The running gear comprised three sets of bogies, each with two paired large rubber-covered roadwheels, a rear adjustable track idler wheel and front drive sprocket connected to the gearbox, and three return rollers. Just like the M3 Lee, the Sherman’s suspension was of the VVSS (Vertical Volute Spring Suspension) type. So, by late August 1940, as the M3 production started, work was started on the T6 Medium Tank, the prototype of what would become the Sherman. The latter was to be equipped with a fully revolving turret at first, but the urge in production imposed the choice of a transitional, yet unsatisfactory solution, a 75 mm (2.95 in) gun in a hull sponson. The M4 was, in fact, the type of medium tank the US industry was not yet prepared to build in early 1940, which led to the intermediate M3 Lee. At the same time, the US Army, fully learning from the shock caused by the Blitzkrieg in Western Europe, was in the process of emergency modernization of its equipment. Some were provided through the freshly signed Lend-Lease agreement. Genesis and context until 1940īy 1940, Great Britain had found itself desperately short on tanks. These theaters included (in WWII alone) most of North Africa, Russia, most of Europe, the Eastern Indies, the Philippines, many Pacific islands and China.

It literally soldiered in every corner of the globe, under many colors, from 1942 to the end of the war. Cheap and relatively simple to build, easy to maintain, reliable, roomy, sturdy, fast, well-armored and well-armed, it was the good-all-around armored vehicle the Allies had sought for until 1942, when it first arrived on the North African front. It was designed from the very beginning for mass-production. Derived in a haste from the previous and controversial M3 Lee/Grant, it was the first to bear a fully-traversing turret with a 75 mm (2.95 in) gun. However, the Sherman was not as successful as it seemed. If you spot anything out of place, please let us know! Hello, dear reader! This article is quite old and scheduled for careful proofreading and re-editing. It has been largely compared to the T-34, and had the occasion to confront some during the Korean War. It was derived into countless derivatives and had a very long postwar career which lasted well into the Cold War. It remains by far the most widely used tank on the Allied side during the war. But while this historic status was gained partly thanks to its intrinsic qualities, but also due to the sheer numbers in which they were provided, only surpassed by the Soviet Union’s T-34, with a staggering 50,000 total delivered. Sherman) is one of the few really iconic fighting vehicles of the Allies during World War Two, and one of the most famous tanks in history. The M4 Sherman (named after the famous American Civil War general William T. Medium Tank – ~49,234 Built Quantity and quality

M4 sherman commander gun