M4A2 Sherman tank

"Sherman" (M4 Sherman) is the main American medium tank of the Second World War period. It was widely used by the American army in all theaters of war, as well as supplied in large quantities to allies (primarily Great Britain and the USSR) under the lend-lease program. After World War II, the Sherman was in service with the armies of many countries around the world and took part in numerous armed conflicts. In the US Army, the M4 remained in service until the end of the Korean War. The name "Sherman" was given to the M4 tank when it was put into service in the British army, after which this name became associated with the tank in the American and other armies. It was named after American General William Sherman of the Civil War era. A total of 49,234 units of various modifications of the Sherman were produced..

Before the outbreak of World War II, the United States had no medium tanks in service. In August 1939, the first 15 vehicles of the M2 tank, which was classified as a medium tank, began production. However, with a 37 mm caliber gun and a maximum armor thickness of 25 mm, it could not be considered a competitor to its contemporaries developed by European countries, in particular, the Wehrmacht's medium tanks PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV. Therefore, the M2 tank was considered obsolete even before production began. A total of 146 vehicles were built, which were not used by the US Army in combat and were used mainly as training vehicles.

The assessment of combat operations in Europe showed that the 37-mm gun was not relevant for a modern tank, so on June 5, 1940, the Chief of the Infantry Department asked the Artillery Technical Service (ATS) to install a 75-mm gun on the medium tank. However, there was not enough space in the turret of the M2 tank to accommodate a 75-mm gun, so the ATS decided to install a 75-mm gun in the sponson on the right side of the hull. The tank still had a 37-mm gun turret, so the designers resorted to a multi-gun tank design, which was already rejected by contemporary designers as outdated and ineffective. This is how the M3 tank appeared as a modification of the M2 tank. It is noteworthy that the M3 did not have a prototype marked with the letter "T", which means that the tank was not designed for adoption, but was a temporary solution until a full-fledged tank with a gun in the turret was developed. On August 28, 1940, the contract with Chrysler for the production of the M2 was suspended and its factories began production of the M3 tank. On April 24, 1941, the first two vehicles were put into service, and mass production began in June 1941. The number of vehicles produced reached 6258, most of which were delivered under a lend-lease to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, which received 976 vehicles in particular.

The first prototype of the tank, called the T6, was completed on September 2, 1942, and mass production was launched in February 1942. Very quickly, it became the main tank and was in service not only in the United States but also in England. The Sherman tank was also supplied to the USSR under a lend-lease agreement. It differed from the MZ series mainly in its hull configuration and armament layout. The power transmission scheme, its layout, and the design of the main units remained the same, which was due to the desire to maintain high production rates while switching to a new type of vehicle.

In an effort to improve combat performance, American designers developed seven modifications of the M4 in 1942 and 1943, of which four were adopted: M4 (basic version), M4A1, M4AZ and M4A4. The vehicles of different modifications differed from each other in terms of manufacturing technology (for example, the frontal part of the hull was made entirely by casting or bolted together from three cast parts, or welded from cast and rolled parts), armament (75-mm and 76.2-mm guns, 105-mm howitzer), engines, chassis design, and power transmission. Two variants of the M4AZ modification, M4AZE2 and M4AZE8, are considered the most successful. The first variant is characterized by enhanced armor protection: the thickness of the turret armor is increased to 152 mm, shielding is installed on the front and sides, which increases the armor thickness to 77 mm. The second variant, the M4AZE8, has an armament reinforced by the installation of a long-barreled 76.2-mm gun and armor reinforced by 15-20 mm. This version was produced from 1945 as the main medium tank. In total, during the Second World War, more than 48 thousand M4 tanks of all modifications were produced.

In April 1941 the Rock Island Arsenal presented the Armored Forces Command with five draft versions of the M4 tank. In the end, the simplest scheme was chosen, using elements of the MHM with a completely new cast or welded hull. The 75-mm cannon was placed in a turret with a machine gun on the roof. As in the MOZ, hatches were provided in the sides of the hull. A mock-up 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 Grounds on September 19, 1941.

Looking at the Canadian tank "Ram", one could assume that the T6 had an impact on its design. However, documents and chronological comparison of events disprove this. The first production "Ram", built by the Montreal Locomotive Works, was tested at the Aberdeen Proving Ground from July to October 1941 and was compared to the M3 tank in reports, not the T6.

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, at the personal order of President Roosevelt, the planned production level for 1942 was doubled to 1,000 medium tanks per month. To achieve this, new facilities had to be brought on board: Pacific Car and Foundry, Fisher, Ford, and Federal Machine and Welder. In October 1941, the T6 was adopted into service under the designation M4, and its mass production was planned, including at 11 plants that produced the M3 in 1942. In September 1941, the Fisher Body Company proposed to organize a second line in Grand Blanc, Michigan. The construction of the Tank Arsenal in Grand Blanc, oriented towards the production of the M4, began in January 1942, and the manufacture of machines started in July of the same year, although by that time, Fisher was already producing the M4 at one of its plants.

The M4 prototype, built by Lima Locomotive in February 1941, is characterized by the absence of side hatches. The following month, Lima, Pressed Steel, and Pacific Car and Foundry produced the first M4A1s with cast bodies. By the fall of 1942, all the factories involved in the program had launched mass production, and in October, British M4s first entered the battle of El Alamein. M4 tanks were the most widely used by the Allied forces during World War II. Although it did not have strong armor and weapons compared to German and Soviet tanks, the M4 successfully combined ease of maintenance, reliability, speed, durability, and simple design. This facilitated the deployment of mass production of vehicles at commercial enterprises that had no peacetime experience in manufacturing military products. In terms of cost/performance, the M4 was optimal for its time, and this was reflected in the production of 40,000 M4 tanks (and vehicles on its chassis) in 1942-46. The M4 had the same chassis as the MZ tank. However, except for the earliest modifications, the suspension rollers were changed: the support rollers were mounted behind, not in the middle. The hull could be welded, cast, or welded with a frontal part 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 MZ 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 versions of power plants, which increased the number of serial modifications. The M4 Sherman had a crew of 5 people and could fire armor-piercing shells.

The early vehicles had a three-part bolted nose hull and inspection hatches (later removed) for the driver and his assistant. They had a nStrela mask of the M34 gun mount. Subsequent vehicles used a one-piece cast nose hull part and the M34A1 gun mount with a wide mask. On the vehicles of the last batches (from the end of 1943), the hull forehead was made of cast and rolled parts.

M4s were produced by the following companies:

• Pressed Steel Car Corporation (1000 tanks, from July 1942 to August 1943),
• Boldwin Locomotive Works (1233, from January 1943 to January 1944),
• American Locomotive Corporation (2150, from February to December 1943),
• Pullman Standard Car Corporation (689, from May to September 1943),
• Detroit Tank Arsenal (1676, from August 1943 to January 1944).

The M4A1 was the same M4, but with a cast hull. The first batches of vehicles had chassis similar to the M4, 75-mm M2 guns with a counterweight on the barrel and twin fixed course machine guns in the frontal plate of the hull. These machine guns, as well as the inspection hatches in the windshield, were soon removed, and after the production of several vehicles, 75-mm MRAP guns were installed. The three-piece nose was replaced with a single cast part, and the vehicles of the next batches were equipped with the M34A1 gun, wings, and track shields.

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

M4A2s were produced by the following companies:

• Fisher Tank Arsenl (4614, April 1942 to May 1944),
• Pullman Standard Car (2373, from April 1942 to September 1943),
• American Locomotive corporation (150, from September 1942 to April 1943),
• Boldwin Locomotive Works (12, from October to November 1942),
• Federal Machine and Welder Corporation (540, from December 1942 to December 1943).

In total - 8053 tanks. They were used not only by the US Army. Most of them were supplied under the Lend-Lease.

In terms of strategic mobility, the Sherman met all the requirements of the project. Its height was compensated by a fairly small width, which allowed it to be transported by almost all types of transport (airplanes, ships, and trains). But because of its large dimensions, the Sherman required a lot of fuel (340 liters/100 km, for example, the T-34 consumed only 140 liters/100 km), so its range was sharply reduced.

The M4 Sherman was rated quite highly in terms of tactical mobility. Although the tank was inferior to some Soviet tanks, it could move at the speed necessary for full combat and accelerated quickly enough. In terms of soft ground, the M4 was again inferior to many Soviet tanks. Different models of the Sherman had different speeds, due to the installation of different types of engines.