M4 Sherman

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The M4 Sherman, officially known as Medium Tank, M4, was the most important tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also circulated to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union, via lend-lease. In the United Kingdom, the M4 was named after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, following the British practice of naming their American-built tanks after famous American Civil War generals. Afterward, the British name found its way into regular use in the U.S.

The Sherman developed from the Grant and Lee medium tanks, which had an extraordinary side-sponson mounted 75 mm gun. It preserved much of the preceding perfunctory design, but added the first American main 75 mm gun mounted on a fully navigating turret, with a gyrostabilizer allowing the crew to fire with sensible precision while the tank was on the stir. The designers frazzled mechanical dependability, easiness of manufacture and upholding, toughness, consistency of parts and ammunition in a restricted number of variants, and modest size and weight. These features made the Sherman advanced in some regards to the earlier German light and medium tanks of 1939-41. The Sherman ended up being created in large numbers and formed the backbone of most Allied offensives, starting in late 1942.

The original Shermans were able to crush the relatively small German tanks such as the Panzer III and IV they faced when first deployed in North Africa. Later, they found themselves more consistently harmonized against the newer up-gunned and up-armored Pz.Kpfw. IV medium tanks. Shermans were often outmatched by the 45 ton Panther tank and completely insufficient against the 56 ton Tiger I and later 72 ton Tiger II heavy tanks, suffering high casualties against their heavier armor and more dominant 88 mm L/56 and L/71 cannons. Mobility, mechanical dependability and sheer numbers, supported by growing dominance in supporting fighter-bombers and artillery, helped counterbalance these shortcomings purposefully.

Production of the Sherman was favored by the commander of the Armored Ground Forces, albeit controversially, over the heavier M26 Pershing, which resulted in the latter being deployed too late to play any significant role in the war. In the Pacific Theater, the Sherman was used mainly against Japanese infantry and fortifications; in its rare encounters with much lighter Japanese tanks with weaker armor and guns, the Sherman’s dominance was vast. Production of the M4 exceeded 50,000 units, and its chassis also served as the basis for numerous other armored vehicles such as tank destroyers, tank retrievers, and self-propelled artillery. Only the Soviet T-34 tank was produced in larger numbers during World War II.

The Sherman relented to post-war tanks developed from the M26. Various unique and restructured versions of the Sherman prolonged to see combat successfully in many later conflicts, including the Korean War, Arab-Israeli Wars, and Indo-Pakistani War into the late 20th century.

The U.S. Army Ordnance Department designed the Medium Tank M4 as a substitute for the M3 Lee and Grant Medium Tanks. The M3 was an up-gunned development of the M2 Medium Tank of 1939, itself derived from the M2 Light Tank of 1935. The M3 was developed as a temporary solution until a new turret mounting a 75 mm gun could be devised. While it was a large development when tried by the British in Africa against early German panzers, the placement of a 37 mm gun turret on top gave it a very high profile, and the unusual inflexible side-sponson mounted main gun could not be aimed across the other side of the tank.

Detailed design characteristics for the M4 were submitted by the Ordnance Department on 31 August 1940, but development of a prototype had to be deferred while the final production designs of the M3 were finished and the M3 entered full-scale production. On 18 April 1941, the U.S. Armored Force Board opted for the simplest of five designs. Known as the T6, the design was a customized M3 hull and chassis, carrying a newly designed turret mounting the Lee’s main gun which became the Sherman.

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The T6 prototype was completed 2 September 1941. Unlike later M4s, the hull was cast and had a side hatch, which was eradicated from production models. The T6 was standardized as the M4 and production began in October. During World War II, approximately 19,247 Shermans were issued to the US Army and about 1,114 to the US Marine Corps. The U.S. also supplied 17,184 to Great Britain (some of which went to the Canadians and the Free Poles); while the Soviet Union received 4,102 and an estimated 812 were transferred to China. These numbers were distributed further to the respective countries’ allied nations.

The U.S. Marine Corps used the diesel M4A2 and gasoline-powered M4A3 in the Pacific. However, the Chief of the Army’s Armored Force, Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers, ordered no diesel-engine Shermans be used by the Army outside the Zone of Interior (the continental U.S.). The Army used all types for either training or testing within the United States, but intended the M4A2 and M4A4 (with the A57 Multibank engine) to be the primary Lend-Lease exports. For more details refer to David Fletcher’s Sherman Crab Flail Tank. In this book, David Fletcher relates the story of the Sherman Crab Flail using rare sources and photographs. Among the first tanks ashore on D-Day, the “Crab” proved its worth both in its mine-clearing role and as a fighting machine. Get the book here!

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Specifications

Numbers built: 49,234
Weight: 66,800 pounds (30.3 tonnes; 29.8 long tons; 33.4 short tons)
Length: 19 ft 2 in (5.84 m)
Width: 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m)
Height: 9 ft (2.74 m)
Crew: 5 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver)
Armor: 76 mm maximum
Main armament: 75 mm M3 L/40 gun (90 rounds) or 76 mm gun M1 (55 rounds)
Secondary armament: .50 cal Browning M2HB machine gun (300 rounds), 2 × .30-06 Browning M1919A4machine guns (4,750 rounds)
Operational range: 120 miles (193 km) at 175 U.S. gal (660 L); 80 octanes
Speed: 25 to 30 mph (40 to 48 km/h)