Welcome To The Sherman Tank Site
The site started out as a thread on the Sturgeon’s House, and it grew into something so huge, I felt it needed its own page. Check the introduction to get started or just jump around the sidebar index. The best place to discuss the content of this website is the thread about it on the SH forum. The Sturgeon’s House Forum is a very interesting place if you have any interest in good information on a lot of subjects, information based, and no trolling, check it out.
Please feel free to comment on any post directly as well, it will have to be approved first, before it will show up. The Number of Spam Bot comments I get is nutty.
Also feel free to let me know about any cool Sherman info you may have or mistakes I’ve made. There is a thread about this over on the Sturgeon’s House forums. You can contact me there or through this page at TheShermantank.com@gmail.com
I plan on updating this site for as long as I can find out new and interesting information on Sherman tanks. Since I just found a ton of new TMs on the Sherman, I have plenty to write about.
The site has now been up over a year, and traffic has grown every month, with January of 2017 being the best month yet, with well over 17k visitors. The new Data Sheets I have done for the guns and tanks have been very popular. I will be adding more as time allows. I’ve been working on a Engine Data Sheet, the beta Ford GAA one is up for download. I’m still tweaking it, and I’ve started work on the GM 6046 as well.
Due to the volume of data and the difficulties in finding specific posts, I’m adding pages on things like the tanks, guns and motors, and there will be an entry in the pull down menu for each.
Check out the new post section: New Posts about the Sherman Tank, it’s systems or variants.
The Sherman Differential: Normally just Lumped in with the Final Drives, BUT NOT HERE!♠NEW PAGE♠
The Sherman Transmission: A pretty robust, and advanced Transmission for the time. ♠NEW PAGE♠
Post#68 The Chieftains Hatch Does the M4A1 , we review it. New Post 2/11!
Post#67 The RAM: The Shermans Awkward cousin
Post#66 Sherman Tanks of the US Army Official History books: This time the Pacific!
#65 Sherman Tanks of the US Army Official History books: This one Covered the MTO
Check out the updated sections: Post I’ve Added A Significant Amount Of New Information too.
Post#30 Sherman Model Specification Sheets: Data, and Lots of It.
For more info on the site owner click here.
Hello. I am looking for maintenance reference material on the M51 with the VT-8-450 BI Cummings in it. I am trying to figured out if the engine bolted right in and/or how they adapted to make it fit.
Hi. Mark Castro here. I work for the Governor of Bataan Province in the Philippines. We are building a new provincial capitol building which when done envisions to display WWII vehicles as well as other memorabilia as an homage to the valor of our warriors. We call our new capitol building “The Bunker”. May I ask your readers help to point me in the right direction because we would like to install 3 machines: an m4 sherman (or an m3 stuart), a Boeing p-26 peashooter, and preferably a Mitsubihi A6M2 Zero (or a Val dive bomber) inside an atrium. Any elp would be much appreciated. THank you very much and more power to your blog
Think Your site is great!!
One of my favorite American tanks is the Sherman
I work in a building in Brooklyn Ohio Where during the war they built Shermans and Torpedoes.I had the privilege of working with a gentleman who’s father actually tested the tanks at this location ( Not to be confused with the Cleveland IX plant). Its exciting to know they were built here also.
I was a tank commander in Vietnam. I have 7 books in print and a DVD all about American tanks called Tanks a Century of Dominating the Battlefield. This is a great web site. Very informative. Good work!
Clyde Hoch
Clyde
I really liked your book “Tracks”, I’m going to have get all the others now too! May take a little time, the wife is tight with the money! Thanks for checking my site out and the kind words.
Look folks, I;ve worked on M4’s and other WW2 armor (including German).
If you want solid info on the M4 in all it’s unabashed glory, and cannot be asked to pay the toll for one of Hunnicutt’s books, then -THIS- is the place.
If you susbscribed into the bullshit about the M4 being a “death trap” I’m sure you can ind many other sites that will feed into your fantasies.
Otherwise, as someone who has actually worked on WW2 armor, this site is impressive in it’s honesty and candor.
Well done sir.
Well done.
I have always bristled at the idea that the Sherman was a bad tank, or as the curator at the Aberdeen Proving Ground Museum put it, a piece of junk. I suspect that much of the complaints came from British troops. How can I find out what models of the Sherman were used by the British? Where can I find out about British armor doctrine and how it differed from US doctrine? The Sherman was more than a match for the German Mark V but no tank (except one Soviet) could do well against the Panther, Tigers or the 88mm anti-tank gun.
Also. everyone raves about the sloped armor of the T34, but why is the sloped armor on the Sherman ignored? The Sherman did not have armor as thick as the T34 but it was sloped.
Sherman had thicker frontal armour but with less slope. 51 to 63.5 mm depending on the design and from 55 to 47 deg. again depending on the design
The T-34 had a 45mm front plate at 60 deg. The T-34 had better side armour. But it’s turret was thinner.
Dear Sirs
I have just been pointed at this site and wonder if you could help with some pictures of the moulds used for the hulls of the m4a1 and the turrets please
Re
Bob,
I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen pictures myself. I’ll ask around and see if I can find anything.
Congratulations on a fantastic website. It really is one of the most comprehensive Sherman Tank references I have found on the interwebs.
I do have a quick question that I couldn’t find the answer to though; do Shermans have a brake light? I’m building an RC M4A3E2 and want to get the tail lights as accurate as possible. I found your excellent description and diagram about the service and blackout lights but I’m unsure what the top rectangular light is for?
Bronson,
Thanks for the compliment, and that’s the idea for the site, to be the place for all things Sherman tank.
The M4A3 series had tail lights. This post here, covers it in some detail, let me know if it doesn’t have the info you’re looking for.
Thanks, that’s where I found the excellent diagram and description but I’m still not clear on one of the lights. If the bottom two rectangular lenses are for blackout tail lights and the top oval shaped lens is the service tail light, what is the top rectangular lens for? I was thinking maybe a brake light but was it used at all?
Bronson,
Good question, I always assumed one of them worked as a brake light, but I don’t know for sure. I’ll poke arounds manuals tonight and see if I can come up with more info.
Most diesel Sherman tanks were sent Lend-Lease to the Soviet union for fuel compatibility with other Soviet tanks
These also had mostly all steel tracks reasoning probably less paved roads in the Eastern front that would be destroyed and steel longer lasting in extreme conditions. Also maybe steel better on ice?
Econobiker,
I think in the Russian Tanker Dimitry Loza’s interview on I remember, linked in my links, he confirms they prefered the steel tracks because the rubber block tracks with no tread made the tank handle like a “cow on ice”. He also mentioned they liked how durable the tracks were.
It seems the Brits got more of the 75mm M4A2 tanks, and the USSR got just about all the M4A2 76 tanks.
In the downloads section of your site, under “Tank Battalion AARs and unit histories: Some of these are harder to read than others but they are all interesting” there is a “report” by Irzyk entitled {Tank vs Tank}. The original publication of that article is available at:
http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p124201coll1/id/1003
Cheers
Hi!
My father served with the 44th tank battalion and was assigned to the 1st Calvary. He was a “tank commander” (Sgt.) and saw action in the Philippines, and ended the war in the Japan spending his last 6 months there. Dad passed away suddenly in 1989, and of course I’ve had a lot of questions that he can not answer.
My reason for writing is that I want to build a model of the Sherman tank that would be appropriate for that theatre and time. Of course there are many varieties and different model kits out there, and I want to do this right.
Could anyone out there give me an idea as to the type Sherman that was used there, and of course if there is any model out there that would be most appropriate.
Thank you all!
Bill Anderson
Bill, I would think it would be a composite hull M4, but I’ll dig around and try and confirm that.
Like this
Or these
But they also got M4A3 75W tanks like this
Hi,
Forgive my ignorance……Is a composite hull one with cladding outside. What is it made of?
Was there a significant difference between the Sherman M4s in the European theatre vs the Pacific? I realize different “guns” could be mounted as well as flame throwers, etc.
Really would like to put a model together to represent as accurately as I can. Ironic that most of the Sherman kits are made in Japan/China….
Bill,
They found most of the welding time spend building welded hull M4 tanks was done putting the front plate together, casting the whole hull from Molten Steel was of course quicker and more cost effective, but not all the Sherman factories had the steel casting facilities that could handle huge castings like that. The Composite Hull M4 Sherman was a compromise, the front hull was made from a large casting, the rest was welded together like a normal welded hull version. This saved the welding time, and the smaller casting for the front hull was easier to produce than a full hull casting.
This is an M4 composite hull, notice how the front is curved and this was the cast part, made by pouring molting steel into a big mold, but the rest of the tank is just like a normal welded hull M4.
It could have also been like this Sherman a large hatch M4A3 75W tank.
This model of the Sherman solved the welding problem in an even easier way, they just made the whole front plate from one rolled steel plate. This redesign also resulted in bigger hatches for the driver and co-driver.
Both of these tanks could have been used in the Philippines, but I’ve seen more composite hulls in images than M4A3 75w tanks, for what that’s worth.
Also I’m pretty sure Dragon has a very nice M4 composite hull PTO tank in their 1/35 line.
http://www.dragonusaonline.com/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=DRA6441
THANK YOU!!! Your first example (rounded front) with the 75 somehow rings a bell with my memory of Dad’s conversations.
BTW, Dad left me with a few stories – a couple funny ones, some sad ones, and a couple horrific ones. Dad was pretty humble, never knew him to lie or exaggerate. I would love to commit these to “paper”, but don’t know where to pass them along – or for that matter if anyone is interested. Any ideas ?
Bill
You’re welcome. Glad I could help! I would love to see pics of the kit as it comes along!
I would love and be honored to host your Dad’s stories, the life of tankers fascinates me. I of course understand if your not interested.
Bill,
I was poking around trying to confirm what tanks the 44th used, and confirmed, composite hulls, just like that Dragon kit.
There is a pretty large 44th Tank Battalion Gallery at this site
12th Armored Division Web Site
I also found these images
Plus this image for a decals for the battalion in 1/35
Hi,
Well, I ordered the Dragon #6441 model (Ebay) of the composite M4.
I would be pleased to pass along Dad’s stories to your site. I think it best if I write them up and send them via personal email, so that you may edit them as appropriate.
Thank you,
Bill Anderson
Hi,
Well, the Dragon kit of the “M4 Sherman composite hull pto” arrived today. I’ve been building model kits since the mid ’50s, and have a pretty extensive model railroad with all kit built structures and cars.
That said, this model is something else! It has over 330 parts including some brass etchings. I happily found that the instructions actually give two paint schemes for tanks of the 44th Battalion in Manila, which is the outfit my Dad was with.
I will not be working on the tank model for awhile, but I will post pics when there are some worth posting.
Thanks again for the guidance!
Bill Anderson
Spring, Texas
Bill,
Begin by researching 1st Cavalry in the theater specifically Philippines related to armor Sherman and othe tanks Staurts?.you’ll start to develop information and pictures (save copies to your computer or take pics with your phone camera from books) related to the tanks. If you can narrow down to your father’s organization or sister units in the 1st Cav. similarly equipped you’ll have answers close enough to build from. In this day and age almost every Sherman variant either has a complete kit or a resin cast modification kit to develop an existing model into the version of the Sherman sub-variant model.
I know thst some of the early Pacific theater Sherman’s were composite hull models (cast front glacis plates with hull remainder welded not cast) but I’m not sure if these were in the Philippines.
Rrgards,
Some interesting things I have found on the sherman while digging in the archives.
Most know the photo of the M4 with the T26 turret slapped on it that was done up as a mock up to show off, and most authors will leave it at that suggesting thats all that ever happened.
But they also had a M4A3E8 hull mount the T26 turret with the 90mm and they tested it for at least 2000 miles. They went as far as to weigh the tank up to 102,000 lbs for that. They were looking at a possible replacement for the jumbo at the time.
There was another little paragraph about the T26 turret noting it would fit in any 69″ turret ring and they then listed off a few vehicles such as the M4 and T14. (They went as far as doing the same to the M6 in 1944, details are not to clear if they finished building and testing this one, but all of the design plans are finished and were stored in an archive for future reference)
Whelm,
Great stuff, I didn’t know the that had actually done a real pilot vehicle on the A3E8 hull. That’s really interesting. Thank you for your comments!
http://i.imgur.com/371HAzR.png
http://i.imgur.com/XQzyljx.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/bVlOCxa.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XWPZyN6.jpg
Hi!
I “assumed” that the Dragon kit of the M4 composite Sherman would indicate the tank color. They give decal directions for the M4 in Manila and Leyte and color for things like machine guns and shovels but not the tank body.
After looking at various pics, I’m a bit confused. Colors I’ve seen or various shades of olive green, gray, or khaki. Was the color “whatever” or was their a standard for those Sherman composites that found themselves in the Philippines?
Bill
Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. The book, US Army Camouflage markings in WWII by Jim Mesko says the Shermans used by the Army in the pacific were mostly the base olive drab the army painted everything with. Camo was not used as often as in europe, and it wasn’t standardised. From what the books said, it was mostly bands of brown paint over the olive drab paint. In many cases what looks like a camo paint job may just be mud and dirt.
By the point in the war you are building the Sherman for, they didn’t have the white stars painted on the tanks anymore either.
Bill: The tank’s prescribed paint was done at the factory, not at the theater. All M4s left the factory in standard Olive drab. Whether they went to the PTO or ETO was not dictated in the contract orders.
My favorite paint for 1/35 US subjects is Tamiya Olive Drab, lightened with some Dark Yellow
Thanks all!
Olive drab it will be, without the stars. In the pics I recall, I never saw the stars so that makes sense. One of those unanswered questions I have is if (and what) Dad’s tank was named.
Ha, just had a hand operation so I won’t be modeling for awhile!
Bill
I hope that hand heals up ok. They thought the stars were being used as aiming points by Jap AT gunners, so they painted them over.
“Olive Drab” tended to change shades depending on what it was applied over, what it was thinned with, how it was applied, and how it weathered.
I have yet to see two WW2 vehicles with the same identical shade of OD (unless they’ve been freshly repainted).
For the most part if you hedge toward a brownish green version of OD you should be fine, as the read lead primers tended to impart a slight browninsh tinge to the color as it wore.
Congrats for the site. Very interesting. I will link your site in my links page.
Keep going.
Marcos,
I checked out your site too, very nice.
Great site, beautiful photos. You only missed the Brazilian Shermans. After the war (Brazil fought in Italy, 1944-45) many M-4s were acquired by this country and used until the 60’s.
Love your posts, man. People seem to ignore that the Sherman served in various places for several more decades than the big cats, whereas the latter fizzled out of the proverbial armored workplace in less than a decade into the postwar era.
I actually noticed while watching Greatest Tank Battles on the military channel that you get a much better picture of the Sherman when you completely ignore the narrator (who pretty much overhypes everything). You never actually hear our boys (the allied and particularly US veterans) actually explicitly say that the Sherman is a bad tank. and when you hear the panther needing THREE shots to take a Sherman down and the German tanks having C-rate firing mechanisms, well…
Also, I need to ask: where did you get those awesome pictures from?
Thanks for the compliments; I found most of the pictures on WarAlbum.ru WorldWarphotos.com, and a mix of any place that had Sherman pics that I ran into over the last decade.
I really love the rare photos of the Sherman and the rest of the tanks in action in which you don’t get many as these from other sites.
Thanks Kenny!
I love them too, and thank for checking the site out!
You are welcome….the more I see the more inspire with my build, by the way….
Do you have any photos on M4A3E8? as right now, I am building a model on this Sherman and with the inspiration from the movie Fury. I love to see others conversations and what the tank crew do to their tanks.
No Twitter yet, but I suppose I should put one up, if I really want the site to get some traffic.
I love your site!… this is the best thing I’ve come across in years! …keep up the good work man!…I have your site on a constant open tab!
Very nice!
Ooooh I like the new theme!