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As I stated in my other post. The Sherman was the tank that was designed to fight in Europe. They felt it's size made it easier to cross the european countryside(small bridges, dirt roads, etc). Tigers and Panthers being "heavy" tanks had issues at times getting stuck in the muck.
I'm not aware of, nor can I find any reference to the M4 being designed specifically for battle in the European theater, rather instead based upon American doctrine on the used of armored divisions, which was in many ways an modernization of age old calvary tactics, i.e., to exploit openings and to pursue the enemy not to engage in toe to toe battles with opposing armored units.
Another item that seems to have gone remiss is that the up until the European invasion the Sherman was equal to and often superior to German armor. It wasn't until the introduction of the Panzer 5 (Panther) and the eventual Tiger that the Shermans lackluster firepower became a significant issue.
Another item that seems to have gone remiss is that the up until the European invasion the Sherman was equal to and often superior to German armor. It wasn't until the introduction of the Panzer 5 (Panther) and the eventual Tiger that the Shermans lackluster firepower became a significant issue.
The problem there was that the PzIVg and h models had that longer 75 well before we got the Easy 8 into play, evening the odds between the two. There was a period there in which the prevalent German armor definitely had the range on the Sherman. However, for the most part, I'll grant that the pre-E8 Sherman had the power to handle the IVg and IVh's armor. Hard part was getting close enough to do that without getting picked off.
I'd be interested to know what percentage of the US armor in Tunisia was Shermans as opposed to Lees. Although the Lee's anti-armor gun was pretty light and becoming quickly obsolete, it was good enough to hurt most of the PzIII models they faced, and the Lee's armor was something for German tank guns to complain about. Of course, the thing had such a high profile that a good gunner could hardly miss it. I think the sloping was a major contributor, at least when attacked frontally. Lees looked a mini cruise ship.
I know this flys against every WWII computer game out there these days, but the Tiger tanks sucked. They were underpowered, and as a result suffered from mechanical problems. They had the overlapping wheels which got clogged very easy in mud (IE Russia) and they were very venerable from the top. Sure they used massive amounts of steel, and could deflect shots from any mid war tank the allies threw at them, but if you cannot rely on a weapons platform to preform, it is well... useless.
The Sherman on the other hand was a pretty good design, barring the ammo storage within the armors side, which was the reason for storing the ammo in a wet box in later versions. It was used for several other tanks besides just the Sherman. The Artillery piece called the "Priest" comes to mind. It was a reliable peice of machinery
There was definately a need for a better tank to counter the Tiger, especially in the hedge row country. Thats where our tanker crews were getting slaughtered. They kept patching up those Shermans after they cleaned all the blood and brains out of the inside, then sent them out with a new rookie crew to get wasted again. The tanker crews used to call the Sherman tank a "Ronson" after the lighter company because they always lit up on the first try. I think they should of produced a limited number of Pershing or russian T34's to give our crews the tank they needed to win in close combat with the Tiger. It's bad for morale to send your men into a suiside mission where your only hope is if the other guys tank breaks down or gets trapped. Our shells bounced off those Tiger tanks, but thier shells easily punched thru the fuel tank of the Sherman and they did indeed light up or become disabled on the first hit.
There weren't all that many Panthers and Tigers out there anyway and the American tanks overcame them. Were the Tigers better? At some things. Did it matter? No.
Fact is we whipped the Germans and killed many more of them than they of us. And we did it with not that many actual fighting troops.
Rather then this tired old saw about the supposed superiority of German tanks a more useful topic would be the Japanese Navy's superiority in night naval equipment and tactics.
There weren't all that many Panthers and Tigers out there anyway and the American tanks overcame them. Were the Tigers better? At some things. Did it matter? No.
I think the difference was airpower. We had air superiority over the entire Western front with very limited-time local exceptions. I'm not sure 2000 extra King Tigers would have done the Germans much good under the circumstances.
There weren't all that many Panthers and Tigers out there anyway and the American tanks overcame them. Were the Tigers better? At some things. Did it matter? No.
Fact is we whipped the Germans and killed many more of them than they of us. And we did it with not that many actual fighting troops.
Rather then this tired old saw about the supposed superiority of German tanks a more useful topic would be the Japanese Navy's superiority in night naval equipment and tactics.
Or, as a corollary, another useful argument would be how the United States' pre-war assessment of the Long Lance torpedo was scaled back to fit the needs of the fleet, not to provide a realistic picture of actual capabilities. A heck of a lot of ships on Iron Bottom Sound were basically the victim of wishful thinking.
A heck of a lot of ships on Iron Bottom Sound were basically the victim of wishful thinking.
More so than any faulty intelligence estimates on long lance torpedo capabilities, wasn't it the Imperial fleet's emphasis on night fighting training which gave them an advantage in The Slot?
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