Medium tank M4, aka Sherman is a medium tank originally designed by US military during WWII. It was the most widely used medium tank by US military during the WWII era. Sherman M4 was used by all allied nations during the WWII and Sherman firefly was designed and manufactured in UK based on the M4 design. Sherman M4 served in the US military for 15 years from 1942 to 1957.
Sherman was one of the most significant and successful tanks of WWII era. Extremely high reliability, easy maintainability, abundance of spare parts and cheap building cost made it more attractive to have in any army. More than 49,000 units of Sherman tank was manufactured during the WWII era with each costing 44 to 65 thousand dollars.
Sherman M4
Development history of Sherman M4
Sherman is the 4th main development of medium tank class which started from the M2 light tank in 1935. M2 light tank developed into M2 medium tank in 1939 and it was again developed into M3 Lee tank. M3 is actually an intermediate design or a gap filling design. But, the development of M3 Lee was a big victory for US engineers since the 37 mm gun used in the M2 medium was replaced with a heavy 75mm M2 canon.
M2 light Tank
However, with the gun mounted on a side sponson M3 had some unusual design. Without a turret targeting was difficult with M3 and the tank needed to be moved around always to acquire a target. As a solution a joint design operation involving British, US and Canadian engineers resulted the first prototype M4 tank design Which was known as T6.
M3 Lee Tank
Lee M3 vs Sherman M4
Sherman is the successor of M3 Lee medium tank which served US army in the early WWII years. The mechanical design of the M3 did not changed from a significant level while developing the M4. The most significant change is that instead of mounting the main gun in side sponson mount, it was brought to the central turret. This gave the M4 Sherman better targeting ability and firing stability. A gyro-stabilizer was used to stabilize the turret main gun.
M2 75mm Gun mounted in a half-truck
A 75mm M2 or M3 gun was used in the M3 Lee and the same M3 gun was used in M4 as well. However, the ammo storage was increased from M3 carrying 46 rounds to M4 carrying 104 rounds.
M4 Sherman – General specifications
Sherman was originally designed by U.S Army Ordnance Department in 1940. The tank is 30 to 38 tonnes heavy and 19 to 20 ft long. Depending on the variant the width vary between 8ft 7 in to 9ft 10 in. Height 9 ft to 9 ft and 9 inches.
M4 Sherman
Crew
M4 Sherman was manned by a five personnel crew which include Commander, driver, gunner, loader and bow gunner. Bow gunner was also designated as the assistant driver of the tank.
Sherman M4 Armour
By the time M4 Sherman had a good armour to resist German anti-tank guns. The armour plate thicknesses vary from 12.7 to 177.8 mm depending on the location.
Sherman M4 main armament
As the main armament three different guns are used in different variants. The 75 mm M3 gun with 90 to 104 rounds, 76 mm M1A1, M1A1C and M1A2 guns with 71 rounds or a 105mm M4 howitzer with 66 rounds acted as the main armament of Sherman.
High explosive ammo, smoke ammo and armour piercing ammo were used with these guns.
Issues related to the M4 main gun
Muzzle blast in the initial 76mm guns caused heavy smoke and dust around the gun. So, after making the first shot the gunner was unable to clearly see the target. In M1A1C gun, the gun was threaded for a muzzle brake and the threads were covered with a protected cap.
Secondary armament
As the main machine gun a half inch caliber browning M2HB machine gun with 300-600 rounds were used. As the secondary machine guns in hull and turret two .30 caliber Browning M1919A4 MG with 6,000 – 6,750 rounds used.
Engine and power of Sherman M4
In the initial M4A1 version a petrol engine with 350 to 400 hp power is used. In the M4A2 version the fuel type was changed to diesel to increase the torque of the engine. The engine was manufactured by general motors. 6046, General motors 71 series two stroke engine was used in the M4A2.
In M4A3 again the fuel type was changed to petrol. Ford made V8 petrol engine installed in the M4A3 was able to output 450 hp. In M4A4 version a Chrysler A57 multibank 39 cylinder Petrol engine with a power output of 370hp was used. Again in M4A6 version a 450hp engine – Caterpillar D-200A 9 cylinder radial diesel engine was installed.
As the power transmission system Spicer made manual transmission system with 5 forward gears and single reverse gear was installed.
The power to weight ration of M4 Sherman tank vary from 10.46 to 13.49 hp/t range depending on the variant.
Range and Speed
Depending on the tank variant M4 Sherman can carry 520 to 660 L of fuel. This fuel storage was able to support a operational range of 160 to 240 km on road. Depending on the terrain the consumption may increase.
The maximum on road speed vary from 35 to 48 km/h.
Sherman – Probably the most successful military vehicle development program during WWII?
The design of Sherman was proven to be one of the most successful designs in the history. With incomparable reliability records US engineers considered developing various military vehicles based on the Sherman’s design. Some vehicles developed with the Sherman blueprint include,
- Tank destroyers like M10 with 3 in gun
- Howitzers like M7B1 with 105mm howitzer
- Self-propelled gun carriers like M30 truck
- Flamethrower tanks like M4-A2
- Rocket launcher tanks like T34 Calliope
- Amphibious assault vehicles
- Engineering tanks
- Artillery carriers
- Recovery vehicles
M10 Tank Destroyer
Major battles
Other than WWII, Sherman served in many major battles around the world. Korean war, Cuban revolution, Indo-pakistan war, Suez crisis, Iran – Iraq war are some highlights, which Sherman served as main medium tank for different countries.
Sherman Firefly
Sherman firefly is a British made medium tank of WWII. Firefly was developed from the blueprints of Sherman M4. More than 2,100 Firefly tank units were manufactured in UK’s Detroit tank arsenal company.
Unlike the M4, firefly only need a four man crew which include the commander, gunner, loader and driver. Instead of using US M2 or M3 75 mm medium velocity guns , British made QF 17 pounder 76.2 mm gun with 77 round storage capacity was used in the firefly.
A multibank petrol engine was used to power this tank and the maximum recorded power was 425 hp.
Sherman Fury
Fury is an American war film released in 2014. The movie timeline moves with a story of US tank crew, who is fighting though the German front lines during the final weeks of WWII. The crews beloved tank is a M4 Sherman nicknamed “Fury”
The tank featured in the movie is an A2 variant of Sherman M4 American made medium tank.
Summary – M4 Sherman
M4 Sherman is a WWII era American medium tank used by many armies including US army, British army, Canadian army and other allied armies. Sherman was the successor of M3 Lee tank. Sherman was identified as a durable, enduring and powerful tank and it was very successful in the battle field. Using the same design many other military vehicles including engineering vehicles, rocket launching vehicles and tank destroyers were developed.
