2.

Cruiser Mk VIII Cromwell is an English cruiser tank of approximately the same weight category, and appeared later than the Sherman. It is inferior in weapon power and armor, but has better power output. It had a spring suspension similar in design to the T-34 suspension.

Cruiser, Comet, A34 - the most advanced English cruising tank of the Second World War, appeared later than the Sherman. Surpasses the Sherman in all major combat indicators. Despite its slightly heavier weight, it has a significantly higher power output and better mobility. The gun is roughly equivalent to a Sherman Firefly.

It can be said that among its analogues, the Sherman stood out primarily for its simplicity and manufacturability of its design, combined with high quality workmanship. This allowed it to become, along with the T-34, the main tank of World War II.

The Comb

M4A4 in the Israeli Museum. The cannon mantlet of an early model is visible, the absence of a periscope sight, and the wings modernized for operations in the desert. On the left, near the factory markings on the transmission compartment cover, a ridge is visible.

There is one rather interesting connection with the Sherman tank. interesting story. For quite a long time, post-war historians and enthusiasts were haunted by the question of what kind of strange object is found in many photographs of early Shermans and is even found on some surviving tanks. The object is a small metal strip with several slots or hooks welded onto the cover of the transmission compartment under the directional machine gun, and its designs are very diverse. Among enthusiasts, the mysterious part was called “the Comb”. This detail is not described in the “Operation Manual”, is not mentioned in the memoirs of veterans and generally looks rather mysterious.

No matter what assumptions were made. The “comb” was considered a mount for an antenna, a device for cutting wire, some believed that it was needed to clean dirt from the shoes of tank crews, and some even called it a bottle opener. There was even a version considered that this was a device for quickly emergency releasing a tank from a trailer for transportation.

When the mystery was solved, it turned out that this was a device for locking the brakes of a tank in position for transport by sea or by rail. A cable loop was placed over the brake levers, it was passed into a bracket behind the driver's seat, the purpose of which was also a mystery for a long time, and brought out through the machine gun port (in tanks coming from the factory, the front-line machine gun was dismantled and was located inside the tank in a mothballed condition). The comb served so that the cable could be tensioned and secured, thereby fixing the levers in the rear position. At the same time, the tank was in a locked state, and transport personnel could quickly release the cable, unlocking the tank, and move the tank to a new location. Without such a device, this would not have been easy to do, since the tank hatches were in a closed position and, as a rule, were sealed.

Gifts for tankers

In the book of the Hero of the Soviet Union, tank officer D.F. Loza, “Tankman on a Foreign Car,” a rather interesting case is described. The Shermans arriving in the USSR under Lend-Lease were reactivated directly by the troops, to which they arrived in the same form in which they left the factory gates. Representatives of American companies told Soviet tank crews that factory workers usually leave small gifts in the tank for the tank crews, but despite the fact that the tanks arrived mothballed, nothing interesting could be found in them.

Preserved tanks arrived with two gun fat plugs in the gun barrel: one on the breech side, the other in the muzzle. During re-preservation, the plugs were knocked out with a banner. When knocking out the next cork, a bottle of whiskey fell out of the barrel and broke. It is curious that the diameter of a standard whiskey bottle is exactly 3 inches, which coincides with the caliber of the M2, M3 and M1 guns mounted on Shermans. After this, the trunks began to be re-opened very carefully.

The lower escape hatches of the Shermans were a constant source of theft by American infantrymen - they used them to make improvised roofs for individual rifle cells. This led to the fact that the hatches began to be additionally secured with chains.

An M4A3 Sherman tank from the US 9th Army stuck in the mud during the German Ardennes offensive. The operation bore the German code name “Wacht am Rhein” (Watch on the Rhine).

Performance characteristics of the M4 Sherman

Crew, people: 5
Layout diagram: control compartment and transmission in front, engine compartment in rear
Manufacturer: Lima Locomotive Works, American Locomotive Company, Baldwin Locomotive Works and Pressed Steel Car Company
Years of production: 1942—1945
Number issued, pcs.: 49,234

Weight M4 Sherman

Dimensions of M4 Sherman

Case length, mm: 5893
- Case width, mm: 2616
- Height, mm: 2743
- Ground clearance, mm: 432

M4 Sherman armor

Armor type: steel homogeneous
- Housing forehead (top), mm/deg.: 51 / 56°
- Body forehead (bottom), mm/deg.: 51 / 0—56°
- Hull side, mm/deg.: 38 / 0°
- Hull stern, mm/deg.: 38 / 0…10°
- Bottom, mm: 13—25
- Housing roof, mm: 19—25 / 83—90°
- Tower forehead, mm/deg.: 76 / 30°
- Gun mask, mm/deg.: 89 / 0°
- Tower side, mm/deg.: 51 / 5°
- Tower feed, mm/deg.: 51 / 0°
- Tower roof, mm: 25

Armament M4 Sherman

Caliber and brand of gun: 75 mm M3 (for M4), 76 mm M1 (for M4 (76)), 105 mm M4 (for M4 (105))
- Gun type: rifled
- Barrel length, calibers: 36.5
- Gun ammunition: 97
- Angles VN, degrees: −10…+25
- Sights: telescopic M55, M38, periscopic M4
- Machine guns: 1 × 12.7 mm M2HB, 2 × 7.62 mm M1919A4

M4 Sherman engine

Engine type: radial 9‑cylinder carburetor air-cooled
- Engine power, l. hp: 400 (395 European hp)

Speed ​​M4 Sherman

Highway speed, km/h: 48
- Speed ​​over rough terrain, km/h: 40

Cruising range on the highway, km: 190
- Specific power, l. s./t: 13.0
- Suspension type: interlocked in pairs, on vertical springs
- Specific ground pressure, kg/cm²: 0.96
- Overcoming wall, m: 0.6
- Overcoming ditch, m: 2.25
- Fordability, m: 1.0

Photo M4 Sherman

An M4 Sherman tank from the 66th Armor Regiment of the US Army, shot down near the German city of Korschenbroich. The photo shows that strengthening the frontal armor in the form of bags of cement saved the tank from being penetrated.

14-02-2017, 13:27

Hello, tank men and women, the site is here! Now we will talk about an interesting, strong and versatile vehicle, an American medium tank of the fifth level - this is M4 Sherman guide.

Once upon a time, this device instilled fear in equipment of its own and lower level thanks to its dangerous high-explosive weapon. Now its formidable cumulative charges are no longer so strong, and the accuracy of the guns has been nerfed, but it still has M4 Sherman TTX worthy of respect. If you understand the advantages and disadvantages of this tank and play it correctly, you can have a lot of fun and show good results.

TTX M4 Sherman

As usual, we will begin the analysis of the tank’s parameters with the fact that our American has a safety margin that is standard by the standards of its peers, but at the same time M4 Sherman review initially equal to 370 meters, which is significantly better than most ST-5s.

The situation with the survivability of our American is controversial. First of all, I would like to note the fact that the car has large and tall dimensions, that is, getting into M4 Sherman WoT not such a difficult task, and we glow at very decent distances.

If we talk about armor, it is there, but only when we are at the top of the list. Nominally, this vehicle has weak armor, however, in the front of the hull the entire VLD has a good slope, which allows the 50 mm armor plate to reach even 120 mm at its thickest point. If you further tighten the body, what M4 Sherman characteristics the armor will increase a little more, which will allow you to repel some of your classmates’ projectiles, but it will not protect you from level 6-7 vehicles.

The tower in frontal projection is also capable of surprising. There is a large 90-mm gun mantlet, and cheeks M4 Sherman World of Tanks Due to the pleasant bevels, the adjustment reaches about 120 millimeters. All this also does not provide guaranteed rebounds or non-penetrations, but sometimes it can save.

But nothing good can be said about the lateral projection. From the sides M4 Sherman tank it is extremely poorly protected; you cannot turn towards the enemy, nor can you turn your body too much.

As for mobility, our mobility is not bad and not good - average. It should be noted here that M4 Sherman WoT It has a decent maximum speed, dynamics and maneuverability, but you can’t call it very dynamic or frisky.

gun

The situation with weapons in our case is worthy of no less attention, if only because the owners of this American have two completely different guns to choose from.

First of all, let's look at M4 Sherman gun caliber 105 millimeters, which is called a high explosive. With this barrel we have a very powerful alphastrike, which allows us to send many vehicles of our own and lower levels into the hangar with one shot.

However, this gun is only strong when M4 Sherman medium tank gets to the top of the list, because here a weak penetration will often be enough to cause significant damage. But the higher the enemy’s level and the stronger his armor, the less damage you will deal, and cumulative weapons do not provide any guarantees, although it is worth carrying about 10 pieces with you.

As befits high-explosive guns, this barrel is bad in that it has poor accuracy, expressed in huge dispersion, poor stabilization and prolonged aiming. But the vertical aiming angles are M4 Sherman WoT chic - we can lower the gun 10 degrees down, which is very comfortable.

The second weapon is considered classic. It has a quite standard alphastrike by the standards of its classmates, but its rate of fire is so low that with it M4 Sherman tank capable of delivering a measly 1437 units of pure damage per minute.

The good side of the 76 mm cannon is penetration; even with an ordinary armor-piercing projectile you can confidently fight against fives and sixes and only for strong sevens M4 Sherman World of Tanks must have about 20 sub-calibers with him.

In terms of accuracy, here again we will be slightly disappointed, since the scatter is again quite large, we would like to have faster convergence, and the situation with stabilization of the data is no better.

Summing up the weapons, I would like to say that with a high explosive American tank M4 Sherman turns into a fun machine, which at the ideal top will bring you a lot of fun, and at the bottom will give you the opportunity to consistently knock down at least some damage even from strong targets and often damage modules. The second gun is suitable for a more stable game, but remember that its DPM is very low, this is the biggest problem.

Advantages and disadvantages

Without understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your tank, the game will be much more difficult, because you will not know how to equip the vehicle and what you can rely on in battle. Let's highlight the main pros and cons M4 Sherman World of Tanks, but taking into account the installed high explosive.
Pros:
Excellent basic overview;
Very good elevation angles;
Powerful alphastrike;
Good mobility.
Minuses:
Still weak armor;
Large silhouette;
Poor accuracy;
The high explosive has weak penetration.

If we talk about an alternative weapon, then the advantages of the tank include good penetration, and the disadvantages are extremely weak damage per minute.

Equipment for M4 Sherman

No self-respecting tanker can do without a correct and balanced selection of additional modules, because this is a great way to improve your tank. In our case, the emphasis should be on improving shooting comfort, and in general on M4 Sherman tank equipment It's better to put it like this:
1. is an excellent option for both guns, because with it we will be able to shoot more often, and therefore deal more damage.
2. – there is no other way to improve the accuracy on this machine, and yet it really needs to improve this parameter.
3. is a standard option for a mobile medium tank, which in our case will make an already good overview excellent.

However, some players will want to neglect the overview in favor of increasing firepower and the comfort of dealing damage, in which case it is preferable to replace the last point with, which will give a 5% boost to the most important characteristics.

Crew training

Of course, you will have to spend more time and effort on this, but with a pumped-up crew, the game changes greatly for the better, since you can not only improve the parameters necessary for dealing damage, but also increase the survivability of the tank. To achieve good results on M4 Sherman perks It’s better to download in this order:
Commander - , , , .
Gunner – , , , .
Driver mechanic - , , , .
Radio operator - , , , .
Loader – , , , .

Equipment for M4 Sherman

The choice of consumables, as always, remains complete. The standard aspect in which if you do not have enough silver credits, it is better to give preference to , , . But for those who are accustomed to relying on reliability in battle and are not constrained by funds, we recommend transporting M4 Sherman equipment from , , . In addition, you can also use it instead of a fire extinguisher; this car doesn’t burn often.

Tactics for playing the M4 Sherman

We all understand perfectly well that the strategy of behavior in battle is, first of all, based on understanding and taking advantage of the strengths and weaknesses of the tank. For these reasons, it is important to understand that for M4 Sherman tactics cannot be reduced to fighting at close ranges, the reason for this is rather weak armor.

In addition, we feel differently depending on who we are fighting with. If we talk about fights at the top, M4 Sherman medium tank here he is a very formidable opponent. Thanks to the high explosive, you have the chance to send weakly armored opponents of level 4 and even 5 into the hangar with one shot, which is a lot of fun. But even here you can’t rely heavily on armor and you need to act carefully.

In battles against sixth and especially seventh levels, the situation changes greatly. Damage M4 Sherman tank will be able to apply much less and will have to act much more carefully. Here we turn into a support tank, which must either fire from the second line or shoot while leaning out from behind the allies.

As for dealing damage, it is important to always go all the way, and in order to knock out more strength points from the enemy, playing on M4 Sherman WoT try to target weak points, because the thinner the armor where our projectile hits, the more damage the landmine will cause.

You know the rest of the truisms: watch the mini-map, take care of your safety margin, use your mobility to make smart maneuvers, and resort to cunning more often. Remember tank M4 Sherman World of Tanks is still strong, you just need to act on it wisely and carefully.

The main American medium tank M4 "Sherman"

The United States of America entered World War II with virtually no armored vehicles of its own. This was largely due to the long-term policy of “isolationism” and confidence in the complete security of the country, separated from restless Europe by an entire ocean. The Americans had neither their own school of tank building nor experience in using at least foreign combat vehicles. All the more surprising is the progress achieved by this country in a matter of years: it was in the USA that the Sherman was created, the only tank comparable to the Soviet T-34 combat vehicles not only in its tactical and technical characteristics, but also in terms of mass production.

History of creation

The design of the M4 medium tank began on February 1, 1941, and the first production Shermans appeared in the American army in the summer of 1942. Such rapid developments make a strong impression: for example, the development of the T-34 lasted about three years, and to create the German “ Panthers took almost two years. In addition, both of these cars then had to be long and persistently rid of numerous “childhood diseases”, which led to frequent breakdowns of the suspension, transmission and engine, while the Sherman from the very beginning demonstrated a very high level of chassis reliability.

To explain such success of American designers only by high production standards would mean making a mistake, since Germany in this respect was in no way inferior to its overseas enemy. The reason was different - when creating many components of the M4 tank, the developments of the US automotive industry were used, and in those years it was the most developed and advanced in the whole world. In addition, the Sherman did not appear out of nowhere - it had predecessors.

The M2 is considered the first American medium tank. It was developed at the state-owned Rock Island Arsenal, which by modern standards looks quite unusual for the United States. It was assumed that this particular tank would become the main one for the American army, but serial production of the combat vehicle, which began in the summer of 1939, was quickly curtailed.

The main reason for this decision was the analysis of the hostilities that unfolded in Europe after the outbreak of World War II. The armament of the M2 tank, which consisted of one thirty-seven-millimeter cannon and six to eight machine guns, was becoming clearly insufficient to compete with the best examples of German armored vehicles of those years. Both the military and the designers understood that the combat vehicle required a much more powerful weapon.

Ultimately, it was decided to arm the tank with a 75 mm cannon. Two main options were considered: the old M2 gun, which appeared in the US Army during the First World War, and the newer M3, which featured a longer barrel and improved armor penetration characteristics.

The recoil force and weight of both of these guns did not allow them to be placed in the small and weakly fixed rotating turret of the tank. It would seem that it should have been replaced with a larger and more durable one, however, American designers took a different path. They redesigned the body of the combat vehicle, adding a sponson in which the gun was placed. This is how the M3 Lee tank appeared - an extremely unsuccessful combat vehicle.

Apparently, the designers themselves understood all the shortcomings of such an arrangement. Anyway, thinking about it alternative option, which involved creating a tank with a 75 mm gun in a new rotating turret, began early in the design of the M3. But things did not go beyond rather vague plans at this stage - apparently, the leaders of the Rock Island Arsenal, from whom the military had already begun to demand practical results, believed that creating a tank with a cannon in the sponson would be much easier.

Only in February 1941, after all the necessary technical documentation for the M3 Lee had been completed, did designers begin designing the M4, the future Sherman. However, this tank inherited a lot from its predecessor - in particular, it received the same suspension, transmission and engine, as well as a significant part of the hull. At the same time, the possibility of installing a more powerful power plant was also envisaged - for this purpose the volume of the engine compartment was increased.

The new turret allowed for the installation of several weapon options:

1. M2 gun (75 mm);
2. Howitzer (105 mm);
3. Two M6 guns (37 mm);
4. QF 6 pounder – English “six-pounder” gun, or its American version M1. Caliber – 57 mm.

All these guns were installed together with a 7.62 mm machine gun. It was also planned to produce an “anti-aircraft” modification of the turret with three heavy machine guns instead of a cannon.

The crew of the combat vehicle was reduced - on the M3 Lee it consisted of seven people, and on the M4 - five. The driver and gunner-radio operator were located in the front of the tank, and the commander, gunner and loader were located in the turret.

The production of prototypes began in the summer of 1941, simultaneously in the Rock Island Arsenal and in the workshops of the Aberdeen Military Proving Ground, where the task was completed a little earlier, preparing the car for display by September 2, 1941. The tank was tentatively designated T6 and differed in many ways from the future Sherman. In particular, the prototype had side doors “inherited” from the M3 Lee. In addition, the tank was “crowned” with a commander’s cupola with a separate 7.62-caliber machine gun – it was supposed to be used for protection against aircraft.

Representatives of the command of the tank forces, having examined the vehicle, proposed eliminating the side doors, since they clearly weakened the armor protection. In addition, to protect against air strikes, it would have been more expedient to install a heavy machine gun, but since it did not fit in the turret, all that remained was to place it openly.

On September 5, 1941, the Armament Committee of the American Congress made a recommendation that the T6 be adopted for service under the standard designation M4. This vehicle also received the additional name "General Sherman". Subsequently, the shortened “British” version was more often used - simply “Sherman”.

In November 1941, production of the first experimental batch of M4 tanks began in Aberdeen, and large-scale production began in February 1942. It continued until the victorious July of 1945. Six main modifications of the combat vehicle were produced simultaneously. The design of the tank was repeatedly refined and modernized during the war. This led to the appearance of submodifications, often significantly different from the base model.

Design Features

The M4 Sherman is a medium tank with a classic layout. At the front of the machine is the control compartment. It contains instruments that control the operation of the engine and the speed of the tank, as well as levers and pedals used by the driver. In addition, on the right side of the fighting compartment there is a front-facing machine gun with ammunition. This weapon is controlled by an assistant driver, who is also a radio operator.

The middle part of the vehicle is occupied by the fighting compartment. There are seats for the other three crew members - the commander, loader and gunner. In addition, the fighting compartment houses ammunition for the gun and coaxial machine gun, a battery with charger and fire extinguishers.

The M4 turret was cast and mounted on a ball mount, directly above the fighting compartment. Inside it, in addition to weapons, there were sighting equipment, observation devices, a rotating mechanism, a radio station and a gyrostabilizer for the gun. The gun, in addition, was equipped with a mechanism for raising and lowering the barrel.

At the rear of the tank, behind the partition, there was an engine compartment designed to house the engine and all its maintenance systems. A characteristic feature of the Shermans was that its transmission was located in the control department. An inclined driveshaft, which transmits rotation from the engine to the gearbox, runs through the entire tank.

A similar transmission arrangement was used on German tanks, but there it was more “elegant” - the shaft extended almost horizontally, without tilting. Sometimes for this it was necessary to make it composite. American designers took a simpler approach, which forced them to slightly increase the height of the tank, thereby increasing the likelihood of its destruction.

The main material for making the hull of the M4 tank is rolled armor plates. Welding was used to connect them. The upper front sheet is inclined at an angle of 56 degrees, and a massive cast frontal part is bolted to it (it doubles as the rotary mechanism housing and the transmission hatch cover).

The side armor of the tank has no slopes. On tanks produced in 1943-44, it was additionally reinforced with steel linings. The frontal sheet initially had protrusions for viewing slots, but later they began to be “sealed”, and from the second half of 1943 the potentially vulnerable spots completely disappeared. At the same time, the angle of inclination of the front sheet decreased to 47 degrees.

To enter the fighting compartment, a hatch located on the roof of the turret was used. Beginning in December 1943, tanks began to be equipped with a separate hatch for the loader. The driver and his assistant took their places in the control compartment, using the hatches in the front of the hull.

The Sherman turret was equipped with a floor mounted on racks. On its left side there was a hatch through which it was possible to fire from personal weapons. The rotation of the tower was carried out using a hydroelectric mechanism or a manual drive.

Beginning in May 1944, M4 tanks were equipped with a modernized turret. It differed from the old one, first of all, in its size, becoming larger. In addition, a commander's turret, equipped with devices for all-round observation, reappeared on the roof.

Specifications

Since the American M4 Sherman tank was produced in many variants, it is quite difficult to provide a complete list of its characteristics. The table contains data on the first production modification of the M4A1, the Lendlease M4A2 tank and one of the later M4A3(76) W HVSS vehicles with improved suspension.

Armament

M4 Sherman tanks could be equipped with the following types of artillery pieces:

1. M3 cannon with horizontal wedge breech. Caliber - 75 mm, barrel length 37.5 calibers. The barrel tilt range is from -10 to +25 degrees. Gun weight - 405.4 kg;
2. Cannon M Caliber - 76 mm, barrel length 55 calibers. The barrel angle range is the same as on the M3. Several variants of this gun could be installed - M1A1 with improved balance, M1A1S with a muzzle brake, M1A2 with a shortened rifling pitch. The weight of these guns is from 518 to 578 kg;
3. Ordnance QF 17 pounder Mk.IV. British "seventeen pound" gun. The caliber according to the usual standard is 76.2 mm, the barrel has a length of 55 calibers. There is a muzzle brake. This gun was installed on tanks used by the British army, the Americans did not use it, although it was better than the M1;
4. Howitzer M4. Caliber – 105 mm. The barrel is 24.5 caliber long. Tanks with this gun did not have a gyrostabilizer and a hydraulic drive for the turret rotation mechanism.

In addition to the cannon, the Sherman tank was armed with three machine guns. One Browning M1919A4 was paired with an artillery gun, the other was a course gun. The third machine gun, the heavy-caliber Browining M2HB, was mounted on the roof of the turret and was intended for air defense. In real battles, however, it was used much more often against ground targets.

In addition, some M4 submodifications were equipped with a 50.8 mm M3 smoke grenade launcher. It was installed in the tower.

The composition of the Sherman's ammunition was not the same for different versions of the tank. As an example, two submodifications can be given:

Firing accuracy was ensured not only sights, but also a gyrostabilizer developed by Westinghouse and providing vibration damping in the vertical plane. Thanks to this device, the Sherman could fire not only from short stops, but also on the go.

Modifications

The basic modification of the Sherman was simply called the M4. In fact, however, such tanks began to be produced much later than the M4A1. The basic one differed from all other options primarily by its complete refusal to use cast parts. The body was completely welded. This ensured not only a simplification of the technological cycle, but also an increase in internal volume, which made it possible to take on board up to seven additional projectiles. The power plant of the basic modification of the M4 was the Continental R975 C1 engine. This aircraft engine ran on gasoline and developed a power of 350 horsepower.

It should be noted that later the basic version of the tank was produced with partial use of cast parts and gradually became closer to other modifications. The total production volume was 8,389 units, including 1,641 tanks with a 105 mm howitzer.

M4A1

This version of the Sherman tank became its first production modification. It arose as a result of eliminating comments on the “Aberdeen” prototype T6. The side doors on the demonstration model were welded, and later the hulls began to be cast in one piece, without openings.

It was decided to carry out military tests of the first two production vehicles in England, for which it was necessary to equip the tanks with short-barreled M2 guns - work on placing the “standard” M3 had not yet been completed.

At first, M4A1 tanks were equipped with the R-975-EC2 engine, but they were almost immediately replaced with the R-975-C1, the same as on the base model. In general, the cars of this first production modification had to undergo much more transformations than subsequent versions. In particular, it was on the M4A1 that the M1 gun, created specifically to enhance the Sherman's anti-tank capabilities, was first installed. At the same time, it was necessary to significantly change the shape and size of the tower, as well as increase its weight.

Another important innovation tested on the M4A1 was the use of a “wet” ammunition rack. Initially, shots to the gun were placed in this tank on the side shelves, which led to their detonation when the armor was penetrated by enemy shells and the immediate death of the entire crew. To increase safety, the boxes with ammunition were moved to the bottom and filled with water with the addition of ethylene glycol. As a result, the survivability of the tank increased significantly.

The M4A1(76)W HVSS submodification deserves special mention. These vehicles were equipped with an improved suspension with horizontal buffer springs. In addition, the width of the tracks has increased and the design of the road wheels has been changed.

The British made a special contribution to the modernization of the M4A1, arming this tank with a fairly effective seventeen-pound cannon. This version of the combat vehicle was designated Sherman IIC.

A total of 9,677 M4A1s were produced, including 3,396 tanks with various versions of the M1 gun.

M4A2

This modification was put into production in April 1942 (that is, even before the base model). The main feature of this version of the tank was its power plant, composed of two General Motors 6046 diesel engines. These engines were created for cars and provided a significantly increased range.

In terms of hull design, the M4A2 is closer to the base model than the M4A1 - it is welded. It was on this modification that they first began to weld the front viewing slots, and then the entire frontal sheet became solid, and its angle of inclination decreased.

A significant number of M4A2s were sent to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program, and it was this variant that Soviet tank crews were best acquainted with. Total production reached 11,283, including 3,230 M4A2(76)W with different versions of the M1 gun.

M4A3

The main difference between this version of the tank was the Ford GAA engine. This eight-cylinder aircraft engine had a power of 500 horsepower, which made it possible to sharply increase the Sherman's power supply. Serial production of the M4A3 began in May 1942.

Subsequently, these tanks underwent the same upgrades as the first production modification - the front plate became solid, a “wet” ammunition rack was introduced, the hull design was simplified, and towards the end of the war the vehicles received an improved suspension.

Before the start of Operation Overlord, a special submodification of this tank was created - M4A3E2. It was distinguished by reinforced armor on the forehead and sides. The car weighed up to 38 tons, and its increased dimensions were visually noticeable, which led to the appearance of the unofficial nickname Jumbo - named after the baby elephant from Walt Disney cartoons.

The thickness of the Jumbo's frontal armor reached 102 mm, which by pre-war standards already corresponded to the parameters of heavy tanks. But the new tower with walls of 152 mm became especially protected. This made it possible to use the vehicle when storming heavily fortified positions, without fear of fire from most types of anti-tank artillery.

11,424 M4A3 tanks were produced, of which 3,039 were armed with a 105 mm howitzer, and 3,370 were armed with various versions of the M1 cannon.

M4A4

Tanks of this modification were equipped with a complex power unit consisting of five six-cylinder automobile carburetor engines connected into a single unit. This star-shaped installation had a total power of 370 horsepower.

Production of the M4A4 lasted just over a year, from July 1942 to September 1943. During this period, 7,499 tanks were made. These vehicles, unlike other modifications of the Sherman, were not subject to modernization. The exception was the tanks sent to the UK - where they were equipped with seventeen-pound Mk IV or Mk VII guns. The designation Sherman VC was used for these vehicles, and their unofficial nickname was Firefly.

M4A5

This designation was not officially used. It was supposed to be introduced for the Canadian Ram Tank combat vehicle, which was a deep modernization of the M3 Lee tank, carried out, apparently, taking into account the experience gained when creating the T6 prototype. The M4A5 was armed with a six-pound English cannon housed in a cast turret, the design of which had almost nothing in common with the similar part of the Sherman.

1948 of these tanks were produced, but they were never sent to the front because the weapons did not meet the requirements of the Second World War.

M4A6

This tank, originally made on the basis of the M4A4 modification, was equipped with a Caterpillar D200A multi-fuel diesel engine. Such a power plant could potentially become common to all Shermans. A prototype of the tank with a new engine, tentatively designated M4E1, was manufactured in December 1942.

Serial production of the M4A6 began in October 1943, but after the production of seventy-five vehicles it was stopped. The American military was not ready for the transition from gasoline engines to multi-fuel diesel engines, which led to the abandonment of the promising modification.

Grizzly Bear

These tanks were a Canadian “adaptation” of the M4A1 modification. In addition, there were several “just” M4s that received the same designation. In general, the design of this vehicle coincided with the American models, but the tracks and drive wheels underwent changes. Very few of these tanks were produced - only 188 copies.

It must be emphasized that the listed modifications of the Sherman are far from the only ones. On the basis of this tank, serial production of self-propelled artillery units was carried out, jet systems salvo fire, bridge laying vehicles and ARVs. In addition, flamethrower versions of the tank were also produced.

Combat use

The first time M4 Sherman tanks were used was during the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. These vehicles were armed with the 1st and 10th British tank divisions, as well as the 9th and 24th separate tank brigades. The total number of Shermans reached 251 units.

The introduction of new tanks into battle was completely unexpected for the German command. The British were able to assemble noticeably superior forces - together with the Shermans, they had more than a thousand combat vehicles against 559 in Rommel’s group. In addition, only some of the German tanks could penetrate the M4 armor - 88 Pz.III and 30 Pz.IV with long-barreled guns. As a result, a very important victory for this theater of operations was won, to which new American combat vehicles.

In December 1942, Shermans, part of the US Army, were brought into battle. At first, these battles were accompanied by heavy losses. At first, they were caused by the inexperience of the American crews, and in February 1943, M4 tanks first encountered Tigers, against which they simply had no chance. During the first two days of these battles, the US Army irretrievably lost 84 Shermans. True, the Americans themselves announced that 19 German tanks had been hit, but these, apparently, were not Tigers.

The landing in Sicily in July 1943 was also accompanied by the use of Shermans. During the largest battle, 14 Tigers and 30 other German tanks were destroyed, but in this case most of them were knocked out by artillery fire, as well as bazookas.

For the landing in France, some of the Shermans were equipped with special devices that were intended to give the tank amphibious properties. In total, in the first wave of landings there were four battalions of M4 tanks - two in the Utah sector and the same number in the notorious Omaha sector. Due to a number of errors, 27 of the 32 tanks of the 741st battalion simply sank, and only 30 of the 51st tanks of the 743rd battalion survived.

The British carried out their part of the landing much better, losing only six tanks out of forty. However, the main troubles for the Shermans were just beginning - after all, meetings with numerous Tigers and Panthers awaited them ahead. And yet, the Germans no longer had anything to count on - after huge losses on the Eastern Front, they simply could not oppose anything to the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Allies.

From November 20, 1944 to January 20, 1945, 1,137 Sherman tanks were lost in battle - a very noticeable loss. But the total number of these vehicles in the American and British armies was about 15,000 by November, and another 10,000 were put into reserve. Thus, even the Wehrmacht counteroffensive in the Ardennes only slightly weakened the Allied group. We can say that one of the best qualities of the M4 tank was clearly demonstrated here - its excellent adaptability to mass production.

The war in the Pacific, due to its specifics, was fought with only a small number of tanks. The Sherman in this region did not have any worthy opponents at all - Japanese armored vehicles were absolutely not suitable for such a role. The Americans acted with virtual impunity, only occasionally losing single vehicles.

The use of tanks supplied to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program began in the spring of 1943, but their most active use occurred in a later period. These vehicles played a very important role during the battles for Ukraine in the winter and spring of 1944. Soviet tank crews who fought on Shermans noted that this tank had significantly higher maneuverability than other Lend-Lease models of military equipment. At the same time, compared to the T-34, the Sherman turned out to be much more convenient for the crew. There were certain advantages in the composition of the on-board equipment.

During the Belarusian offensive operation, the saturation of Soviet troops with M4 tanks reached its maximum. Now they were second in number only to the ubiquitous “thirty-fours”. It must be said that reviews of the use of Shermans are rather stingy and contradictory. Most likely, the reason for this was a combination of the most significant shortcomings of this tank with its very significant advantages - the M4 was very reliable and made it possible to carry out deep raids, but when faced with the heaviest German armored vehicles, it was often powerless.

Equipped with Shermans, the 1st Mechanized Corps of the 2nd Guards Tank Army directly participated in the assault on Berlin. The 9th Guards Mechanized Corps, which received 183 M4s in the summer of 1945, was used during the war against Japan. In the latter case, the Shermans performed simply brilliantly, covering enormous distances without significant breakdowns.

After the defeat of Germany and Japan, M4 tanks were no longer produced, but they military service continued. In particular, these vehicles were actively used by the US Army during the Korean War. It was here that the American Sherman tank was first used against Soviet T-34s.

It is necessary, of course, to take into account that the battles involving these vehicles were sporadic. Before the start of the war, North Korea had 258 T-34-85 tanks, which for a long time the Americans could only counter with the obviously weaker M-24s - with quite predictable consequences. Then the situation changed - the Shermans entered the battle, and with them the M26 Pershing and M46 Patton.

By the end of 1950, North Korea had lost all of its tanks. The ratio of losses in direct tank battles was 34:97 in favor of the United States. This, however, does not speak about the advantage of the Sherman, since all available information indicates that the Americans relied mainly on the more powerful, heavily armored and well-armed Pershings and Pattons, which in their characteristics were more similar to IS-2 than with T-34-85.

An example is the battle that took place in September 1950, when 10 North Korean tanks shot down three M4A3E8s with impunity in less than a minute. One of the T-34-85s then attacked and destroyed up to 15 trucks making up the transport convoy. At the same time, the Korean tank crews acted carelessly - four of their vehicles were burned by shots from super bazookas, one was destroyed by a 105-mm howitzer, and two more were hit by Shermans that arrived in time.

When the overall results of this armed conflict were subsequently assessed in the United States, it was noted that the M4s had generally become more effective than other American combat vehicles. There was no talk of competition with the T-34, the emphasis was rather on generalized “usefulness” in relation to the cost of operation and reliability of the equipment.

The use of Shermans during the Arab-Israeli wars was also quite widespread, and, interestingly, both warring sides had these tanks. Since the cars were frankly outdated by the 50s, they were actively modernized and rearmed. Israel especially distinguished itself in this field, creating the M50 and M51 tanks, which were called “Super Sherman”. Egypt, however, also tried to keep up. Of course, all this was a forced improvisation - with all their improvements, such vehicles were still outright inferior even to the IS-3, not to mention the newer Soviet tanks of the 50s and 60s.

Comparison with analogues in the world

The most commonly used standard for comparison with the Sherman is the Soviet T-34 tank. This is understandable, but perhaps not entirely correct, since the M4 had other powerful rivals. One of them, in particular, was the German medium tank Pz IV.

The original modifications of this vehicle are not worth considering, since they were used even when the Sherman simply did not exist. It is more correct to focus on the Pz.IVG and Pz.IVH variants. The armament of this vehicle was a 75 mm cannon, capable of penetrating 82 mm thick armor at a distance of one kilometer. A Sherman with an M3 gun at the same distance was capable of hitting a target protected by a layer of armor of 60 mm.

Now you need to compare the level of protection of both machines. The armor of the M4 in the first years of production was 51 mm at the front of the hull and 76 mm at the turret. The Pz.IVG tank was protected by a 50 mm layer of metal, and the Pz.IVH tank by 80 mm. It follows from this that in a “duel” clash between the Sherman and the early modification of the four, the chances would be equal, but in a battle with the Pz.IVH, the American vehicle is clearly inferior.

Only the Sherman, equipped with an M1 cannon (or an English seventeen-pounder), managed to achieve equality with the main and most common German tank (and the Pz.IV is exactly that). This gun provided armor penetration of 88 millimeters at the same distance of a thousand meters. Such guns, however, were installed on less than half of all M4s produced.

Here, of course, it is logical to ask the question - what, exactly, prevented the mighty American industry from rearming all tanks? The answer is simple - the high-explosive fragmentation shells for the M1 cannon were too weak and did not allow it to be used as an effective anti-personnel weapon. As a result, the Americans were forced to make their tank formations mixed - they were made up of tanks with different types of guns. All this, of course, does not speak in favor of the Sherman.

It is apparently necessary to compare the M4 also with the German Panther. True, the Pz.V in both the American and Red Army was classified as heavy tank, however, in the Wehrmacht it was considered average and was used accordingly. The Panther is characterized primarily by its very powerful weapon. At a distance of 1000 meters, it penetrated up to 150 mm of armor with a sub-caliber projectile. Thus, the fire superiority over even the best Sherman variants was enormous.

The protection of the Pz,V tank also makes an impressive impression - the turret forehead reached 110 mm, and the front armor plate, inclined at an angle of 55 degrees, had a thickness of 80 mm. It is not surprising that the very thought of entering into battle with the Panther did not arouse any enthusiasm among the American tankers - there could be even less chance of success unless in a battle with the Tiger.

However, as you know, the German tanks were knocked out by the end of the war, and the Shermans eventually won. This happened because not all characteristics can be included in the table. In particular, such a parameter as reliability never gets there. The Panther was an excellent, but crude tank. It was only partially possible to “fine-tune” the design under military conditions. As a result, the wonderful German “predators” broke down, and the mediocre American “Shermans” continued to fight.

The second “invisible” criterion is manufacturability. American industry produced more than 49 thousand Shermans. The Germans barely managed to build 6 thousand Panthers, and they were much more expensive than American tanks. Thus, the Pz.V may not have prolonged the existence of the “Third Reich” so much as contributed to its speedy defeat due to the complete depletion of resources.

Now it's time to talk about the T-34. As is known, its two main variants are the T-34-76 and T-34-85. The first of these tanks is quite comparable in its basic characteristics to the Shermans armed with the 75 mm M3 cannon. But this is a purely “tabular” comparison. In general, we can say that the Soviet vehicle has higher maneuverability with the same armament and armor, but in terms of instrumentation and level of comfort for the crew, the M4 looks preferable.

It should also be noted that in the first years of operation of the T-34-76, this tank was not reliable enough, and its engine did not have the necessary service life. “Sherman” relied on a more than solid foundation of the American automobile industry and therefore such significant difficulties did not arise with its development.

T-34-85 tanks are again comparable to the M4, but only to those that were armed with the M1 cannon. The armor protection of both vehicles is almost the same, but different types of metal are used. As a result, the T-34 is somewhat less likely to be penetrated by the same ammunition, but the American vehicle, with its more viscous armor, can boast of a noticeably smaller number of secondary fragments flying off the inner layer of steel during a direct hit.

The T-34-85 gun has noticeably higher power than the M1 gun. Thanks to this, it is not even possible to use sub-caliber shells to defeat the Sherman. At the same time, American tankers will have to use exactly this type of ammunition to even the odds. To this we can add that the M4 turret rotates, although quickly, but still somewhat slower than that of the T-34-85.

In terms of reliability, both vehicles are approximately the same, which was demonstrated, in particular, during the defeat of the Kwantung Army in August 1945. Huge marches were completed quite successfully by both T-34-85 and Sherman tanks.

To summarize, it can be noted that neither the T-34 nor the M4 has an overwhelming advantage. The outcome of a collision between similar tanks is decided by the skill of the crews and the level of competence of the command.

Advantages and disadvantages

During combat operations and during subsequent peaceful service, Sherman tanks demonstrated the following positive qualities:

1. High reliability of the chassis and its good maintainability;
2. Cheapness of manufacturing a tank during mass serial production;
3. Shermans are comfortable for all crew members. You can move around quite freely inside the car without resorting to any effort;
4. The tank is equipped with numerous instruments that provide excellent all-round visibility. In this respect, the Sherman is superior to both Soviet and German tanks of the Second World War;
5. The gun is stabilized in a vertical plane, which greatly simplifies aiming and increases the accuracy of fire, especially while moving;
6. The tank is equipped heavy machine gun, which fits well into the weapon system and is useful not only against aircraft;
7. A powerful engine makes the Sherman the most mobile tank in its class.

Some of their disadvantages, characteristic of the M4, have already been mentioned. Nevertheless, it makes sense to list them in a general list:

1. The transmission layout is clearly unsuccessful. It was necessary to either move the gearbox back, or provide a different placement of the driveshaft;
2. The M4 tank is quite narrow and has a considerable height. This makes the car insufficiently stable when driving along folds of the terrain;
3. The tank's armament is not unified. The 75 mm gun does not have the necessary armor penetration, and the M1 gun never received sufficiently powerful high-explosive fragmentation shells;
4. The tank is not suitable for transporting troops. This was acutely felt on the Soviet-German front, since the Red Army did not yet have armored personnel carriers at its disposal.

In conclusion, it must be emphasized that any assessment of the technology of the war years must certainly take into account the difficult circumstances that characterized this difficult time. The Americans created their main medium tank on a very weak basis, but managed to make it a real “workhorse” for their own army, and it would be a mistake not to recognize this achievement. Nowadays the Sherman is as much a part of history as the T-34, and for a long time both of these tanks fought on the same side.

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This tank, put into mass production in 1942, soon became the main one used by the armored forces of not only the United States, but also England. The Sherman tank was also supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease. It differed from the M3 series mainly in its hull configuration and weapon layout. The power transmission circuit, its layout and the design of the main units remained the same, which was determined by the desire to maintain high production rates during the transition to a new type of machine.

In an effort to improve combat performance, American designers developed seven modifications of the M4 during 1942 and 1943, of which four were accepted into service: M4 (base version), M4A1, M4A3 and M4A4. Vehicles of various modifications differed from each other in manufacturing technology (for example, the frontal part of the hull was made entirely by casting or assembled with bolts from three cast parts, or welded from cast and rolled parts), weapons (guns with calibers of 75 mm and 76.2 mm , 105 mm howitzer), engines, chassis and power transmission design. Two variants of the M4A3 modification are assessed as the most successful: M4A3E2 and M4A3E8. The first option is distinguished by enhanced armor protection: the thickness of the turret armor has been increased to 152 mm, shielding has been installed on the front and sides, due to which the thickness of the armor has been increased to 77 mm. The second option, M4A3E8, has armament reinforced by installing a long-barreled 76.2 mm cannon and armor reinforced by 15 - 20 mm. This variant was produced from 1945 as the main medium tank. In total, more than 48 thousand M4 tanks of all modifications were produced during the Second World War.

In April 1941, the Rock Island Arsenal presented five draft versions of the M4 tank to the armored forces command. As a result, we chose the simplest scheme using M3 elements with a completely new cast or welded body. The 75-mm cannon was placed in a turret, on the roof of which a machine gun was installed in the turret. As in the M3, hatches were provided in the sides of the hull. A prototype of the vehicle, designated T6, was built in May 1941, and a prototype with a cast hull and some design changes (without a turret) was assembled at the Aberdeen Proving Ground on September 19, 1941.

Looking at the Canadian Ram tank, one could assume that the T6 had an influence on it. However, documents and chronological comparison of events refute this. The first production Ram, built by the Montreal Locomotive Plant, was tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground from July to October 1941 and reports compare it to the M3 tank, not the T6.

After the German invasion of Russia in June 1941, by personal order of President Roosevelt, the production level planned for 1942 - 1000 medium tanks per month - was doubled. To do this, it was necessary to attract new enterprises: Pacific Car and Foundry, Fisher, Ford and Federal Machinery and Welder. In October 1941, the T6 was accepted into service under the designation M4 and planned for its mass production, including at 11 plants that produced the M3 in 1942. In September 1941, Fisher was asked to organize a second line in Grand Blanc, Michigan . Construction of the Grand Blanc Tank Arsenal, focused on the production of the M4, began in January 1942, and the production of vehicles began in July of the same year, although at that time Fisher was already producing the M4 at one of its factories.

The M4 prototype, built by Lima Lokomotiv in February 1941, is distinguished by the absence of side hatches. The following month, Lima, Press Steel and Pacific Car and Foundry produced the first M4A1 vehicles with a cast body. By the fall of 1942, all factories involved in the program had launched mass production, and in October, British M4s entered into battle for the first time at El Alamein. M4 tanks were the most popular among the Allied forces during the Second World War. Although it did not have strong armor and armament compared to German and Soviet tanks, the M4 successfully combined ease of maintenance, reliability, speed, strength and simple design. This contributed to the deployment of mass production of vehicles at commercial enterprises that had no experience in producing military products in peacetime. According to the cost/effectiveness criterion, the M4 was optimal for its time, and this was reflected in production in 1942-46. 40,000 M4 tanks (and vehicles on its chassis).

The M4 had the same chassis as the M3. However, apart from the earliest modifications of the trolley, the suspensions were changed: the support rollers were mounted behind or in the middle. The hull could be welded, cast, or welded with a frontal section assembled from cast and rolled parts, while the 75 mm gun was mounted in a simple cast turret and equipped with a gyroscopic stabilizer, as on the M3 tank. Initially, the tank was equipped with an air-cooled Continental radial engine, but their constant shortage (they were also used in the aircraft industry) forced the use of other power plant options, which increased the number of serial modifications. The M4 Sherman had a crew of 5 people and could fire armor-piercing shells.

Early cars had a three-piece bolted nose section and inspection hatches (later removed) for the driver and assistant. They had a narrow mantlet for the M34 gun mount. The following vehicles used a one-piece cast nose piece of the hull and an M34A1 gun mount with a wide mantlet. On the latest batches of vehicles (from the end of 1943), the front of the hull was made of cast and rolled parts.

M4 were produced by:

• "Pressd Steel" (1000 tanks, from July 1942 to August 1943)
• "Baldwin" (1233, from January 1943 to January 1944),
• "America Lokomotiv" (2150, from February to December 1943),
• "Pullman" (689, from May to September 1943),
• Detroit Arsenal (1676, from August 1943 to January 1944).

Total - 6748 tanks.

M4A1- the same M4, but with a cast body. The first batches of vehicles had undercarriage bogies similar to the M3, 75-mm M2 cannons with a counterweight at the muzzle and twin fixed forward machine guns in the front hull. These machine guns, as well as the inspection hatches in the front plate, were soon eliminated, and after the release of several vehicles, 75 mm M3 cannons began to be installed. The nose of the hull, assembled from three parts, was replaced with one cast part, and the following batches of vehicles were equipped with an M34A1 gun mount, wings and track dust shields.

M4A1 were produced by companies:

• "Lima" (1655, from February 1942 to September 1943)
• "Pressd Steel" (3700. from March 1942 to December 1943)
• Pacific Car and Foundry (926, April 1942 to November 1943).

Total - 6281 tanks.

M4A2. The second production modification differed from the M4 by installing two General Motors diesel engines due to a shortage of Continental engines. This modification never received the bow of the hull made of cast and rolled armor parts.

M4A2 were produced by companies

• "Fisher"/"Grand Blanc" (4614, from April 1942 to May 1944),
• "Pullman" (2373, from April 1942 to September 1943),
• American Locomotive (150, from September 1942 to April 1943),
• "Baldwin" (12, from October to November 1942),
• Federal Machinery and Welder (540. from December 1942 to December 1943).

In total - 8053 tanks. Used only by the US Army. Most were used for deliveries under Lend-Lease (including the USSR).