Not so long ago, another Hollywood military blockbuster "Fury" with Brad Pitt, who played a tough tank sergeant, came out in the world film distribution. The film turned out to be rather ambiguous and caused a lot of discussion, but the daily work of the tank crew is shown in it quite well. However, the main role in this picture was played not by Pitt, but by the famous American tank M4 "Sherman", which in the film has its own name Fury - "Fury".

M4 "Sherman" was the main medium tank american army during the Second World War. The tank got its name in honor of American General William Sherman.

In addition to the US armed forces, this combat vehicle was also supplied to the American allies: Great Britain, the USSR, Australia, and Canada. After the end of the war, the Shermans were in service with Israel, Pakistan, Italy, France, India, Japan and Yugoslavia.

As part of the lend-lease program, the USSR received more than 4,000 Sherman tanks. Soviet tankers called this combat vehicle "emcha" (from the designation M4) and loved it. To get to serve on an American tank was considered good luck. The convenience of the crews favorably distinguished the M4 from any Soviet vehicles. Also Soviet tankers noted the high level of manufacture of Shermans, the excellent quality of instruments and a powerful walkie-talkie. Every American tank was equipped with a coffee maker, a fact that invariably produced Soviet soldiers powerful impression.

Starting in 1943, the Sherman became the main tank that came from the United States under Lend-Lease. In significant quantities, this combat vehicle was also supplied to the UK.

The Sherman tank began its combat journey in North Africa, then there was an Allied landing in Normandy and fighting in Europe. The Americans used the M4 in the Pacific theater of operations.

And after the end of World War II, the service of this combat vehicle continued. The Sherman was in service with the US Army until the end of the 50s, and took part in the Korean War, where it clashed with Soviet T-34-85 tanks.

Due to the huge number of manufactured combat vehicles, after the war, the Americans willingly handed over the Shermans to the armies of the liberated countries and the allied states. M4s were in service with the Israeli army during the War of Independence and the Six Day War. During the Indo-Pakistani conflict of 1965, these combat vehicles were used by both India and Pakistan.

The M4 Sherman is one of the most massive tanks in history, in three years (from 1942 to 1945), the Americans managed to produce more than 49 thousand of these combat vehicles. Only the Soviet T-34 and T-55 are more massive.

Many experts - primarily foreign, of course - call medium tank The Sherman was the best combat vehicle of World War II, placing it ahead of the Soviet T-34. This issue is highly debatable, but these two tanks were definitely worth each other and are comparable in terms of combat power and armor protection.

However, before starting a review of the Sherman tank, a few words should be said about the history of its creation and vehicle modifications.

History of creation

The US Army approached the beginning of World War II without not only tank troops, but even a normal medium tank in mass production. With a serious automotive industry and a developed tractor industry, American generals did not consider tanks to be something worthy of serious attention. It was believed that enemy vehicles would be destroyed by artillery fire and self-propelled guns.

Although, serious work in the field of tank building was carried out in the USA: the tanks of the American designer Christie became a model for the creation of the English Crusader and Soviet BTs.

The history of the Sherman tank begins in 1939. The US military was dumbfounded by the epic tank battles that took place in Europe, as well as the efficiency with which the Wehrmacht used tank forces in their campaigns. At the same time, the US Army possessed several hundred tanks, which, in terms of their characteristics, could not be compared with their European counterparts.

The only serial American tank was the M2, armed with a 37 mm cannon and eight machine guns. It was planned to launch it into large-scale production in 1940, but at the last moment the order was canceled. Compared to the characteristics of German tanks, the 37 mm gun looked absolutely pathetic and unpromising. And it was impossible to install a more powerful 75-mm gun in the existing turret. It was then that the idea was born to create a multi-turreted tank with a 75-mm cannon in the side sponson.

This is how the M3 "Lee" tank appeared. However, he also ceased to satisfy the US military already at the development stage. M3 "Lee" was nevertheless put into mass production (more than 6 thousand units were produced) and put into service. This "freak" was even supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease and received the well-deserved nickname "mass grave" from Soviet soldiers (the crew consisted of seven people).

In parallel with work on the M3, the development of another tank began, which was supposed to be armed with a single 75-mm cannon placed in a circular turret. In its design, it was planned to use the chassis of the M3 tank, its undercarriage, suspension, transmission and engine, that is, almost the entire lower part of the combat vehicle. The prototype of the future Sherman was ready on September 2, 1941 and received the designation T6. It had side doors and a commander's cupola, which were removed after the prototype was shown to the military leadership. There were other minor comments, after completion the tank was put into service.

Serial production began in February 1942. A modification of the tank with a welded hull received the designation M4, and with a cast - M4A1.

Initially, the tank was planned to be equipped with a new 76-mm M3 gun, but due to its unavailability, the old 75-mm gun from the M3 Lee tank was installed on the Sherman.

The cost of one M4 tank was 45-50 thousand dollars, which was ten percent less than that of the M3 Lee.

The prototype of the T6 tank was made at the Aberdeen Proving Ground by military personnel and technical personnel. Dozens of private contractors were involved in the mass production of the machine. Usually one plant was engaged in the manufacture of one or another element: parts of the chassis, engine or weapons.

Modifications

Sherman had a large number of modifications, and the peculiarity of this machine was that various options tanks did not appear as a result of modernization, but simply had significant technological differences and were produced in parallel. Often they were associated with the characteristics of the enterprises in which the combat vehicles were made. So, for example, the M4A1 modification is formally considered the second, but it was put into production several months earlier than the M4.

Main differences various modifications tank "Sherman" are the method of manufacturing the hull and a different type of power plant. Wherein different types combat vehicles were periodically subjected to various improvements, but this happened at about the same time. At the same time, the upgraded tank received additional letters in the designations: W, (76) and HVSS. The factory designations were different, they included the letter E and a number. For example, the M4A3E8 Sherman tank.

Here are the main modifications of the combat vehicle:

  • M4. One of the first modifications of the tank, its production began in mid-1942 and continued until January 1944. The car had a welded body and a Continental R-975 carburetor engine. Total tanks of this modification - 8389 pieces, 6748 of which were armed with M3, and another 1641 - 105-mm howitzer.
  • M4A1. The very first modification that went into mass production. This tank had a cast hull and a Continental R-975 engine and is almost identical to the T6 prototype. The production of this combat vehicle continued from the beginning of 1942 to the end of 1943. The total number of vehicles produced was 9677, 6281 of which were armed with the M3 gun, and 3396 tanks received the new M1 gun. Initially, the M4A1 had an M2 gun and two forward machine guns.
  • M4A2. Welded hull modification, equipped with a power plant consisting of two General Motors 6046 diesel engines. Its production lasted from April 1942 to May 1945. The total number of manufactured vehicles of this modification is 11,283 pieces, of which 8053 were armed with the M3 cannon, 3230 vehicles received the M1 gun.
  • M4A3. Modification with a welded body and a Ford GAA gasoline engine. The tank was produced from June 1942 to March 1945. Total number: 11,424 units, 5015 of which had M3 guns, 3039 units (M4A3(105)) were armed with 105mm howitzer, and 3370 units (M4A3(76)W) with M1 gun.
  • M4A4. A modification that had a welded elongated hull and a power plant consisting of five automobile engines. A total of 7499 combat vehicles of this modification were produced. All of them were armed with the M3 gun and differed in a slightly different turret shape, a radio station was located in the aft niche, and on the left side of the turret there was a hatch for firing personal weapons.
  • M4A5. This designation was originally reserved for the Canadian Ram tank, but it was never assigned to it. This machine is curious in that, in fact, it is a significantly modernized version of the M3 tank. The combat vehicle was armed with an English 6-pounder gun, it had a cast turret and a cast hull with a side door, the undercarriage was almost the same as the M3. A total of 1948 cars were produced. M4A5 did not participate in hostilities due to a too weak gun, but several armored vehicles were made based on it.
  • M4A6. Modification with a welded hull, similar in shape and size to the M4A4, but with a cast frontal part. The power plant consisted of a Caterpillar D200A diesel engine. A total of 75 tanks of this model were produced.
  • Grizzly bear. This is a modification of the M4A1 tank, which was mass-produced in Canada, the vehicles had slight differences in the chassis. 188 tanks of this model were produced.

In addition to modifications, there were special tanks created on the basis of this combat vehicle. For example, Sherman Firefly - tanks of modifications M4A1 and M4A4, armed with an English 17-pounder (76.2 mm) anti-tank gun, or Sherman Jumbo - an assault tank with reinforced armor and a 75-mm M3 gun.

Very interesting vehicles were the so-called rocket tanks: Sherman Calliope and T40 Whizbang, equipped with launchers rockets. On the basis of the Sherman, demining vehicles (Sherman Crab), engineering (M4 Dozer) and flamethrower tanks were created.

Design Description

The Sherman tank was made according to a scheme more typical for the German tank building of those years: its transmission and control compartment are located in front of the hull, and engine compartment- in the back. Between them is a fighting compartment with a circular rotation turret, which is located in the center of the hull. The crew consisted of five people.

Inside the tank was lined with foam rubber, which protected the crew from shrapnel.

Such an arrangement increased the height of the combat vehicle: the designers had to place a cardan shaft in the body, which went from the engine to the gearbox. Increased the height of the tank and the vertical position of the engine.

Different modifications of the tank differed little in their design, therefore, below is a description of the M4A2 model with a diesel engine, which was most massively supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease.

In front of the hull there was a control compartment, which housed the jobs of the driver and his assistant, control devices and control levers, transmission elements and a course machine gun with ammunition.

Behind him was a fighting compartment with a rotating turret. It housed the places of the vehicle commander, gunner and loader, gun ammunition, fire extinguishers and batteries. The turret housed a gun, sighting devices and observation devices, a cannon lifting mechanism, a coaxial machine gun and a radio station. Also in the fighting compartment was a mechanism for turning the tower.

In the rear of the tank was the engine compartment, which was separated from the combat by a special partition.

The hull of the M4A2 modification tank was made of rolled armor plates, which were connected by welding. The frontal part of the machine was one massive cast piece, which was located at an angle of 56 ° and had a thickness of 51 mm. The thickness of the sides of the hull was 38 mm. On the right, at the bottom of the sheet, there was a ball machine gun mount. There was a hatch in the bottom of the hull, which was used to evacuate the crew under enemy fire. Above the control compartment were two landing hatches with built-in observation devices.

The Sherman had a cast turret with a small aft niche, the thickness of its frontal armor was 76 mm, the sides and stern had 51 mm armor, and the gun mantlet had 89 mm armor. On the roof of the tower there was a double-leaf commander's hatch, which was used to evacuate all crew members in the fighting compartment. On later series of the machine, another hatch for the loader was added to it.

Initially, the main ammunition of the tank was in the fenders, which had additional armor on the outside. However, practice has shown that such an arrangement led to the detonation of the ammunition, so on the machines of the later series it was transferred to the floor of the fighting compartment, and the so-called wet ammo rack was used: the shells were filled with water with the addition of ethylene glycol.

Initially, a 75-mm M3 gun was installed on the M4A2 modification tank, and from 1943, a 76-mm M1A1 gun was installed. A machine gun was paired with a cannon, a 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine gun was mounted on the roof of the tower.

The sights of the tank consisted of the M55 telescopic sight and the M38 periscope. The Sherman gun was stabilized in a vertical plane.

The M4A2 power plant consisted of two GM 6046 diesel engines with six cylinders each. The total power was 375 liters. With. The capacity of the fuel tanks of the tank was 590 liters.

The Sherman was equipped with a 5-speed manual gearbox, the torque from the engine was transmitted to it using a cardan shaft.

Chassis The tank consisted of six single road wheels on each side, they were combined in pairs into three carts, each of which was suspended on two springs. In addition, there were three support rollers on each side, a driving front wheel and steering wheels. In the middle of 1942, the undercarriage of the tanks was somewhat modernized.

Powerful radio stations were installed on the Shermans.

Efficiency and combat use

The first Shermans began to enter the troops in the middle of 1942, but the American tankers did not manage to master the new equipment: soon all the combat vehicles were handed over to the British. At this time, the British units were fighting hard in North Africa, and the situation there was clearly not in their favor. Churchill personally asked the American president for help.

In September 1942, 318 Sherman tanks arrived in Egypt and were thrown into battle almost immediately. For the Germans, the appearance of hundreds of modern tanks in the enemy was a real shock. Most of the tanks of the German Afrika Korps could not penetrate the armor of the American tank. We can say that the battle of El Alamein was largely won thanks to the Shermans.

American tank crews in Shermans first came into action during the landings in Tunisia. Due to the untrained crews in the first battles, many vehicles were lost, but later, having worked out tactical methods, the Americans very successfully used the Shermans. In general, it should be noted that this tank was perfect for desert conditions. In February 1943, the M4 first met with the German novelty - heavy tank PzKpfw VI Tiger. It quickly became clear that the Sherman could not oppose this German car on equal terms.

Tanks M4 and M4A1 took part in the landing of the Allied troops in Sicily. True, there were practically no major tank battles in Italy.

The next significant operation involving the Sherman was the Allied landing in Normandy. American cars in Normandy had a hard time. The Germans actively used the latest Panther tanks against them, against which the M4 had little chance. In addition, the rugged terrain of the north of France did not allow the Shermans to demonstrate their best qualities: speed and maneuverability. American vehicles suffered heavy losses from "

In nine months of fighting, the 3rd Panzer Division alone lost 1,348 combat vehicles.

In November 1942, the first M4s arrived in Soviet Union. In the USSR, the diesel modification of the M4A2 tank was most massively supplied, since gasoline Western tanks did not "digest" domestic fuel too well. The 5th Guards Tank Army in the North Caucasus was the first to receive new vehicles.

M4 was actively used in the campaigns of 1944 and 1945. The Shermans were used most massively during Operation Bagration, although these vehicles fought along the entire line of the Soviet-German front, from the Black Sea to the Baltic.

Soviet tankers loved the American tank. It was much more convenient for the crew than Soviet combat vehicles. But, most importantly, he was usually much more reliable than them. The undoubted advantage of the Shermans was sights and observation devices, a powerful radio station, a high level of armor and sufficient firepower. The suspension of the M4 was much softer than that of the T-34, it made much less noise. The cannon of the American tank had stabilization, which increased the accuracy of shooting while moving.

The design of the Sherman used many components and assemblies of serial vehicles, which ensured the high reliability of the tank.

Among the minuses can be called the design of the track tracks, which were not very suitable for the conditions of the Russian winter. They provided poor traction with the ground, which is why the tank often slipped. The disadvantages of the Shermans include too high a silhouette and a peculiar hull shape. The fact is that the Sherman was tall and narrow, which, combined with unsuccessful caterpillars, often led to the car tipping over.

The 75-mm M3 cannon roughly corresponded to the Soviet F-34 gun, the 76-mm M1 cannon allowed the Shermans to confidently hit the German Pz.IVs, but for a duel with the Tigers and Panthers, it was necessary to use sub-caliber shells.

Sherman vs T-34

A lot of controversy raises the question of which of the tanks was better than the T-34 or the Sherman. These tanks repeatedly encountered in battle, but after the Second World War. During Korean War The main opponent of the Sherman was the Soviet T-34-85, which was controlled by Korean and Chinese tankers. Most often, the confrontation between Soviet and American tanks ended in favor of the latter.

T-34 and Sherman were machines of the same class: they were not inferior to each other in armor, the American 76-mm gun due to ballistics and ammunition best quality at least it was no worse than the Soviet 85-mm ZIS-S-53, and the mobility of these tanks was similar. However, the Sherman had an advantage due to the greater convenience of the crew, the accuracy of fire and the rate of fire of the gun. More high quality the sights of the "American" were also different.

Another important advantage of the M4 was its reliability. The build quality of the "thirty-four" wartime very often left much to be desired.

Considering the state of the US tank industry at the beginning of the war and practically complete absence experience in this area, it should be recognized that the creation of the Sherman in such a short time is a huge achievement for the Americans.

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As you know, during the Second World War, several modifications of the most massive American medium tank M4 "General Sherman" were produced. It should be emphasized that all of them did not fundamentally differ from the basic version in terms of their tactical and technical characteristics. The reasons that prompted the factories to start producing them were more of a technological nature, taking into account the capabilities of a particular enterprise, traditional allied factories, etc. From February 1942 to July 1945, six main modifications of the M4 tank were in mass production. the main distinguishing features of which were the type of power plant and the method of manufacturing the hull. So, the M4 and M4A1 models were equipped with Continental R-975 star-shaped carburetor engines and had a welded and cast body, respectively. General Motors 6046 diesel engines were installed on the tanks of the M4A2 variant, Ford GAA carburetor engines, M4A4 - blocks of five Chrysler A57 carburetor automobile engines and, finally, on the M4A6 - diesel RD-1820. All these modifications had welded hulls.

From the point of view of the layout of the power compartment, the General Motors 6046 and Ford GAA engines turned out to be the most successful. However, the first, which was a pair of automotive diesel engines, did not meet the requirements of the US Army, in which the carburetor engine was considered standard. Therefore, the M4A2 tanks were mainly supplied to the allies of the United States in the anti-Hitler coalition and only in small quantities entered service with the US Marine Corps. As for the second, it became the "heart" of the most massive modification of the Sherman.

The first copy of the new tank, designated M4AZ, was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company at the end of May 1942. Serial vehicles of early production still had viewing slots in the frontal part of the hull, but the transmission hatch cover was already cast, and the upper frontal hull sheet, unlike other models, was welded from a smaller number of parts. The release of the first M4AZ series with a 75-mm cannon and a dry ammo rack was completed in September 1943, and in February 1944, the production of these tanks, but with a wet ammo rack (model M4A3 (75) W), was started by the Fisher Tank Arsenal plant. Tanks with a 76-mm gun began to leave the shops of the Detroit Tank Arsenal plant, which was part of the Chrysler concern, in March 1944. Until the end of September, 1400 M4A3 (76) W were manufactured, which also had a vertical suspension and tracks 421 mm wide. But already in August, they began to produce the M4A3(76)W HVSS variant with a horizontal suspension, in the production of which from September to December 1944 the Fisher Tank Arsenal plant also took part, which produced 525 units. The production of the M4A3(76)W HVSS in Detroit ended in June 1945, when the last 1217th tank of this modification left the plant. Thus, a total of 1742 M4A3(76)W HVSS tanks were shelled.

At the same time, it is worth mentioning right away that the official index assigned by the Military Department is M4A3 (76) W HVSS, which contained in encrypted form all the main stages of modernization of the M4AZ tank (“76” - 76-mm cannon, W - wet ammo rack, HVSS - horizontal suspension system), did not take root in the troops. A simpler version of the index - M4A3E (J, which this tank was designated at the testing stage, on the contrary, gained wide popularity. Everyone called this car - from a soldier to a general. The letter "E" in the index, which in American system designations receive prototypes, the soldiers deciphered in their own way, giving the tank they loved the nickname Easy Eight - “convenient eight”. On this machine, deservedly considered the best version of the M4AZ, it makes sense to dwell in more detail.

The hull of the M4AZE8 tank was welded from rolled armor plates. Its frontal part consisted of a massive cast part, which served simultaneously as a transmission hatch cover and a crankcase for the turning mechanism, and a top sheet 108 mm thick, located at an angle of 56 ° to the vertical. In its lower part, on the right, a ball mount of a 7.62 mm Browning М1919А4 machine gun was mounted. The sides of the hull were vertical and had a thickness of 38 mm.

The aft part of the hull consisted of two inclined (10 ° ... 12 °) sheets - upper and lower. The upper one was offset relative to the lower one so that a pocket was formed between them for the exit of air coming from the fans. In front of the hull roof above the control compartment, there were oval landing hatches for the driver and his assistant, located across the hull and having MB observation devices built into the covers; between hatches - exhaust fan. In the middle part of the roof of the hull, a fixed shoulder strap of the tower was attached, around which a protective armored visor was welded. In the aft part of the roof there was a large overhead hatch, closed with a double-leaf lattice cover.

On the roof of the T23 cast tower there was a commander's cupola with six triplex glass blocks and a MB periscope observation device, an oval loader hatch, an MB observation device hatch, an anti-aircraft machine gun bracket and an antenna input. On the left side of the tower there was a hatch for firing personal weapons, and a fan of the fighting compartment was mounted on the stern. The walls of the tower had a thickness of 63.5 mm, the roof - 25.4 mm. In front of the turret, in the M62 mask installation (armor shield thickness - 90 mm), a 76-mm M1A1S or M1A2 gun with a barrel length of 52 calibers was placed. The gun barrel was equipped with a two-chamber muzzle brake. Vertical aiming was possible in the range from -10 ° to + 25 °. The gun had a vertical wedge gate and copier-type semi-automatics. A coaxial Browning M1919A4 machine gun was mounted next to the cannon in a mask, and a 12.7 mm Browning M2NV anti-aircraft machine gun was mounted on the roof of the turret. A 2-inch MZ smoke grenade launcher was located on the left front of the turret roof. The aiming of the gun at the target was carried out using the M71D telescopic sight and the M4A1 periscope sight with the built-in M47A2 telescopic sight. The gun was stabilized in the vertical guidance plane. The Westinghouse stabilizer belonged to the type of gyroscopic stabilizers with indicator pendulum gyroscopes and a power hydraulic servo system.

The tower was driven by a hydroelectric rotary mechanism or manually. With the help of a hydroelectric mechanism, the tower could be rotated 360 ° in 15 seconds. The mechanism had an additional drive to the tank commander, when turned on, the gunner's drive was turned off.

The tank's ammunition consisted of 71 artillery arrows, 600 rounds of 12.7 mm caliber, 6250 rounds of 7.62 mm caliber and 12 smoke fans. The M4AZE8 tank had a so-called wet-type ammunition rack, as evidenced by the letter W in its designation (W - wet - wet). The ammunition was stored in two boxes located on the bottom of the hull and filled with water. So that the water does not freeze in winter, ethylene glycol was added to it. The placement of ammunition on the floor of the fighting compartment increased the survivability of the vehicle, and filling it with water helped save it from detonation.

In the power department, an 8-cylinder V-shaped Ford GAA liquid-cooled carburetor engine with a maximum power of 500 hp was installed. at 2600 rpm. The capacity of the fuel tanks was 635 liters of gasoline with an octane rating of at least 80.

The torque from the engine, located in the stern, with the help of a cardan shaft passing under the rotating polycom of the tower, was transmitted to the double-disk main located in the control compartment in the bow of the tank.

dry friction clutch, gearbox, double cylindrical differential and final drives Gearbox five-speed, mechanical with .. helical gears of constant mesh with synchronizers in all gears, except 1st and reverse

The undercarriage of the M4AZE8 tank in relation to one bot consisted of six double rubber-coated road wheels, interlocked in pairs in three balanoir trucks suspended on two horizontal buffer springs each, three single and two double support rollers of a rubberized guide wheel of the drive wheel front location with removable gear rims (lantern gearing) Each caterpillar had 79 single-ridged toaks 584.2 mm (23 inches) wide, the track pitch was 152 mm. Metal or rubber-metal tracks with a silent block. A hydraulic shock absorber was installed in each suspension bogie.

The engine, transmission and chassis allowed the 33.7-ton combat vehicle to reach a maximum speed of 42 km / h on the highway. The cruising range was 160 km.

All tanks were equipped with radio stations SCR 508, 528 and 538 The SCR 506 radio station was available only on command tanks.

M4AZE8 tanks began to enter the American troops in Europe on December 1, 1944 - at the height of the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes. In particular, the 4th Panzer Division of the 3rd American Army successfully used them in heavy battles near Bastogne in late December - early January 1945. From the previous version - M4A3 (76) W - these tanks differed only in the chassis, but also this turned out to be a lot. Wide tracks made it easier for new tanks to move through snow and muddy ground, for which they immediately fell in love with tankers. And no wonder - // the body pressure in M4AZE8 was 0.77 kg / cm2 versus 1 kg / cm2 in M4A3! The use of T66 greasy caterpillars with developed grousers further improved patency. The crews also evaluated the characteristics of the horizontal suspension - it turned out to be much softer than the vertical one. When driving over rough terrain, the tank got rid of the longitudinal buildup, and on the highway, in terms of ride comfort, it became comparable to a car. The increased smoothness of the course also had a positive effect on the accuracy of shooting, reducing the load on the gun guidance stabilizer. All these advantages of the M4AZE8, combined with the reliability and ease of operation traditional for Shermans, apparently became the reason for its nickname.

In the troops, the “comfortable eights” were not subjected to any alterations and improvements, with the exception, perhaps constant desire crews to at least somehow strengthen their armor protection. And it’s not that it was too weak - - the frontal armor of the Shermans was superior, at least consistent with that of other middle ones. tanks of those years of the Soviet T-34-85 and the German Pz.IV. With the latest M4AZE8, he could generally fight on an equal footing! But the Germans also had a "Panther" and an 88-mm cannon Pak 43 - the worst nightmare of American tankers. Both of them easily "pierced" an American tank at a distance of 1000 m and even more. In fact, from the moment of landing in Normandy, American tankers began to hang on the sides of combat vehicles garlands of caterpillar tracks. In the 14th Panzer Division they went even further and welded frame structures filled with sandbags onto the sides. But perhaps the most professional and thorough approach to solving this issue was in the 3rd Army of General George Patton. After the end of the fighting in the Ardennes, armor plates began to be welded onto the M4A3E8 hulls. carved from wrecked American and German tanks. Moreover, exactly the same sheet was welded onto the inclined sidewall sheet, which doubled its thickness. Thinner sheets were attached to the cast transmission cover of the side of the hull and turret. Very quickly, the 3rd Army realized that it would not be possible to cope with such work with the help of army repair shops alone. Therefore, in February 1945 By the end of the month, 106 M4AZE8 tanks for three tank divisions - the 4th, 6th and 11th - were involved in strengthening the armor protection of the tanks. Thus, each received 36 cars.

Work on strengthening the armor of tanks turned out to be very popular with the crews of Tak nappimer. according to tankers from the 6th Panzer Division, tanks with additional armor easily withstood the shelling of the 75-mm gun of the Panther tank. As a result, in March 1945, the armoring of combat vehicles continued. The example of the 3rd Army was followed by separate formations of the 7th and 1st armies. In some, for example, in the 3rd Panzer Division, additional armor was carried out according to the appeal developed in the army by General Paton, in others they created their own schemes.

In the meantime, in the 3rd Army, ridimo not satisfied with one additional armor, they started re-arming the "convenient eights". the large-caliber machine gun was moved forward by welding its bracket in front of the loader's hatch. And in front of the commander's cupola, the bracket of the non-standard 7.62-mm Browning M1919A4 machine gun was placed. With this rearmament, the air defense capabilities increased slightly, since it was impossible to shoot at the aircraft from both machine guns at once - they simply interfered with each other But for the battle locality, for shelling the lower floors of buildings where German "faustniks" could sit down. two machine guns were most welcome

The M4AZE8 tanks, as well as the Shermans of other modifications, fought until the end of the Second World War, and then were in service with the battalions of medium tanks of tank divisions until the mid-1950s. These combat vehicles were actively used in the war in Korea

It must be said that the situation tank units p USA by the summer of 1950 was deplorable. Numerous American armored forces after the end of the Second World War were almost completely demobilized. On the territory of the country there were only three (!) Tank battalions of the 6th (M26 tanks), the 70th training in Fort Knox (M4AZ and M26 / and the 73rd in the infantry school in Fort Benying (M26; Under these conditions, the command 8th Army, Military, which were located in Japan and South Korea, removed from storage and repaired 54 M4AZE8 tanks and formed the 89th battalion from them, which arrived at the Pusan ​​bridgehead at the end of July 1950, and entered the battle on 2 August. A company of "Shermans" attacked the Serero-Korean positions near Masan, "ran into" the positions of a platoon of 45-mm anti-tank guns, lost 8 tanks and retreated

There were few tank battles in Korea. The main losses of the side were from artillery fire, bazooka and anti-tank rifles Against the Korean T 34-85 tanks, the Americans sought to use their M26 and M46, which surpassed the Soviet machine in both firepower and armor protection. The first clash between the T-34-85 and M4AZE8 occurred at the end of September 1950, when the American troops that landed at Inchon made their way towards the troops from the Pusan ​​bridgehead. M4AZE8 were knocked out in a matter of seconds. Then one T-34-85 “ironized” the transport convoy, smashing 15 trucks and jeeps to pieces, and was hit by a point-blank shot from a 105-mm howitzer. Another four T-34-85s became victims of bazooka fire, and the core of the Serero-Korean tanks knocked out the main forces of the 70th tank battalion that had approached from the rear

At the end of 1950, the American troops in Korea numbered 1,326 tanks, 679 of which were M4AZE8. The Chinese People's Volunteer troops went on the offensive in October 1950, at first they had no tanks at all. However, throwing 31 infantry division against 18 Americans, by the beginning of 1951, the Chinese pushed them back beyond the 38th parallel. By mid-January, 670 tanks remained in the 8th Army, of which 317 were M4AZE8 and M4AZE5). In April, active hostilities on the land front in Korea ended. At the same time, the combat career of the "convenient eight" practically ended.

They were not delivered to other countries - there were enough "Shermans" of other modifications, which turned out to be in abundance in the USA, Great Britain and France after World War II. Apparently, the most recent and noticeable combat episode with their participation is associated with Cuba. Seven M4AZE8 were in service with the Batista regime and were used against the rebels. In December 1958, in the city of Santa Clara, the partisans captured five Shermans without a fight - Che Guevara persuaded the tankers and they went over to the side of the rebels. On January 1, 1959, Havana rebelled, Batista's regime was swept away. And on January 8, the Rebel Army entered the city. Fidel Castro greeted the jubilant havanzers, standing in the open hatch of a comfortable figure eight.

M. Baryatinsky,
"Model designer" No. 3 "2006

Since the start of mass production of the American medium tank M4 Sherman, its design has been constantly modernized and improved. Against this background, many modifications of the Sherman appeared:

Tank M4 "Sherman" with a 105-mm gun. One of the most serious alterations in terms of armament of the tank. Instead of a 76 mm turret, a powerful 105 mm howitzer was installed in the enlarged turret, which was able to fight many German tanks, including the Tiger and Panther. On Shermans with 105-mm guns, there was no “wet laying”, instead of it the ammunition was installed in the so-called. "dry laying", that is, in armored boxes in the center of the fighting compartment. From February 1943 to September 1943, 800 of these tanks were produced at the tank arsenal in Detroit.

American medium tank M4 "Sherman" with a 105-mm gun

Tank M4 "Sherman" with 105mm howitzer and HVSS suspension. This tank was not much different from the previous modification, with the exception of the suspension. Here, a more reliable HVSS suspension acted as a running gear, which had bogies with twin rollers and vertical springs were replaced with horizontal ones. In addition, the suspension had excellent maintainability. From September 1944 to March 1945, the tank arsenal in Detroit produced 841 vehicles.


Tank M4 "Sherman" with suspension HVSS

Tank М4А1 "Sherman" with a 76 mm gun. Standard production tank, but with improvements, like the modifications M4A1, M4A2, M4A4 and later modifications of the M4A3 tank. The American company "Pressed Steel" in the period from January 1944 to June 1945 created 3396 tanks.


Tank M4A1 "Sherman" with a 76-mm gun

Tank М4А2 "Sherman" with a 76 mm gun. Standard serial tank with improvements of the M4A1, M4A5 and M4A3 modifications. The American company Grand Blank produced 1,596 tanks between June 1944 and December 1944, while Pressed Steel produced only 21 tanks between May 1945 and June 1945.


Tank M4A2 "Sherman" with a 76-mm gun.

Tank М4А3 "Sherman" with a 76 mm gun. Standard serial tank with improvements of the M4A1, M4A5 and M4A2 modifications. The tank arsenal in Detroit produced 1,400 such tanks from February to July 1944, and Grand Blank built 525 tanks from September 1944 to December 1944.


Tank M4A3 "Sherman" with a 76-mm gun

Tank М4А3 "Sherman" with a 76 mm gun and improved HVSS suspension. Standard serial tank with improvements of the M4A1, M4A5 and M4A2 modifications. The tank arsenal in Detroit produced 1,445 tanks between August 1944 and December 1944.


Tank M4A3 "Sherman" with a 76-mm gun and an improved suspension HVSS

Tank М4А3 "Sherman" with 105mm howitzer. Standard serial tank with improvements of the M4A2, M4A4 and M4A5 modifications. The tank arsenal in Detroit produced 500 of these tanks between April 1945 and August 1945.


Tank М4А3 "Sherman"

Tank М4А3 "Sherman" with a 105 mm howitzer and an improved HVSS undercarriage. Standard serial tank with improvements of modifications M4A2, M4A3? M4A4 and M4A5. The tank arsenal in Detroit produced 2,539 of these tanks between August 194 and May 1945.


Tank М4А3 "Sherman"


But good example comparison of the conventional suspension of the M4A1 Sherman tank and the improved (below) HVSS suspension.

Heavy assault tank М4А3Е2. The most interesting modification of the M4 Sherman tank was a compromise tank design, which the American designers provided at the end of 1943. It was a tank of direct infantry support, which at the beginning of 1944 was proposed to be used during the landing in Northern Europe. This decision was proposed after it became clear that the heavy assault tank T26E1 would not appear in mass production until January 1945. And the constructive solution was simple: to increase the armor of the tank to 10 cm. At the same time, a new, heavier tank turret with armor up to 10.5 cm was designed, however, it is not clear why the 76-mm gun was left. Naturally, the weight of the tank has increased greatly, up to about 38 tons. Based on the experience of the tankers, upgraded tracks with non-removable lugs were installed on the new tank. These propeller blades greatly increased the mobility of the new tank. Over rough terrain, the tank could reach a maximum speed of 22 miles per hour. These tanks were manufactured by Grand Blank from May to June 1944. A total of 254 M4A3E2 tanks were produced, which, as expected, were sent to fight in the European theater of operations. True, the tanks went to Europe without any weapons, since upon their arrival at the place, they received weapons in the form of 76-mm M1 guns from previously knocked out Sherman tanks. American tankers called tanks M4A3E2 Jumbo (Jumbo).

14-02-2017, 13:27

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

Once upon a time, this device instilled fear in equipment of its own and lower level thanks to a dangerous high-explosive weapon. Now his formidable cumulatives are no longer so strong, and the accuracy of the guns has been nerfed, but still M4 Sherman TTX worthy of respect. If you understand the advantages and disadvantages of this tank, 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 parameters of the tank with the fact that our American is the owner of a standard safety margin by the standards of his 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 high dimensions, that is, to get on M4 Sherman WoT not such a difficult task, and we glow at very decent distances.

Speaking of armor, it's there, but only when we're at the top of the list. Nominally, this unit has weak armor, however, in the forehead of the hull, the entire VLD has a good slope, which allows the 50 mm armor plate to reach even 120 mm in the thickest place. If you still entrust the body that M4 Sherman specifications armor will increase a little more, which will allow you to repel some shells of your classmates, but will not protect against vehicles of levels 6-7.

The tower in the frontal projection is also capable of surprising. There is a large 90-millimeter gun mantlet, and cheeks M4 Sherman World of Tanks due to pleasant bevels, about 120 millimeters of reductions reach. All this also does not give guaranteed ricochets or non-penetration, but sometimes it can save.

But nothing good can be said about the lateral projection. From the sides M4 Sherman tank it is extremely weakly protected, it is impossible to turn towards the enemy, as well as turn the hull too much.

As for mobility, we have it not bad and not good - average. It should be noted here that M4 Sherman WoT 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 deserves no less attention, if only because the owners of this American are given two completely different guns to choose from.

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

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

As befits high-explosive guns, this barrel is bad because it has poor accuracy, expressed in a huge spread, poor stabilization and long mixing. But on the other hand, the vertical aiming angles at M4 Sherman WoT chic - we can lower the gun 10 degrees down, which is very comfortable.

The second gun is considered a classic. It has a quite standard alpha strike by the standards of classmates, but its rate of fire is so low that with it M4 Sherman tank capable of delivering a measly 1437 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 carry about 20 subcalibers.

In terms of accuracy, here we are again in for a slight disappointment, since the spread is again quite large, we would like to have faster mixing, and the situation with stabilization is no better.

Summing up the armament, I would like to say that with a high-explosive American tank M4 Sherman turns into a fun car, which in an ideal top will bring you a lot of fun, and at the bottom will make it possible to consistently shoot 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 strong and weaknesses your tank, it will be much more difficult to play, because you will not know how to equip the car 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 explosives.
Pros:
Excellent basic overview;
Very good vertical aiming angles;
Powerful alpha strike;
Good mobility.
Minuses:
Still weak armor;
Large silhouette;
Poor accuracy;
The high explosive has a weak penetration.

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

Equipment for M4 Sherman

No self-respecting tanker can do without the right and balanced choice of additional modules, because this is a great way to improve your tank. In our case, the emphasis should be on improving the comfort of shooting, and in general on tank M4 Sherman 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, but it really needs to increase this parameter.
3. - the standard option for a mobile medium tank, which in our case will make an already good view excellent.

However, some players will want to neglect the view in favor of increased firepower and damage comfort, in which case it is preferable to replace the last item with , which will give a 5% boost to the most important stats.

Crew training

Of course, you will have to spend more time and effort on this, but with a pumped crew, the game changes a lot in better side, 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 is better to download in the following order:
Commander - , , , .
Gunner - , , , .
Driver mechanic - , , , .
Radio operator - , , , .
Loader - , , , .

Equipment for M4 Sherman

The choice of consumables, as always, remains completely. 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 used to relying on reliability in battle and are not constrained by means, we recommend carrying on M4 Sherman gear from , , . In addition, you can also put it in place of a fire extinguisher, this car burns infrequently.

Tactics of the game on the M4 Sherman

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

In addition, we feel differently depending on who we have to fight. If we talk about fights in the top, medium tank M4 Sherman here is a very formidable adversary. Thanks to the high explosive, you have a chance to send weakly armored opponents of level 4 and even 5 into the hangar with one shot, while getting a lot of fun. But even here it is impossible to rely heavily on armor and you need to act carefully.

In battles against the sixth and even more so the seventh levels, the situation changes dramatically. Damage M4 Sherman tank will be able to inflict much less and will have to act at times more carefully. Here we turn into a support tank, which must either fire from the second line, or shoot, protruding from behind the backs of the allies.

As for dealing damage, it is important to always go all the way, and in order to knock out more hit points from the enemy, playing on M4 Sherman WoT try to aim weak spots, because the thinner the armor at the point of impact of our projectile, the more damage the mine will cause.

You know the rest of the common truths: watch the mini-map, take care of your health margin, use mobility to make smart maneuvers and resort to cunning more often. Remember tank M4 Sherman World of Tanks strong even now, you just need to act on it reasonably and prudently.

The American medium tank M4 Sherman was actively used in several wars and became truly massive, losing in numbers only to the T-34 along with the T-54. It got its name in honor of General William Sherman, and it was given by the British and, only with time, it was finally fixed, although in the USSR they used to call it "emcha".

Appearing in 1942, the M4 Sherman entered service with several countries and received 8 modifications, and also served as the basis for an even larger number of special vehicles and self-propelled guns.

Creation

When did the second World War, America was not armed with modern medium tanks. Therefore, the engineers tried to create a new car based on the M2, later called the M3 Lee. However, even during development, it became clear that it was not suitable for the army, so a new tank had to be developed.

On September 2, 1941, the T6 prototype was developed, in which it was decided to use the M3 units and a new layout.

They passed the tests very quickly and in mid-February of the following year, the first Sherman was released under the M4 index.

Design

As already mentioned, the tank borrowed a lot from its predecessor. For example, the engine, transmission, chassis and main armament. At the same time, he received a completely new hull with a traditional layout for the United States and Germany with a transmission in front and armament in a rotating turret, thus getting rid of the main drawback of the M3.

The crew of the car was 5 people, the driver, along with the gunner-radio operator, were located in front of the hull, and the remaining 3 were in the turret.

Sherman weighed about 30 tons.

Frame

As already mentioned, the layout has become more traditional compared to the M3, with the transmission compartment in front, the combat in the middle and the engine compartment in the back.

Despite the fact that the weapons were in the tower, the hull remained very high due to the fact that it was vertically mounted radial engine designed for aviation.

This feature did not affect Sherman in the best way, reducing his camouflage and stability.

The body of all modifications except M4A1 was made of rolled armor plates, interconnected by welding, since the casting turned out to be too complicated for series production.

The upper frontal part was made up of 7 parts, so welding was carried out very high quality, and the lower part of 3, but interconnected with bolts. Later, the NLD was immediately made integral.

The thickness of the upper frontal armor of the Shermans of the first series was 50 mm at an angle of 47 ° but was weakened by observation hatches. A little later they were removed, but the angle of inclination was also changed, which became equal to 56 °.

The sides of the hull received a thickness of 38 mm and were located vertically, the stern received the same thickness, but at the same time the angle of inclination was about 10 °, and the bottom - 13-25 mm.

A feature of the armor was its viscosity, which slightly reduces strength, but significantly reduces the number of fragments inside the tank.

There was a hatch in the bottom of the hull, which increased the chances of saving the crew from a wrecked tank.

Another hatch, the driver's, located on the roof of the hull, turned out to be a very unsuccessful design, as it leaned up, because of which the gun could hit it and literally slam the driver with it, twisting his neck. Later, this drawback was eliminated by making the hatch sliding to the side.

Part of the ammunition was located on the sides of the hull, because of which the powder gases easily ignited when a projectile hit the hull.

Later, around the middle of 1944, a new ammunition rack appeared, moved to the floor of the fighting compartment and with water between the ammunition nests, which significantly increased its protection.

Tower

The cast tower received a cylindrical shape, aft niche and a pistol embrasure on the left. The thickness of her forehead was 76 mm, and the angle of inclination was 60 °; an 89 mm thick gun mask served as additional protection. The sides and rear of the tower received the same thickness of 51 mm.

The rotation was carried out using an electro-hydraulic or electric drive, depending on the modification of Sherman, there was also the possibility of a manual drive, and in just 15 seconds a 360 ° turn was made.

Inside, the place of the loader was located on the left, and on the other side were the gunner and the commander behind him.

On the roof of the tower of early modifications there was one hatch, later a second hatch appeared for the loader, and on the commander's cover there was an anti-aircraft machine gun turret.

Part of the ammunition was located on the floor of the tower, and another part in the back of the basket.

Armament

The main gun of the first series of tanks was the 75 mm M3 L / 37.5 cannon mounted on the M3, a little later, in October 1942, an improved gun mask, a coaxial machine gun and a telescopic sight for the gunner were installed on the Sherman.

The weapons had several interesting features, namely vertical stabilization with a gyroscope, installation of a gun, with a rotation of 90 ° in order to control the shutter in a horizontal and not vertical plane and large aiming angles from -10 ° to + 25 °.

In general, in terms of its effectiveness, such a gun approximately corresponded to the F-34 mounted on the Soviet T-34 and was capable of hitting all early German vehicles, only the later versions of the PzKpfW VI were relatively protected from it.

Later, with the advent of the Panther medium tank and the heavy Tiger, it was necessary to install a long-barreled rifled gun M1 with a caliber of 76.2 mm and a barrel length of 55 calibers. She also received several options, for example, with a thread for a removable muzzle brake, with offset trunnions or a changed rifling pitch.

Using Shermans, the British army installed its 17 pounder guns MkIV, not requiring alteration of the tower.

American tanks used for infantry artillery support received a rifled 105 mm M4 howitzer and lost their stabilizer due to poor gun balance.

The ammunition load of different guns varied greatly, for example, for the M3 it was 90 rounds, for the MkIV 77, for the M4 howitzer 66.

As an auxiliary weapon, several machine guns were installed on the Sherman.

The gunner was paired with a 7.62 mm M1919A4 cannon with electric trigger, the gunner-radio operator was the same, mounted in a ball mount on the VLD, their total ammunition load was 4750 rounds.

On the commander's hatch was a turret with anti-aircraft machine gun M2H caliber 12.7 mm and 300 rounds of ammunition.

In June 1943, Sherman received a 51 mm M3 smoke mortar on the roof of the turret on the left with the breech under the armor and controlled by the loader.

Engine and transmission

As already mentioned, the tank received a high hull height due to the vertical installation of the Continental R975 C1 radial aircraft engine, which develops 350 horsepower.

In addition to him, Sherman received 4 more power plant options, as a result, 6 modifications appeared.

M4 and M4A1 received the engine described above, and the M4A2 variant, used in the USSR under Lend-Lease, had to install a pair of six-cylinder GM 6046 engines with a capacity of 375 hp. s., because Soviet troops accustomed to using diesel fuel.

M4A3 received a powerful V8Ford GAA, developing 500 hp. with., and M4A4 an interesting power plant Chrysler A57 multibank with a capacity of 470 hp, assembled from 5 L6 automobile gasoline engines and forcing the developers to lengthen the body.

The last option was the M4A6 with a Caterpillar RD1820 450 hp diesel engine, but the order for it was soon canceled because the diesel engine was distinguished by poor performance.

To warm up the engine and charge the battery, an auxiliary single-cylinder power plant was installed on the Sherman, which made it possible to do without starting the main engine.

The transmission located in front additionally protected the crew, but, in case of penetration, it could burn with hot oil and increased the risk of immobilization even without penetration.

A mechanical five-speed gearbox with reverse gear was installed on the tank, and turns were carried out by two separate brakes controlled by servo levers.

The moment was transmitted using a cardan shaft and a Cletrac double differential.

The transmission was not subjected to any special changes, except that its protection became completely cast, and the parking brake control was changed from manual to foot.

Chassis

The suspension was borrowed from the M3 with minimal changes, so on each side the tank received the usual three support bogies to which two rubber-coated road wheels and two buffer springs were mounted vertically.

This suspension was called VVSS (Vertical Volute Spring Suspension), that is, "vertical", in March 1945 it was upgraded, having received double rollers and horizontal springs along with hydraulic shock absorbers, wider tracks and the designation HVSS (Horisontal Volute Spring Suspension), i.e. "horizontal".

She gave the Sherman better cross-country ability and reliability along with maintainability.

In general, the suspension was successful, providing a smoother ride and less noise than the T-34, which allowed the armored infantry to fire on the move.

Combat use

This tank actively participated in World War II, later in the Korean, Arab-Israeli and Indo-Pakistani wars.

Sherman first went into battle on October 23, 1942 as part of the British Army. The battle took place near El Alamein, during which the new tanks had to face the German PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV. A successful design was demonstrated here, which has a reasonable combination of protection, firepower and mobility.

Since November, it began to arrive in the USSR, where it turned out that it is very similar to the T-34, has weaker side protection, but is significantly superior in comfort, but the T-34-85 began to surpass the American tank in security and firepower.

The US Army used Shermans a little later, on December 6 of the same year in Tunisia, their inexperience led to big losses, however, the tank itself showed itself on the good side.

The joy of the military ended on February 14 of the following year, when the new PzKpfw VI Tiger showed that Sherman was not capable of resisting them.

On June 6, 1944, when the well-known landing in Normandy began, the Americans once again faced the Tigers and Panthers, losing 1348 Shermans and another 600 tanks for other reasons in 10 months of fighting.

It finally became clear that the Sherman is poorly suited for anti-tank combat or urban battles due to weak protection and weapons, but it has excellent mobility and good conditions for the crew.

In Korea, the Shermans received a 76 mm gun, which allowed them to catch up with the Soviet T-34-85 in terms of firepower, while surpassing them in visibility, comfort, having a stabilizer and more experienced crews.

Epilogue

The M4 Sherman was produced in excess of 49,000 units, becoming the most massive American tank. It was used with pleasure in other countries, for example, in the USSR and Great Britain, since it turned out to be quite successful.

The Sherman had an excessive height of the hull, its early versions caught fire easily, the armor did not protect very well, the power of the guns of the first versions was often not enough, and the design itself did not bring anything revolutionary or new, but was quite modern and left a lot of room for modernization.

The designers put a lot of effort into the convenience of the crew, maintainability, reliability and ease of mass production, and this is worth a lot in war.

Its armament corresponded to the T-34 or PzKpfw IV, yielding to the Panther with the Tiger, the armor was also at the level of medium tanks, second only to heavy ones.

Mobility, reliability, unpretentiousness and low noise level turned out to be significant advantages, which made it possible to use the tank in any operations. The only drawback in this regard was the high fuel consumption, which limited the cruising range to 190 kilometers, but good system software completely solved this problem.

M4 Sherman is not for nothing that many call one of best tanks World War II, because he successfully combined all the necessary features of a medium tank, without getting any strong shortcomings.