He was also a driving force behind the aquisition of the undergunned and underarmored Sherman because he preferred mobility. It meant his tankers suffered roughly 5 to 1 losses. Thank god we had the skies.
I think it was the History Channel that showed a Sherman where the Brits had mounted one of their long-barreled 12-pdrs in the turret. The breech was so big they had to mount it sideways but it punched right through the German armor are far longer distances. I understand that our 75mms had to get to within 300-400 yds to penetrate. The Army refused it because we didn't think of it and the crews continued to be incinerated in their under-gunned "Ronsons" (a cigarette lighter that "lit up" every time on the first try. The Germans called them "Tommy Cookers").
I think it was the same show where they showed how we used our 4-to-1 advantage against the Panzers. While the Panzer was busy lighting up the first three, the fourth ran up behind him and put a round through the lightly armored rear. Worked every time but we ran through a lot of tanks and crews.
Kenny Bunk: Heard Patton was the guy who slowed down deployment of the the Pershing Tank, which was available in 1943 and was more than a match for any German tank. He evidently was madly in love with the Sherman's speed.
Patton felt that the Sherman was good Cavalry tank. Remember, he was a cavalry officer and developed most of our tank doctrine up to that point. He felt the role of the tank was move fast, get behind enemy lines, and create havoc and mayhem in the enemy's rear.
He did not advocate going toe-to-toe with enemy tanks with the Sherman. They, like other strong points, were to be by-passed and dealt with by tac-air. As for the Sherman, he felt that it would be better served by mounting additional machine-guns (.50 cals).
In the few cases where he was allowed to operate according to his own doctrine, his tactics, with the Sherman proved successful. Unfortunately supply and logistics limitations did not give him opportunities to engage in far-ranging penetration (lack of fuel and having to share it with Monty). If after his break-out from Normandy, he had been able to keep his tanks moving and supplied with fuel and ammo, the war could well have been ended by the ed of '44. Unfortunately, just as the German Army was on the brink of complete route, he ran out of gas.
Lack of fuel for long-range penetrations forced the Sherman to go head to head with German Tanks in plodding slug-fests. That is my understanding of all this.