“ Remember, the Germans had “superior technology” and sneered at the Americans that could only churn out appliances and cheap crap in WW2. How did that end, again?”
*
The Germans were ahead of us in certain technologies, missles, rocketry, jet engines, tanks, come to mind. Problem was though, German economy didn’t have the band-with, scale, to deliver in meaningful numbers. Additionally, they didn’t know how best to strategically apply these technology. Also, there was (still is) German tendency to over engineer.
But, we had superiority in certain key areas; we were and still are masters of logistics and projecting power. We developed it during our civil war and continued to improve the technology. No country comes even close to us. In part, this is made possible by the strength of our economy.
Also, we are the only country that has the ability to build a working aircraft carrier. I could go on but my finger is tired. But, I think I’ve given the idea.
One last comment; I’ve never understood why we didn’t upgrade the Sherman tank with a Diesel engine. We did introduce the Sheridan which was basically an upgraded Sherman at the tail-end of WWII but the war was basically over by then.
The French and British would disagree with you on the “only country to build aircraft carriers” thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth-class_aircraft_carrier
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_aircraft_carrier_Charles_de_Gaulle
I would point out that the Chinese have learned logistics very well from us, due to us giving them that knowledge in the private sector - it’s how smartphones and computers are made there and shipped here in literal hours.
As for the Sherman, there *were* diesel Shermans during the war. The M4A2, which was very popular with the British, was powered by twin GM diesels. The M4A6 was powered by a Caterpillar/Wright diesel radial engine.
In US service, the diesel tanks were officially confined to use by the US Marines in the Pacific. The reason the European US Army Shermans were all gasoline powered was simple logistics. The gas powered ones were good at their mission and the US Army was at the end of a very, very long supply chain subject to interruption by U-Boat. Britain could not supply sufficient fuel for US forces in Europe, so all of their fuel had to be imported down that long chain from the US. By being gasoline powered, the Army’s Shermans could use the same fuel everything else in the army and airforce used, thus decreasing logistical complexity. The radial engine gas powered Shermans that were our most common variant even shared parts with numerous aircraft. The Marines’ diesel versions made sense as they would simply refuel from the LSTs - which were themselves diesel powered as diesel is a common naval fuel.
The Sheridan wasn’t developed until after Korea, not WW2. Were you perhaps thinking of the Pershing? If so, the Pershing was *not* just an upgraded Sherman - it was a hugely different design, starting with the fact that it was the first issued US tank with the modern ‘transmission in the back’ powerpack-type layout that we still use today; Shermans have the engine in the back and the trans in the front. Great for crew protection in the day, but adds complexity and eats up room that could be given to the crew or more ammo.
I read where a German POW was being ragged about being captured. He said that he knocked out the first Sherman tank, then the second, then the third. "I was only captured because I ran out of Panzerfausts before you ran out of Shermans."