The M4 Sherman was an American medium tank used by the US, British, and Canadian Army during World War II, in Europe, North Africa, and in the Pacific Theater. It would also be used in the Korean War by the American and the Australian forces. Entering service in 1942, the M4 Sherman first saw combat action during the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, being fielded by the British 8th Army, under Bernard Montgomery. The following month, it would take part in Operation Torch, fielded by the US Army's 2nd Armored Division.
In North Africa, the M4 Sherman had encountered Italian light and medium tanks in the majority of combat actions. This is the reason that, in the Summer of 1943, the US Army regarded the M4 medium tank as the best armored combat vehicle in the world. However, the following Summer of 1944, after the landing in Normandy, this American medium tank encountered powerful German tanks that completely outclassed the M4 Sherman in terms of armament and armor protection; these were the Panzer V Panther, Panzer VI Tiger I, and the Panzer IV Ausf. H and J. The Panther's 75-mm, KwK 42, L/70 and the Tiger I's 88-mm KwK 36, L/56 were powerful anti-tank guns, with an extreme muzzle velocity, being able to knock out any Allied tank from a distance of 2,000 m. Thus, the US Army suddenly realized that this American medium tank was inadequate in a tank-to-tank fighting in the European theater of the war.
The origin of the M4 Sherman can be traced back to the M3 Grant/Lee series of medium tanks, which in turn had evolved from the M2/M2A1 medium tank. The first Sherman variants produced were the M4 and the M4A1, with the former having a welded hull, while the latter having a cast hull. Both vehicles were equipped with gasoline-powered a 400-HP, Continental, 9-cylinder, radial engine. The M4A2 version was powered by a 375-HP, General Motors twin-inline diesel engine. Meanwhile, the M4A3 featured a 450-HP, Ford GAA-V, V-8 gasoline engine. The first variant was armed with a short-barreled, 75-mm gun, while the other versions that followed it were equipped with the long-barreled 76-mm gun.
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| Above, the M4A1 variant, armed with the short-barreled 75-mm gun. |
Technical Description
The M4 Sherman series medium tanks were armored, tracked, combat vehicles, equipped with either a 75 or a 76-mm gun. This gun was mounted in a turret, which could be traversed 360 degrees manually or by electric-hydraulic drive. A gyro-stabilizer kept the gun steady while the tank was in motion. The M1A1's upper hull was made of cast steel, while the lower hull was built with rolled steel, with a cast transmission and a final drive housing bolted to the hull front.
The tank crew consisted of five men. The driver sat at the left bow of the tank, to the left of the transmission, while the assistant driver's position was in the right bow, to the right of the transmission. The tank commander was stationed at the rear of the turret, just to the right of the recoil guard of the gun. The gunner station was to the right of the gun breech, ahead of the tank commander. Meanwhile, the loader station was located to the left of the gun breech.
The transmission of the M4 Sherman had five forward speeds and one reverse speed. The tank was fitted with six, two-wheeled, rubber-tired bogies bolted to the hull. At the front, above the bogies, there was the drive sprocket wheel, with the idler wheel at the rear.
Specifications
Type: medium tank
Weight: 32 tons
Length: 5.9 m (19 feet, 2 inches)
Width: 2.62 m (8 feet, 7 inches)
Height: 2.74 m (9 feet)
Maximum Speed: 48 km/h (30 mph)
Operational Range: 241 km (150 miles)
Armament: one 75-mm/76-mm gun, depending on model; one 12.7-mm (.50-cal) and two 7.62-mm (.30-cal) machine guns.
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| Above, two M4A3E8 version tanks of the 72nd Tank Battalion in Korea. |
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| The glacis plate of the M4A3E8 had a 47-degree angle, compared to the 60-degree angle used on the earlier models. |
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| Above, the M4E6, one of the latest model. |
