M4 Sherman (Medium Tank, M4)

History of the M4 Sherman (medium tank, M4)

The M4 Sherman series of medium tanks proved to be a valuable asset to the Allied forces in the North African, European and Pacific theaters during World War II. The Sherman proved relatively inexpensive, easy to maintain, andperhaps most importantlyan easy-to-produce combat system that more or less won ground wars for the Allies in sheer numbers. Similar to the production effort of the Soviet T-34 tank system, the M4 Sherman is the same class of tank weapon under the American cover. Despite its long range, it excelled in key combat-related categories when matched with later German armored personnel carriers.

Compared to these German systems, the M4 proved to be relatively weak, lacking a powerful main gun and relatively inadequate armor protection for its occupants and vital systems. If the Sherman had an advantage over its contemporaries, it was because of its speed, reliability on the battlefield, and its sheer number on any given mission of the day.

Europe is changing everything

Events in Europe following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 required a change in the design philosophy of American tanks. So far, the United States has paid more attention to the research and development of light tanks, and only a small amount of resources have been used for the research and development of medium tanks.

The appearance of German medium tanks Panzer IVs swarming through Polish defenses awakened the consciousness of the Americans that their Congress was still reluctant to allocate funds to upgrade their troops, as Poland was more or less seen as a military underpowered at the time - the result More expected. However, that changed when France's defence suffered the same failure. France, considered a major military power at the time, shocked the world to see it destroyed by Germany using coordinated land and air power. Now that Paris is under Nazi control, the U.S.

Congress has few qualms (or options) about freeing up millions to rebuild America's old WWI-era military.

The German Panzerkampfwagen IV (or simply Panzer IV) was originally intended as an infantry support tank. The advent of the powerful Soviet T-34 tank soon forced the Panzer IV to adopt a more "real" tank-to-tank battlefield role, where tanks could effectively engage the T-34 head-on. The Panzer IV was accordingly upgraded and armored to meet this new red challenge and became the most productive tank in the German tank line. Such was the success of the Panzer IV, which was still used under the name of the Syrian flag in the Six Day War until the 1960s - a true testament to the scope of the design.

The Panzer IV later became the main opponent of the M4 Sherman on the North African and European fronts in World War II.

M3 Lee Medium Tank

The Americans designed the top flying M3 Lee as a medium tank based on the M2A1 medium tank, which itself was a development of the M2 light tank. The M3 Lee was a viable tank system, but had very serious shortcomings in off-road mobility by forcing the entire armored system to face the target, limiting their ability to fire on targets in a timely manner. Although the M3 is limited in these factors, it is barely usable, and its armor is adequate.

By this time, her 75mm armament finally provided the Allies with a competent main gun to fight German tanks in North Africa. It was first used by the British Army, who kept up the tradition of naming American-made tanks after famous Civil War generals (Robert E. Lee's "M3 Lee" is an example here).

The British were desperate to replenish their dwindling stockpiles of capable armaments lost in the historic Dunkirk evacuation and the Battle of the Great Desert in North Africa. M3 should be enough for now.

M4 Origins

The new design entered service on 31 August 1940. The medium tank had to mount a 75mm main gun in an azimuth turret. The new tank must also integrate the engine, transmission, tracks and suspension of the M3 Lee medium tank to simplify production and save time.

This new medium tank also had to reduce the crew from six to five and improve the armor without increasing the overall vehicle weight (obviously the tank had to be able to traverse old bridges and roads in Europe and Africa in order to Relevance is maintained in every offensive move). Once the M3 series was launched and installed at the foot of the Aberdeen Proving Ground, the design began.

The design appeared as a T6 pilot model and was accepted by U.S. Army officials, who ordered production of the new "M4" on September 5, 1941. However, prior to the increase in M4 production, the M4's design was further modified to mount a heavy-barreled 12.7mm Browning machine gun in the turret for anti-aircraft purposes. One. A .30 caliber machine gun was then mounted on the nose plate in the upper part of the fuselage.

Although extra paired 2x. A 30-caliber, nose-mounted, driver-controlled machine gun was required, and these weapon systems were eventually removed from the final M4 production form. The original Sherman came in two different brands, the M4 had a welded body and the M4A1 had a cast body.

By the end of the Sherman production year, the construction of the tank was undertaken by various American heavy industry companies, including American Locomotive Company, Baldwin Locomotive Works, Detroit Tank Arsenal, Lima Locomotive Works, Stamped Steel Cars, Pacific Motors and Foundry, and Poole Man Standard Motor Company.

Debut

Like the M3 before it, the M4 Sherman's exterior design is characterized by its tall (albeit chunky) silhouette. In any case, the Sherman was a large tank, featuring a sloping torso attached to a sloping lower front hull. The most notable external feature of the M4 Sherman is its wide, sloping front hull armor with prominent location hatches for the driver and nose gunner. The wheels are similar to the original M2 design, with six wheels on one side mounted on three suspension bogies.

The main gun (whatever the role of the particular Sherman system) is mounted in a sleek round turret casing. Upper hatches were provided for the driver, passengers and the tank commander (the latter in the turret, while the loader in the later Sherman received its own turret-mounted hatch). An escape hatch was installed in the bottom of the hull, just behind the bow gunner. Although smaller than its M3 sister, the M4 Sherman was still larger than its contemporaries such as the Soviet T-34 and the German Panzerkampfwagen IV.

Mounting the engine in the rear of the design was and still is an accepted practice on the modern battlefield today except for the Israeli Merkava - this tank has the engine in the front, increasing the crew's chances of surviving a direct frontal impact . This design decision apparently stemmed from Israel's previous and multiple armor campaigns against Arab nations, leading to the assumption that Israeli armor engineers might know things that the rest of the armor design world doesn't. The entire interior of the M4 Sherman range features an all-white colour scheme.

Sherman Crew

Crew area consists of 5 people (usually time to handle various workloads on traditional MBTs), including driver, co-pilot/archer, ammunition loader, gunner and tank commander. The driver is located at the front left of the design. His position is controlled by the two steering stalks and the floor pedals directly in front of the seat and the dashboard just to the left. To his right is the gearbox cover and the storage compartment above it.

The driver can clearly see the position of the bow gunner on the far right and can clearly see the gunner, loader and commander in the turret basket. Pilots initially had access to a direct aiming slot, but when the aiming slot proved to be another ballistic weak point, this was scrapped in favor of a fixed periscope.

The dashboard contains basic power meters (speed, rpm, oil pressure, fuel, etc.) as well as a start switch, circuit breaker, and two common terminals.

The driver and gunner were positioned lower in the fuselage than the rest of the passengers, a design decision that was in turn related to the downward angle adopted by the propeller shaft, which descended from the engine bay in the rear into the nacelle in the front Gearbox. The gunner and loader sit higher at the bottom of the turret basket compared to the driver and archer, while the tank commander sits higher in the turret for quick access to the commander's hatch. Tank commanders can achieve a standing position with a foldable circular seat that can stand.

This allows the tank commander to rise above the hatch, completing the common image of the tank commander we all have, jutting chest height out of his tank, assessing the battlefield ahead.

The Archer doubles as a secondary pilot, although he is not assigned any resident pilot control. If the main driver is incapacitated, the bow gunner can double up on his position.

The position of the bow gunner required him to sit forward right of the fuselage, his position dominated by the tail of his bow-mounted 7.62mm infantry machine gun in a limited lateral installation. Like the driver, the bow gunner was given the use of a fixed periscope after the aforementioned direct sighting slot was eliminated.

Archer positions proved useful for attacking and suppressing known enemy positions (in terms of infantry) - a vital part of Sherman's arsenal against anti-tank guns. To prove that position is more important, the archer can also "mark" the target with the machine gun tracking round the cannon is using or help the main gun "point" to the target (or suspicious enemy location) alignment.

Aft of the bow gunner's seat is a floor-mounted emergency exit hatch, providing Sherman's crew with another, safer way to exit the tank if the turret and two top-mounted hull hatches are blocked or impassable The way. Both forward positions (driver and passenger) received separate armored roof hatches for direct entry and exit.

As evidenced by modern MBT systems, the position of the bow gunner has been completely eliminated, and self-defense is the responsibility of the gunner, loader or commander and their applicable machine guns, and ranging by sophisticated laser ranging System executes.

The gunner was given one of the most important tasks in the Sherman, that of firing the main gun. With training command, the tank commander verbally calls out the target (indicating the type of target in the process), the target location, and the projectile to be loaded. The loader immediately processed the information at hand and loaded new ammunition into the breech of the weapon. The task of the gunner is to traverse the turret at the target location, align the target, adjust the ammunition type and target distance, according to the commander's description.

The gunner has the ability to rotate the turret at full speed, gradually reducing speed once approaching the general direction of the target. Once aligned with the target, the gunner confirms the commander's verbal aiming parameters and takes precise aim through his available range.

To complete the firing process, the gunner flips the ignition switch and depresses the foot pedal, which activates the main gun's firing solenoid valve, causing the main gun to fire the cartridge at the bottom of the specific projectile ammunition, which then forces the projectile away to align the barrel with the target.

It can be assumed that the job of the loader is to load the main gun. This is done by the loader pulling back the lever on the breech and then placing a "fresh" projectile - AP (armor-piercing) or HEAT (high-explosive anti-tank) - into the breech, depending on the type of target the tank is targeting. was called out by the target. Then, after hearing the target call, the loader was given the command of what type of cartridge should be loaded. Most experienced loaders usually know from previous missions what type of shells can be loaded once the target type is called.

Usually, the lead tanks in only one column are equipped with spare cartridges, as this is done for safety reasons, so in the event of an ambush, the rear of the column does not accidentally fire in the front. This is good for protecting friendly tankers from each other, but in the heat of battle, the tank crew's reaction time is measured in seconds once the enemy opens fire or is exposed to the column.