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M26 Pershing

1945 COLD WAR KOREAN WAR WORLD WAR 2

M26 The Pershing Story

The M26 "Pershing" officially appeared at the end of World War II and was aptly named after General John Pershing (known as "Black Jack") of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in France during World War I. The M26 Pershing got off to a slow and difficult start, when the need for this "heavy tank" wasn't a priority for the U.S. Army. Instead, efforts focused on the production of the M3 Lee/Grant and M4 Sherman medium tanks, the latter of which had been an important part of British and American armored forces until the end of the war. It was not until the German Panther and Tiger heavy tank series made their debut on the European battlefield that the need for a heavily armed and armored tank combat system came to the fore. By the end of the war, heavy tanks would be the norm, and Germany, Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union all demonstrated heavy tank designs with varying degrees of success.

One of the most notable and successful developments was the Soviet "Joseph Stalin" IS series, which mounted a powerful 122mm main gun and stubbornly thick armor. Some armor developments are even considered "super-heavy" tanks, surpassing all previous tank design specifications in size and firepower - most of these outrageous and optimistic designs are due to the Germans (Panzer VIII "Rat" super-heavy tank is one of the best examples of which only two were built, the Landkreuzer P. 1000 "Ratte" is another).

By the time the Allies planned to invade the French coast on D-Day, the Panthers were already strong in numbers, easily outnumbering their closest Allied rival, the M4 Sherman. It wasn't until the Allies gained first-hand experience against these German panthers in their post-D-Day invasion reports that war planners began to realize the need for improved American tanks. The Panther offers a healthy combination of armor protection and armor penetration, the latter with an impressive and proven German main gun. This allowed the German tanks to fire on the Allied tanks even before the Allied tanks were within range of the counter-attack. Additionally, heavier German tank types often required clever strikes on the more vulnerable sides or rear, and required a combination of multiple Shermans for action.

Conversely, the Shermans lacked point defense armor and could only use their original 75mm main guns - which were eventually upgraded to 76mm models and better armor in the form of the Sherman "Jumbo".

Design work on a new American heavy tank began, and considerable effort was devoted to developing an artillery system that would rival the new German tank. This led to the effectiveness testing of several prototypes, and one prototype (pilot) named "T26E3" was officially selected as "Heavy Tank M26", nicknamed "Pershing".

The resulting Pershing design featured a powerful 90mm M3 main gun (a weapon said to be almost on par with the fabled German 88mm dual-purpose anti-aircraft/anti-tank gun system). Armor-wise, the M26 Pershing doesn't disappoint, and compared to the Sherman, it has a thicker skin for maximum protection, especially on its front fascia. The vehicle is piloted by a crew of five, including a driver (sitting forward left of the fuselage), a bow gunner/radio operator (sitting forward right of the fuselage) and a gunner, loader and commander, They all sit in movable turrets. The bow gunner operates a 7.62mm Browning machine gun mounted on a limited arc ball seat on the right front of the hull.

The gunner manages a coaxially mounted 7.62mm Browning machine gun mounted next to the 90mm main gun. This machine gun could be used against targets where the 90mm gun proved too powerful. The turret is armed with a 12.7mm Browning heavy machine gun for use against softly armored vehicles and low-flying aircraft.

The ship can carry 70 rounds of 90mm ammunition, plus 5,000 rounds of 7.62mm and 550 rounds of 12.7mm. In terms of performance, the Pershing comes with a Ford GAF ??8-cylinder gasoline engine rated at 400-450 hp, has a top speed of 25 mph, and has a range of 100 miles.

Off-road performance drops significantly at 5.25 mph. The total weight of the M26 Pershing is approximately 46 tons.

Overall, the M26 is the next armored system to be deployed by the Allies, similar in scope, functionality and performance to the German Panther. The Panther itself came to be known as the German Army's best "all-around" main battle tank, although the post-war "King Tiger" line was undoubtedly the most powerful - just lacking in numbers and invaluable in trying to reach its full potential the potential for fuel later in the war.

The first M26 Pershings to arrive in theater arrived in Europe in early 1945. By this time, Germany was fully engaged in a defensive war on multiple fronts, and was rapidly losing ground each week - with the Soviets battling in the east and combined Allied contingents in the west, north and south. In April, Berlin fell to the Red Army and Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker. Germany's war ended in May with the surrender of troops led by senior commanders.

The upcoming M26 Pershing was delivered to the theater just too late to have any valuable tactical use, although at least 200 were reported to be on European soil, these were the US 3rd and 9th Armoured Divisions and another 100 were retained The region can be further strengthened if needed. Throughout World War II, only about 20 M26s were involved in any combat-related operations, and some M26s attached to the 3rd Armored Division miscalculated a pair of Tiger tanks and a Panther at a range of up to 1,000 yards - This is the only newest German tank so far. In early April, a Tiger King and another Panther were destroyed near Dessau by a "Super Pershing" fitted with a 90mm high-speed T15E1 gun and additional armor. Only a few Super Pershing made it into Europe, and it was in the latter stages of the war.

Pershing was also part of an Allied armored column that crossed the Remagen Bridge over the Rhine - which arrived on March 7, 1945 under the proud flag of the 9th U.S. Armored Division.

Despite Germany's surrender, Imperial Japan continued to fight in the Pacific for months, eventually having to use nuclear weapons to end the war. Before that, the M26 Pershing arrived in the Pacific and was destined to invade Okinawa against the determined Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). However, as in Europe, these Pershing tanks arrived too late to be of any use in the grand scheme of wara dozen M26s were never unloaded from Okinawa amphibious transports until the battle was over.

What's more, the IJA has never fielded a competent medium or even heavy tank, and the M4 Sherman appears to be fighting such an army - the IJA often used outdated light tanks during the war.

In the post-war world, the M26 Pershing ended up in museum collections or storage, while the collection was used to strengthen NATO's defenses of Europe against a perceived Soviet invasion in the early stages of the Cold War. Only the US, Belgium and Italy will actually use the M26.

Variations in addition to the T26E3 prototype and the original production M26 model (known for its use of the M3 cannon and double-baffle muzzle brake) include the M26A1, which was equipped with the M3A1 cannon, single-baffle muzzle brake and bore along the barrel Hole Evacuator. The M26A1E2 is armed with the in-development T15E1 main gun (known as the "Super Pershing"), which uses a one-piece projectile.

The T26E4 is the prototype with the T15E2 main gun and two-piece projectile. The M26E1 receives a long-barreled T54 gun with an integral projectile. The M26E2 was fitted with a new powerplant and landing gear, as well as the M3A1 main gun (which later evolved into the M46 "Patton" series of tanks). The T26E2 was another prototype equipped with a 105mm field howitzer as a self-propelled gun, which eventually became the "M45 Heavy Tank". The T26E5 is another form of development that attempts to provide better armor protection, with sections up to 279mm thick.

For the main production form of the M26 Pershing, the suspension system of choice became the basic twist-type system for the Ford engine.

However, this does not mean the end of the M26 road as it will see extensive fighting in the upcoming Korean War (1950-1953). With the blessing of the Soviet Union and China, communist troops from the north invaded the south, beginning a three-year conflict on the Korean peninsula.

Initially, North Korea's progress proved outstanding compared to an ill-prepared UN/US/South Korean contingent. Only when the Allies repositioned did a counterattack drive the North Koreans to the 38th parallel and north.

China soon joined the North, driving the Allies back to the original line before the fighting subsided. During the war, the M26 rivaled the legendary Soviet-made T-34/85 - an 85mm-armed version of the classic T-34 medium tank used to drive German troops out of Soviet territory during World War II. The M26 did quite well in the Korean War, destroying up to half of the deployed T34s. The terrain and accompanying weather were relentless, and the bravery of the M26 crew showed in the results. Of the other half of the destroyed T34 tanks, there were only heavily modified M4 Shermans with 76mm weapons.

Both China and North Korea have fielded Soviet T34s, which were supplied during World War II through a massive Soviet production campaign that included tens of thousands of complete prototypes. During the Korean War, the demand for Allied tanks proved so great that M26 Pershing tanks were salvaged from warehouses or uprooted for museum/outdoor displays and ready for battle.

With the development of the main battle tank and the arrival of the main battle tank, the M26 Pershing was reclassified as a "medium tank". However, it was invaluable for a new generation of American tank designs and influenced the "Patton" series for a generation, starting with the M46 Patton.

The M46 was just a basic M26 Pershing design with a new engine, gearbox and main gun. This was followed by the M47 (unofficial "Patton II"), the M48 Patton, and finally the M60 Patton main battle tank. These tanks spanned the 1950s and 1960s until the M1 Abrams in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The final production mark of the Pershing was a model simply named "M26", and more than 2,000 were produced. In all, it is believed that more than 4,550 Pershings were produced, including all prototypes and test models.