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To: snoringbear

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.


57 posted on 01/25/2020 11:16:34 AM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr

Er, “airforce”/Army Air Corps at the time, just to be 100% correct.


63 posted on 01/25/2020 11:39:48 AM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr

Well played.


66 posted on 01/25/2020 2:34:17 PM PST by snoringbear (,W,E.oGovernment is the Pimp,)
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