M4A4 Sherman tank
History, technical sheet and photo
M4 Sherman tank history
After the defeat of the French army in 1940 in the face of the German army’s “flash war” strategy, the United States pointed out the importance of armored units on the battlefield.
That is why American military engineers are ordered to immediately set up a tank for World War II. Then leaves the M3 General Grant tanks. But in front of the enemy units, the M3 seems obsolete.
Thus, a new tank was designed and produced by the Americans as early as 1942, called M4 Sherman. It is not only used by American forces, but also by British, Canadian, and French forces free.
Different versions of the M4 are designed based on the original chassis and thus allow the Americans to have a wide range of armored vehicles suitable for various situations and missions. The M4 is then transformed into bulldozer tank, amphibious tank (Duplex Drive), repair tank, anti-mine tank and many other variants.
But the Sherman tank is by far not the best tank of the Second World War. It has only a low firepower and a light armor against German Tiger tanks. Indeed, it took an average of five Sherman tanks to overcome a German Tiger tank.
On the other hand, the Allies disposed of an impressive quantity of M4 Sherman tanks, thus supplanting quality by quantity.
M4 Sherman tank specification
Creator: United States of America
Denomination: M4A4 Sherman tank
Number built: 49,234
Length: 6,06 m
Width: 2,62 m
Height: 2,74 m
Weight: 31 600 kg
Maximum speed: 40 km/h
Operational range: 160 km
Main armament: M3 75 mm gun
Secondary armament: one .50 caliber Browning M2HB machine gun on top of the turret, two .30 caliber Browning M1919A4 machine guns (one for the assistant driver, the other one in the turret, coupled with the main gun)
Engine: Chrysler A57 multibank gasoline engine; 370 hp (276 kW) at 2,400 rpm
Crew: 5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, assistant driver)
Chassis armor: 50 mm (front), 38 mm (rear), 38 mm (sides)
Turret armor: 75 mm (front), 50 mm (rear), 50 mm (sides)
