american tank ww2

American Tank Ww2 - But the M-4 was good in 1942, adequate in 1943, and outright superior in 1944. Unfortunately for the American tankers, the war lasted until 1945.

During World War II, American tanks were generally inferior to German tanks. German tanks have better armor protection and more firepower.

American Tank Ww2

But armor and lethality don't tell the whole story. The same American tanks were superior to their competitors in other important parameters. The M-4 Sherman in particular helped the US Army win the war - even though German tanks destroyed them en masse in battle.

M4 Sherman Tank

Sherman's shortcomings were a product of his background. Before the war, American tank design and development was bipolar, a result of the competing demands of the infantry and cavalry branches of the Army.

Infantrymen wanted a tank that could support infantry on the battlefield—no wonder. Infantry commanders preferred vehicles with big guns that could sit still and take out enemy bunkers.

In contrast, cavalry or army scouts prefer fast-moving tanks that can penetrate gaps in enemy lines. The free axis did not interfere with armor protection.

The philosophies of the two tanks are diametrically opposed. And the Great Recession compounded the problem, running out of money for research.

Burning American Tank, Italy, 1944

Shortly after the start of World War II, the United States began supplying tanks to Great Britain. The loss of France was a serious blow to the industrial production of the Allies - Great Britain could not produce everything it needed on its own.

The first American export, the M-3 Grant, had a 75mm low-velocity gun for infantry engagement and a 37mm high-velocity anti-tank gun in the turret.

This may sound dramatic, but the Americans did not have a single gun capable of engaging both infantry and tanks, so Grant had two guns. Grant's layout made it highly visible on the battlefield, making it easy to spot and therefore easy to destroy.

The Battle of Gazala in North Africa in the spring of 1942 was Grant's baptism of fire when the British Army deployed 167 Grants against the III and IV tanks of the German 15th Panzer Division.

U.s. Army Medium Tank Company (1943 45)

Although the German Afrika Korps eventually drove the British back, the arrival of the 75 mm gun, a first for the British, startled the Germans.

Grants were sufficient, but the war led to the creation of faster and more lethal tanks almost every month. A new, more lethal version of the Panzer IV, called the Mark IV Special, appeared three months before the war.

In America, tank designers were already working on Grant's successor. The new Sherman had a single 75mm gun. The crew was only five, compared to Grant's seven. The M-4 featured numerous improvements based on British experience with Grant in North Africa.

Even during the introduction, Sherman was not particularly emotional. Defense was unreliable and required constant improvements - such as an extra inch of steel plate welded to the hull to protect the gun's main bullet, and a "wet hold" system that submerged the bullet in water to prevent it from exploding in a live event. Fire blow

A Poor Defense: Sherman Tanks In Ww2

Sherman's 75mm gun was no exception. It was powerless against the latest German tanks, especially the Tiger and Panther. The gun was more suitable for destroying weakly armored targets - half-tracks, artillery and infantry.

US intelligence rated the Sherman as similar to the German tank mainstay, the Panzer IV. America gave Sherman ample justice. Unfortunately, the United States failed to anticipate the production of newer and more powerful German models such as the Panther and Tiger.

Although inferior to the Sherman tanks, the American Army believed that the new German model would rarely appear on the battlefield.

The Sherman was not the best tank, but thanks to efficient American production methods, it would be the most productive. The United States built 49,234 Sherman tanks between 1942 and 1945.

File:wwii American Tank (31637505470).jpg

Most of the US moved to the Army and Marine Corps, which underwent massive wartime expansion. Washington gave 21,959 tanks to the Allies. Great Britain, the Free French Forces, Poland, Brazil, New Zealand, China, and the Soviet Union all fielded the M-4.

Much of the military depended on American factories to maintain Shermans. Assembly lines had to be moved anyway. To maintain high production levels, managers keep design changes to an absolute minimum.

A new tank design, or even a significant change to an existing one, means fewer tanks.

The Army's ground forces, which control the equipment of the land warfare branch, were looking at the long game. Remembering the military's poor experience in the use of equipment during World War I, the AGF wanted a mature and reliable vehicle. A tank built in Detroit to be dismantled in France was worse than useless.

Silhouette Tank American World War 2 M4 Sherman Vector Image

The Army was well aware that German and Soviet tanks were getting bigger and stronger, but the US would have trouble keeping up. German and Russian tanks on the Eastern Front could travel by train, but American tanks had to be loaded and unloaded on cargo ships, a more expensive means of transportation that imposed its own limitations on vehicle design and production.

Finally, the Army viewed tank power holistically within a true weapons ecosystem. Infantry, tanks, artillery, engineers and aircraft were all part of the same team.

As such, tanks must not carry other tanks. Instead, armored vehicles should exploit gaps in enemy lines, rush in and start blowing things up. Infantry, aircraft, artillery, and tank-destroyer-like vehicles, but with lighter armor, would engage the enemy tanks while the American tanks took over.

There was a problem with this premise. Just because the Army wanted its Sherman to avoid the more powerful German Panthers and Tigers doesn't mean these battles didn't happen.

Historic Military Vehicles Sold At 2018 Rock Island Auction

To make matters worse for the American tankers, the Army's failure to correctly estimate German tank production was far greater than anyone expected, meaning that there were far more tanks on the battlefield than the Army expected.

The US finally built a new, heavier tank in early 1945. The M-26 Pershing, with its 90 mm gun and thicker armor, corrected many of the Sherman's shortcomings. In the battles around Cologne, the M-26 outperformed the German Panthers, despite the fact that the new American machine was less powerful and less reliable than the Sherman.

Post-war American tank development ensured that US tankers would never be outmatched on the battlefield. The M-60 series of tanks, and later the M-1 Abrams, were at least equal to the Soviet model.

This was due to the fact that American military forces were constantly stationed in Europe and did not need to rush overseas during the war. American tank designers were limited only by their imagination and cost.

M4 Sherman Tank Facts

Sherman is often offensive, but it's important to take it in context. Sherman's side won the battle. The M18 Hellcat (officially known as the 76mm Gun Motorized Carriage M18 or M18 GMC) is a tank destroyer used by the United States Army in World War II and the Korean War. By keeping the armor to a minimum, using an innovative Torquematic automatic transmission and equipping the relatively light car with the same gun used in some versions of the big gun, it achieved a top speed of up to 55 mph (89 km/h). Sherman tank.

The M18 Hellcat was the culmination of various fast tank destroyer designs beginning in 1941. Production began in the summer of 1943, and the M18 first saw combat service in the spring of 1944. The M18 served primarily in Western Europe, but was equally successful. Smaller numbers are found in Italy and the Pacific. Production continued until October 1944 and 2,507 were built.

The Hellcat was the most effective US tank destroyer of World War II. It had a higher kill-to-loss ratio than any other tank or tank destroyer in the US military during World War II.

A total of 526 deaths were reported: 498 in Europe, 17 in Italy, and 11 in the Pacific. For Europe, the ratio of killed to casualties was 2.3 to 1, while the overall ratio was 2.4 to 1.

Watch: 18 Ton Us Tank Craft From Wwii Unearthed In English Field

M18s "...were not primarily used in tank combat, but mostly in direct fire support for infantry."

Although the M18 was withdrawn from US service shortly after World War II, a variant, the M39 armored personnel carrier, saw service in the Korean War, and the M18 continued to see service in some countries until 1995.

The M18 Hellcat was an example of the balancing act between firepower, armor and mobility in armored fighting vehicle design. While the M18 Hellcat had excellent maneuverability and a reasonably powerful main gun, it had some weaknesses, including thin armor and poor ammunition for its main gun. Historian Steve J. Zaloga described the M18's overall design as "poorly balanced" and stated that "the Hellcat's combat success was not due to its ungainly design but to the training and dedication of its crew."

When the Tank Destroyer Force was organized in 1941, its commander was Lieutenant Colonel (later Gerald) Andrew Davies Bruce.

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