The M-4 Sherman Tank Was Hell on Wheels — And a Death Trap

War is Boring ^ | October 23, 2014 | Paul Richard Huard

[C19fan]

The M-4 Sherman was the workhorse medium tank of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps during World War II. It fought in every theater of operation—North Africa, the Pacific and Europe.

The Sherman was renown for its mechanical reliability, owing to its standardized parts and quality construction on the assembly line. It was roomy, easily repaired, easy to drive. It should have been the ideal tank.

But the Sherman was also a death trap.

[NFHale]

RE T-34:

Sloped armor - The German Mark V Panther employed sloped armor as well, after coming up against the T34s. I believe the King Tiger Mark IVB used sloped armor as well.

But as you said regarding the P47... the Russian version was the Illyushin Shturmovik IL-2. Their airborne tank-killer.

The Germans used a version of the Stuka Ju-87 fitted with 37mm cannon for busting Russian armor - see “Rudel’s Fire Brigade.”

[IronJack]

Yes, I can imagine Patton’s sweeps with Tigers. It was called “Blitzkrieg.” The “shortcomings” you point out didn’t slow the Germans down much.

[DesertRhino]

Those examples did go with sloped armor. But fortunately, they used it in a complex, slow, expensive machine. The Germans fell to their own societal idiosyncrasies and of course, to their evil.

And as always with the Nazis. King Tiger, awesome. All 496 of them at 12 mph cross country so big it couldn’t move by rail without swapping to transport tracks. Facing 85,000 T34s bouncing by at 33 mph.

Germans are something else. They either do things perfectly, or they use their intelligence to screw it up in a manner that leaves everyone in wonder. Like nerds that can’t talk to a girl.

[rdcbn]

American battle doctrine in WWII also leaned more towards the Gun Motor Carriages or “Tank Destroyers” for hunting enemy armor.

---

Exactly.

American military doctrine of the time was that tanks were essentially a new form of Calvary that was faster and more heavily armed and armored and were used as such.

The destruction of enemy tanks was primarily the job of the tank destroyers at the infantry level.

The real tools against German tanks was American airpower and artillery. American Artillery was the by far the best of WWII and our artillery was really what won WWII war for the US. Or more accurately, since we would have won regardless, why we won sooner and with far lower casualties than we would have otherwise and also why our troop casualties were lower than any of the other armies of either side.

[rlmorel]

The problem with the German tanks was that they were highly unreliable, and were essentially handmade in some respects.

From an in-depth article I read, they said that spare parts would often not fit because of the variables in the tank’s construction, and had to be “jerried” on the spot to make them work.

The amount of man-hours required to keep the tanks going was mind-boggling, too. I can’t remember the figure, but the amount for the King Tiger was astonishing. I remember reading and wondering how the heck they could have fielded them.

Bottom line, the German tanks were formidable machines, but they were in no sense perfect.

[rlmorel]

"...Like nerds that can’t talk to a girl..."

Hahahahahahahaha! Great analogy!

[Oatka]

As far as American armor goes, that appelation might be better applied to the M3 Grant/Lee. High silhouette, nearless useless 75mm in a limited traverse mount, with a 37mm in the turret...

I was a kid during WWII and afterward talked with a tanker who was in one of them in North Africa. Blown out of the turret twice. He said that if a shell didn't penetrate the hull, most of the crew were killed anyway as the concussion knocked all the rivets loose and they spanged about inside just like bullets.

“...In Lima, OH, they were turning out a tank ever 4.5 HOURS....”
There's a great book titled "Freedom's Forge" (read synopsis) that tells of the mind-boggling efforts that we made in ramping up for war as well as on-the-fly innovations when it finally hit. One was in the production of Sherman tanks where "the Fisher Tank Arsenal used a new welding technique that saved four-fifths machining time, bent the slabs into shape with a 480-ton metal press, and for final assembly, hoisted them on 30-ton jigs, rotating them like ducks on a spit." You put down the book and feel proud to be an American.

[Sidebar] Another innovation - the Swedes took 3 1/2 hours to rifle a 40mm anti-aircraft barrel. Our engineers used broaching and turned them out in 15 minutes.

[NFHale]

“...King Tiger, awesome. All 496 of them at 12 mph cross country ...”

Haha! True that... and they had something called the “Maus” in the works too, some giant dinosaur of a vehicle. I think they made two of them, total.

Ironic, isn’t it? Guderian’s (and Rommel’s) tactics of fast, light armored vehicle Blitzkreig had turned into giant, lumbering behemoths overwhelmed by lighter, faster vehicles - doing Blitzkreig.

RE Germans:
My old man said that Frankfurt sort of reminded him of his old North Philly neighborhood... except for the accent. Ha!

[DesertRhino]

Please, my point was that the vaunted late war Nazi tanks would have never been able to do our fast moving war as exemplified by Patton’s army. Not even close. Nazis rolling through France and Ukraine was not done with the immobile Tigers or heaven forbid King Tigers. And they were facing the prewar French and Soviet Armies. Or did you mean the Prewar Polish army?

Most of the Blitzkrieg was done with tanks that were essentially machine gun buggies, speedy little Panzer IIs with an inch of armor and a 20mm main gun. Which as an aside are particularly intimidating to naked Ukrainian women.

Our industrial strength late war sweeps utterly made the early Blitzkriegs look amateurish.

[NFHale]

“..You put down the book and feel proud to be an American...”

Always proud, my friend...

RE Grant/Lee:
It was a strange beast. That high silhouette really stood out in North Africa...

RE War Production:
We were a unified machine, to be sure. It is a wonder to me when I read about that time period, and what our people achieved. From Pearl Harbor to the deck of the USS Missouri and the “Instrument of Surrender”, we cranked more of everything and faster than everyone.

But we also had a different society too. Common culture, common heritage, common langauge... common love of Country too.

RE Swedes:
Yeah... they crank out a hell of a Bikini Team too!!! Rowf!!

[Organic Panic]

I forget what documentary I was watching that was interviewing the tankers of WW2. The nickname for the Shermans were “Ronsons.”

Ronson Lighters’ motto was “Lights every time.” The USA used gasoline and the Germans used Diesel.

[DesertRhino]

“Guderian’s (and Rommel’s) tactics of fast, light armored vehicle Blitzkreig had turned into giant, lumbering behemoths overwhelmed by lighter, faster vehicles - doing Blitzkreig.”

Very sage observation. I see you as a “big picture” guy. Very annoying to those of us who wander through thousands of words, to see you distill it into a single sentence.

[Oatka]

“..You put down the book and feel proud to be an American...”
Always proud, my friend...

Indeed - but a shot in the arm when you read stuff like this. Another one is Cmdr. Ellsberg's "Under the Red Sea Sun" - American Can Do spirit at it's best.

[LS]

Source?

[LS]

Doh, Yes, of course. I say in lecture that we gave 11,000 tanks to the Russians alone. Sorry. Yes, over 100,000 tanks.

[NFHale]

“...“big picture” guy...”

Well, you’d think that the guys who wrote the books, developed the doctrines and tactics, would... HEED their own advice.

I’ve often wondered what Guderian, Manteuffel, Kesselring, Rommel, Manstein, and other pretty damned competent Wermacht commanders thought when they were ordered by the Mad Bavarian Corporal to do something completely out of sync with their years of experience.

Paulus at Stalingrad is a perfect example... “You are to hold to the last man! Because the city is named after Stalin, and I want you to take it!”

So the Sixth Army gets cut off, surrounded, and systematically annihilated. Brilliant, right? Out on the flanks, the Rumanians completely folded and were broken, which caused the Germans already locked in the city to get completely enveloped.

So, instead of trying to break out and meet up with Manstein’s rescue mission, against all common sense, Paulus refuses to break off, obeys Hitler, stays there, and watches his entire army die or become POWs (and THEN die).

Mind boggling.

[LS]

Careful on your admiration. Yes, German production increased slightly from 1942-44. The best source on this is Tooze, "Wages of Destruction." But one of the reasons was that German imported millions of slave workers, so even as they put more men as a % of their population into the field, they nevertheless increased their workforce by slave labor.

British bombing was next to useless.

One important reason we outproduced not just the Germans, but EVERY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD put together, save Russia, and if you include Russia, we very nearly outproduced all others plus them too---is that we capped our infantry divisions at 89, where as the Soviets threw more than 100 divisions into a single battle and the Germans put in a very high % of their manpower into combat.

[NFHale]

RE Cmdr. Ellsberg’s book:

I will read that one. Thank you!!

And I agree completely - a shot in the arm of Americanism is always good. That’s what’s missing from us as a people right now.

[Rinnwald]

The source is just lowly Wikipedia for MkIV production alone. MkIII tanks and SPG chassis, even if MkIV based, would be separate. German tank and SPG production is pegged at 67,000, or about 2/3 American production. This jibes with other sources I have seen.

The figure illustrates the problem for Germany, since it does not even include British and Russian production. American production of other mechanized equipment, such as trucks, further overshadowed Germany.

[NFHale]

“...Careful on your admiration. Yes, German production increased slightly from 1942-44. ...”

RE Admiration:
Wasn’t admiration as much as amazement that they continued to be ABLE to produce in spite of the pounding they took. They were having the front door, the back door, and the cellar door kicked in and still cranking out weapons.

RE British Bombing “useless”:
They still put planes in the air, crews in harm’s way, and explosives on the ground. It contributed in its own way towards demoralizing and destabilizing the will to continue fighting. Those British boys that flew those missions - through searchlights, flak, and radar-equipped night fighters, didn’t think they were useless. They did it because it would help end the war, and help get them home.