In point of fact, Patton saw tanks as serving a role of escorting troops, and not fighting other tanks. He was largely responsible for delays in production of the M26 Pershing which had mobility (wide treads), protection (sloped armor) and a high velocity gun firepower equivalent to German tanks, as well as a self-leveling tube. Once they put a 90 mm gun on it, it was arguably a match for the ‘King Tiger’.
We learned that the Germans were eager to fight us tank-to-tank, e.g. at Villers-Bocage (Normandy, following 6-6-44) where Michael Wittman destroyed over thirty British convoy vehicles, including tanks and self-propelled guns. And of course the Eastern front was a tank war of attrition between the Reds and Nazi’s. Patton hadn’t read that book yet.
Anyway, those guys who climbed into their Shermans, with low velocity 75 guns and knowing what they were going up against were the definition of bravery.
Yup, it took real courage to shoot at Tiger tanks with a pop gun while sitting on what was in effect a tin can full of gasoline.
That wasn’t Patton. It was General Leslie McNair.
The charge that Patton was responsible for the delay of the M26 is almost certainly false. The individual who apparently championed this claim was a Lieutenant in the 3d Armored Division and therefore not in a position to have personal knowledge. The documentary evidence points to Lt. Gen. Leslie J. McNair, Commander of Army Ground Forces. He was concerned by the lack of power and transmission problems and believed that the improved M4 was the best tank on the battlefield.
The field tests of captured German tanks was not done until the end of the Normandy campaign, by which time McNair was dead, having been killed by American bombers while visiting the front in France.
Actual combat proved McNair wrong, but the production delays surrounding the power and transmission issues, plus the delays in getting the 90mm gun meant that it was not fielded in great numbers.