M4 Sherman Tank

The M4 Sherman Tank was the main battle tank designed and built by the United States for the conduct of World War II. The M4 was the most widely used tank series in the war, being employed not only by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps but also by British, Canadian, and Free French forces. The M4 was employed in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and western Europe and throughout the Pacific Theatre. A total of 49,324 tanks was produced in 11 plants between 1942 and 1946.

The M4 prototype debuted in 1941 and was accepted for production that October. Its designers consciously emphasized speed and mobility, limiting the thickness of the armour and the size of the main gun, thereby compromising on firepower and survivability. The M4's main armament was a short-barreled, low-velocity 75-millimetre gun, and its armour thickness was a maximum of 75 millimetres and a minimum of 12 millimetres (3 inches and 0.5 inch, respectively). The tank had a maximum speed of 24 to 29 miles (38 to 46 kilometres) per hour and a range of 100 to 150 miles, depending on the series (M4 to M4A3E2). The M4 carried a crew of five--commander, gunner, loader, driver, and codriver/hull gunner. The vehicle weighed around 33 tons, depending on the series. A typical power plant was a 425-horsepower gasoline engine.

Later model German tanks were much improved, so that, by the time of the Normandy Invasion in June 1944, the M4 was outclassed by superior tanks such as the Panther and the Tiger. The M4 had a faster rate of fire and greater speed, but both the Panther and Tiger had significantly greater range and accuracy. The German tanks were also more survivable.

For the Normandy Invasion and subsequent campaigns on the European continent, the M4 was retrofitted with special-purpose devices by both the Americans and the British. The British added flails (a system of rotors and chains) to clear paths through minefields, and American servicemen added jury-rigged plows for breaking through the hedgerows of Normandy. Perhaps the most famous variation was the "Duplex Drive," a Sherman equipped with extendable and collapsible skirts that made it buoyant enough to be launched from a landing craft and make its way to shore under propeller power. The M4 also was transformed into the M32 Tank Recovery vehicle and the M4 Mobile Assault Bridge carrier. Numerous devices of all sorts were fitted onto the Sherman's versatile, reliable chassis, making it the workhorse of the Anglo-American armies of World War II.