The design of which would become the M4 medium tank started one day after it was

ordered the production of the M3, in the late August 1940. In that time, the
British were preparing for the threat

of a German invasion while France, Belgium and Holland were trying to get used to
the occupation. Then, the creators of the project could barely imagine that their
tank would have such an important

role in the liberation of Europe, and that it would be the most profusely produced
and the most important tank of the Allies during the Second World War. For this
tank the Armored Force Board

specified that the hull had to mount a full-rotating turret and a stabilized 75-
millimeter cannon. Ended the project of the M3 in March 1941, the Rock Island
Arsenal offered in April of that year

five designs for the future M4 to the Armored Force Board. It was chosen the most
advanced one, which used the chassis, engine, transmission and suspension of the M3
with a new superior hull, cast

or welded, fitted with a central turret armed with a 75-millimeter cannon and a
cupola with machine gun. Another reminiscence of the M3 were the side doors
provided in the hull. The prototype had

mounted the M2 cannon, which with a muzzle speed of 564 meters/second was deemed as
too short, so in September 1940 it was ordered a longer cannon with higher muzzle
speed to be installed in the

series models; this one was the M3 cannon, with a muzzle speed of 619
meters/second. This draft project, which was called T6 Medium Tank until it was
normalized, appeared in two forms. One had the

upper part of the hull welded and quite angular and it became the M4; the other had
the upper part of the hull made by casting - which was quite harder but faster to
produce, without any other

advantage or disadvantage - and it became the M4A1. The first models of the M4 had
the unfortunate reputation of exploding violently when hit by anti-tank fire. To
overcome this problem it was

tried to protect the ammunition stored in the tank, providing frames or armored
plates to the storages.[p]
In February 1942, Lima Locomotive Works made the pre-series models of the M4 which
differed from the T6 in the suppression of the side doors, and serial production
started in March, in the

factories Lima Locomotive, Pacific Car & Foundry and Pressed Steel with the version
M4A1. Given the intensification and expansion of the war, President Roosevelt
ordered that the production of 1000

monthly tanks provided for 1942 were doubled, and to achieve this the Pacific Car &
Foundry, Fisher Body Division from General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Federal
Machine & Welder Company were

added to the list of factories involved in the production of the M4 tank. The two
models continued in production more or less parallely; the ten factories involved
in the production choose the

manufacture of one or the two models according to their own capacity. Both versions
had a frontal armor - cast and molded - of 51 millimeters in thickness, a cast
turret with a maximum thickness of

76 millimeters in the front and the 400-horsepower version of the radial engine
Wright Continental R-975. Their respective weights were very similar, somewhat
above 30 tonnes, and their maximum

speeds were also similar, more or less 40 kilometers/hour. Of course, there were
small differences between each tank. For example, a tank could be equipped with
either an electric or a hydraulic

system for rotating the turret, according to what were available in the moment, and
some of them were equipped with a Browning M2 12.7-millimeter machine gun in the
commander's hatch. Besides, a

20 percent of the M4 tanks had installed a 105-millimeter howitzer instead of the

M3 cannon to use them in close support missions. Wheel arrangement consisted of
three bogies on each side having

two small road wheels each one and traction was given by a fore drive sprocket. The
suspension, of a type called VVSS (Vertical Volute Spring Suspension), and the
tracks, 41 centimeters wide, had

their origin in the medium tank M2, and they were certainly more adequate for a 20-
ton tank than for the 30-ton tank that the M4 was. A new suspension of the type
HVSS (Horizontal Volute Spring

Suspension) along with new tracks 58 centimeters wide was later incorporated,
improving driving comfort and solving the problems that the excessive ground
pressure created in soft terrains. The

tanks modified like this were denominated M4A3E8 in the US Army and assigned the
sufix "Y" by the British.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/tanks_united_states/
m4a3e8_sherman_medium_tank.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/tanks_united_states/
m4a3e8_sherman_medium_tank.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Three views of a M4A3E8 known by the Americans as "Easy Eight" due to their
improved suspension HVSS (Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension) different from the
VVSS (Vertical Volute Spring

Suspension) used in previous models. This tank is shown as it appeared in a

military parade with the United States occupying forces in Munich in June 1945.
Note how the hull of the tank has a

camouflage pattern painted whereas the turret does not. The ensign indicates, from
left to right, that the tank belongs to the 7th Army, 19th Tank Batallion. The
12.7-millimeter machine gun

appears removed from the turret top and stored in the turret rear. This version of
the Sherman armed with the M1 76.2-millimeter cannon was equipped with the turret
from the never commissioned T23

tank.[/span][p]
Great Britain, by virtue of the Lend and Lease Law, received a considerable amount
of M4 tanks of the different variants and by this order of importance: M4A4, M4A2,
M4, M4A1 and M4A3. The British,

who were anxious to possess an effective medium tank, baptized the M4 as Sherman,
after General William Tecumseh Sherman, being denominated Sherman I the basic model
M4 and Sherman II the M4A1. The

sufix "B" was assigned to the close support tanks, being used the same system for
the successive versions. The US Army adopted later the name Sherman for their own
M4 tanks. Overall were produced

about 8400 M4 Sherman I and about 9700 M4A1 Sherman II. Of these, two thirds
carried the M3 75-millimeter cannon; the rest carried the faster firing M1 76.2-
millimeter cannon. This one was more

effective than the M3, but it was still inferior to the British 17-pounder and the
German 88 millimeters. Samely as its German counterpart, the M1 cannon had been
developed from an anti-aircraft

cannon. The new cannon, which fired a 7-kilogram piercing projectile, could
perforate an armor 100 millimeters thick at a distance of 1000 meters, which was
insufficient to ensure the destruction

of a Tiger or even a Panther. The M1 did not fit in the original turret and,
consequently, it was used the turret from the T23, a tank still in development
which had no success. It was planned to

mount a 90-millimeter cannon in the T23 and its turret fitted in the turret ring of
the Sherman without modifications required. Moreover, the British 17-pounder (more
in detail, the 17 pdr

Ordnance Quick Firing was a 76.2 millimeters 56 calibers long cannon) did not fit
either in the original turret, albeit in any case the cannon was installed somehow
"shoehorned" - by prolonging the

turret rearwards to make space for the recoil and counterbalance the weight of the
long cannon -, giving as result which would be probably the best version - in that
time - of the Sherman: the

Firefly. The M1 cannon was later mounted in diverse models of the M4, being
assigned to the tanks that served with the British the sufix "A" after de
denomination of the model, while to the tanks

that had installed the 17-pounder cannon was assigned the sufix "C" after de
denomination of the model; so, the M4A1 would become the Sherman IIC, the M4A3 the
Sherman IVC and the M4A4 the Sherman

VC, being this one the most numerous.[p]

The second variant of the Sherman, the M4A2, had as propulsion plant the General
Motors 6046, a compound of two twin Diesel engines attached to a common
transmission inside the welded hull, and

they were armed with one of the three main cannons aforementioned. This 410-
horsepower Diesel engine notoriously increased operational range, reaching up to
240 kilometers. The third variant, the

M4A3, was based as well in the welded hull, but with an angle in the glacis
increased to 47 degrees.
Other modifications were a periscope in the commander's hatch, a hatch for the
loader and the prolongation of the turret rear for storing ammunition. The M4A3 was
propelled by a new 500-horsepower

engine, the Ford GAA with 8 cylinders in V, projected and manufactured by Ford
specially for this tank. This engine was a significative improvement in respect of
its predecessors, having better

reliability and general performance. This engine moved the M4A3, which was slightly
heavier than previous models, to a much more acceptable maximum speed of 50
kilometers/hour. This new engine was

probably the most important factor that turned the M4A3 into the most important
version of the Sherman. Almost 11500 exemplars of this version were produced: 5000
of them armed with the M3 75

-millimeter cannon, 3500 with the M1 76.2-millimeter cannon and the rest with the
M4 105-millimeter howitzer. Almost all of them remained in service with the US
Army; there was a small number -

254 of them - that were built with a supplementary 102 millimeters thick armor
welded to the front armor and another one 152 millimeters thick welded in the front
of the turret. These tanks,

denominated M4A3E2 or Sherman "Jumbo", were employed in assault missions during the
Allied invasion in France. As a consequence of the additional armor, these tanks
weighed 7 tonnes more than the

standard tank and their maximum speed decreased to levels of the original M4, but
they were really difficult to stop.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/tanks_united_states/
m4_sherman_medium_tank_flamethrower.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/tanks_united_states/
m4_sherman_medium_tank_flamethrower.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]M4 Sherman Crocodile (flamethrower tank) armed with a 75-millimeter cannon, two
7.62-millimeter machine guns and a flamethrower with a range of 40 meters; total
length including the towing

reached 11.35 meters.[/span][p]

The M4A4, which was the most common Sherman tank in service with the British, with
the denomination Sherman V, was a M4 with the Ford engine replaced by the inferior
Chrysler multibank engine that

had been installed in some M3 tanks. The use of this engine required that the hull
of this tank and, consequently, the travel of the tracks, were elongated 28
centimeters. About 8000 of these were

produced in total, before the production ended in favor of models equipped with
engines Wright Continental or Ford. In some - less than 100 - were installed Diesel
engines Caterpillar of 500

horsepower, being denominated this model M4A6. Most of the M4A6 that were variants
E8 were sent to the Soviet Union, where Diesel engines were the norm. On the other
hand, when it was made the

demonstration of the M1 76.2-millimeter cannon to the British Tank Committee, in

the beginning of 1943, there was much concern. It was thought that if that was the
best that the Sherman could do,

this tank clearly would not make the grade against the Panther and Tiger tanks that
it would have to face in increasing numbers. In general, the experts were right. As
it was said, the Sherman

never was rival for the great German tanks and, however, it won... by the
overwhelming weight of the numbers. Nevertheless, in the end of 1943, the British
decided to install their more powerful
17-pounder cannon in their Sherman tanks. It had been proved that the 17-pounder
cannon mounted in the A30 Challenger (on the other hand an unsatisfactory tank)
could perforate the 50-60

millimeters thick frontal armor of a PzKpfw IV Ausf H from a distance of 3000

meters, while a piercing projectile from the long 75-millimeter cannon mounted in
the German tank ricocheted in the

armor of the Challenger, even if it was of inadequate quality. This made some
intermediate commanders of British tanks to start thinking on how to install the
17-pounder cannon in the turret of the

Sherman.[p]
The 30th December 1943, it was decided to remodelate 2100 valuable Sherman V tanks
to which would be denominated configuration Firefly. On the occasion of this, the
machine gun in the hull was

suppressed and the space that occupied this one and its gunner was used to store 15
additional projectiles for the cannon. This way it was born the only Allied tank
that was somehow capable of

facing the Panther and Tiger tanks in equity during the ferocious combats in
France, the Netherlands and the very Germany in 1944-45. Curiously, the Americans
were never convinced of the

superiority of the 17-punder cannon over their M1 76.2-millimeter cannon and

tenaciously refused any implication on the idea of the Firefly, even if its worth
was demonstrated again and again.

Their own M4 were in severe inferiority regarding their armament and, consequently,
they were unnecessarily vulnerable. The M4, that served in first line with the US
Army until 1956, never mounted

anything more powerful than the M1 cannon, while the Sherman tanks serving in some
of the many countries that acquired them after the Second World War carried the 17-
pounder cannon. The Israeli

were even further and, among other modifications, installed a French 105-millimeter
cannon in their Sherman tanks, used in combat even in the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Returning to the Second World

War, the Sherman fought in North Africa, since before the decisive Battle of the
Alamein up to the surrender of Germany, having a vital role, firstly in the fast
suppression of the axis forces in

Sicily and later in the slow advance accross the Italian Peninsula. The American,
British and Canadian forces that took part in the landings of the D Day, the 6th
June 1944, had much more Sherman

tanks than of any other type of tank.[p]

[aimg96]high_res/tanks_united_states/
m4a2_sherman_duplex_drive_amphibious_medium_tank.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/
tanks_united_states/m4a2_sherman_duplex_drive_amphibious_medium_tank.jpg[/aimg96]
[br]
[fs]M4A2 Sherman III DD 1 armed with a 75-millimeter cannon and two 7.62-millimeter
machine guns and equipped with a floating screen and a propeller; total height with
the screen raised reached
3.96 meters.[/span][p]
Then, the Sherman had become the basis of a series of vehicles popularly known as
"Funnies", modified for special uses and to cover particular needs. The British
created an entire armored division,

the 79th, before the D Day, to develop and operate such vehicles in such special
occassion. This division was commanded by Brigadier General Sir Percy Hobart,
formerly general inspector of the

Tanks Corps and commander of the 7th Armored Division in Egypt. Maybe the most
known and important of the "Funnies" was the Sherman DD, provided with the "Duplex
Drive" system developed initially

by Nicholas Straussler for the Valentine tank. The term "Duplex" comes from the
fact that the system gave the tank a second propulsion system; apart from being
able to move in land normally, the

Sherman DD could "swim" in the water by means of propellers; the tank floated
thanks to a screen, lightweight and waterfproof, fixed all around the hull of the
tank above the upper section of the

tracks.[p]
During four years 49230 exemplars of all the models were built, many of which
formed part of the arsenal of numerous countries after the Second World War, taking
part in most part of the conflicts

happened since then. If the Sherman was appreciated was because of its realiability
and easy maintenance, even if it had proven to be certainly very vulnerable against
the German heavy tanks. This

indicated the different standpoints that Germans and Americans adopted for armored
warfare. While the first ones built machines that seemed of craftmanship quality
compared to their counterparts,

Americans focused in quantity: "To face a Tiger are needed four Sherman with the
perspective of losing three." This apparent despise for the lives of their crews
can seem strange in the American

doctrine, but the fact is that in the practice the crews of these tanks - and other
Allied models in general - often found themselves in severe risk, when the American
industrial power, untouched

by the war, was obviously capable of much better than this. After the Sherman,
American tank designs notably improved in quality, but the American conception of
tanks was nothing specially

noteworthy until the advent of the M1 Abrams. After the Second World War the
Sherman served in the Korean War and in Middle East.[p]
[b]The Sherman in the postwar[/span][p]
In Korea the Sherman achieved notable success against the T-34/85, an ideal
counterpart whose success in the previous war had been caused as well by the
overwhelming weight of the numbers. Both

tanks had similar firepower; both the 85-millimeter cannon of the Soviet tank and
the 76.2-millimeter cannon of the American tank could penetrate a 110-115
millimeters thick slanted armor from

500 meters afar. Both tanks weighed similarly - about 32 tonnes - but armor
distribution was somewhat different. To the thickness of 76 millimeters in the
turret front and 51 millimeters in the
glacis on the Sherman, the T-34/85 opposed 90 and 47 millimeters respectively. The
Soviet tank benefited from a notably lower profile (about 55 centimeters less tall)
and a higher mobility (both

in speed and range, specially this latter). After the Korean War ended, it was
Israel who showed interest in the Sherman, but its current firepower was deemed as
insufficient. During the Korean War the best that the

Sherman had to face was the T-34/85, an already obsolescent tank. But in the Arab
countries, the new T-54/55 tanks, armed with a 100-millimeter cannon, were arriving
and these were among the best

tanks in the world, even if the Arab countries always showed themselves incapable
of making the best out of their equipment.[p]
When Israel received their Sherman tanks, the most important change that they did
was to replace the original 76.2-millimeter cannon with the French 75-millimeter
cannon installed in the light

tank AMX-13 which, ironically, had been developed from the 75-millimeter cannon
used by the German Panther tank. This version of the Sherman was called Sherman M-
50. Eventually, in the following

decade, they replaced in 180 of their Sherman tanks the 75-millimeter cannon with a
shortened version of the French CN-105-57 105-millimeter cannon (from 57 to 44
calibers); this version of the

Sherman was called Sherman M-51. These two improved versions were called Super
Sherman and the M-51 was also referred as Isherman; but these two denominations
were not officially used in Israel.
The Isherman was notably successful against the T-54/55 and even the T-62 in the
Arab-Israeli wars, in a demonstration of what an adequate modernization and a
skilled crew is capable to extract

from a design that was mediocre at its core.[p]

Another far place where the Sherman had arrived was Argentina. Already from 1946
the Argentinean Army had acquired 120 tanks Sherman IVC and Sherman VC for their
armored regiments. After thirty

years in service, not counting the ones during the Second World War, these tanks
presented severe malfunctions and attrition. In expectance of the arrival of the
TAM - the Argentinean Medium Tank

whose chassis was based in the German armored vehicle Marder -, given the prolonged
time required for the development and commissioning of the new tank, it was decided
to recondition these Sherman

Firefly, according to a program carried by the Arsenal Command, for which the hull
was repaired, the wheel ensemble and suspension renovated, the gasoline engine
replaced by a Diesel engine and it was provided the

installation of a modern armament consisting of the same French 105-millimeter

cannon that Israel had installed in their "Isherman", the MAG 7.62-millimeter
machine gun, the M2HB 12.7 millimeters

machine gun and also four smoke launchers. This new armament required modifications
in the turret. Also it was included in the modernization a communications equipment
VCR-3600. So basically, the
"Repowered" Argentinean Sherman was identical to the Isherman in its
characteristics.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/tanks_united_states/
m4_sherman_firefly_medium_tank_argentina.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/tanks_united_states/
m4_sherman_firefly_medium_tank_argentina.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Prototype of a modified M4A3 Sherman IVC Firefly from the Argentinean Army,
1977, as they were devised by the 601st Arsenal Batallion Esteban de Luca. Note the
new 105-millimeter cannon and

the smoke launchers in the turret.[/span][p]

[b]Specifications for M4[/span][p]
[box]
Crew: 5[p]
Armament: One M3 75-millimeter cannon; one Browning M 1919 A4 7.62 millimeters co-
axial machine gun; one Browning M 1919 A4 7.62-millimeter machine gun in the hull
front; one Browning M2 12.7

-millimeter machine gun in the turret top[p]

Ammunitions: 90 for 75-millimeter cannon; 600 for 12.7-millimeter machine gun; 6750
for 7.62-millimeter machine guns[p]
Armor: 15-76 millimeters[p]
Length: 6.04 meters[p]
Width: 2.60 meters[p]
Height: 2.71 meters[p]
Weight: 30.3 tonnes[p]
Ground clearance: 43 centimeters[p]
Ground pressure: 1.34 kilograms/square centimeter[p]
Power to weight ratio: 13.2 horsepower/tonne[p]
Engine: Wright Continental R-975, refrigerated by air, developing 400 horsepower at
2400 revolutions per minute[p]
Maximum speed: 40 kilometers/hour[p]
Maximum operational range: 180 kilometers[p]
Maximum surmountable trench: 1.90 meters[p]
Maximum surmountable step: 0.61 meters[p]
Maximum surmountable slope: 60 percent[p]
Maximum fording: 0.91 meters[p]
[/div][p]
[b]Specifications for M4A3[/span][p]
[box]
Crew: 5[p]
Armament: One M3 75-millimeter cannon; one Browning M 1919 A4 7.62 millimeters co-
axial machine gun; one Browning M 1919 A4 7.62-millimeter machine gun in the hull
front; one Browning M2 12.7

-millimeter machine gun in the turret top; one 50 millimeters smoke launcher in the
turret top[p]
Armor: 15-100 millimeters[p]
Length: 6.27 meters[p]
Width: 2.67 meters[p]
Height: 2.71 meters[p]
Weight: 31.5 tonnes[p]
Ground pressure: 1 kilogram/square centimeter[p]
Power to weight ratio: 15.9 horsepower/tonne[p]
Engine: Ford GGA with 8 cylinders in V, refrigerated by water, developing 500
horsepower at 2600 revolutions per minute[p]
Maximum speed: 42-48 kilometers/hour[p]
Maximum operational range: 160 kilometers[p]
Maximum surmountable trench: 2.29 meters[p]
Maximum surmountable step: 0.61 meters[p]
Maximum surmountable slope: 60 percent[p]
Maximum fording: 0.91 meters[p]
[/div][p]
[b]Sherman VC Firefly[/span][p]
[aimg96]high_res/tanks_united_states/
m4_sherman_firefly_medium_tank_cutaway.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/tanks_united_states/
m4_sherman_firefly_medium_tank_cutaway.jpg[/aimg96][p]
[box]
1 - 17-pounder cannon :: 2 - 7.62 millimeters M 1919 co-axial machine gun :: 3 -
12.7 millimeters M2 machine gun :: 4 - Commander's cupola/hatch :: 5 - Commander's
periscope :: 6 - Loader's hatch
:: 7 - Radio :: 8 - Signal pistol :: 9 - 17-pound ammunition storage :: 10 -
Commander's seat :: 11 - Loader's seat :: 12 - Escape hatch :: 13 - Driver's
periscope :: 14 - Fire extinguisher :: 15 -

Driver's seat :: 16 - Chrysler gasoline engine :: 17 - Telemeter :: 18 - Twin 12-

volt batteries serially connected :: 19 - Transmission :: 20 - Gearbox lever :: 21
- Hand brake lever :: 22 -

Steering levers :: 23 - 5-gallon water cans :: 24 - Box for tools and equipment ::
25 - Ventilator :: 26 - Radio antenna :: 27 - First aid kit :: 28 - Cannon shield
(89 millimeters thick) :: 29 -

Cannon mantlet (38 millimeters thick) :: 30 - Binoculars :: 31 - Periscope :: 32 -

Air purification duct :: 33 - Engine clutch :: 34 - Engine ventilator :: 35 -
Engine radiator :: 36 - Housing for

transmission final gear :: 37 - Return roller :: 38 - Suspension bogie :: 39 -

Drive sprocket :: 40 - Idler :: 41 - Shock absorber
[/div][p]