M4 Sherman

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Medium Tank, M4

An M4 (105) Sherman tank with spare track-links welded on

its front for additional armor protection, preserved at the
Langenberg Liberation Memorial in Ede, Netherlands
Type Medium tank
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1942–1957 (United States)
United States, and many others (see
Used by
Foreign variants and use)
Wars  World War II
 Indonesian National Revolution
 Greek Civil War
 First Indochina War
 1948 Arab–Israeli War
 Korean War
  Cuban Revolution
 Revolución Libertadora
 Suez Crisis
 1958 Lebanon crisis
 Nicaraguan Revolution
 Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
 Six-Day War
 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
 Yom Kippur War
 Lebanese Civil War
 Uganda–Tanzania War
 Iran–Iraq War

Production history
Designer U.S. Army Ordnance Department
Designed 1940
 American Locomotive Company
 Baldwin Locomotive Works
 Detroit Tank Arsenal
 Federal Machine and Welder
Company
 Fisher Tank Arsenal
Manufacturer
 Ford Motor Company
 Lima Locomotive Works
 Pacific Car and Foundry Company
 Pressed Steel Car Company
 Pullman-Standard Car Company

$44,556–64,455 in 1945 dollars,

Unit cost depending upon variant ($607,861–
879,336 in 2017 dollars)[1]
September 1941 (prototype)
Produced
February 1942 – July 1945
No. built 49,234, excluding prototype[2]
Variants See U.S. variants and foreign variants
Specifications
66,800–84,000 lb (33.4–42.0 short tons,
Mass 30.3–38.1 tonnes) depending upon
variant[3]
19 ft 2 in–20 ft 7 in (5.84–6.27 m)
Length
depending upon variant[3] }
8 ft 7 in (2.62 m) to 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Width
depending upon variant[3]
9 ft 0 in–9 ft 9 in (2.74–2.97 m)
Height
depending upon variant[3]
 5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver,
Crew
assistant driver/bow gunner)

12.7 to 177.8 mm (0.50 to 7.00 in)

Armor
depending on location and variant[3]
75 mm gun M3 (90–104 rounds)
or
Main 76 mm gun M1A1, M1A1C, or M1A2
armament (71 rounds)
or
105 mm howitzer M4 (66 rounds)[3]
.50 caliber Browning M2HB machine gun
Secondary (300–600 rounds),
armament 2×.30 caliber Browning M1919A4
machine guns (6,000–6,750 rounds)[3]
M4 and M4A1 model:

Continental R975-C1 or -C4 9 cylinder

radial gasoline engine,
350 or 400 hp (261 or 298 kW) at 2,400
rpm[3]
M4A2 model: General Motors 6046 twin
inline diesel engine; 375 hp (280 kW) at
2,100 rpm[3]>
Engine
M4A3 model: Ford GAA V8 gasoline
engine; 450 hp (336 kW) at 2,600 rpm[3]
M4A4 model: Chrysler A57 multibank
~(30 cylinder) gasoline engine; 370 hp
(276 kW) at 2,400 rpm[3]

M4A6 model: Caterpillar D-200A

(Wright RD-1820) 9 cylinder radial diesel
engine; 450 hp (336 kW) at 2,400 rpm[3]
10.46–13.49 hp/short ton (8.60–11.09
Power/weight
kW/t) depending upon variant[3]
Spicer manual synchromesh transmission,
Transmission
5 forward and 1 reverse gears[4]
Vertical volute spring suspension (VVSS)
Suspension or horizontal volute spring suspension
(HVSS)
138–175 US gal (520–660 l; 115–
Fuel capacity
146 imp gal) depending upon variant[3]
Operational Road:
range 100–150 mi (160–240 km) depending
upon variant[3]
 Cross-country:
60–100 mi (97–161 km) depending upon
variant[3]
22–30 mph (35–48 km/h) on road,
Maximum speed
depending upon variant[5][3]

 v
 t
 e

Tanks of the United States

 v
 t
 e

M4 Sherman tank

The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the
United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable,
relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It was also the basis of several other
armored fighting vehicles including self-propelled artillery, tank destroyers, and armored
recovery vehicles. Tens of thousands were distributed through the Lend-Lease program to the
British Commonwealth and Soviet Union. The tank was named by the British after the American
Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman.[6]

The M4 Sherman evolved from the M3 Medium Tank,[a] which – for speed of development – had
its main armament in a side sponson mount. The M4 retained much of the previous mechanical
design, but moved the main 75 mm gun into a fully traversing central turret. One feature, a one-
axis gyrostabilizer, was not precise enough to allow firing when moving but did help keep the
gun aimed in roughly the right direction for when the tank stopped to fire.[7] The designers
stressed reliability, ease of production and maintenance, durability, standardization of parts and
ammunition in a limited number of variants, and moderate size and weight (to facilitate shipping
and for compatibility with existing bridging equipment size and weight limit restrictions.[8]).
These factors, combined with Sherman's then-superior armor and armament, outclassed German
light and medium tanks fielded in 1939–42. The M4 was the most-produced tank in American
history, with 49,324 produced (including variants);[b] During World War II, the Sherman
spearheaded many offensives by the Allies after 1942.

When the M4 tank went into combat in North Africa with the British Army at the Second Battle
of El Alamein in late 1942, it increased the advantage of Allied armor over Axis armor and was
superior to the lighter German[10] and Italian tank designs. For this reason, the US Army believed
that the M4 would be adequate to win the war, and relatively little pressure was initially exerted
for further tank development. Logistical and transport restrictions, such as limitations imposed
by roads, ports, and bridges, also complicated the introduction of a more capable but heavier
tank.[11][c] Tank destroyer battalions using vehicles built on the M4 hull and chassis, but with
open-topped turrets and more potent high-velocity guns, also entered widespread use in the
Allied armies. Even by 1944, most M4 Shermans kept their dual-purpose 75 mm gun.[12] By then,
the M4 was inferior in firepower and armor to increasing numbers of German upgraded medium
tanks and heavy tanks but was able to fight on with the help of considerable numerical
superiority, greater mechanical reliability, better logistical support, and support from growing
numbers of fighter-bombers and artillery pieces.[13] Some Shermans were produced with a more
effective armor-piercing gun, the 76 mm gun M1, refitted with a 76.2 mm caliber Ordnance QF
17-pounder gun by the British (the Sherman Firefly), or given a 105 mm gun to act as infantry
support vehicles.

The relative ease of production allowed large numbers of the M4 to be manufactured, and
significant investment in tank recovery and repair units allowed disabled vehicles to be repaired
and returned to service quickly. These factors combined to give the Allies numerical superiority
in most battles, and many infantry divisions were provided with M4s and tank destroyers. By
1944, a typical U.S. infantry division had attached for armor support an M4 Sherman battalion, a
tank destroyer battalion, or both.[14]

After World War II, the Sherman, particularly the many improved and upgraded versions,
continued to see combat service in many conflicts around the world, including the UN forces in
the Korean War, with Israel in the Arab–Israeli wars, briefly with South Vietnam in the Vietnam
War, and on both sides of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.[15]

Contents
 1 U.S. design prototype
o 1.1 Doctrine
 2 U.S. production history
 3 Service history
o 3.1 Allocation
o 3.2 First combat
o 3.3 Eastern Front
o 3.4 Pacific Theater
o 3.5 Korean War
o 3.6 Other uses
 4 Armament
o 4.1 Gun development
o 4.2 The tank destroyer doctrine
o 4.3 Variants
 5 Armor
o 5.1 Turret
o 5.2 Hull
o 5.3 Effectiveness
o 5.4 Upgrades
 5.4.1 M4A3E2
  6 Mobility
 7 Reliability
o 7.1 M4A1
o 7.2 M4A2
o 7.3 M4A3
o 7.4 M4A4
o 7.5 Engine
 8 US variants
 9 Foreign variants and use
o 9.1 Former operators
 10 See also
o 10.1 Tanks of comparable role, performance and era
 11 Notes
 12 References
 13 Sources
 14 External links

U.S. design prototype

Cutaway Sherman showing transmission and driver's seat

The United States Army Ordnance Department designed the M4 medium tank as a replacement
for the M3 medium tank. The M3 was an up-gunned development of the M2 Medium Tank of
1939, in turn, derived from the M2 light tank of 1935. The M3 was developed as a stopgap
measure until a new turret mounting a 75 mm gun could be devised. While it was a big
improvement when used by the British in Africa against German forces, the placement of a
37 mm gun turret on top gave it a very high profile, and the unusual side-sponson mounted main
gun, with limited traverse, could not be aimed across the other side of the tank. Though reluctant
to adopt British weapons into their arsenal, the American designers were prepared to accept
proven British ideas. These ideas, as embodied in a tank designed by the Canadian General Staff,
also influenced the development of the American Sherman tank. Before long American military
agencies and designers had accumulated sufficient experience to forge ahead on several points.
In the field of tank armament, the American 75 mm and 76 mm dual-purpose tank guns won the
acknowledgment of British tank experts.[16] Detailed design characteristics for the M4 was
submitted by the Ordnance Department on 31 August 1940, but the development of a prototype
was delayed while the final production designs of the M3 were finished and the M3 entered full-
scale production. On 18 April 1941, the U.S. Armored Force Board chose the simplest of five
designs. Known as the T6, the design was a modified M3 hull and chassis, carrying a newly
designed turret mounting the M3's 75 mm gun. This would later become the Sherman.[3]

The Sherman's reliability resulted from many features developed for U.S. light tanks during the
1930s, including vertical volute spring suspension, rubber-bushed tracks, and a rear-mounted
radial engine with drive sprockets in front. The goals were to produce a fast, dependable medium
tank able to support infantry, provide breakthrough striking capacity, and defeat any tank then in
use by the Axis nations.[citation needed]

The T6 prototype was completed on 2 September 1941. The upper hull of the T6 was a single
large casting. It featured a single overhead hatch for the driver and a hatch in the side of the hull.
In the later M4A1 production model, this large casting was maintained, although the side hatch
was eliminated and a second overhead hatch was added for the assistant driver. The modified T6
was standardized as the M4, and production began in February 1942.[17] The cast-hull models
would later be re-standardized as M4A1, with the first welded-hull models receiving the
designation M4. In August 1942, a variant of the M4 was put forth by the Detroit Arsenal to have
angled, rather than rounded hull and turret armor. The changes were intended to improve the
tank's protection without increasing weight or degrading other technical characteristics.[citation needed]

Doctrine

A Sherman DD amphibious tank of 13th/18th Royal Hussars in action against German troops
using crashed Horsa gliders as cover near Ranville, Normandy, 10 June 1944

As the United States approached entry into World War II, armored employment was doctrinally
governed by Field Manual 100–5, Operations (published May 1941, the month following
selection of the M4 tank's final design). That field manual stated:
The armored division is organized primarily to perform missions that require great mobility and
firepower. It is given decisive missions. It is capable of engaging in all forms of combat, but its
primary role is in offensive operations against hostile rear areas.[18]

The M4 was, therefore, not originally intended primarily as an infantry support tank. It placed
tanks in the "striking echelon" of the armored division, and placed the infantry in the "support
echelon", without directing that tanks should only seek to attack other tanks, thus leaving target
selection up to the field commander based on what types of units were available to him to attack.
A field manual covering the use of the Sherman (FM 17–33, "The Tank Battalion, Light and
Medium" of September 1942) described fighting enemy tanks when necessary as one of the
many roles of the Sherman, but devoted only one page of text and four diagrams to tank-versus-
tank action, out of 142 pages.[19] This early armored doctrine was heavily influenced by the
sweeping early war successes of German blitzkrieg tactics. By the time M4s reached combat in
significant numbers, battlefield demands for infantry support and tank versus tank action far
outnumbered the occasional opportunities of rear-echelon exploitation.[citation needed]

United States doctrine held that the most critical anti-tank work – stopping massed enemy tank
attacks – was primarily to be done by towed and self-propelled anti-tank guns, operated by
"Tank Destroyer" battalions, with friendly tanks being used in support if possible.[20] Speed was
essential to bring the tank destroyers from the rear to destroy incoming tanks. This doctrine was
rarely followed in combat, as it was found to be impractical. Commanders were reluctant to
leave tank destroyers in reserve; if they were, it was also easier for an opposing armored force to
achieve a breakthrough against an American tank battalion, which would not have all of its anti-
tank weapons at the front during the beginning of any attack.[21]

U.S. production history

See also: American armored fighting vehicle production during World War II

M4A4 Sherman production line in the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, Warren, Michigan (1942)
The second production Sherman, Michael, displayed at The Tank Museum, Bovington, England
(2010)

M4, and M4A1 (shown), the first Shermans, share the inverted U backplate and inherited their
engine and exhaust system from the earlier M3 Medium Tank

This M4A4 has extra armor plates in front of crew hatches

The first production of the Sherman took place at the Lima Locomotive Works, with many early
vehicles reserved for British use under Lend-Lease; the first production Sherman was given to
the U.S. Army for evaluation, and the second tank of the British order went to London.
Nicknamed Michael, probably after Michael Dewar, head of the British tank mission in the U.S.,
the tank was displayed in London and is now an exhibit at The Tank Museum, Bovington, UK.[22]
[23]

In World War II, the U.S. Army ultimately fielded 16 armored divisions, along with 70 separate
tank battalions, while the U.S. Marine Corps fielded six tank battalions. A third of all Army tank
battalions, and all six Marine tank battalions, were deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations
(PTO).[24] Before September 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had announced a production
program calling for 120,000 tanks for the Allied war effort. Although the American industrial
complex was not affected by enemy aerial bombing or submarine warfare as was Japan,
Germany and, to a lesser degree, Great Britain, an enormous amount of steel for tank production
was diverted to the construction of warships and other naval vessels.[25] Steel used in naval
construction amounted to the equivalent of approximately 67,000 tanks; and consequently, only
about 53,500 tanks were produced during 1942 and 1943.[26]

The Army had seven main sub-designations for M4 variants during production: M4, M4A1,
M4A2, M4A3, M4A4, M4A5, and M4A6. These designations did not necessarily indicate linear
improvement; in that "M4A4" did not indicate it was better than "M4A3". These sub-types
indicated standardized production variations, which were in fact often manufactured
concurrently at different locations. The sub-types differed mainly in engines, although the M4A1
differed from the other variants by its fully cast upper hull, with a distinctive rounded
appearance. The M4A4 had a longer engine that required a longer hull and more track blocks,
and thus the most distinguishing feature of the M4A4 was the wider longitudinal spacing
between the bogies. "M4A5" was an administrative placeholder designation for Canadian
production. The M4A6 had a radial diesel engine as well as the elongated chassis of the M4A4,
but only 75 of these were ever produced.[citation needed]

Most Sherman sub-types ran on gasoline. The air-cooled Continental-produced Wright R-975
Whirlwind 9 cylinder radial gasoline engine in the M4 and M4A1 produced 350 or 400
horsepower (260 or 300 kW). The M4A3 used the liquid-cooled 450 hp (340 kW) Ford GAA V8
gasoline engine, and the M4A4 used the liquid-cooled 370 hp (280 kW) 30 cylinder Chrysler
A57 multibank gasoline engine. There were also two diesel-engined variants. The M4A2 was
powered by a pair of liquid-cooled GMC Detroit Diesel 6–71 two-stroke inline engines,[27] that
produced a total of 375 hp (280 kW), while the M4A6 used an RD-1820 (a redesigned
Caterpillar D-200A air-cooled radial diesel engine, adapted from Wright Aeronautical's Wright
R-1820 Cyclone 9 nine-cylinder radial aircraft engine.[27]) that produced 450 hp (340 kW). A 24-
volt electrical system was used in the M4.[4] The M4A2 and M4A4 were mostly supplied to other
Allied countries under Lend-Lease.[28] The term "M4" can refer specifically to the initial sub-type
with its Continental radial engine, or generically, to the entire family of seven Sherman sub-
types, depending on context. Many details of production, shape, strength, and performance
improved while in production, without a change to the tank's basic model number. These
included stronger suspension units, safer "wet" (W) ammunition stowage, and stronger or more
effective armor arrangements, such as the M4 "Composite", which had a cheaper to produce cast
front hull section mated to a regular welded rear hull. British nomenclature for Shermans was by
mark numbers for the different hulls with letters for differences in armament and suspension: A
for a vehicle with the 76 mm gun, B for the 105 mm howitzer, C for the 17pdr gun, and Y for any
vehicle equipped with HVSS; eg British operated M4A1(76) was known as Sherman IIA.[29]

M4 Sherman: comparison of key product features of selected models

Designation Main Armament Hull Engine
gasoline Continental R975
M4 75 mm welded
radial
gasoline Continental R975
M4(105) 105 mm howitzer welded
radial
gasoline Continental R975
M4 Composite 75 mm cast front, welded sides
radial
gasoline Continental R975
M4A1 75 mm cast
radial
gasoline Continental R975
M4A1(76)W 76 mm cast
radial
GM 6046 diesel (conjoined
M4A2 75 mm welded
6-71s)
GM 6046 diesel (conjoined
M4A2(76)W 76 mm welded
6-71s)
M4A3(75)W 75 mm welded gasoline Ford GAA V8
M4A3E2 75 mm (some
welded gasoline Ford GAA V8
"Jumbo" 76 mm)
M4A3(76)W 76 mm welded gasoline Ford GAA V8
gasoline Chrysler A57
M4A4 75 mm welded; lengthened
multibank
cast front, welded sides; diesel Caterpillar D200A
M4A6 75 mm
lengthened radial
W = ammunition stowage system

An M4A3(76)W HVSS – a 76 mm-equipped M4A3 with Horizontal Volute suspension

Early Shermans mounted a 75 mm medium-velocity general-purpose gun. Although Ordnance

began work on the T20/22/23 series as Sherman replacements, the Army Ground Forces were
satisfied with the M4 and Armored Force Board considered some features of the experimental
tanks unsatisfactory. Continuing with M4 minimized production disruption but elements of the
experimental designs were incorporated into the Sherman.[30] Later M4A1, M4A2, and M4A3
models received the larger turret with high-velocity 76 mm gun trialled on the T23 tank. The first
standard-production 76 mm gun-armed Sherman was an M4A1, accepted in January 1944, which
first saw combat in July 1944 during Operation Cobra. Variants of the M4 and M4A3 were
factory-produced with a 105 mm howitzer and a distinctive rounded gun mantlet, which
surrounded the main gun, on the turret. The first Sherman variant to be armed with the 105 mm
howitzer was the M4, first accepted in February 1944.

From May to July 1944, the Army accepted a limited run of 254 M4A3E2 "Jumbo" Shermans,
which had very thick hull armor and the 75 mm gun in a new, better-protected T23-style turret
("Jumbos" could mount the 76 mm M1 cannon), to assault fortifications, leading convoys, and
spearhead armored columns. The M4A3 model was the first to be factory-produced with the
horizontal volute spring suspension (HVSS) system with wider tracks to distribute weight,
beginning in August 1944. With the smooth ride of the HVSS, it gained the nickname "Easy
Eight" from its experimental "E8" designation. The M4 and M4A3 105 mm-armed tanks, as well
as the M4A1 and M4A2 76 mm-armed tanks, were also eventually equipped with HVSS. Both
the Americans and the British developed a wide array of special attachments for the Sherman,
although few saw combat, remaining experimental. Those that saw action included a bulldozer
blade, the Duplex Drive system, flamethrowers for Zippo flame tanks, and various rocket
launchers such as the T34 Calliope. British variants (DDs and mine flails) formed part of the
group of specialized vehicles collectively known as "Hobart's Funnies" (after Percy Hobart,
commander of the 79th Armoured Division).

The M4 Sherman's basic chassis was used for all the sundry roles of a modern mechanized force.
These included the M10 and M36 tank destroyers; M7B1, M12, M40, and M43 self-propelled
artillery; the M32 and M74 "tow truck"-style recovery tanks with winches, booms, and an
81 mm mortar for smoke screens; and the M34 (from M32B1) and M35 (from M10A1) artillery
prime movers.
M4A4 Cutaway: 1 – Lifting ring, 2 – Ventilator, 3 – Turret hatch, 4 – Periscope, 5 – Turret hatch
race, 6 – Turret seat, 7 – Gunner's seat, 8 – Turret seat, 9 – Turret, 10 – Air cleaner, 11 –
Radiator filler cover, 12 – Air cleaner manifold, 13 – Power unit, 14 – Exhaust pipe, 15 – Track
idler, 16 – Single water pump, 17 – Radiator, 18 – Generator, 19 – Rear propeller shaft, 20 –
Turret basket, 21 – Slip ring, 22 – Front propeller shaft, 23 – Suspension bogie, 24 –
Transmission, 25 – Main drive sprocket, 26 – Driver's seat, 27 – Machine gunner's seat, 28 –
75 mm gun, 29 – Drivers hatch, 30 – M1919A4 machine gun.
M4 Sherman Production[31][3][32]
Designation Manufacturers Total Date
M4 Pressed Steel Car Company 6,748 July 1942 – January 1944
Baldwin Locomotive Works
American Locomotive Co.
Pullman-Standard Car Company
Detroit Tank Arsenal
M4(105) Detroit Tank Arsenal 800 February 1944 – September
1944
M4(105) HVSS Detroit Tank Arsenal 841 September 1944 – March
1945
M4A1 Lima Locomotive Works 6,281 February 1942 – December
Pressed Steel Car Company 1943
Pacific Car and Foundry
Company
M4A1(76)W Pressed Steel Car Company 2,171 January 1944 – December
1944
M4A1(76)W Pressed Steel Car Company 1,255 January 1945 – July 1945
HVSS
M4A2 Fisher Tank Arsenal (Grand 8,053 April 1942 – May 1944
Blanc) [33]

Pullman-Standard Car Company

American Locomotive Co.
Baldwin Locomotive Works
Federal Machine and Welder
Co.
M4A2(76)W Fisher Tank Arsenal 1,594 May 1944 – December 1944
M4A2(76)W Fisher Tank Arsenal 1,321 January 1945 – May 1945
HVSS Pressed Steel Car Company
M4A3 Ford Motor Company 1,690 June 1942 – September 1943
M4A3(75)W Fisher Tank Arsenal 2,420 February 1944 – December
1944
M4A3(75)W Fisher Tank Arsenal 651 January 1945 – March 1945
HVSS
M4A3E2 Fisher Tank Arsenal 254 May 1944 – July 1944
M4A3(76)W Detroit Tank Arsenal 1,400 February–July 1944
 M4 Sherman Production[31][3][32]
Designation Manufacturers Total Date
Fisher Tank Arsenal 500 September 1944 – December
total 1,925[34] 1944
[d]

M4A3(76)W Detroit Tank Arsenal 2,617 July 1944 – April 1945

HVSS
M4A3(105) Detroit Tank Arsenal 500 May 1944 – September 1944
M4A3(105) Detroit Tank Arsenal 2,539 September 1944 – June 1945
HVSS
M4A4 Detroit Tank Arsenal 7,499 July 1942 – November 1943
M4A6 Detroit Tank Arsenal 75 October 1943 – February
1944
Total 49,234

Service history

The first Sherman in U.S. service, the M4A1, appeared in the North Africa campaign. Here one
of the 7th Army lands at Red Beach 2 on July 10, 1943, during the Allied invasion of Sicily

M4A3(76)W HVSS participating in a World War II victory parade

Allocation

See also: Lend-Lease Sherman tanks

During World War II, approximately 19,247 Shermans were issued to the U.S. Army and about
1,114 to the U.S. Marine Corps.[35] The U.S. also supplied 17,184 to United Kingdom (some of
which in turn went to the Canadians and the Free Poles), while the Soviet Union received 4,102[2]
and an estimated 812 were transferred to China.[36] These numbers were distributed further to the
respective countries' allied nations.

The U.S. Marine Corps used the diesel M4A2 and gasoline-powered M4A3 in the Pacific.
However, the Chief of the Army's Armored Force, Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers, ordered that no
diesel-engined Shermans be used by the Army outside the Zone of Interior (the continental U.S.).
The Army used all types for either training or testing within the United States but intended the
M4A2 and M4A4 (with the A57 Multibank engine) to be the primary Lend-Lease exports.[citation
needed]

First combat

Shermans were being issued in small numbers for familiarization to U.S. armored divisions when
there was a turn of events in the Western Desert campaign. Axis forces had taken Tobruk and
were advancing into Egypt and Britain's supply line through the Suez Canal was threatened. The
US considered collecting all Shermans together to be able to send the 2nd Armored Division
under Patton to reinforce Egypt, but delivering the Shermans directly to the British was quicker
and over 300 – mostly M4A1s, but also including M4A2s – had arrived there by September
1942.[22][37]

The Shermans were modified for desert warfare with shields over the tracks and another
stowage. The Sherman first saw combat at the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942 with
the British 8th Army. At the start of the offensive, there were 252 tanks fit for action. These
equipped the British 9th Armoured Brigade (for the battle under the New Zealand Division), 2nd
Armoured Brigade (1st Armoured Division), and 8th and 20th Armoured Brigades (10th
Armoured Division). Their first encounter with tanks was against German Panzer III and IV
tanks with long 50 mm and 75 mm guns engaging them at 2,000 yards (1,800 m). There were
losses to both sides.[38]

The first U.S. Shermans in battle were M4s and M4A1s in Operation Torch the following month.
On 6 December, near Tebourba, Tunisia, a platoon from the 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored
Regiment was lost to enemy tanks and anti-tank guns.[39]

Additional M4s and M4A1s replaced M3s in U.S. tank battalions over the course of the North
African campaign.

The M4 and M4A1 were the main types in U.S. units until the fall of 1944 when the Army began
replacing them with the preferred M4A3 with its more powerful 500 hp (370 kW) engine. Some
M4s and M4A1s continued in U.S. service for the rest of the war. The first Sherman to enter
combat with the 76 mm gun in July 1944 was the M4A1, then the M4A2, closely followed by the
M4A3. By the end of the war, roughly half the U.S. Army Shermans in Europe had the 76 mm
gun. The first HVSS-equipped Sherman to see combat was the M4A3(76)W in December 1944.
[citation needed]

Eastern Front

Under Lend-Lease, 4,102 M4A2 medium tanks were sent to the Soviet Union. Of these, 2,007
were equipped with the original 75 mm main gun, with 2,095 mounting the more-capable 76 mm
gun. The total number of Sherman tanks sent to the USSR under Lend-Lease represented 18.6%
of all Lend-Lease Shermans.[40] The first 76 mm-armed M4A2 Shermans started to arrive in the
Soviet Union in the late summer of 1944.[41]

The Red Army considered the M4A2 to be much less prone to catch fire due to ammunition
detonation than the T-34/76, but the M4A2 had a higher tendency to overturn in road accidents
and collisions or because of rough terrain than the T-34 due to its higher center of gravity.[42]

By 1945, some Red Army armored units were equipped entirely with the Sherman. Such units
included the 1st Guards Mechanized Corps, the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps and the 9th
Guards Mechanized Corps, amongst others. According to Soviet tanker Dmitriy Loza, the
Sherman was held in good regard and viewed positively by many Soviet tank crews, with
compliments given to its reliability, ease of maintenance, generally good firepower (referring
especially to the 76 mm gun version)[43] as well as an auxiliary power unit (APU) to keep the
tank's batteries charged without having to run the main engine, as was required on the T-34.
However, according to Soviet tank crews, the Sherman have some disadvantages, and the
greatest of its weaknesses was its high center of gravity, cause the tank went over on its side, and
easier to hit by enemy fires[44] The Sherman’s relatively narrow-set tracks struggled to negotiate
mud terrain compared to the wider-set tracks of the T-34 or German Panther tank.[45]

Pacific Theater

A platoon of Sherman tanks of the 713th Tank Battalion gathered at a ridge on Okinawa.

Chinese M4A4 Sherman of the Sino-American Provisional Tank Group in East Burma

While combat in the European theater often consisted of high-profile armored warfare, the
mainly naval nature of the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) relegated it to secondary status
for both the Allies and the Japanese. While the U.S. Army fielded 16 armored divisions and 70
separate tank battalions during the war, only a third of the battalions and none of the divisions
were deployed to the Pacific Theater.[46] The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) deployed only their
2nd Tank Division to the Pacific during the war.[47] Armor from both sides mostly operated in
jungle terrain that was poorly suited to armored warfare. For this type of terrain, the Japanese
and the Allies found light tanks easier to transport and employ.[48]

During the early stages of combat in the Pacific, specifically, the Guadalcanal Campaign, the
U.S. Marine Corps' M2A4 light tank fought against the equally-matched Type 95 Ha-Go light
tank; both were armed with a 37 mm main gun. However, the M2 (produced in 1940) was newer
by five years.[49] By 1943, the IJA still used the Type 95 and Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks,
while Allied forces were quickly replacing their light tanks with 75 mm-armed M4s.[50] The
Chinese in India received 100 M4 Shermans and used them to great effect in the subsequent
1944 and 1945 offensives in the China Burma India Theater.[citation needed]

As part of Operation Dexterity, an M4A1 (75 mm) advances through a tropical rain forest on
New Britain, in the South-West Pacific

To counter the Sherman,[51] the Japanese developed the Type 3 Chi-Nu and the heavier Type 4
Chi-To; both tanks were armed with 75 mm guns, albeit of different type. Only 166 Type 3s and
two Type 4s were built, and none saw combat; they were saved for the defense of the Japanese
home islands, leaving 1930s era light and medium armor to do battle against 1940s built Allied
light and medium armor.[citation needed]

During the later years of the war, general purpose high explosive ammunition was preferred for
fighting Japanese tanks because armor-piercing rounds, which had been designed for penetrating
thicker steel, often went through the thin armor of the Type 95 Ha-Go (the most commonly
encountered Japanese tank) and out the other side without stopping. Although the high-velocity
guns of tank destroyers were useful for penetrating fortifications, M4s armed with flamethrowers
were often deployed, as direct fire seldom destroyed Japanese fortifications.[52][53]

Korean War
Last type in US service: M4A3E8 Sherman used as artillery in firing position during the Korean
War

During the Korean War, the M4A3E8 Easy Eight was the main tank force of the U.S. military
until the signing of the armistice agreement. The tank was redesignated from M4A3(76)W HVSS
to M4A3E8 after World War II.[54]

At the outbreak of the war, the U.S. military tried to deploy the M4A3E8, a medium-sized tank
of the same class, to respond to North Korean T-34-85, but there were few tanks available for
rapid deployment from the Far East due to disarmament after World War II. The U.S. Far East
Command collected 58 M4A3E8 scattered throughout Japan, created the 8072nd Temporary
Tank Battalion (later renamed to the 89th Tank Battalion) on July 17 and landed them in Busan
on August 1. The 8072nd Temporary Tank Battalion was immediately deployed for Battle of
Masan to support the 25th U.S. Infantry Division.[54]

Since then, a total of 679 M4A3E8 were deployed on the Korean Peninsula in 1950.[54] The
M4A3E8 and T-34-85 were comparable and could destroy each other at normal combat ranges,
although the use of High-Velocity Armor Piercing ammunition, advanced optics, and better crew
training gave the Sherman an advantage.[55] The M4A3E8, using 76 mm HVAP ammunition,
destroyed 41 enemy tanks from July to November 1950.[56]

The M4A3E8 had weaker anti-tank combat capability compared to the larger caliber M26
Pershing and the M46 Patton that were operated at the same time. However, the lighter M4A3E8
became the preferred U.S. tank in the later phases of the war. It was considered more
advantageous in terms of maneuverability on rough terrain and ease of maintenance due to the
mechanical reliability. Because of this feature, the M4A3E8 were widely used for providing
close support to infantry units, particularly during battles for high ground and mountains.[54]

From December 1951, around 20 M4A3E8s saw service with the Republic of Korea Marine
Corps during the war while the Army operated M36 GMCs as its main armored asset.[54]

Other uses
After World War II, the U.S. kept the M4A3E8 Easy Eight in service, with either the 76 mm gun
or a 105 mm M4 howitzer. The U.S. Army replaced the M4 in 1957, in favor of the M47 Patton,
M48 Patton and, M60 Patton. The U.S. continued to transfer Shermans to its allies, which
contributed to widespread foreign use.[citation needed]

The Israeli Defense Force used Shermans from its creation in 1948 until the 1980s, having first
acquired a single M4A2 lacking the main armament from British forces as they withdrew from
Israel.[57] The popularity of the tank (having now been re-armed) compared to the outdated, 1934-
origin French Renault R35 interwar light tanks with their 37 mm short-barreled guns, which
made up the bulk of the IDF's tank force, led to the purchase of 30 unarmed M4(105 mm)s from
Italian scrapyards.[57] Three of these, plus the original M4A2, saw extensive service in the 1948-9
war of independence. The remainder were then serviced and rearmed with 75 mm guns and
components whenever these became available, composing a large part of Israeli tank forces for
the next eight years. The 75 mm-armed Shermans were replaced by M4A1 (76 mm) Shermans
imported from France before the 1956 Suez Crisis after it was realized that their armor
penetration was insufficient for combat against newer tanks such as the IDF Centurions as well
as the T-34-85s being delivered to Egyptian forces.[58] During further upgrades, the French
military helped develop a conversion kit to upgrade about 300 Shermans to the long high-
velocity 75 mm gun CN 75-50 used in the AMX-13. These were designated Sherman M-50 by
the Israelis. Before the Six-Day War in 1967, the Israeli Army upgraded about 180 M4A1(76)W
HVSS Shermans with the French 105 mm Modèle F1 gun, re-engined them with Cummins diesel
engines, and designated the upgraded tank Sherman M-51. The Sherman tanks, fighting
alongside the 105 mm Centurion Shot Kal and M48 Patton tanks, were able to defeat the T-34-
85, T-54/55/62 series, and IS-3 tanks used by the Egyptian and Syrian forces in the 1967 Six-
Day War.[59]

M4A3s were also used by British forces in Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution
until 1946 when they were passed on to the KNIL, which used them until 1949 before they were
passed on to the Indonesian National Armed Forces.[60]

Armament
Gun development

As the Sherman was being designed, provisions were made so that multiple types of main
armament (specified as a 75 mm gun, a 3-inch gun, or a 105 mm howitzer) could be mounted in
the turret.[61] The possibility of mounting the main gun of the M6 heavy tank, the 3-inch gun M7,
in the turret of the M4 Sherman was explored first, but its size and weight (the weapon was
modified from a land-based antiaircraft gun) made it too large to fit in the turret of the Sherman.
Development on a new 76 mm gun better-suited to the Sherman began in fall 1942.

In early 1942, tests began on the feasibility of mounting a 105 mm howitzer into the turret of the
Sherman. The basic 105 mm howitzer M2A1 was found to be ill-designed for mounting in a tank
turret, so it was completely redesigned and re-designated the 105 mm howitzer M4. After
modifications to the turret (concerning the balancing of the gun and the strength of the power
traverse) and interior of the hull (concerning the stowage of the 105 mm ammunition), the
Ordnance Department expressed its approval of the project, and production of M4 tanks armed
with 105 mm howitzers began in February 1944.[62]

The Sherman would enter combat in 1942 equipped with the 75 mm gun M3, a 40-caliber gun
that could penetrate an estimated 88 mm (3.5 in) of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) at 90
degrees, a range of 100 meters (110 yd) and 73 mm (2.9 in) at 1,000 meters (1,100 yd) firing the
usual M61 APCBC round, and equipped with an M38A2 telescopic gunsight.[63] Facing the early
Panzer III and Panzer IV in North Africa, the Sherman's gun could penetrate the frontal armor of
these tanks at normal combat ranges, within 1,000 yd (910 m). U.S. Army Intelligence
discounted the arrival of the Tiger I in 1942 and the Panther tank in 1943, predicting that the
Panther would be a heavy tank like the Tiger I, and doubted that many would be produced. There
were also reports of British QF 6 pdr (57 mm) guns being able to destroy the Tiger I. However,
this only happened at very close ranges and against the thinner side armor.[citation needed] Due to their
misconceptions related to this, and also due to tests that seemed to prove that the 76 mm gun was
able to destroy both the Tiger and the Panther, the leadership of Army Ground Forces were not
especially concerned by the Tiger I. The criteria and results of the 76 mm gun tests were later
ruled to have been inaccurate when compared to real-world conditions (tests against sections of
American armor plate configured to resemble those found on a Panther tank suggested that the
new M1A1 gun would be adequate, but testing against actually captured Panther tanks was never
done), with Eisenhower even remarking that he was wrongly told by Ordnance that the 76 mm
could knock out any German tank. The Army also failed to anticipate that the Germans would
attempt to make the Panther the standard tank of their panzer divisions in 1944, supported by
small numbers of Tiger I and IIs.[64]

Effectiveness of common American tank guns[65]

105 mm 75 mm 76 mm
Lethal shrapnel pieces in a 20 ft radius from HE round 1,010 950 560
88 mm
Max penetration distance on unsloped rolled homogeneous armor
(100 meters)

When the newly-designed 76 mm gun, known as the T1, was first installed in the M4 in spring
1943, it was found to unbalance the turret, and the gun barrel also protruded too far forward,
making it more difficult to transport and susceptible to hitting the ground when the tank traveled
over undulating terrain. The barrel length was reduced by 15 in (380 mm) (from 57 calibers to
52), resulting in the M1 variant. Mounting this gun in the original M4 turret proved problematic,
so the turret for the aborted T23 tank project was used instead for the definitive production
version of the 76 mm M4 Shermans,[66] along with a modified version of the gun known as the
M1A1.

Despite the Ordnance Department's development of new 76 mm and 90 mm anti-tank guns, the
Army Ground Forces rejected their deployment as unnecessary. An attempt to upgrade the M4
Sherman by installing the 90 mm-armed turret from the T26 tank project on an M4 hull in April
1944 was halted after realizing it could not go into production sooner than the T26 and would
likely delay T26 development.[67] Even in 1943, most German armored fighting vehicles (later
models of the Panzer IV tank, StuG III assault gun and Marder III panzerjaeger self-propelled
anti-tank gun) mounted the 7.5 cm KwK 40. As a result, even weakly armored light German tank
destroyers such as the Marder III, which was meant to be a stop-gap measure to fight Soviet
tanks in 1942, could destroy Shermans from a distance.[citation needed] The disparity in firepower
between the German armored fighting vehicles that began to be fielded in 1943 and the 75 mm-
armed M4 was the impetus to begin production of 76 mm-armed M4s in January 1944.[68] In
testing before the invasion of Normandy, the 76 mm gun was found to have an undesirably large
muzzle blast that kicked up dust from the ground and obscured vision for further firing. The
M1A1C gun, which entered production lines in March 1944, was threaded for a muzzle brake,
but as the brakes were still in development, the threads were protected with a cap. The addition
of a muzzle brake on the new M1A2 gun (which also incorporated a faster rifling twist leading to
a slight accuracy increase at longer ranges) beginning in October 1944 finally solved this
problem by directing the blast sideways.[69]

Army doctrine at the time emphasized the multirole ability of the tank, and the capability of the
high explosive shell was considered important. Being a dedicated anti-tank gun, the 76 mm had a
much weaker high explosive shell than the existing 75 mm, and was not initially accepted by
various U.S. armored division commanders, even though many had already been produced and
were available. All of the U.S. Army M4s deployed initially in Normandy in June 1944 had the
75 mm gun.[70] Fighting against Panther tanks in Normandy quickly demonstrated the need for
better anti-tank firepower, and the 76 mm M4s were deployed to First Army units in July 1944.
Operation Cobra was the combat debut of the 76 mm gun-armed Sherman, in the form of the
M4A1(76)W.[71] General George S. Patton's Third Army were initially issued 75 mm M4s and
accepted 76 mm-armed M4s only after the Battle of Arracourt against Panther tanks in late
September 1944.[72]