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M4 Sherman Poster

The M4 Sherman Tank

By Evan Allen

All too often the question "Is this the right model of Sherman for my army?" pops up on various forums and I’m going to attempt here to provide a general breakdown of which country used which models. This isn’t going to be a regiment-by-regiment or day-by-day list but more a guide to making informed choices about which model you would most likely have found in the Force you’ve chosen to create.

Having said that there are really only two models of Sherman (not counting the conversions/special purpose vehicles) either armed with the 75mm gun or the 76mm gun. All other differences are down to differing power plants, suspension, extra Armour/ ammo stowage etc. and not really affecting combat performance to any great degree.

Did you know? 

A few facts about the Sherman to start off:

- The Sherman pilot model first saw the light of day in September 1941

- The name "General Sherman" came from the British

- 11 factories were involved in making approximately 49,000 Sherman tanks.

Sherman Prototype

The T6 prototype for the M4 Sherman series 

This was considered the largest total of any single tank type built during the war but has now been relegated to second place by new information from Soviet records which put production of T34 gun tanks at a whopping 58,000 wartime examples and 3000 more postwar.

M4 Sherman - The combat debut of the Sherman, along with the M7 Priest, was with the British 8th Army with, 285 operational, mainly M4A1’s and a few M4A2’s, at El Alamein on the 23rd October 1942.

UNITED STATES - 75mm gun armed tanks

The M4A1 (cast hull) was the first Sherman into production in February ’42 and equipped the first American armoured units to have Shermans. It was used by the U.S. throughout the war. 

Left: US042 M4A1 Sherman

The M4 (welded hull) was the third model of Sherman into production in July ’42 and the reason it appears in this order is because it was common to find M4’s and M4A1’s in the same platoon as both had identical power plants, the Wright R-975 "Whirlwind" radial aircraft engine.

The last production run of the M4 armed with the 75mm gun was a hybrid vehicle with the frontal portion of the hull replaced by the front of a late model cast hull Sherman with larger hatches and as it was mechanically the same as a normal Sherman M4 anyway, it was considered just another M4 and issued as such.

M4 Sherman

US040 M4 Sherman

M4 Sherman
 
M4A2 Welded Hull

The M4A2 (welded hull) saw production start on April ’42. The only Diesel powered version of the Sherman with twin GM 6-71diesel engines to see combat with U.S. forces and then, only with the Marines. The Marines preferred it to the M4A3 but as the Army supplied the tanks to the Marines well.

The M4A3 (welded hull) was the second model to reach production in June ’42 and became the standard U.S. Army issue Sherman. They were kept in their own units because this model had a new purpose designed tank engine, the Ford GAA V-8 petrol engine. In 1944 an improved hull design with a new 47 degree glacis plate and hatch arrangement enabling the installation of "wet ammo stowage", was incorporated but still retained the 75mm gun and turret. The M4A3 series of Shermans was almost exclusively used by U.S. forces.
M4A3 Sherman

US046 M4A3 Sherman

M4 Sherman

This M4 clearly shows the appliqué armour patches over the
ammo stowage, fuel tanks, and in front of the
driver & co-driver

"Ronson!" The First Modifications

The first major modifications to the Sherman were brought about by the need to improve its crew safety features. Having earned the sobriquet "Ronson" (light first time) from Allied crews and "Tommy Cooker|" from the Germans because of its tendency to catch fire very quickly when hit, a study of damaged tanks and test shooting of examples to determine why this occurred was undertaken. One of the major conclusions was that the unprotected ammunition stowage was mainly to blame. The temporary fix was to add 1" thick appliqué armour patches over the ammo stowage, fuel tanks, and in front of the driver & co-driver.

The next step was to redesign the hull to allow Glycol/water liquid protected bins for ammo stowage, or "wet stowage", to be fitted and also larger hull hatches for quicker crew evacuation - hedging your bets! This gave us the 47degree glacis plate that got rid of the box extensions for the front hatches, which were weak points anyway.

The cast hull Sherman, the M4A1 got this treatment as well with the hull casting modified to allow bigger hatches canted out at an angle. Then came the T23 turret to enable the 76mm M1 gun to be fitted and this, theoretically, gave Sherman crews the ability to mix it with the best Germany had to offer!

76mm Shermans

The M4A1(76)W was the first Sherman with the redesigned hull and wet ammo stowage to be fitted with the new T23 turret and 76mm M1gun. They first appeared in France just after the Normandy landings. This tank still had the same radial engine as previous M4A1 models so you wouldn’t find it mixed with M4A3 (76)W models.

Right: M4A1 (76)W

M4A1 76mm
M4A3 76(w)
 

The M4A3 (76)W was introduced not long after and followed the same path to Normandy and beyond and again, would only be likely to be found in all M4A3 equipped units.

Left: M4A3 (76)W

The last models of Sherman to be mentioned for US forces are the 105 howitzer armed tanks and the Sherman "Jumbo". The howitzer armed Shermans equipped the assault gun platoons in armoured battalions and were all built on either M4 or M4A3 47degree glacis plate hulls but the "wet stowage" was replaced by armoured bins for ammo stowage.

Right: Sherman M4A3 (105)

105mm Sherman
Sherman Jumbo

Sherman Jumbo 

The M4A3E2 "Jumbo" was an attempt to provide a heavily armoured "Assault" tank able to withstand powerful German anti tank guns. It had armour up to 150mm thick on the front of the newly designed turret and 100mm on the glacis plate. They were all built on the late hull version of the M4A3 but without "wet ammo stowage". Track grousers were fitted as standard to help cope with the weight increase to 42 tons and the 75mm gun was fitted to all of them, but some had salvaged 76mm guns from wrecked Shermans fitted in place of the 75mm gun from the end of 1944.

The "Jumbos" were issued to the independent Tank battalions at first but then the Armored Divisions got a few to lead their dashes across France and Germany as well.

As a last little teaser for the Americans some Sherman M4A4 Fireflies were issued in Italy to the 555th tank battalion for a short period and, recently it’s come to light that approx. 80 M4A3 Shermans, both early and late hull types, were converted to Fireflies with the British 17pdr fitted. The war ended before they could be issued but there’s always what if?

The last Modifications

From late 1944 you can now start to add a few Sherman M4A3(76)W with the new HVSS suspension system and wider 23" track. It didn’t make the Sherman any faster top road speed wise but did give much better "flotation" or cross country ability and enabled them to move just as fast as the German wide tracked Panthers and Tigers across rough terrain, unlike the earlier VVSS style suspension and narrow track which was very limiting in muddy or soft going. These tanks were popularly known by their trial designation M4A3E8, or "Easy Eight".

Sherman E8

Sherman with HVSS suspension known as the Easy Eight

The German hollow charge warhead weapons, like Panzerfaust, were starting to be noticed by now and American crews quickly added extra armour protection. This could be anything from sandbags held by steel frames to welded on steel plates cut from wrecked tanks so be creative!

FREE FRENCH

The FFL, or Free French in North Western Europe were equipped and organized the same as the Americans so they pretty much used the same models of Sherman as US units, both 75mm and 76mm armed, including the M4A3. They also got the other types of Sherman that were usually reserved for Lend-Lease stocks such as the M4A2 and M4A4 so you really can’t go wrong here!

In part two, Evan looks at the Shermans in service with the Soviets, British and Commonwealth, and the Poles...

Free French

  The insignia found on Free French Shermans


Last Updated On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 by Wayne at Battlefront