Tanks in the United States
Encyclopedia
This article deals with the history of American Tank
s.
The United States entered World War I unprepared and unequipped for tank warfare. In 1917 the French produced the Renault
FT
, which was one of the types operated by the US Army in France. Light tanks with a crew of only two, these were mass-produced by the French during World War I, but the Americans had to be trained first. Captain Dwight Eisenhower, later General Dwight Eisenhower of World War II fame, had gone to Camp Meade, Maryland, in February 1918 with the 65th Engineer Regiment, which had been activated to provide the organizational basis for the creation of the army's first heavy tank battalion. In mid-March the 1st Battalion, Heavy Tank Service (as it was then known) was ordered to prepare for movement overseas, and Eisenhower went to New York with the advance party to work out the details of embarkation and shipment with port authorities. The battalion shipped out on the night of March 26, but Eisenhower did not go with it. He had performed so well as an administrator that, upon his return to Camp Meade, he was told he would be staying in the United States, where his talent for logistics would be put to good use in establishing the army's primary tank training center at Camp colt in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Eisenhower became the #3 leader of the new tank corps and rose to temporary (Bvt.
) Lieutenant Colonel
in the National Army and trained tank crews at "Camp Colt"–his first command–on the grounds of "Pickett's Charge" on the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Civil War battle site.
Initially, two independent US tank organisation developed in parallel; the Tank Corps
(AEF) in France, and the Tank Service in the USA. Throughout the war, the army units, resulting in a divided command structure with two men—Rockenbach and Welborn—separately directing the development of the American armored arm.
The Tank Corps, was created in France as a unit of the American Expeditionary Force
(AEF), on either December 22, 1917 or January 26, 1918 by AEF commanding officer General John J. Pershing
. Its first commander was Colonel Samuel Rockenbach, though Captain George S. Patton
was the first officer actually assigned to the new unit. During the Punitive Expedition
of 1916, George Patton had served as aide to Pershing in his pursuit of Pancho Villa
. Patton had gotten much newsprint when, accompanied by ten soldiers of the 6th Infantry Regiment, and using three armored cars, he conducted the United States' first armored vehicle attack against Villa's men.
Like George Patton, Eisenhower also had a mentor—Lt. Colonel Ira Clinton Welborn
, an infantry officer who had been awarded the Medal of Honor for service in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. On March 5, 1918, Secretary of War Newton D. Baker appointed Welborn to serve as director of the Tank Service in the United States.
In November 1917, Patton left Paris and reported to General Garrard of the French Army
. At Champlieu, Patton drove a Renault
char d’assault tank and tested its trench-crossing ability. In August 1918, he was placed in charge of the 1st Provisional Tank Brigade, redesignated the 304th Tank Brigade on November 6, 1918. Patton’s Light Tank Brigade was part of Colonel Samuel Rockenbach’s Tank Corps, which was in turn part of the American Expeditionary Force
.
The AEF Tank Corps was first committed to action in the offensive aimed at eliminating the Saint-Mihiel salient in September 1918. The operation was conducted by the US First Army, organized into the I, IV, and V Corps;. George Patton, working with I Corps, attacked with two battalions of the 304th Tank Brigade, which was equipped with 144 Renaults obtained from the French. Patton commanded American tanks at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel
and in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
.
In the Meuse-Argonne campaign, which continued to the cessation of hostilities on November 11, the Tank Corps's vehicle attrition rate reached 123 percent, with only twenty-seven tanks lost to enemy action, chiefly artillery fire or mines—the rest were breakdowns. By the end of the Meuse-Argonne campaign the Tank Corps was down to less than fifty operating vehicles, a figure that can only begin to indicate the extent to which maintenance and logistics troops were kept busy trying to ensure that the AEF was able to field an armored force through to the end of the war.
During the last six weeks of the war, the Tank Corps (AEF) also fielded a battalion of British-built heavy tanks which were deployed with the American 27th and 30th Division and fought in the old Somme Sector. The 301st Heavy Tank Battalion commanded by Ralph Sasse was equipped with the British Mark V and Mark V Star.
and House
Committee on Military Affairs that the tank be subordinated to the infantry. As a result, the 1920 National Defense Act disbanded the unit and reassigned its tanks to the infantry branch, with only two heavy and four light battalions escaping post-war demobilization.
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The Tank Mark VIII or Liberty
was an Anglo-American tank design of the First World War but it didn't see combat as testing was finished after the war and it was decided to build 100 vehicles in the USA; these were constructed in 1919 and 1920. The American Liberty tanks equipped a single unit: the 67th Infantry (Tank) Regiment, based in Aberdeen, Maryland. The curious designation of the unit had its origin in the fact that since 1922 by law all tanks had to be part of the Infantry. Some Liberty tanks were assigned to the 301st Tank Battalion (Heavy), later redesignated the 17th Tank Battalion (Heavy). Throughout most of 1921-1922, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower commanded this unit.
Although the tank of World War I was slow, clumsy, unwieldy, difficult to control, and mechanically unreliable, its value as a combat weapon had been clearly proven. In addition to the light and heavy categories of American-produced tanks of World War I, a third classification, the medium, began receiving attention in 1919. The meaning of the terms light, medium, and heavy tanks changed between the wars. During World War I and immediately thereafter, the light tank was considered to be up to 10 tons, the medium (produced by the British) was roughly between 10 and 25 tons, and the heavy was over 25 tons. Later in World War II, increased weights resulted in the light tank being over 20 tons, the medium over 30, and the heavy, developed toward the end of the war, over 60 tons.
It is interesting to note that both Patton and Eisenhower remained involved in developing the armored arm, which found a temporary home at Camp Meade under Rockenbach's command. In particular, the two men formulated theory and doctrine for the use of tanks in mass formations to achieve breakthroughs and carry out exploitation. They met vigorous opposition to their ideas from senior army officers who favored the use of armor in support of infantry and not as a separate arm conducting independent operations. Congress took this view as well, when enacting the 1920 legislation that dissolved the Tank Corps as a separate entity.
The National Defense Act of 1920 placed the Tank Corps under the Infantry. Patton had argued for an independent Tank Corps, and understood that tanks operating with Cavalry would stress mobility, while tanks tied to the Infantry would emphasize firepower. However, the supply of slow World War I tanks and the subordination of tanks to the infantry branch impeded the development of any role other than direct infantry support, so United States moved slowly in the development of armored and mechanized forces. Not incidentally, funding for tank research and development was also cut to a bare minimum. Patton, convinced there was no future in tanks, applied and received a transfer to the cavalry in September, 1920. Eisenhower got out two years later, in January 1922, when he was assigned to the staff of an infantry brigade in Panama.
The US War Department considered that two types of tanks, the light and the medium, should fulfill all missions. The light tank was to be truck transportable and not exceed 5 tons gross weight and for the medium, restrictions were even more stringent; its weight was not to exceed 15 tons, so as to bring it within the weight capacity of railroad flatcars. Although an experimental 15-ton tank, the M1924, reached the mock-up stage, this and other attempts to satisfy War Department and infantry specifications proved to be unsatisfactory. In reality it was simply impossible to build a 15-ton vehicle meeting both War Department and infantry requirements.
In 1926 the General Staff reluctantly consented to the development of a 23-ton tank, although it made clear that efforts were to continue toward the production of a satisfactory 15-ton vehicle. The infantry decided, too, that a light tank, transportable by truck, best met infantry requirements. The net effect of the infantry's preoccupation with light tanks and the limited funds available for tank development in general was to slow the development of heavier vehicles and, ultimately, to contribute to the serious shortage of mediums at the outbreak of World War II.
In the United States the real beginning of the Armored Force was in 1928, twelve years before it was officially established, when Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis directed that a tank force be developed in the Army, after observing the maneuvers in England, by the British Experimental Armored Force. Secretary Davis' 1928 directive for the development of a tank force resulted in the assembly and encampment of an experimental mechanized force at Camp Meade, Maryland, from 1 July to 20 September 1928. The combined arms team consisted of elements furnished by Infantry (including tanks), Cavalry, Field Artillery, the Air Corps, Engineer Corps, Ordnance Department, Chemical Warfare Service, and Medical Corps. An effort to continue the experiment in 1929 was defeated by insufficient funds and obsolete equipment, but the 1928 exercise did bear fruit, for the War Department Mechanization Board, appointed to study results of the experiment, recommended the permanent establishment of a mechanized force.
Despite inadequate funding, the Ordnance Department managed to develop several experimental light and medium tanks and also worked with J. Walter Christie the innovative designer of tanks, engines and propulsion systems to test a Christie design model by 1929. None of these tanks was accepted, usually because each of them exceeded standards set by other Army branches. Patton later worked closely with J. Walter Christie to improve the silhouette, suspension, power, and weapons of tanks. The Christie ideas had great impact upon tank tactics and unit organization in many countries and, finally, upon the US Army as well.
Another general who rose to fame in World War II, whose influence on the tanks of the army was felt, came from the top. On November 21, 1930 Douglas MacArthur
had been made Chief of Staff, with the rank of general. As Chief of Staff from 1930 to 1935, Douglas MacArthur wanted to advance motorization and mechanization throughout the army. In late 1931 all arms and services were directed to adopt mechanization and motorization, and were permitted to conduct research and to experiment as necessary. Cavalry was given the task of developing combat vehicles that would enhance it role of reconnaissance, counterreconnaissance, flank action, pursuit.
By the law passed, tanks belonged to the infantry branch, so the cavalry gradually bought a group of "combat cars," lightly armored and armed tanks that were often indistinguishable from the newer infantry, "tanks." In 1933 MacArthur set the stage for the coming complete mechanization of the cavalry, noting the horse was obsolete declaring, "The horse has no higher degree of mobility today than he had a thousand years ago. The time has therefore arrived when the Cavalry arm must either replace or assist the horse as a means of transportation, or else pass into the limbo of discarded military formations."
The M1 Combat Car
was a tankette
that entered use with the U.S. Cavalry in the late 1930s.
Under the terms of the Defense Act of 1920, tanks were restricted to infantry
units which had M1 tank's with a twin machine gun turrets. To allow U.S. Army cavalry
units to be equipped with armoured fighting vehicle
s, the tanks developed for the cavalry were designated "combat cars". The Cavalry branch opted for a single, larger turret on its nearly identical M1 Combat Car
. By 1940 the twin machine gun turrets were replaced by one larger turret with a 37 mm gun, and armor reached 25 mm. Other upgrades included improved suspension, improved transmission, and better engine cooling, and the Combat Car designation was dropped, and the vehicle was renamed as the light tank
M1A2.
The next tank to come out, the M2 Light Tank
, was developed in 1935 by Rock Island Arsenal
for the infantry
branch of the U.S. Army
. The design coming from the earlier T-1 and 1929 T-2 Medium Tank was somewhat inspired by the famous Vickers 6-ton
. Its main weapon was one .50 machine gun, installed in a small one-man turret
. After only 10 units were delivered, the Infantry branch decided to switch to a twin turret configuration, with a .30 machine gun in the second turret. These early twin-turret tanks were given the nickname "Mae West
" by the troops, after the popular busty movie star. The twin-turret layout was inefficient, but was a common feature of 1930s light tanks derived from the Vickers, such as the Soviet T-26
and Polish 7TP
.
The Rock Island Arsenal
also started work on a new medium tank, based on the design of the M2 Light Tank
. Initially designated the T5, the redesigned model (with a 350 hp R-975 radial engine) was redesignated as the M2 Medium Tank in June, 1939.
The Marmon-Herrington
Combat Tank Light was a US light tank
produced for the export market at the start of the Second World War
. The CTL-3 had a crew of two and was armed with three .30 caliber machine gun
s.
A few saw combat in the Dutch East Indies campaign
against the Japanese invasion.
In mid-1942 a batch was diverted to Australia from the Dutch order where they were used for training
After the attack on Pearl Harbor
some of these tanks were taken over by the United States Army
and employed in Northern Alaska
as the T14 and T16 respectively.
was a larger development of the M2 Light Tank
and was first produced in 1939 by the Rock Island Arsenal
, just prior to the commencement of the war in Europe. Many components were common or used a similar design, including the vertical volute spring suspension
which would be used in later tanks as well. Twin-wheeled bogie
s were mounted externally, and rubber-bushed and rubber-shoed track proved durable on roads. The initial M2 model was powered by an aircooled Wright R-975 radial engine. For the M2A1, this engine was supercharged to provide an extra 50 hp for a total of 400 hp, and designated as the R-975 C1 radial engine.
The M2 Medium Tank's unique features included an unusually large number of machine gun
s, bullet deflector plates, and sloped armor on the hull front (glacis plate). The main armament was a 37 mm gun, with 32 mm armor; the M2A1 had a 51 mm gun mantlet
. The features of the M2 series development, both good and bad, provided many lessons for U.S. tank designers that were later applied with great success in the M3 Lee
, M4 Sherman and many other armored fighting vehicles.
Production for the M2 Medium Tanks was 18 M2 tanks, and 94 slightly improved M2A1 tanks, for a total figure of 112. For combat it was a poor design, with thin armor, inadequate main armament and a high profile. The four sponson
-mounted machine guns proved to be completely unnecessary. But it provided important lessons that were used for the later M3 and M4 medium tanks. In particular, the M2's sloped frontal hull armor (glacis plate) was extremely advanced for a 1939 design, and would become a permanent feature of U.S. tank design. Events in Western Europe
and on the Eastern Front
rapidly demonstrated that the M2 was obsolete, and it was never used overseas in combat; it was used for training purposes throughout the war.
Chrysler opened a new tank plant, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant
, to manufacture the M2, and the US Government contracted in August, 1940 for 1,000 vehicles to be produced. As events in Europe made obvious that the M2 was obsolete, the government modified the contract before production began. Instead of M2 medium tanks, the plant would now build 1,000 M3 Grant tanks. Production of the M2 was returned to the Rock Island Arsenal, where 94 M2A1s were eventually built. The M2A1 had slightly better armor and a slightly larger turret than the original M2, since it had the turret from the M3 Light Tank, with gun mantlet
armor 2 inches (51 mm) thick.
The Stuart was an upgrade of the M2 Light Tank
. The Battle of France
gave momentum to the US tank program because US observers saw how easily British and French light tanks were decimated by German Panzer
s, and in July 1940 work began on a new light tank based on the M2 series.
The initial upgrade was designated the M3 Stuart and had thicker armor
, modified suspension and a 37 mm gun. Production of the M3 and later the M5 Stuart started in March 1941 and continued until October 1943 with a total of 25,000 produced.
An upgrade of the M3, which was initially called M4 but later redesignated the M5, was developed with improved engines and produced through 1942. The M5 featured a redesigned hull and driver's hatches moved to the top. The M5 gradually replaced the M3 in production from 1942 and was in turn succeeded by the Light Tank M24
in 1944.
The British Army
was the first to use the M3 in combat. In November 1941, some 170 Stuarts took part in Operation Crusader
, with poor results.
Although the high losses suffered by Stuart-equipped units during the operation had more to do with better tactics and training of the enemy than superiority of enemy tanks in the North African campaign
, the operation revealed that the M3 had several technical faults. Mentioned in the British complaints were the 37 mm gun, a limited range and poor internal layout. The two-man turret crew was a significant weakness, and some British units tried to fight with three-man turret crews. Crews liked its high speed and mechanical reliability.
From the summer of 1942, when enough US medium tanks had been received, the British usually kept Stuarts out of tank-to-tank combat. M3s, M3A3s, and M5s continued in British service until the end of the war, but British armor units had a smaller proportion of these light tanks than US units.
The other major Lend-Lease
recipient of the M3, the Soviet Union
, was even less happy with the tank, considering it undergunned, underarmored, likely to catch fire, and too sensitive to fuel quality. The narrow tracks were highly unsuited to operation in winter conditions, as they resulted in high ground pressures that sunk the tank. However, the Stuart was superior to early-war Soviet light tanks such as the T-60
, which were often underpowered and possessed even lighter armament than the Stuart. In 1943, the Red Army
tried out the M5 and decided that the upgraded design wasn't much better than the M3. Being less desperate than in 1941, the Soviets turned down an American offer to supply the M5. M3s continued in Red Army service at least until 1944.
In US Army
service, the M3 first saw combat in the Philippines. Two battalions, comprising the Provisional Tank Group fought in the Bataan peninsula campaign. When the American army joined the North African Campaign
in late 1942, Stuart units still formed a large part of its armor strength.
After the disastrous Battle of the Kasserine Pass
the US quickly disbanded most of their light tank battalion
s and subordinated the Stuarts to medium tank battalions performing the traditional cavalry missions of scouting and screening. For the rest of the war, most US tank battalions had three companies
of M4 Sherman
s and one company of M3s or M5/M5A1s.
In the European theater, Allied light tanks had to be given cavalry and infantry fire support roles since their main cannon armament could not compete with heavier enemy AFVs. However, the Stuart was still effective in combat in the Pacific Theater
, as Japanese tanks were both relatively rare and were generally much weaker than even Allied light tanks. Japanese infantrymen were poorly equipped with anti-tank weapons and tended to attack tanks using close-assault tactics. In this environment, the Stuart was only moderately more vulnerable than medium tanks. In addition, the poor terrain and roads common to the theatre were unsuitable for the much heavier M4 medium tanks, and so initially, only light armor could be deployed. Heavier M4s were eventually brought to overcome heavily entrenched positions, though the Stuart continued to serve in a combat capacity until the end of the war.
The US liquidated its Stuarts when it got sufficient numbers of M24 Chaffee
s but the tank remained in service until the end of the war and well after. In addition to the United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union, who were the primary users, it was also used by France
and China
.
The Light Tank (Airborne) M22, also known as the Locust, began development in late 1941 in response to a request by the British military earlier in the year for an airmobile light tank
which could be transported onto a battlefield by glider. The United States Ordnance Department was asked to produce this replacement, which in turn selected Marmon-Herrington
to design and build a prototype airborne tank in May 1941. The prototype was designated the Light Tank T9 (Airborne), and was designed so that it could be transported underneath a Douglas C-54 Skymaster
transport aircraft, although its dimensions also allowed it to fit inside a General Aircraft Hamilcar
glider.
After a series of modifications were made to the initial prototype, production of the T9 began in April 1943. It was significantly delayed, however, when several faults were found with the tank's design. Marmon-Herrington only began to produce significant numbers of the T9 in late 1943 and early 1944, and by then the design was considered to be obsolete; only 830 were built by the time production ended in February 1945. As a result, the Ordnance Department gave the tank the specification number M22 but no combat units were equipped with it.
However during 1943, the War Office believed that the tank would perform adequately despite its faults that came to light, so the tank was given the title of 'Locust' and 260 were shipped to Great Britain
under the Lend-Lease
Act. Seventeen Locusts were received by the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment in late 1943, but mechanical problems led to the tanks being withdrawn.
In April 1943 the government started work on the M24 Chaffee, designated Light Tank T24 as a replacement for the M3/M5 Stuart
after the original replacement, the M7, was rejected in March. Every effort was made to keep the weight of the vehicle under 20 tons. The armor
was kept light, and a lightweight 75 mm gun was developed. The design also featured wider tracks and torsion bar suspension. It had relatively low silhouette and a three-man turret. In mid-October the first pilot vehicle was delivered and production began in 1944 under the designation Light Tank M24. 4,730 were produced by the time production was stopped in August 1945.
The first thirty-four M24s reached Europe in November 1944 and were issued to the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Group (Mechanized) in France. These were then issued to F Company, 2nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion and F Company, 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion which each received seventeen M24s. During the Battle of the Bulge
in December 1944, these units and their new tanks were rushed to the southern sector; two of the M24s were detached to serve with the 740th Tank Battalion
of the U.S. First Army.
The M24 started to enter widespread issue in December 1944 but they were slow in reaching the front-line combat units. By the end of the war many armored divisions were still mainly equipped with the M5. Some armored divisions did not receive their first M24s until the war was over.
Reports were generally positive. Crews liked the improved off-road performance and reliability, but were most appreciative of the 75 mm main gun, as a vast improvement over the 37 mm. The M24 was not up to the challenge of fighting tanks, but the bigger gun gave it a chance to defend itself when required. Its light armor made it vulnerable.
The M24's contribution to winning the war was insignificant, as too few arrived too late to replace the M5s of the armored divisions.
and design commenced in July 1940, and the first "Lees" were operational in late 1941. Many were sent to the Britain
were the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate
General Robert E. Lee
, and the following modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant
.
The U.S. Army needed a good tank and coupled with Great Britain
's demand for 3,650 medium tanks immediately, the Lee began production by late 1940. The M3 was well armed and armored for the period, but due to design flaws (high silhouette, archaic sponson
mounting of the main gun, below average off-road performance) it was not satisfactory and was withdrawn from front line
duty as soon as the M4 Sherman
became available in large numbers.
When the U.S. entered the war, the M2
series medium tank design was obsolete with a 37 mm gun, 32 mm frontal armor, machine gun main armament and a very high silhouette. The Panzer III
and Panzer IV
's success in the French campaign
led the U.S. Army to immediately order a new medium tank armed with a 75 mm gun
in a turret. This would be the M4 Sherman. However, until the Sherman was in production, an interim design with a 75 mm gun was urgently needed.
The M3 was the solution. The design was unusual because the main weapon — a larger caliber, low-velocity 75 mm gun — was in an offset sponson
mounted in the hull with limited traverse. A small turret with a lighter, high-velocity 37 mm gun sat on the tall hull. A small cupola on top of the turret held a machine gun
. The British ordered the M3 when they were refused permission to have their tank designs (the Matilda infantry tank
and Crusader cruiser tank
) made by American factories. British experts had viewed the mock-up in 1940 and identified several flaws — the high profile, the hull mounted gun, radio in the hull, smooth tracks, the amount of armor with insufficient attention to splash-proofing the joints. The British agreed to order 1,250 M3, to be modified to their requirements - the order was subsequently increased with the expectation that when a superior tank was available it could replace part of the order. Contracts were arranged with three U.S. companies, but the total cost was approximately 240 million US dollars. This sum was all of the British funds in the US and it took the Lend-Lease act to solve the financial problems.
The prototype was completed in March 1941 and production models followed with the first British specification tanks in July. The British cast turret included a bustle at the back for the Wireless Set No. 19
radio
. It had thicker armour than the U.S. one and removed the U.S. cupola for a simple hatch. Both U.S. and British tanks had thicker armor than first planned. The British design required one fewer crew member than the US version due to the radio in the turret. The U.S. eventually eliminated the full-time radio operator, assigning the task to the driver. The British realized that to meet their requirement for tanks both types would be needed.
The U.S. military utilized the "M" (Model) letter to designate nearly all of their equipment. When the British Army received their new M3 medium tanks from the US, confusion immediately set in, as the M3 medium tank and the M3 light tank were identically named. The British army began naming their American tanks, although the U.S. Army never used those terms until after the war. The M3 tanks with the new turret and radio setup received the name "General Grant", while the original M3s were called "General Lee", or more usually just "Grant" and "Lee". The M3 brought much-needed firepower to British forces in the African desert campaign
.
The 75-mm was operated by a gunner and a loader. Sighting the 75-mm gun used a M1 periscope — with an integral telescope — on the top of the sponson. The periscope rotated with the gun. The sight was marked from zero to 3000 yd (2,743.2 m) with vertical markings to aid deflection shooting at a moving target. The gunner laid the gun on target through geared handwheels for traverse and elevation.
The 37-mm was aimed through the M2 periscope, though this was mounted in the mantlet to the side of the gun. It also sighted the coaxial machine gun. Two range scales were provided: 0-1500 yd (1,371.6 m) for the 37-mm and 0-1000 yd (914.4 m) for the machine gun.
Of the 6,258 M3s produced by the U.S., 2,855 M3s were supplied to the British army, and about 1,368 to the Soviet Union
. Consequently, one of the American M3 medium tank's first actions during the war was in 1942, during the North African Campaign
. British Lees and Grants were in action against Rommel's
forces at the disastrous Battle of Gazala
on 27 May that year. They continued to serve in North Africa until the end of that campaign. A regiment of M3 Mediums was also used by the U.S. 1st Armored Division
in North Africa. In the North African campaign, the M3 was generally appreciated for its mechanical reliability, good armor and heavy firepower.
In all three areas, it outclassed the available British tanks and was able to fight German tanks
and towed anti-tank guns. The tall silhouette and low, hull-mounted 75-mm were severe tactical drawbacks, since they prevented the tank from fighting from hull-down firing positions. The use of riveted armor led to a problem called "spalling", whereby the impact of enemy shells would cause the rivets to break off and become projectiles inside the tank. Later models were welded to eliminate this problem. The M3 was replaced by the M4 Sherman
as soon as these were available, though several M3s saw limited action in the battle for Normandy as armored recovery vehicles with dummy guns.
The new design was put into action beginning on August 31, 1940. This medium tank would have to mount a 75mm main gun armament into a full-traverse turret. The new tank would also have to incorporate the engine, transmission, tracks and suspension systems of the M3 Lee medium tanks in an effort to ease production and save time. This new medium tank would also have to reduce the crew from six to five and feature improved armor allocation without increasing the vehicles overall weight.
The design appeared as the T6 pilot model and proved acceptable to US Army officials and production was ordered for the new "M4" on September 5, 1941. Before production on the M4 ramped up, however, the M4 design was further revised to include a 12.7mm heavy-barrel Browning machine gun on the turret for anti-aircraft defense. A .30 caliber machine gun was then added to the upper hull
bow plate.
The Army had seven main sub-designations for M4 variants during production: M4, M4A1, M4A2, M4A3, M4A4, M4A5, and M4A6. These designations did not necessarily indicate linear improvement: for example, A4 was not meant to indicate it was better than the A3. These sub-types indicated standardized production variations, which were in fact often manufactured concurrently at different locations. The sub-types differed mainly in engines, although the M4A1 differed from the M4 by its fully cast upper hull; the M4A4 had a longer engine system that required a longer hull, a longer suspension system, and more track blocks; M4A5 was an administrative placeholder for Canadian production; and the M4A6 had an elongated chassis, but fewer than 100 of these were produced.
While most Shermans ran on gasoline, the M4A2 and M4A6 had diesel engines: the M4A2 with a pair of GMC
6-71 straight six engines, the M4A6 a Caterpillar
RD1820 radial. These, plus the M4A4, which used the Chrysler A57 multibank
engine, were mostly supplied to Allied countries under Lend-Lease
. "M4" can refer specifically to the initial sub-type with its Continental radial engine, or generically, to the entire family of seven Sherman sub-types, depending on context. Many details of production, shape, strength and performance improved throughout production, without a change to the tank's basic model number: more durable suspension units, safer "wet" (W) ammunition stowage, and stronger armor arrangements, such as the M4 Composite, which had a cast front hull section mated to a welded rear hull. British nomenclature differed from that employed by the U.S.
A 24-volt electrical system was used in the M4.
Early Shermans mounted a 75 mm medium-velocity general-purpose gun
. Although Ordnance began work on the Medium Tank T20
as a Sherman replacement, ultimately the Army decided to minimize production disruption by incorporating elements of other tank designs into the Sherman. Later M4A1, M4A2, and M4A3 models received the larger T23 turret with a high-velocity 76 mm M1 gun
, which reduced the number of HE and smoke rounds carried and increased the number of anti-tank rounds. Later, the M4 and M4A3 were factory-produced with a 105 mm howitzer and a new distinctive mantlet
in the original turret. The first standard-production 76 mm gun Sherman was an M4A1, accepted in January 1944, and the first standard-production 105 mm howitzer Sherman was an M4 accepted in February 1944.
In June–July 1944, the Army accepted a limited run of 254 M4A3E2 Jumbo Shermans, which had very thick armor, and the 75 mm gun in a new, heavier T23-style turret, in order to assault fortifications. The M4A3 was the first to be factory-produced with the HVSS (horizontal volute spring suspension) suspension with wider tracks to distribute weight, and the smooth ride of the HVSS with its experimental E8 designation led to the nickname Easy Eight for Shermans so equipped. Both the Americans and the British developed a wide array of special attachments for the Sherman; few saw combat, and most remained experimental. Those that saw action included the bulldozer blade for the Sherman dozer tanks
, Duplex Drive for "swimming" Sherman tanks, R3 flamethrower for Zippo flame tank
s, and the T34 60-tube Calliope 4.5" rocket launcher
for the Sherman turret. The British variants (DDs and mine flail
s) were among "Hobart's Funnies
", named after their commander, Percy Hobart
of the 79th Armoured Division
.
The M26 Pershing Heavy Tank came into service in 1945 under the designation of M26 Heavy Tank with the name 'Pershing' after the founder of the US Tank Corps in World War I, General John J Pershing. It saw limited combat in Germany where it held its own with the German PzKpfw VI and V (Tiger and Panther) tanks on a more equal footing than the M4 Sherman. The tank was supposed to be an improvement on the M4. The M-26 Pershing Heavy Tank has heavier armor, a more powerful gun, and improved torsion bar suspension compared to the Sherman. The main armament of the M26 Pershing was its 90mm gun. Secondary .30 cal. machine guns were mounted co-axially in the turret and in the bow. A .50 cal. machine gun was mounted on top of the turret. A total of 2,222 M26 Pershing tanks were produced, beginning in November 1944, only 20 of which saw combat in Europe during World War II. The tank was soon reclassified as a medium tank however, and while it didn't have time to make any real impact in the Second World War, it served with distinction in the Korean War alongside the M4A3E8 Sherman.
In the Korean War
, M24s were the first U.S. tanks to fight the North Korea
n T-34-85s
. The M24 fared poorly against these much better-armed and armored medium tanks. M24s were more successful later in the war in their reconnaissance role, supported by heavier tanks such as the M4, M26, and M46
.
The development of the T37 began in 1947 to replace the M24 Chaffee
. The vehicle was designed to be air-transportable, and with heavier firepower, provided by an advanced 76 mm gun. In 1949, with the adoption of a less ambitious rangefinder, the project's designation was changed to M41. Production started in 1951 at Cadillac's Cleveland Tank Plant, and by 1953 the new tank completely replaced the M24 in the United States Army
. It was later designated the M41 Walker Bulldog
. The M41 was agile and well armed. On the other hand, it was noisy, fuel-hungry and heavy enough to cause problems with air transport.
The Walker Bulldog saw limited combat with the U.S. Army during the Korean War
, but for the most part, the conflict served as a testing ground to work out the tank's deficiencies, especially with its rangefinder. At the time, it was designated as the T-41, and was rushed to the battlefield even before its first test run. This was due to the fact that the North Koreans were supplied with Soviet T-34
tanks, which were superior to the M-24
.
T92 Light Tank was an innovative American
light tank developed in 1950s by Aircraft Armaments
. It was designed as an airborne/airdropped replacement for the much heavier M41 Walker Bulldog
. The main gun was a conventional 76 mm cannon with a very low profile turret. Little more was exposed than the main gun and two crew cupolas which allowed 50 caliber and 30 caliber machine guns to fire buttoned up. The engine is moved to the front, which increases protection, and a rear access door provided an escape hatch and protection while reloading. Study of the Soviet PT-76 led to a new swimming requirement for light tanks, for which the design could not be modified. The T-92 would be passed over and the M551 Sheridan
was eventually adopted instead. The T92 was never accepted into service.
The design of the M551 Sheridan
was initiated when the replacement for the M41, the T92 Light Tank
, was canceled.
The need for even lighter weight than the T-92 presented the design with a particularly difficult problem; guns capable of defeating modern tanks at reasonable ranges were so large that they demanded a large vehicle to carry them, so large that they couldn't be used as a "light" tank. The use of HEAT
rounds instead of conventional penetrating ammunition could address this, but HEAT rounds work better at larger calibers. Gun weight is typically the product of caliber and muzzle velocity
, so in the case of the XM551 they sacrificed the muzzle velocity, producing the low-velocity but relatively large-caliber 152 mm M81. HEAT rounds fired by the M81 could defeat any contemporary tank at shorter ranges, but its low velocity made it difficult to use at longer ranges, especially against moving targets. The large low-velocity gun was also ideal for infantry support, where higher performance anti-tank guns would often fire right through soft targets and their small-caliber guns left little room for explosive filler. The M81 would thus be ideal for both direct fire support as well as short-distance anti-tank engagements.
The only niche where the M81 was not ideal was the medium and long-range anti-tank engagement. The muzzle velocity was so low that a HEAT round fired at longer ranges would have to be "lofted", making aiming difficult, and the flight time would be so long that a moving target would be very difficult to hit. However, it appeared there was a solution to this problem by equipping the tank with gun-fired anti-tank missiles. For longer range engagements a missile would be fired instead of a HEAT round, and although its velocity would also be relatively slow, the guidance system would make a hit highly likely anyway. A number of vehicles mounting only ATGM's, or alternately recoilless rifle
s like the US's own Ontos tank were already in service, but typically these vehicles had limited firepower in the infantry support role, or in the case of Ontos could not be reloaded from within the vehicle. The XM551 appeared to offer the best of both worlds; for infantry support the large calibre gun allowed it to fire full-sized artillery rounds and canister shot, while also giving it reasonable short-range anti-tank performance from the same gun. Although the Shillelagh missile was considered a risky project, if it worked the XM551 would be able to deal with even the largest tanks at extreme ranges.
The vehicle designed to mount the gun had a steel turret and aluminum hull. It was powered by a large diesel engine. The M551 thus had excellent mobility, able to run at speeds up to 45 mph, which at that time was unheard of for a tracked vehicle. Swimming capability was provided by a flotation screen. Production started on late July 1966, and entered service in June 1967. More than 1,600 M551s were built between 1966 and 1970. Total cost of the M551 program was $1.3 billion.
The vehicle proved to be very noisy and unreliable under combat conditions. The armor was thin enough that it could be penetrated even by heavy machine gun rounds as well as being highly vulnerable to mines.
Firing the gun would often adversely affect the delicate electronics, which were at the early stages of transitioning to solid state, so the missile and guidance system was omitted from vehicles deployed to Vietnam. Indeed, this missile would end up almost never being fired in danger, despite the production of 88,000 of the expensive missiles. The gun had problems with cracks developing near the breech after repeated firing. Most field units were modified to help address the problem and the modified M81E1 was introduced with a shallower slot, along with a matching modification to the missile, that cured the problem. The gun also has been criticized for having too much recoil for the vehicle weight, the second and even third road wheels coming clear off the ground when the main gun fired.
, being assigned to nearly all armored cavalry squadrons in country. In 1969, armored cavalry units began replacing their M48 Patton
tanks.
The battle reports from the troops were sometimes glowing, while the reports higher up the chain of command were often negative. A 1969 evaluation of the vehicles found the M551 was employed in reconnaissance, night patrol and road clearing, accumulating 39,455 road miles and 520 combat missions, with a ready rate of 81.3 percent. Despite vulnerability to rockets and mines, it was judged worth applying modifications and equip all cavalry squadrons with the Sheridan.
The Sheridan was much appreciated by the infantry who were desperate for direct-fire support, which generally served in combination with ACAVs (M113s) as armored cavalry units consisted of both M113
s and M551s as part of their TO&E. Armor units consisted solely of tanks (minus headquarters company) and Mechanized Infantry units consisted solely of M113s. In this role the real problem with the Sheridan was its limited ammunition load of only 20 rounds and 8 missiles (though M551s in Vietnam service were not equipped with missiles or their guidance equipment, increasing the basic load of conventional rounds).
A common field-modification was to mount a large steel shield, known as an "ACAV set" (Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle), around the commander's 50-cal. (12.7 mm) gun, allowing it to be fired with some level of protection. The driver has an unusual rotating hatch which has vision blocks when rotated forward. Included with the set was an extra layer of steel belly armor which was bolted onto the vehicle's bottom, although only covering from the front to half way to the end, possibly due to weight reasons.
A standard modification made during the mid-70's was the addition of the "Cereal Bowl" commander's copula. This mod came about due to the broken rib effect that occurred when the Sheridan fired conventional rounds, the recoil would pitch the TC against the armor plating resulting in cracked ribs.
were able to keep them on until 1996. The Sheridan was the only air-deployable tank in the inventory, and as an elite force they had considerably more "pull" than general infantry and armor units who were forced to get rid of them. Their units were later upgraded to the M551A1 model, including a thermal sighting system for the commander and gunner.
The Sheridan's only air drop in combat
occurred during Operation Just Cause in Panama
in 1989, when fourteen M551's were deployed; four were transported by C-5 Galaxies and ten were dropped by air, but two Sheridans were destroyed upon landing. The Sheridans' performance received mixed reviews. They were lauded by their operators and some commanders as providing firepower in needed situations to destroy hard targets. However, the Sheridans' employment of only HEAT rounds limited their effectiveness against reinforced concrete construction.
51 Sheridans were deployed in the Gulf War
as some of the first tanks sent. They would not be very effective against the Russian-built T-72
s. Their role was limited by age and light armor to reconnaissance, possibly 6 or less Shillelagh missiles were fired at Iraqi bunkers, these fewer than a half-dozen missiles, were the only time that the Shillelagh had been fired in a combat environment, from the inventory of the aforementioned 88,000 missiles produced.
Several attempts to upgun or replace the Sheridan have been made, but none were successful. Several experimental versions of the Sheridan mounting a new turret carrying a 105mm gun were made, but the resulting recoil was too great. Several possible replacements for the M551 were tested as a part of the XM8 Armored Gun System
and Expeditionary tank
efforts of the early and late 80's respectively, but none of these entered service. The Stryker Mobile Gun System, has replaced the light tank role of the United States.
The mobility of the M26 Pershing
was deemed unsatisfactory for a medium tank, as it used the same engine that powered the much lighter M4 Sherman.
Work began in 1948 on replacing the power plant in the M26 Pershing. Modifications continued to accumulate, and eventually the Bureau of Ordnance decided that the tank needed its own unique designation. When the rebuild began in November, 1949, the upgraded M26 received a new power plant and a main gun with bore evacuator
, and the M46 Patton
designation. Less than a thousand were upgraded to M46 standard.
On 8 August 1950 the first M46 Pattons landed in South Korea. The tank proved superior to the much lighter North Korean T-34-85
, which were encountered in relatively small numbers. By the end of 1950, 200 M46 Pattons had been fielded, forming about 15% of US tank strength in Korea; the balance of 1,326 tanks shipped to Korea during 1950 included 679 M4A3 Shermans, 309 M26 Pershings, and 138 M24 Chaffee light tanks. Subsequent shipments of M46 and M46A1 Pattons allowed all remaining M26 Pershings to be withdrawn during 1951, and most Sherman equipped units were also reequipped.
The M47 Patton
was intended to replace the M46 Patton
and M4 Sherman
tanks. It had a 90 mm gun and a crew of 5. Despite it being the primary tank of the US it never saw combat while in US service.
In Early 1951, the U.S. initiated the design of the M48 Patton
, designated the T-48 with a 90 mm cannon. The T48 featured a new turret, new redesigned hull and an improved suspension. The hull machine gunner position was removed, reducing the crew to 4. On 2 April 1953, the Ordnance Technical Committee Minutes (OTCM), standardized the last of the Patton series tanks as the M48 Patton.
Nearly 12,000 M48s were built from 1952 to 1959. The early designs, up to the M48A2, were powered by a gasoline 12 cylinder engine which was coupled with an auxiliary 8 cylinder engine. The gas engine gave the tank a short operating range and were prone to catching fire when hit. This version was considered unreliable.
The M48s saw extensive action during the Vietnam War
; over 600 Pattons would be deployed with US Forces during the war. The initial M48s landed with the US Marines in 1965. Remaining Pattons deployed to South Vietnam were in three U.S. Army battalions, the 1-77th Armor near the DMZ, the 1-69th Armor in the Central Highlands, and the 2-34th Armor near the Mekong Delta. Each battalion consisted of approximately fifty seven tanks. M48s were also used by Armored Cavalry Squadrons in Vietnam, until replaced by M551 Sheridan tanks. The M67A1 flamethrower
tank (nicknamed the Zippo
) was an M48 variant used in Vietnam.
When US forces commenced redeployment operations, many of the M48A3 Pattons were turned over to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
(ARVN) forces, in particular creating the ARVN 20th Tank Regiment; which supplemented their M41 Walker Bulldog
units. During the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Easter Offensive in 1972, tank clashes between NVA T-54/PT-76
and ARVN M48/M41 units became commonplace, but on 23 April 1972, tankers of the 20th Tank Regiment were attacked by an NVA infantry-tank team, which was equipped with the new 9M14M Malyutka (NATO designation
: Sagger) wire guided anti-tank missile. During this battle, one M48A3 Patton tank and one M113
Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV) were destroyed, becoming the first losses to the Sagger missile; losses that would echo on an even larger scale a year later during the Yom Kippur War
in the Middle East in 1973.
The M48s performed admirably in Vietnam in the infantry-support role. However, there were few actual tank versus tank battles. The M48s provided adequate protection for its crew from small arms, mines, and rocket-propelled grenades.
In the mid-1970s, the M48A5 upgrade was developed to allow the vehicle to carry the heavier 105mm gun. This was designed to bring the M48s up to speed with the M60
tanks then in regular use. Most of the M48s were placed into service with reserve units by this time. By the mid-1990s, the M48s were phased out.
The T95 was an American series of prototype medium tanks developed from 1955 to 1959. These tanks used many advanced or unusual features, such as siliceous-cored armor, the APFSDS
-firing 90 mm T208 smoothbore
gun in a rigid mounting without a recoil system, a new transmission, and the OPTAC fire-control system
, which incorporated the T53 Optical Tracking, Acquisition and Ranging (OPTAR) system, emitted pulsed beams of intense but incoherent
infrared
light.
The M103 was manufactured at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant
and the first units were accepted in 1957.
The M103 was designed to counter Soviet heavies. Its long-ranged 120 mm cannon was designed to hit enemy tanks at extreme distances, but it was never used in combat. Of the 300 M103s built, Most went to the Marines. The tank was relatively underpowered and the drive systems were fragile.
The turret of the M103 was larger than that of the M48 or the M60 to make room for the huge 120 mm gun and the two loaders assigned to it, in addition to the gunner and the commander. The driver sat in the hull. The gun was capable of elevation from +15 to -8 degrees.
While the US Army deactivated its heavy armor units with the reception of the new M60 series main battle tanks in 1960, the remaining M103s stayed within the US Marine Corps inventory until they began receiving the M60 series MBT. With the disappearance of the heavy tank from US forces came the full acceptance of the main battle tank
in 1960 in the U.S. Army, and 1973 in the U.S. Marine Corps.
was designed as a replacement for the M48 Patton
and is indeed based on the chassis of it.
The resulting M60 largely resembled the M48 it was based on, but has significant differences. The M60 mounted a bore evacuated
105 mm main gun, had a hull with a straight front slope where as the M48's hull was rounded, had three support rollers per side to the M48's five, and had road wheels constructed from aluminum rather than steel.
The hull of the M60 was a single piece steel casting divided into three compartments, with the driver in front, fighting compartment in the middle and engine at the rear. The driver looked through three M27 day periscopes, one of which could be replaced by a night vision periscope. Initially, the M60 had essentially the same turret shape as the M48, but this was subsequently replaced with a distinctive "needlenose" design that minimized frontal cross-section to enemy fire.
The M60 was the last U.S. main battle tank to utilize homogeneous steel armor for protection. It was also the last to feature either the M60 machine gun
or an escape hatch under the hull.
Originally designated the M68, the new vehicle was put into production in 1959, reclassified as the M60, and entered service in 1960. Over 15,000 M60s (all variants) were constructed.
technology, featured an entirely new low-profile turret with a commander's machine-gun cupola
on top, giving the commander a good view and field of fire while under armor but spoiling the low profile. It also featured a 152 mm cannon, which fired conventional rounds as well as guided missile
s.
The M60A2 proved a disappointment, though technical advancements would pave the way for future tanks. The Shillelagh/M60A2 system was phased out from active units by 1981, and the turrets scrapped. Most of the M60A2 tanks were rebuilt as M60A3.
The M60A3 was phased out of US service in 1997.
The M1 Abrams
came from the diverted funds from the over budget and impractical MBT-70
and XM815 projects.
Prototypes were delivered in 1976 by Chrysler Defense and General Motors
armed with a 105 mm rifled cannon. The Chrysler Defense design was selected for development as the M1. In 1979, General Dynamics
Land Systems Division purchased Chrysler Defense.
The M1 was the first of its kind. It feature a low profile turret and for the first time ever on a tank, composite chobham
armor. Despite all these advances, the Abrams still retained the 4-man crew of the M60 Patton
as the autoloader
was considered unproven and risky.
Over 3200 M1 Abrams were produced and first entered US Army service in 1980.
About 6000 upgraded M1A1 Abrams were produced and used a 120 mm smoothbore
cannon, improved armor, and a CBRN
protection system.
As the Abrams entered service in the 1980s, they would operate alongside M60A3 Patton. These exercises usually took place in Western Europe, especially West Germany, but also in some other countries like South Korea. During such training, Abrams crews honed their skills for use against the Soviet Union. However, by 1991 the USSR had collapsed and the Abrams would have its trial by fire in the Middle East.
The M60A1 tanks of the U.S. Marines saw action during Operation Desert Storm
in 1991, opposing Iraqi armor which included the T-54/T-59
, T-55, T-62
, Type 69
, and T-72
. The M60A1s were fitted with add-on explosive reactive armor (ERA) packages and supported the drive into Kuwait City where they were involved in a two day tank battle at the Kuwait airport with the loss of only one vehicle and no crew. They saw service with the United States Marine Corps, and the Saudi Arabian Army.
The Abrams remained untested in combat until the Gulf War
in 1991. A total of 1,848 M1A1s were deployed to Saudi Arabia
. The M1A1 was superior to Iraq
's Soviet
-era T-55
and T-62
tanks, as well as Iraqi assembled Russian T-72
s, and locally produced copies (Asad Babil tank
). The T-72s like most Soviet export designs lacked night vision systems and then-modern rangefinder
s, though they did have some night fighting tanks with older active infrared systems or floodlights—just not the latest starlight scopes and passive infrared scopes as on the Abrams. Only 23 M1A1s were taken out of service in the Gulf and one of these losses resulted in crew deaths from Iraqi fire. Some others took minor combat damage, with little effect on their operational readiness. Very few Abrams tanks were hit by enemy fire, and there was only one fatality, along with a handful of wounded as a result.
Further upgrades included depleted uranium
armor for all variants, a system overhaul that returns all A1s to like-new condition (M1A1 AIM), a digital enhancement package for the A1 (M1A1D), a commonality program to standardize parts between the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps (M1A1HC) and an electronic upgrade for the A2 (M1A2 SEP).
During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and for Bosnia
, some M1A1s were modified with armor upgrades.
The campaign in Iraq saw very similar performance from the tank from the Persian Gulf war, with no Abrams crew member being lost to hostile fire during the invasion of Iraq, although several tank crew members were later killed by snipers and roadside bombs during the occupation that followed. Abandoned Abrams were purposely destroyed by friendly fire to prevent recovery of vehicle or technology. Damages by 25 mm AP-DU
, anti-armor RPG fire and 12.7 mm rounds was encountered. But on no occasion did anti-tank guided weapons
or anti-tank mine
s strike the US MBTs.
The most lopsided achievement of the M1A2s was the destruction of seven T-72 Lion of Babylon tank
s in a point-blank skirmish (less than 50 yards (45.7 m)) near Mahmoudiyah, about 18 miles (29 km) south of Baghdad, with no losses for the American side. However, on October 29, 2003, two soldiers were killed and a third wounded when their tank was disabled by an anti-tank mine
, which was combined with other explosives (500 kg (1,102.3 lb), including several 155 mm rounds) to increase its effect. The massive explosion beneath the tank knocked off the turret. This marked the first time deaths resulted from a hostile-fire assault on the M1 tank from enemy forces.
The Abrams has shown surprising vulnerability to Improvised Explosive Devices during the occupation.
The M1A3 Abrams is in the early design period with the U.S. Army. The Army aims to build prototypes by 2014 and to begin to field the first combat-ready M1A3s by 2017. The Army anticipates that the Abrams may remain in U.S. service until 2050.
The U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems
' XM1202 was to replace the Abrams and was in development when funding for the program was cut from the DoD's
budget. The U.S. Army's developing BCT Ground Combat Vehicle Program
might also produce a permanent replacement for the Abrams.
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s.
World War I
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
FT
Renault FT-17
The Renault FT, frequently referred to in post-WWI literature as the "FT-17" or "FT17" , was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history...
, which was one of the types operated by the US Army in France. Light tanks with a crew of only two, these were mass-produced by the French during World War I, but the Americans had to be trained first. Captain Dwight Eisenhower, later General Dwight Eisenhower of World War II fame, had gone to Camp Meade, Maryland, in February 1918 with the 65th Engineer Regiment, which had been activated to provide the organizational basis for the creation of the army's first heavy tank battalion. In mid-March the 1st Battalion, Heavy Tank Service (as it was then known) was ordered to prepare for movement overseas, and Eisenhower went to New York with the advance party to work out the details of embarkation and shipment with port authorities. The battalion shipped out on the night of March 26, but Eisenhower did not go with it. He had performed so well as an administrator that, upon his return to Camp Meade, he was told he would be staying in the United States, where his talent for logistics would be put to good use in establishing the army's primary tank training center at Camp colt in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Eisenhower became the #3 leader of the new tank corps and rose to temporary (Bvt.
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
) Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
in the National Army and trained tank crews at "Camp Colt"–his first command–on the grounds of "Pickett's Charge" on the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...
Civil War battle site.
Initially, two independent US tank organisation developed in parallel; the Tank Corps
United States Tank Corps
The Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Force was the mechanized unit that conducted American tank combat in World War I. An initial plan for 2,000 light Renault FT-17 tanks and 200 heavy British Mark VI tanks was changed to 20 battalions of 77 light tanks each and 10 battalions of 45 heavy...
(AEF) in France, and the Tank Service in the USA. Throughout the war, the army units, resulting in a divided command structure with two men—Rockenbach and Welborn—separately directing the development of the American armored arm.
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
(AEF), on either December 22, 1917 or January 26, 1918 by AEF commanding officer General John J. Pershing
John J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
. Its first commander was Colonel Samuel Rockenbach, though Captain George S. Patton
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
was the first officer actually assigned to the new unit. During the Punitive Expedition
Pancho Villa Expedition
The Pancho Villa Expedition—officially known in the United States as the Mexican Expedition and sometimes colloquially referred to as the Punitive Expedition—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican insurgent Francisco "Pancho" Villa...
of 1916, George Patton had served as aide to Pershing in his pursuit of Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
. Patton had gotten much newsprint when, accompanied by ten soldiers of the 6th Infantry Regiment, and using three armored cars, he conducted the United States' first armored vehicle attack against Villa's men.
Like George Patton, Eisenhower also had a mentor—Lt. Colonel Ira Clinton Welborn
Ira Clinton Welborn
Ira Clinton Welborn was a United States Army Colonel who was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for valor in action on July 2, 1898 at Santiago, Cuba.-Early life and Spanish-American War:...
, an infantry officer who had been awarded the Medal of Honor for service in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. On March 5, 1918, Secretary of War Newton D. Baker appointed Welborn to serve as director of the Tank Service in the United States.
In November 1917, Patton left Paris and reported to General Garrard of the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
. At Champlieu, Patton drove a Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
char d’assault tank and tested its trench-crossing ability. In August 1918, he was placed in charge of the 1st Provisional Tank Brigade, redesignated the 304th Tank Brigade on November 6, 1918. Patton’s Light Tank Brigade was part of Colonel Samuel Rockenbach’s Tank Corps, which was in turn part of the American Expeditionary Force
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
.
The AEF Tank Corps was first committed to action in the offensive aimed at eliminating the Saint-Mihiel salient in September 1918. The operation was conducted by the US First Army, organized into the I, IV, and V Corps;. George Patton, working with I Corps, attacked with two battalions of the 304th Tank Brigade, which was equipped with 144 Renaults obtained from the French. Patton commanded American tanks at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel
Battle of Saint-Mihiel
The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a World War I battle fought between September 12–15, 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Force and 48,000 French troops under the command of U.S. general John J. Pershing against German positions...
and in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Meuse-Argonne Offensive
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, or Maas-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was a part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire western front.-Overview:...
.
In the Meuse-Argonne campaign, which continued to the cessation of hostilities on November 11, the Tank Corps's vehicle attrition rate reached 123 percent, with only twenty-seven tanks lost to enemy action, chiefly artillery fire or mines—the rest were breakdowns. By the end of the Meuse-Argonne campaign the Tank Corps was down to less than fifty operating vehicles, a figure that can only begin to indicate the extent to which maintenance and logistics troops were kept busy trying to ensure that the AEF was able to field an armored force through to the end of the war.
During the last six weeks of the war, the Tank Corps (AEF) also fielded a battalion of British-built heavy tanks which were deployed with the American 27th and 30th Division and fought in the old Somme Sector. The 301st Heavy Tank Battalion commanded by Ralph Sasse was equipped with the British Mark V and Mark V Star.
Post-World War I
After the end of the conflict, the U.S. Army was reorganized. In 1919, Pershing recommended to a joint session of the SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and House
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Committee on Military Affairs that the tank be subordinated to the infantry. As a result, the 1920 National Defense Act disbanded the unit and reassigned its tanks to the infantry branch, with only two heavy and four light battalions escaping post-war demobilization.
Mark VIII (tank)
The Tank Mark VIII or Liberty was an Anglo-American tank design of the First World War. Initially intended to be a collaborative effort to equip France, the UK and the US with a single tank design, it did not come to fruition before the end of the war and only a few were produced.-Early...
was an Anglo-American tank design of the First World War but it didn't see combat as testing was finished after the war and it was decided to build 100 vehicles in the USA; these were constructed in 1919 and 1920. The American Liberty tanks equipped a single unit: the 67th Infantry (Tank) Regiment, based in Aberdeen, Maryland. The curious designation of the unit had its origin in the fact that since 1922 by law all tanks had to be part of the Infantry. Some Liberty tanks were assigned to the 301st Tank Battalion (Heavy), later redesignated the 17th Tank Battalion (Heavy). Throughout most of 1921-1922, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower commanded this unit.
Although the tank of World War I was slow, clumsy, unwieldy, difficult to control, and mechanically unreliable, its value as a combat weapon had been clearly proven. In addition to the light and heavy categories of American-produced tanks of World War I, a third classification, the medium, began receiving attention in 1919. The meaning of the terms light, medium, and heavy tanks changed between the wars. During World War I and immediately thereafter, the light tank was considered to be up to 10 tons, the medium (produced by the British) was roughly between 10 and 25 tons, and the heavy was over 25 tons. Later in World War II, increased weights resulted in the light tank being over 20 tons, the medium over 30, and the heavy, developed toward the end of the war, over 60 tons.
It is interesting to note that both Patton and Eisenhower remained involved in developing the armored arm, which found a temporary home at Camp Meade under Rockenbach's command. In particular, the two men formulated theory and doctrine for the use of tanks in mass formations to achieve breakthroughs and carry out exploitation. They met vigorous opposition to their ideas from senior army officers who favored the use of armor in support of infantry and not as a separate arm conducting independent operations. Congress took this view as well, when enacting the 1920 legislation that dissolved the Tank Corps as a separate entity.
The National Defense Act of 1920 placed the Tank Corps under the Infantry. Patton had argued for an independent Tank Corps, and understood that tanks operating with Cavalry would stress mobility, while tanks tied to the Infantry would emphasize firepower. However, the supply of slow World War I tanks and the subordination of tanks to the infantry branch impeded the development of any role other than direct infantry support, so United States moved slowly in the development of armored and mechanized forces. Not incidentally, funding for tank research and development was also cut to a bare minimum. Patton, convinced there was no future in tanks, applied and received a transfer to the cavalry in September, 1920. Eisenhower got out two years later, in January 1922, when he was assigned to the staff of an infantry brigade in Panama.
The US War Department considered that two types of tanks, the light and the medium, should fulfill all missions. The light tank was to be truck transportable and not exceed 5 tons gross weight and for the medium, restrictions were even more stringent; its weight was not to exceed 15 tons, so as to bring it within the weight capacity of railroad flatcars. Although an experimental 15-ton tank, the M1924, reached the mock-up stage, this and other attempts to satisfy War Department and infantry specifications proved to be unsatisfactory. In reality it was simply impossible to build a 15-ton vehicle meeting both War Department and infantry requirements.
In 1926 the General Staff reluctantly consented to the development of a 23-ton tank, although it made clear that efforts were to continue toward the production of a satisfactory 15-ton vehicle. The infantry decided, too, that a light tank, transportable by truck, best met infantry requirements. The net effect of the infantry's preoccupation with light tanks and the limited funds available for tank development in general was to slow the development of heavier vehicles and, ultimately, to contribute to the serious shortage of mediums at the outbreak of World War II.
Despite inadequate funding, the Ordnance Department managed to develop several experimental light and medium tanks and also worked with J. Walter Christie the innovative designer of tanks, engines and propulsion systems to test a Christie design model by 1929. None of these tanks was accepted, usually because each of them exceeded standards set by other Army branches. Patton later worked closely with J. Walter Christie to improve the silhouette, suspension, power, and weapons of tanks. The Christie ideas had great impact upon tank tactics and unit organization in many countries and, finally, upon the US Army as well.
Another general who rose to fame in World War II, whose influence on the tanks of the army was felt, came from the top. On November 21, 1930 Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
had been made Chief of Staff, with the rank of general. As Chief of Staff from 1930 to 1935, Douglas MacArthur wanted to advance motorization and mechanization throughout the army. In late 1931 all arms and services were directed to adopt mechanization and motorization, and were permitted to conduct research and to experiment as necessary. Cavalry was given the task of developing combat vehicles that would enhance it role of reconnaissance, counterreconnaissance, flank action, pursuit.
By the law passed, tanks belonged to the infantry branch, so the cavalry gradually bought a group of "combat cars," lightly armored and armed tanks that were often indistinguishable from the newer infantry, "tanks." In 1933 MacArthur set the stage for the coming complete mechanization of the cavalry, noting the horse was obsolete declaring, "The horse has no higher degree of mobility today than he had a thousand years ago. The time has therefore arrived when the Cavalry arm must either replace or assist the horse as a means of transportation, or else pass into the limbo of discarded military formations."
M1/M2
M1 Combat Car
The M1 Combat Car was a light tank used by the U.S. Cavalry in late 1930s. After the Spanish Civil War, most armies, including the U.S. Army, realized that they needed "gun" armed tanks and not vehicles armed merely with machine guns...
was a tankette
Tankette
A tankette is a tracked combat vehicle resembling a small tank roughly the size of a car, mainly intended for light infantry support or reconnaissance. Colloquially it may also simply mean a "small tank"....
that entered use with the U.S. Cavalry in the late 1930s.
Under the terms of the Defense Act of 1920, tanks were restricted to infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
units which had M1 tank's with a twin machine gun turrets. To allow U.S. Army cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
units to be equipped with armoured fighting vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....
s, the tanks developed for the cavalry were designated "combat cars". The Cavalry branch opted for a single, larger turret on its nearly identical M1 Combat Car
M1 Combat Car
The M1 Combat Car was a light tank used by the U.S. Cavalry in late 1930s. After the Spanish Civil War, most armies, including the U.S. Army, realized that they needed "gun" armed tanks and not vehicles armed merely with machine guns...
. By 1940 the twin machine gun turrets were replaced by one larger turret with a 37 mm gun, and armor reached 25 mm. Other upgrades included improved suspension, improved transmission, and better engine cooling, and the Combat Car designation was dropped, and the vehicle was renamed as the light tank
Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movement, and now primarily employed in low-intensity conflict. Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility.The light tank was a major...
M1A2.
M2 Light Tank
The Light Tank M2 was an American pre-World War II light tank that saw combat with the US Marine Corps 1st Tank Battalion on Guadalcanal in 1942, during World War II. Its service with the 1st Tank Battalion during the Pacific War was its only U.S...
, was developed in 1935 by Rock Island Arsenal
Rock Island Arsenal
The Rock Island Arsenal comprises , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. The island was originally established as a government site in 1816, with...
for the infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
branch of the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. The design coming from the earlier T-1 and 1929 T-2 Medium Tank was somewhat inspired by the famous Vickers 6-ton
Vickers 6-Ton
The Vickers 6-Ton Tank or Vickers Mark E was a British light tank designed as a private project at Vickers. It was not purchased by the British Army, but was picked up by a large number of foreign armed forces and was copied almost exactly by the Soviets as the T-26. It was also the direct...
. Its main weapon was one .50 machine gun, installed in a small one-man turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
. After only 10 units were delivered, the Infantry branch decided to switch to a twin turret configuration, with a .30 machine gun in the second turret. These early twin-turret tanks were given the nickname "Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
" by the troops, after the popular busty movie star. The twin-turret layout was inefficient, but was a common feature of 1930s light tanks derived from the Vickers, such as the Soviet T-26
T-26
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and is widely considered one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s....
and Polish 7TP
7TP
The 7TP was the Polish light tank of the Second World War. A development of the British Vickers 6-ton, it was significantly better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and Panzer II. A standard tank of the Polish Army during the Polish Defensive War of 1939, its production...
.
The Rock Island Arsenal
Rock Island Arsenal
The Rock Island Arsenal comprises , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. The island was originally established as a government site in 1816, with...
also started work on a new medium tank, based on the design of the M2 Light Tank
M2 Light Tank
The Light Tank M2 was an American pre-World War II light tank that saw combat with the US Marine Corps 1st Tank Battalion on Guadalcanal in 1942, during World War II. Its service with the 1st Tank Battalion during the Pacific War was its only U.S...
. Initially designated the T5, the redesigned model (with a 350 hp R-975 radial engine) was redesignated as the M2 Medium Tank in June, 1939.
Marmon Herrington light tank
Marmon-Herrington
The Marmon-Herrington Company, Inc. is an American-based manufacturer of axles and transfer cases for trucks and other vehicles. Earlier, the company built military vehicles and some tanks during World War II, and until the late 1950s or early 1960s was a manufacturer of trucks and trolley buses...
Combat Tank Light was a US light tank
Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movement, and now primarily employed in low-intensity conflict. Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility.The light tank was a major...
produced for the export market at the start of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The CTL-3 had a crew of two and was armed with three .30 caliber machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s.
A few saw combat in the Dutch East Indies campaign
Dutch East Indies campaign
The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Forces from the Allies attempted unsuccessfully to defend the islands. Indonesia was targeted by the Japanese for its...
against the Japanese invasion.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
some of these tanks were taken over by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and employed in Northern Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
as the T14 and T16 respectively.
M2 Medium tank
The M2 Medium TankM2 Medium Tank
The Medium Tank M2 was a United States Army tank that was first produced in 1939 by the Rock Island Arsenal, just prior to the commencement of the war in Europe. Production was 18 M2 tanks, and 94 slightly improved M2A1 tanks, for a total figure of 112...
was a larger development of the M2 Light Tank
M2 Light Tank
The Light Tank M2 was an American pre-World War II light tank that saw combat with the US Marine Corps 1st Tank Battalion on Guadalcanal in 1942, during World War II. Its service with the 1st Tank Battalion during the Pacific War was its only U.S...
and was first produced in 1939 by the Rock Island Arsenal
Rock Island Arsenal
The Rock Island Arsenal comprises , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. The island was originally established as a government site in 1816, with...
, just prior to the commencement of the war in Europe. Many components were common or used a similar design, including the vertical volute spring suspension
Vertical volute spring suspension
Vertical volute spring suspension is a type of vehicle suspension. It was chiefly used on US armoured fighting vehicles from the 1930s to after the end of the Second World War.-Development:...
which would be used in later tanks as well. Twin-wheeled bogie
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
s were mounted externally, and rubber-bushed and rubber-shoed track proved durable on roads. The initial M2 model was powered by an aircooled Wright R-975 radial engine. For the M2A1, this engine was supercharged to provide an extra 50 hp for a total of 400 hp, and designated as the R-975 C1 radial engine.
The M2 Medium Tank's unique features included an unusually large number of machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s, bullet deflector plates, and sloped armor on the hull front (glacis plate). The main armament was a 37 mm gun, with 32 mm armor; the M2A1 had a 51 mm gun mantlet
Gun mantlet
A gun mantlet is an armour plate or shield attached to an armoured fighting vehicle's gun, protecting the opening through which the weapon's barrel projects from the hull or turret armour and, in many cases, ensuring the vulnerable warhead of a loaded shell does not protrude past the vehicle's...
. The features of the M2 series development, both good and bad, provided many lessons for U.S. tank designers that were later applied with great success in the M3 Lee
M3 Lee
The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.Design commenced...
, M4 Sherman and many other armored fighting vehicles.
Production for the M2 Medium Tanks was 18 M2 tanks, and 94 slightly improved M2A1 tanks, for a total figure of 112. For combat it was a poor design, with thin armor, inadequate main armament and a high profile. The four sponson
Sponson
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...
-mounted machine guns proved to be completely unnecessary. But it provided important lessons that were used for the later M3 and M4 medium tanks. In particular, the M2's sloped frontal hull armor (glacis plate) was extremely advanced for a 1939 design, and would become a permanent feature of U.S. tank design. Events in Western Europe
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
and on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
rapidly demonstrated that the M2 was obsolete, and it was never used overseas in combat; it was used for training purposes throughout the war.
Chrysler opened a new tank plant, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant
Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant
The Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant was the first manufacturing plant ever built for the mass production of tanks in the United States. Established in 1940 under Chrysler, this plant was owned by the U.S. government until 1996. It was designed by architect Albert Kahn...
, to manufacture the M2, and the US Government contracted in August, 1940 for 1,000 vehicles to be produced. As events in Europe made obvious that the M2 was obsolete, the government modified the contract before production began. Instead of M2 medium tanks, the plant would now build 1,000 M3 Grant tanks. Production of the M2 was returned to the Rock Island Arsenal, where 94 M2A1s were eventually built. The M2A1 had slightly better armor and a slightly larger turret than the original M2, since it had the turret from the M3 Light Tank, with gun mantlet
Gun mantlet
A gun mantlet is an armour plate or shield attached to an armoured fighting vehicle's gun, protecting the opening through which the weapon's barrel projects from the hull or turret armour and, in many cases, ensuring the vulnerable warhead of a loaded shell does not protrude past the vehicle's...
armor 2 inches (51 mm) thick.
M3/5 Stuart
The Stuart was an upgrade of the M2 Light Tank
M2 Light Tank
The Light Tank M2 was an American pre-World War II light tank that saw combat with the US Marine Corps 1st Tank Battalion on Guadalcanal in 1942, during World War II. Its service with the 1st Tank Battalion during the Pacific War was its only U.S...
. The Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
gave momentum to the US tank program because US observers saw how easily British and French light tanks were decimated by German Panzer
Panzer
A Panzer is a German language word that, when used as a noun, means "tank". When it is used as an adjective, it means either tank or "armoured" .- Etymology :...
s, and in July 1940 work began on a new light tank based on the M2 series.
The initial upgrade was designated the M3 Stuart and had thicker armor
Vehicle armour
Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles, or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include tanks, aircraft, and ships....
, modified suspension and a 37 mm gun. Production of the M3 and later the M5 Stuart started in March 1941 and continued until October 1943 with a total of 25,000 produced.
An upgrade of the M3, which was initially called M4 but later redesignated the M5, was developed with improved engines and produced through 1942. The M5 featured a redesigned hull and driver's hatches moved to the top. The M5 gradually replaced the M3 in production from 1942 and was in turn succeeded by the Light Tank M24
M24 Chaffee
The Light Tank M24 was an American light tank used during World War II and in postwar conflicts including the Korean War and with the French in the War in Algeria and First Indochina War. In British service it was given the service name Chaffee, after the United States Army General Adna R...
in 1944.
The British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
was the first to use the M3 in combat. In November 1941, some 170 Stuarts took part in Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader was a military operation by the British Eighth Army between 18 November–30 December 1941. The operation successfully relieved the 1941 Siege of Tobruk....
, with poor results.
Although the high losses suffered by Stuart-equipped units during the operation had more to do with better tactics and training of the enemy than superiority of enemy tanks in the North African campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
, the operation revealed that the M3 had several technical faults. Mentioned in the British complaints were the 37 mm gun, a limited range and poor internal layout. The two-man turret crew was a significant weakness, and some British units tried to fight with three-man turret crews. Crews liked its high speed and mechanical reliability.
From the summer of 1942, when enough US medium tanks had been received, the British usually kept Stuarts out of tank-to-tank combat. M3s, M3A3s, and M5s continued in British service until the end of the war, but British armor units had a smaller proportion of these light tanks than US units.
The other major Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
recipient of the M3, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, was even less happy with the tank, considering it undergunned, underarmored, likely to catch fire, and too sensitive to fuel quality. The narrow tracks were highly unsuited to operation in winter conditions, as they resulted in high ground pressures that sunk the tank. However, the Stuart was superior to early-war Soviet light tanks such as the T-60
T-60
The T-60 scout tank was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. In this time over 6,292 were built. The tank was designed to replace the obsolete T-38 amphibious scout tank.-Design:...
, which were often underpowered and possessed even lighter armament than the Stuart. In 1943, the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
tried out the M5 and decided that the upgraded design wasn't much better than the M3. Being less desperate than in 1941, the Soviets turned down an American offer to supply the M5. M3s continued in Red Army service at least until 1944.
In US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
service, the M3 first saw combat in the Philippines. Two battalions, comprising the Provisional Tank Group fought in the Bataan peninsula campaign. When the American army joined the North African Campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
in late 1942, Stuart units still formed a large part of its armor strength.
After the disastrous Battle of the Kasserine Pass
Battle of the Kasserine Pass
The Battle of the Kasserine Pass was a battle that took place during the Tunisia Campaign of World War II in February 1943. It was a series of battles fought around Kasserine Pass, a wide gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia...
the US quickly disbanded most of their light tank battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s and subordinated the Stuarts to medium tank battalions performing the traditional cavalry missions of scouting and screening. For the rest of the war, most US tank battalions had three companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
of M4 Sherman
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...
s and one company of M3s or M5/M5A1s.
In the European theater, Allied light tanks had to be given cavalry and infantry fire support roles since their main cannon armament could not compete with heavier enemy AFVs. However, the Stuart was still effective in combat in the Pacific Theater
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
, as Japanese tanks were both relatively rare and were generally much weaker than even Allied light tanks. Japanese infantrymen were poorly equipped with anti-tank weapons and tended to attack tanks using close-assault tactics. In this environment, the Stuart was only moderately more vulnerable than medium tanks. In addition, the poor terrain and roads common to the theatre were unsuitable for the much heavier M4 medium tanks, and so initially, only light armor could be deployed. Heavier M4s were eventually brought to overcome heavily entrenched positions, though the Stuart continued to serve in a combat capacity until the end of the war.
The US liquidated its Stuarts when it got sufficient numbers of M24 Chaffee
M24 Chaffee
The Light Tank M24 was an American light tank used during World War II and in postwar conflicts including the Korean War and with the French in the War in Algeria and First Indochina War. In British service it was given the service name Chaffee, after the United States Army General Adna R...
s but the tank remained in service until the end of the war and well after. In addition to the United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union, who were the primary users, it was also used by France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
M22 Locust
Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movement, and now primarily employed in low-intensity conflict. Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility.The light tank was a major...
which could be transported onto a battlefield by glider. The United States Ordnance Department was asked to produce this replacement, which in turn selected Marmon-Herrington
Marmon-Herrington
The Marmon-Herrington Company, Inc. is an American-based manufacturer of axles and transfer cases for trucks and other vehicles. Earlier, the company built military vehicles and some tanks during World War II, and until the late 1950s or early 1960s was a manufacturer of trucks and trolley buses...
to design and build a prototype airborne tank in May 1941. The prototype was designated the Light Tank T9 (Airborne), and was designed so that it could be transported underneath a Douglas C-54 Skymaster
C-54 Skymaster
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces and British forces in World War II and the Korean War. Besides transport of cargo, it also carried presidents, British heads of government, and military staff...
transport aircraft, although its dimensions also allowed it to fit inside a General Aircraft Hamilcar
General Aircraft Hamilcar
The General Aircraft Limited GAL. 49 Hamilcar or Hamilcar Mark I was a large British military glider produced during the Second World War, which was designed to carry heavy cargo, such as the Tetrarch or M22 Locust light tank...
glider.
After a series of modifications were made to the initial prototype, production of the T9 began in April 1943. It was significantly delayed, however, when several faults were found with the tank's design. Marmon-Herrington only began to produce significant numbers of the T9 in late 1943 and early 1944, and by then the design was considered to be obsolete; only 830 were built by the time production ended in February 1945. As a result, the Ordnance Department gave the tank the specification number M22 but no combat units were equipped with it.
However during 1943, the War Office believed that the tank would perform adequately despite its faults that came to light, so the tank was given the title of 'Locust' and 260 were shipped to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
under the Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
Act. Seventeen Locusts were received by the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment in late 1943, but mechanical problems led to the tanks being withdrawn.
M24 Chaffee
In April 1943 the government started work on the M24 Chaffee, designated Light Tank T24 as a replacement for the M3/M5 Stuart
Stuart tank
The M3 Stuart, formally Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II and supplied to British and Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war—and used thereafter by U.S...
after the original replacement, the M7, was rejected in March. Every effort was made to keep the weight of the vehicle under 20 tons. The armor
Vehicle armour
Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles, or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include tanks, aircraft, and ships....
was kept light, and a lightweight 75 mm gun was developed. The design also featured wider tracks and torsion bar suspension. It had relatively low silhouette and a three-man turret. In mid-October the first pilot vehicle was delivered and production began in 1944 under the designation Light Tank M24. 4,730 were produced by the time production was stopped in August 1945.
The first thirty-four M24s reached Europe in November 1944 and were issued to the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Group (Mechanized) in France. These were then issued to F Company, 2nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion and F Company, 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion which each received seventeen M24s. During the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
in December 1944, these units and their new tanks were rushed to the southern sector; two of the M24s were detached to serve with the 740th Tank Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
of the U.S. First Army.
The M24 started to enter widespread issue in December 1944 but they were slow in reaching the front-line combat units. By the end of the war many armored divisions were still mainly equipped with the M5. Some armored divisions did not receive their first M24s until the war was over.
Reports were generally positive. Crews liked the improved off-road performance and reliability, but were most appreciative of the 75 mm main gun, as a vast improvement over the 37 mm. The M24 was not up to the challenge of fighting tanks, but the bigger gun gave it a chance to defend itself when required. Its light armor made it vulnerable.
The M24's contribution to winning the war was insignificant, as too few arrived too late to replace the M5s of the armored divisions.
M3 Medium tank
The Medium Tank M3 replaced the M2 Medium tankTank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
and design commenced in July 1940, and the first "Lees" were operational in late 1941. Many were sent to the Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
were the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
, and the following modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
.
The U.S. Army needed a good tank and coupled with Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
's demand for 3,650 medium tanks immediately, the Lee began production by late 1940. The M3 was well armed and armored for the period, but due to design flaws (high silhouette, archaic sponson
Sponson
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...
mounting of the main gun, below average off-road performance) it was not satisfactory and was withdrawn from front line
Front line
A front line is the farthest-most forward position of an armed force's personnel and equipment - generally in respect of maritime or land forces. Forward Line of Own Troops , or Forward Edge of Battle Area are technical terms used by all branches of the armed services...
duty as soon as the M4 Sherman
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...
became available in large numbers.
M2 Medium Tank
The Medium Tank M2 was a United States Army tank that was first produced in 1939 by the Rock Island Arsenal, just prior to the commencement of the war in Europe. Production was 18 M2 tanks, and 94 slightly improved M2A1 tanks, for a total figure of 112...
series medium tank design was obsolete with a 37 mm gun, 32 mm frontal armor, machine gun main armament and a very high silhouette. The Panzer III
Panzer III
Panzer III was the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen III translating as "armoured battle vehicle". It was intended to fight other armoured fighting vehicles and...
and Panzer IV
Panzer IV
The Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
's success in the French campaign
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
led the U.S. Army to immediately order a new medium tank armed with a 75 mm gun
75 mm Gun (US)
The US 75 mm gun tank gun M2 and the later M3 were the standard American tank guns of the Second World War.Besides use on the two main American medium tanks of the war the M3 Lee and the M4 Sherman . The lightweight M6 and M5 variants were developed to equip the Light Tank M24 and the B-25...
in a turret. This would be the M4 Sherman. However, until the Sherman was in production, an interim design with a 75 mm gun was urgently needed.
The M3 was the solution. The design was unusual because the main weapon — a larger caliber, low-velocity 75 mm gun — was in an offset sponson
Sponson
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...
mounted in the hull with limited traverse. A small turret with a lighter, high-velocity 37 mm gun sat on the tall hull. A small cupola on top of the turret held a machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
. The British ordered the M3 when they were refused permission to have their tank designs (the Matilda infantry tank
Matilda tank
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....
and Crusader cruiser tank
Crusader tank
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk VI or A15 Crusader was one of the primary British cruiser tanks of the early part Second World War and perhaps the most important British tank of the North African Campaign...
) made by American factories. British experts had viewed the mock-up in 1940 and identified several flaws — the high profile, the hull mounted gun, radio in the hull, smooth tracks, the amount of armor with insufficient attention to splash-proofing the joints. The British agreed to order 1,250 M3, to be modified to their requirements - the order was subsequently increased with the expectation that when a superior tank was available it could replace part of the order. Contracts were arranged with three U.S. companies, but the total cost was approximately 240 million US dollars. This sum was all of the British funds in the US and it took the Lend-Lease act to solve the financial problems.
The prototype was completed in March 1941 and production models followed with the first British specification tanks in July. The British cast turret included a bustle at the back for the Wireless Set No. 19
Wireless Set No. 19
The Wireless Set No. 19 was a Second World War mobile radio transceiver designed for the British Army to give armoured troops reliable communications.- Specifications :...
radio
Combat-net radio
In telecommunication, a combat-net radio is a radio operating in a network that provides a half-duplex circuit and uses either a single radio frequency or a discrete set of radio frequencies when in a frequency hopping mode....
. It had thicker armour than the U.S. one and removed the U.S. cupola for a simple hatch. Both U.S. and British tanks had thicker armor than first planned. The British design required one fewer crew member than the US version due to the radio in the turret. The U.S. eventually eliminated the full-time radio operator, assigning the task to the driver. The British realized that to meet their requirement for tanks both types would be needed.
The U.S. military utilized the "M" (Model) letter to designate nearly all of their equipment. When the British Army received their new M3 medium tanks from the US, confusion immediately set in, as the M3 medium tank and the M3 light tank were identically named. The British army began naming their American tanks, although the U.S. Army never used those terms until after the war. The M3 tanks with the new turret and radio setup received the name "General Grant", while the original M3s were called "General Lee", or more usually just "Grant" and "Lee". The M3 brought much-needed firepower to British forces in the African desert campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
.
The 37-mm was aimed through the M2 periscope, though this was mounted in the mantlet to the side of the gun. It also sighted the coaxial machine gun. Two range scales were provided: 0-1500 yd (1,371.6 m) for the 37-mm and 0-1000 yd (914.4 m) for the machine gun.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Consequently, one of the American M3 medium tank's first actions during the war was in 1942, during the North African Campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
. British Lees and Grants were in action against Rommel's
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
forces at the disastrous Battle of Gazala
Battle of Gazala
The Battle of Gazala was an important battle of the Second World War Western Desert Campaign, fought around the port of Tobruk in Libya from 26 May-21 June 1942...
on 27 May that year. They continued to serve in North Africa until the end of that campaign. A regiment of M3 Mediums was also used by the U.S. 1st Armored Division
1st Armored Division (United States)
The 1st Armored Division—nicknamed "Old Ironsides"—is a standing armored division of the United States Army with base of operations in Fort Bliss, Texas. It was the first armored division of the U.S...
in North Africa. In the North African campaign, the M3 was generally appreciated for its mechanical reliability, good armor and heavy firepower.
In all three areas, it outclassed the available British tanks and was able to fight German tanks
Panzer
A Panzer is a German language word that, when used as a noun, means "tank". When it is used as an adjective, it means either tank or "armoured" .- Etymology :...
and towed anti-tank guns. The tall silhouette and low, hull-mounted 75-mm were severe tactical drawbacks, since they prevented the tank from fighting from hull-down firing positions. The use of riveted armor led to a problem called "spalling", whereby the impact of enemy shells would cause the rivets to break off and become projectiles inside the tank. Later models were welded to eliminate this problem. The M3 was replaced by the M4 Sherman
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...
as soon as these were available, though several M3s saw limited action in the battle for Normandy as armored recovery vehicles with dummy guns.
M4 Sherman tank
The most known and iconic American tank of World War II, the Sherman was the American main battle tank during World War II. Christened "Sherman" by the British, it was named for the famous US Civil War General, William Tecumseh Sherman. The M4 Sherman was a medium tank that proved itself in the Allied operations in North Africa, Europe and the Pacific theaters of war in World War II. The Sherman was a relatively inexpensive, easy to maintain and produce combat system that basically won the ground war for the Allies through sheer numbers. Similar to production efforts on the part of the Soviet Union with their T-34 tank system, the M4 Sherman was the same class of tank weapon under an American guise.The new design was put into action beginning on August 31, 1940. This medium tank would have to mount a 75mm main gun armament into a full-traverse turret. The new tank would also have to incorporate the engine, transmission, tracks and suspension systems of the M3 Lee medium tanks in an effort to ease production and save time. This new medium tank would also have to reduce the crew from six to five and feature improved armor allocation without increasing the vehicles overall weight.
The design appeared as the T6 pilot model and proved acceptable to US Army officials and production was ordered for the new "M4" on September 5, 1941. Before production on the M4 ramped up, however, the M4 design was further revised to include a 12.7mm heavy-barrel Browning machine gun on the turret for anti-aircraft defense. A .30 caliber machine gun was then added to the upper hull
bow plate.
The Army had seven main sub-designations for M4 variants during production: M4, M4A1, M4A2, M4A3, M4A4, M4A5, and M4A6. These designations did not necessarily indicate linear improvement: for example, A4 was not meant to indicate it was better than the A3. These sub-types indicated standardized production variations, which were in fact often manufactured concurrently at different locations. The sub-types differed mainly in engines, although the M4A1 differed from the M4 by its fully cast upper hull; the M4A4 had a longer engine system that required a longer hull, a longer suspension system, and more track blocks; M4A5 was an administrative placeholder for Canadian production; and the M4A6 had an elongated chassis, but fewer than 100 of these were produced.
While most Shermans ran on gasoline, the M4A2 and M4A6 had diesel engines: the M4A2 with a pair of GMC
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
6-71 straight six engines, the M4A6 a Caterpillar
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...
RD1820 radial. These, plus the M4A4, which used the Chrysler A57 multibank
Chrysler A57 multibank
Created in 1941 as America entered World War II, the A57 Multibank engine was born out of the necessity for a rear-mount tank engine to be developed and produced, in the shortest time possible for use in M4A4 Medium tank....
engine, were mostly supplied to Allied countries under Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
. "M4" can refer specifically to the initial sub-type with its Continental radial engine, or generically, to the entire family of seven Sherman sub-types, depending on context. Many details of production, shape, strength and performance improved throughout production, without a change to the tank's basic model number: more durable suspension units, safer "wet" (W) ammunition stowage, and stronger armor arrangements, such as the M4 Composite, which had a cast front hull section mated to a welded rear hull. British nomenclature differed from that employed by the U.S.
A 24-volt electrical system was used in the M4.
| Designation | Main Armament | Hull | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|
| M4(105) | 105 mm howitzer | welded | gasoline Continental R975 radial |
| M4 Composite | 75 mm | cast front welded sides | gasoline Continental R975 radial |
| M4A1(76)W | 76 mm | cast | gasoline Continental R975 radial |
| M4A2 | 75 mm | welded | diesel GM General Motors General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010... 6046 (2x6-71 inline) |
| M4A3W | 75 mm | welded | gasoline Ford GAA V8 Ford GAA engine The Ford GAA engine is an all aluminum, 32 valve, DOHC, 60 degree V8 engine produced by the Ford Motor Company during World War II. It featured twin Stromberg NA-Y5-G carburetors, dual magnetos and twin spark plugs, and crossflow induction.... |
| M4A3E2 "Jumbo" | 75 mm (some 76 mm) | welded | gasoline Ford GAA V8 |
| M4A3E8(76)W "Easy Eight" | 76 mm | welded | gasoline Ford GAA V8 |
| M4A4 | 75 mm | welded lengthened | gasoline Chrysler A57 Chrysler A57 multibank Created in 1941 as America entered World War II, the A57 Multibank engine was born out of the necessity for a rear-mount tank engine to be developed and produced, in the shortest time possible for use in M4A4 Medium tank.... 5x6-cyl inline |
| M4A6 | 75 mm | cast front welded sides lengthened | diesel Caterpillar D200A Wright R-1820 |-See also:-References:* Bridgman, L, Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. Crescent. ISBN 0-517-67964-7* Eden, Paul & Soph Moeng, The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Amber Books Ltd. Bradley's Close, 74-77 White Lion Street, London, NI 9PF, 2002, ISBN 0-7607-3432-1), 1152... radial |
Early Shermans mounted a 75 mm medium-velocity general-purpose gun
75 mm Gun (US)
The US 75 mm gun tank gun M2 and the later M3 were the standard American tank guns of the Second World War.Besides use on the two main American medium tanks of the war the M3 Lee and the M4 Sherman . The lightweight M6 and M5 variants were developed to equip the Light Tank M24 and the B-25...
. Although Ordnance began work on the Medium Tank T20
T20 Medium Tank
The Medium Tank T20 was part of a series of medium tanks designed by the United States during the Second World War, to be the successor to the Medium Tank M4 "Sherman", and culminated in the M27.-Design and development:...
as a Sherman replacement, ultimately the Army decided to minimize production disruption by incorporating elements of other tank designs into the Sherman. Later M4A1, M4A2, and M4A3 models received the larger T23 turret with a high-velocity 76 mm M1 gun
76 mm gun M1
The 76 mm Gun M1 was an American Forces World War II-era tank gun, which replaced the 75 mm gun on late Medium tank M4s, and was used for all 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 tank destroyers. The previous 75 mm M3 L/40 gun on the early M4 Sherman variants was designed more as an infantry support...
, which reduced the number of HE and smoke rounds carried and increased the number of anti-tank rounds. Later, the M4 and M4A3 were factory-produced with a 105 mm howitzer and a new distinctive mantlet
Mantlet
A mantlet was a large shield or portable shelter used for stopping arrows or bullets, in medieval warfare. A mantlet could be mounted on a wheeled carriage, and protected one or several soldiers....
in the original turret. The first standard-production 76 mm gun Sherman was an M4A1, accepted in January 1944, and the first standard-production 105 mm howitzer Sherman was an M4 accepted in February 1944.
In June–July 1944, the Army accepted a limited run of 254 M4A3E2 Jumbo Shermans, which had very thick armor, and the 75 mm gun in a new, heavier T23-style turret, in order to assault fortifications. The M4A3 was the first to be factory-produced with the HVSS (horizontal volute spring suspension) suspension with wider tracks to distribute weight, and the smooth ride of the HVSS with its experimental E8 designation led to the nickname Easy Eight for Shermans so equipped. Both the Americans and the British developed a wide array of special attachments for the Sherman; few saw combat, and most remained experimental. Those that saw action included the bulldozer blade for the Sherman dozer tanks
Combat engineering vehicle
Military engineering vehicles are vehicles built for the construction work or for the transportation of combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles can range from civilian equipment to purpose built military vehicles....
, Duplex Drive for "swimming" Sherman tanks, R3 flamethrower for Zippo flame tank
Flame tank
A flame tank is a type of tank equipped with a flamethrower, most commonly used to supplement combined arms attacks against fortifications, confined spaces, or other obstacles...
s, and the T34 60-tube Calliope 4.5" rocket launcher
T34 Calliope
The Rocket Launcher T34 was a tank-mounted multiple rocket launcher used by the United States Army during World War II. The launcher was placed atop the Medium Tank M4, and fired a barrage of 4.5 in rockets from 60 launch tubes. It was developed in 1943; small numbers were produced and were...
for the Sherman turret. The British variants (DDs and mine flail
Mine flail
A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a mine-field by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II....
s) were among "Hobart's Funnies
Hobart's Funnies
Hobart's Funnies were a number of unusually modified tanks operated during World War II by the United Kingdom's 79th Armoured Division or by specialists from the Royal Engineers. They were designed in light of problems that more standard tanks experienced during the Dieppe Raid, so that the new...
", named after their commander, Percy Hobart
Percy Hobart
Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart KBE CB DSO MC , also known as "Hobo", was a British military engineer, noted for his command of the 79th Armoured Division during World War II...
of the 79th Armoured Division
79th Armoured Division
The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist British Army armoured formation created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion of 6 June 1944...
.
M26 Pershing
M24 Chaffee
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, M24s were the first U.S. tanks to fight the North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n T-34-85s
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
. The M24 fared poorly against these much better-armed and armored medium tanks. M24s were more successful later in the war in their reconnaissance role, supported by heavier tanks such as the M4, M26, and M46
M46 Patton
The M46 was a medium tank that was designed in the United States. It was the first tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S...
.
M41 Walker Bulldog
M24 Chaffee
The Light Tank M24 was an American light tank used during World War II and in postwar conflicts including the Korean War and with the French in the War in Algeria and First Indochina War. In British service it was given the service name Chaffee, after the United States Army General Adna R...
. The vehicle was designed to be air-transportable, and with heavier firepower, provided by an advanced 76 mm gun. In 1949, with the adoption of a less ambitious rangefinder, the project's designation was changed to M41. Production started in 1951 at Cadillac's Cleveland Tank Plant, and by 1953 the new tank completely replaced the M24 in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. It was later designated the M41 Walker Bulldog
M41 Walker Bulldog
The M41 Walker Bulldog was a U.S. light tank developed to replace the M24 Chaffee. It was named for General Walton Walker who died in a jeep accident in Korea...
. The M41 was agile and well armed. On the other hand, it was noisy, fuel-hungry and heavy enough to cause problems with air transport.
The Walker Bulldog saw limited combat with the U.S. Army during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, but for the most part, the conflict served as a testing ground to work out the tank's deficiencies, especially with its rangefinder. At the time, it was designated as the T-41, and was rushed to the battlefield even before its first test run. This was due to the fact that the North Koreans were supplied with Soviet T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
tanks, which were superior to the M-24
M24 Chaffee
The Light Tank M24 was an American light tank used during World War II and in postwar conflicts including the Korean War and with the French in the War in Algeria and First Indochina War. In British service it was given the service name Chaffee, after the United States Army General Adna R...
.
T92 Light Tank
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
light tank developed in 1950s by Aircraft Armaments
AAI Corporation
AAI Corporation is an aerospace and defense development and manufacturing firm in Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA. It is formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation, AAI was acquired by Textron in 2007 and currently is an operating unit of Textron Systems Corporation...
. It was designed as an airborne/airdropped replacement for the much heavier M41 Walker Bulldog
M41 Walker Bulldog
The M41 Walker Bulldog was a U.S. light tank developed to replace the M24 Chaffee. It was named for General Walton Walker who died in a jeep accident in Korea...
. The main gun was a conventional 76 mm cannon with a very low profile turret. Little more was exposed than the main gun and two crew cupolas which allowed 50 caliber and 30 caliber machine guns to fire buttoned up. The engine is moved to the front, which increases protection, and a rear access door provided an escape hatch and protection while reloading. Study of the Soviet PT-76 led to a new swimming requirement for light tanks, for which the design could not be modified. The T-92 would be passed over and the M551 Sheridan
M551 Sheridan
The M551 Sheridan was a light tank developed by the United States and named after Civil War General Philip Sheridan. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to swim across rivers. It was armed with the technically advanced but troublesome M81/M81E1 152mm gun/launcher which fired conventional...
was eventually adopted instead. The T92 was never accepted into service.
M551 Sheridan
M551 Sheridan
The M551 Sheridan was a light tank developed by the United States and named after Civil War General Philip Sheridan. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to swim across rivers. It was armed with the technically advanced but troublesome M81/M81E1 152mm gun/launcher which fired conventional...
was initiated when the replacement for the M41, the T92 Light Tank
T92 Light Tank
T92 Light Tank was an innovative American light tank developed in 1950s by Aircraft Armaments. At 18.5 tonnes, 5m length, it was designed as an airborne/airdropped replacement for the 5 tonnes heavier M41 Walker Bulldog. The T92 was never accepted into service.The main gun was a conventional...
, was canceled.
The need for even lighter weight than the T-92 presented the design with a particularly difficult problem; guns capable of defeating modern tanks at reasonable ranges were so large that they demanded a large vehicle to carry them, so large that they couldn't be used as a "light" tank. The use of HEAT
Heat
In physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...
rounds instead of conventional penetrating ammunition could address this, but HEAT rounds work better at larger calibers. Gun weight is typically the product of caliber and muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
, so in the case of the XM551 they sacrificed the muzzle velocity, producing the low-velocity but relatively large-caliber 152 mm M81. HEAT rounds fired by the M81 could defeat any contemporary tank at shorter ranges, but its low velocity made it difficult to use at longer ranges, especially against moving targets. The large low-velocity gun was also ideal for infantry support, where higher performance anti-tank guns would often fire right through soft targets and their small-caliber guns left little room for explosive filler. The M81 would thus be ideal for both direct fire support as well as short-distance anti-tank engagements.
The only niche where the M81 was not ideal was the medium and long-range anti-tank engagement. The muzzle velocity was so low that a HEAT round fired at longer ranges would have to be "lofted", making aiming difficult, and the flight time would be so long that a moving target would be very difficult to hit. However, it appeared there was a solution to this problem by equipping the tank with gun-fired anti-tank missiles. For longer range engagements a missile would be fired instead of a HEAT round, and although its velocity would also be relatively slow, the guidance system would make a hit highly likely anyway. A number of vehicles mounting only ATGM's, or alternately recoilless rifle
Recoilless rifle
A recoilless rifle or recoilless gun is a lightweight weapon that fires a heavier projectile than would be practical to fire from a recoiling weapon of comparable size. Technically, only devices that use a rifled barrel are recoilless rifles. Smoothbore variants are recoilless guns...
s like the US's own Ontos tank were already in service, but typically these vehicles had limited firepower in the infantry support role, or in the case of Ontos could not be reloaded from within the vehicle. The XM551 appeared to offer the best of both worlds; for infantry support the large calibre gun allowed it to fire full-sized artillery rounds and canister shot, while also giving it reasonable short-range anti-tank performance from the same gun. Although the Shillelagh missile was considered a risky project, if it worked the XM551 would be able to deal with even the largest tanks at extreme ranges.
The vehicle designed to mount the gun had a steel turret and aluminum hull. It was powered by a large diesel engine. The M551 thus had excellent mobility, able to run at speeds up to 45 mph, which at that time was unheard of for a tracked vehicle. Swimming capability was provided by a flotation screen. Production started on late July 1966, and entered service in June 1967. More than 1,600 M551s were built between 1966 and 1970. Total cost of the M551 program was $1.3 billion.
The vehicle proved to be very noisy and unreliable under combat conditions. The armor was thin enough that it could be penetrated even by heavy machine gun rounds as well as being highly vulnerable to mines.
Firing the gun would often adversely affect the delicate electronics, which were at the early stages of transitioning to solid state, so the missile and guidance system was omitted from vehicles deployed to Vietnam. Indeed, this missile would end up almost never being fired in danger, despite the production of 88,000 of the expensive missiles. The gun had problems with cracks developing near the breech after repeated firing. Most field units were modified to help address the problem and the modified M81E1 was introduced with a shallower slot, along with a matching modification to the missile, that cured the problem. The gun also has been criticized for having too much recoil for the vehicle weight, the second and even third road wheels coming clear off the ground when the main gun fired.
Vietnam War
The Sheridan saw extensive action in the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, being assigned to nearly all armored cavalry squadrons in country. In 1969, armored cavalry units began replacing their M48 Patton
M48 Patton
The M48 Patton is a medium tank that was designed in the United States. It was the third and final tank to be officially named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle It was a...
tanks.
The Sheridan was much appreciated by the infantry who were desperate for direct-fire support, which generally served in combination with ACAVs (M113s) as armored cavalry units consisted of both M113
M113 Armored Personnel Carrier
The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that has formed the backbone of the United States Army's mechanized infantry units from the time of its first fielding in Vietnam in April 1962. The M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S...
s and M551s as part of their TO&E. Armor units consisted solely of tanks (minus headquarters company) and Mechanized Infantry units consisted solely of M113s. In this role the real problem with the Sheridan was its limited ammunition load of only 20 rounds and 8 missiles (though M551s in Vietnam service were not equipped with missiles or their guidance equipment, increasing the basic load of conventional rounds).
A common field-modification was to mount a large steel shield, known as an "ACAV set" (Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle), around the commander's 50-cal. (12.7 mm) gun, allowing it to be fired with some level of protection. The driver has an unusual rotating hatch which has vision blocks when rotated forward. Included with the set was an extra layer of steel belly armor which was bolted onto the vehicle's bottom, although only covering from the front to half way to the end, possibly due to weight reasons.
A standard modification made during the mid-70's was the addition of the "Cereal Bowl" commander's copula. This mod came about due to the broken rib effect that occurred when the Sheridan fired conventional rounds, the recoil would pitch the TC against the armor plating resulting in cracked ribs.
Post-Vietnam
The Army began to phase out the Sheridan in 1978, although at the time there was no real replacement. Nevertheless the 82nd AirborneU.S. 82nd Airborne Division
The 82nd Airborne Division is an active airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute landing operations. Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is the primary fighting arm of the XVIII Airborne Corps....
were able to keep them on until 1996. The Sheridan was the only air-deployable tank in the inventory, and as an elite force they had considerably more "pull" than general infantry and armor units who were forced to get rid of them. Their units were later upgraded to the M551A1 model, including a thermal sighting system for the commander and gunner.
Combat
Combat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to terminate the opposition forever, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed....
occurred during Operation Just Cause in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
in 1989, when fourteen M551's were deployed; four were transported by C-5 Galaxies and ten were dropped by air, but two Sheridans were destroyed upon landing. The Sheridans' performance received mixed reviews. They were lauded by their operators and some commanders as providing firepower in needed situations to destroy hard targets. However, the Sheridans' employment of only HEAT rounds limited their effectiveness against reinforced concrete construction.
51 Sheridans were deployed in the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
as some of the first tanks sent. They would not be very effective against the Russian-built T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
s. Their role was limited by age and light armor to reconnaissance, possibly 6 or less Shillelagh missiles were fired at Iraqi bunkers, these fewer than a half-dozen missiles, were the only time that the Shillelagh had been fired in a combat environment, from the inventory of the aforementioned 88,000 missiles produced.
Several attempts to upgun or replace the Sheridan have been made, but none were successful. Several experimental versions of the Sheridan mounting a new turret carrying a 105mm gun were made, but the resulting recoil was too great. Several possible replacements for the M551 were tested as a part of the XM8 Armored Gun System
M8-AGS
The United Defense M8 Armored Gun System was a light tank that was intended to replace the M551 Sheridan in the 82nd Airborne Division, as well as being expected to replace TOW-equipped Humvees in the 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment . The M8 project was eventually canceled...
and Expeditionary tank
Expeditionary tank
The Expeditionary tank was a United States light tank developed for the Armored Gun System competition in the 1980s by Teledyne Vehicle Systems .-Development:...
efforts of the early and late 80's respectively, but none of these entered service. The Stryker Mobile Gun System, has replaced the light tank role of the United States.
M46 Patton
M26 Pershing
The Heavy Tank M26 Pershing was an American heavy tank briefly used in World War II and in the Korean War. It was named after General John Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War I....
was deemed unsatisfactory for a medium tank, as it used the same engine that powered the much lighter M4 Sherman.
Work began in 1948 on replacing the power plant in the M26 Pershing. Modifications continued to accumulate, and eventually the Bureau of Ordnance decided that the tank needed its own unique designation. When the rebuild began in November, 1949, the upgraded M26 received a new power plant and a main gun with bore evacuator
Bore evacuator
A bore evacuator is a device on the gun barrel of an armoured fighting vehicle which helps prevent poisonous propellant gases from venting back into the vehicle's fighting compartment when the gun breech is opened to load another round. Bore evacuators are most often used on large-calibre tank...
, and the M46 Patton
M46 Patton
The M46 was a medium tank that was designed in the United States. It was the first tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S...
designation. Less than a thousand were upgraded to M46 standard.
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
, which were encountered in relatively small numbers. By the end of 1950, 200 M46 Pattons had been fielded, forming about 15% of US tank strength in Korea; the balance of 1,326 tanks shipped to Korea during 1950 included 679 M4A3 Shermans, 309 M26 Pershings, and 138 M24 Chaffee light tanks. Subsequent shipments of M46 and M46A1 Pattons allowed all remaining M26 Pershings to be withdrawn during 1951, and most Sherman equipped units were also reequipped.
M47 Patton
The M47 Patton
M47 Patton
The M47 Patton is an American medium tank, the second tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates of tanks in battle. It was a further development of the M46 Patton tank.-History:The M47 was the U.S...
was intended to replace the M46 Patton
M46 Patton
The M46 was a medium tank that was designed in the United States. It was the first tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S...
and M4 Sherman
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...
tanks. It had a 90 mm gun and a crew of 5. Despite it being the primary tank of the US it never saw combat while in US service.
M48 Patton
M48 Patton
The M48 Patton is a medium tank that was designed in the United States. It was the third and final tank to be officially named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle It was a...
, designated the T-48 with a 90 mm cannon. The T48 featured a new turret, new redesigned hull and an improved suspension. The hull machine gunner position was removed, reducing the crew to 4. On 2 April 1953, the Ordnance Technical Committee Minutes (OTCM), standardized the last of the Patton series tanks as the M48 Patton.
Nearly 12,000 M48s were built from 1952 to 1959. The early designs, up to the M48A2, were powered by a gasoline 12 cylinder engine which was coupled with an auxiliary 8 cylinder engine. The gas engine gave the tank a short operating range and were prone to catching fire when hit. This version was considered unreliable.
Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
; over 600 Pattons would be deployed with US Forces during the war. The initial M48s landed with the US Marines in 1965. Remaining Pattons deployed to South Vietnam were in three U.S. Army battalions, the 1-77th Armor near the DMZ, the 1-69th Armor in the Central Highlands, and the 2-34th Armor near the Mekong Delta. Each battalion consisted of approximately fifty seven tanks. M48s were also used by Armored Cavalry Squadrons in Vietnam, until replaced by M551 Sheridan tanks. The M67A1 flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
tank (nicknamed the Zippo
Zippo
A Zippo lighter is a refillable, metal lighter manufactured by Zippo Manufacturing Company of Bradford, Pennsylvania, U.S. Thousands of different styles and designs have been made in the seven decades since their introduction including military ones for specific regiments.-Establishment:George G...
) was an M48 variant used in Vietnam.
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
(ARVN) forces, in particular creating the ARVN 20th Tank Regiment; which supplemented their M41 Walker Bulldog
M41 Walker Bulldog
The M41 Walker Bulldog was a U.S. light tank developed to replace the M24 Chaffee. It was named for General Walton Walker who died in a jeep accident in Korea...
units. During the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Easter Offensive in 1972, tank clashes between NVA T-54/PT-76
PT-76
The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank which was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported to other friendly states, like India, Iraq, North Korea and North Vietnam. Overall,...
and ARVN M48/M41 units became commonplace, but on 23 April 1972, tankers of the 20th Tank Regiment were attacked by an NVA infantry-tank team, which was equipped with the new 9M14M Malyutka (NATO designation
NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...
: Sagger) wire guided anti-tank missile. During this battle, one M48A3 Patton tank and one M113
M113 armored personnel carrier
The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier that has formed the backbone of the United States Army's mechanized infantry units from the time of its first fielding in Vietnam in April 1962. The M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S...
Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV) were destroyed, becoming the first losses to the Sagger missile; losses that would echo on an even larger scale a year later during the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
in the Middle East in 1973.
The M48s performed admirably in Vietnam in the infantry-support role. However, there were few actual tank versus tank battles. The M48s provided adequate protection for its crew from small arms, mines, and rocket-propelled grenades.
In the mid-1970s, the M48A5 upgrade was developed to allow the vehicle to carry the heavier 105mm gun. This was designed to bring the M48s up to speed with the M60
M60 Patton
The 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank, M60, also known unofficially as the M60 Patton, is a first-generation main battle tank introduced in December 1960. It was widely used by the U.S. and its Cold War allies, especially those in NATO, and remains in service throughout the world today...
tanks then in regular use. Most of the M48s were placed into service with reserve units by this time. By the mid-1990s, the M48s were phased out.
T95 Medium Tank
The T95 was an American series of prototype medium tanks developed from 1955 to 1959. These tanks used many advanced or unusual features, such as siliceous-cored armor, the APFSDS
Kinetic energy penetrator
A kinetic energy penetrator is a type of ammunition which, like a bullet, does not contain explosives and uses kinetic energy to penetrate the target....
-firing 90 mm T208 smoothbore
Smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...
gun in a rigid mounting without a recoil system, a new transmission, and the OPTAC fire-control system
Fire-control system
A fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...
, which incorporated the T53 Optical Tracking, Acquisition and Ranging (OPTAR) system, emitted pulsed beams of intense but incoherent
Coherence (physics)
In physics, coherence is a property of waves that enables stationary interference. More generally, coherence describes all properties of the correlation between physical quantities of a wave....
infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
light.
M103 heavy tank
Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant
The Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant was the first manufacturing plant ever built for the mass production of tanks in the United States. Established in 1940 under Chrysler, this plant was owned by the U.S. government until 1996. It was designed by architect Albert Kahn...
and the first units were accepted in 1957.
The M103 was designed to counter Soviet heavies. Its long-ranged 120 mm cannon was designed to hit enemy tanks at extreme distances, but it was never used in combat. Of the 300 M103s built, Most went to the Marines. The tank was relatively underpowered and the drive systems were fragile.
The turret of the M103 was larger than that of the M48 or the M60 to make room for the huge 120 mm gun and the two loaders assigned to it, in addition to the gunner and the commander. The driver sat in the hull. The gun was capable of elevation from +15 to -8 degrees.
While the US Army deactivated its heavy armor units with the reception of the new M60 series main battle tanks in 1960, the remaining M103s stayed within the US Marine Corps inventory until they began receiving the M60 series MBT. With the disappearance of the heavy tank from US forces came the full acceptance of the main battle tank
Main battle tank
A main battle tank , also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the heavy direct fire role of many modern armies. They were originally conceived to replace the light, medium, heavy and super-heavy tanks. Development was spurred onwards in the Cold War with the development...
in 1960 in the U.S. Army, and 1973 in the U.S. Marine Corps.
M60 Patton
The M60 PattonM60 Patton
The 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank, M60, also known unofficially as the M60 Patton, is a first-generation main battle tank introduced in December 1960. It was widely used by the U.S. and its Cold War allies, especially those in NATO, and remains in service throughout the world today...
was designed as a replacement for the M48 Patton
M48 Patton
The M48 Patton is a medium tank that was designed in the United States. It was the third and final tank to be officially named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle It was a...
and is indeed based on the chassis of it.
M60
In 1957, plans were laid in the US for a tank with a 105 mm main gun and a redesigned hull offering better armor protection.The resulting M60 largely resembled the M48 it was based on, but has significant differences. The M60 mounted a bore evacuated
Bore evacuator
A bore evacuator is a device on the gun barrel of an armoured fighting vehicle which helps prevent poisonous propellant gases from venting back into the vehicle's fighting compartment when the gun breech is opened to load another round. Bore evacuators are most often used on large-calibre tank...
105 mm main gun, had a hull with a straight front slope where as the M48's hull was rounded, had three support rollers per side to the M48's five, and had road wheels constructed from aluminum rather than steel.
The hull of the M60 was a single piece steel casting divided into three compartments, with the driver in front, fighting compartment in the middle and engine at the rear. The driver looked through three M27 day periscopes, one of which could be replaced by a night vision periscope. Initially, the M60 had essentially the same turret shape as the M48, but this was subsequently replaced with a distinctive "needlenose" design that minimized frontal cross-section to enemy fire.
M60 machine gun
The M60 is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links...
or an escape hatch under the hull.
Originally designated the M68, the new vehicle was put into production in 1959, reclassified as the M60, and entered service in 1960. Over 15,000 M60s (all variants) were constructed.
M60A1
In 1963, the M60 was upgraded to the M60A1. This new variant, which stayed in production until 1980, featured a larger, better-shaped turret and improvements to the armor protection and shock absorbers. The M60A1 was also equipped with a stabilization system for the main gun. However, the M60A1 was still not able to fire on the move, as the system only kept the gun pointed in the same general direction while the tank was traveling cross country. It did however enable the coaxial machine gun to be brought to bear while moving.M60A2
The M60A2, nicknamed the "Starship" due to its Space AgeSpace Age
The Space Age is a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik...
technology, featured an entirely new low-profile turret with a commander's machine-gun cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
on top, giving the commander a good view and field of fire while under armor but spoiling the low profile. It also featured a 152 mm cannon, which fired conventional rounds as well as guided missile
Guided Missile
Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....
s.
The M60A2 proved a disappointment, though technical advancements would pave the way for future tanks. The Shillelagh/M60A2 system was phased out from active units by 1981, and the turrets scrapped. Most of the M60A2 tanks were rebuilt as M60A3.
M60A3
In 1978, work began on the M60A3 variant. It featured a number of technological enhancements, including smoke dischargers, a new rangefinder, and M21 ballistic computer, and a turret stabilization system. In addition it reverted back to the 105mm cannon. All active American Army M60s eventually underwent the conversion to the A3 model.The M60A3 was phased out of US service in 1997.
M1 Abrams
M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams is a third-generation main battle tank produced in the United States. It is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. The M1 is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for...
came from the diverted funds from the over budget and impractical MBT-70
MBT-70
The MBT-70 was a 1960s German-U.S. joint project to develop a new main battle tank, which was to be equipped with a number of advanced features. It utilized a newly developed hydropneumatic "kneeling" suspension and housed the entire crew in the large turret...
and XM815 projects.
Prototypes were delivered in 1976 by Chrysler Defense and General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
armed with a 105 mm rifled cannon. The Chrysler Defense design was selected for development as the M1. In 1979, General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
Land Systems Division purchased Chrysler Defense.
The M1 was the first of its kind. It feature a low profile turret and for the first time ever on a tank, composite chobham
Chobham armour
Chobham armour is the name informally given to a composite armour developed in the 1960s at the British tank research centre on Chobham Common, Surrey, England...
armor. Despite all these advances, the Abrams still retained the 4-man crew of the M60 Patton
M60 Patton
The 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank, M60, also known unofficially as the M60 Patton, is a first-generation main battle tank introduced in December 1960. It was widely used by the U.S. and its Cold War allies, especially those in NATO, and remains in service throughout the world today...
as the autoloader
Autoloader
An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ordnance into crew-served weapons, such as tanks and artillery...
was considered unproven and risky.
Over 3200 M1 Abrams were produced and first entered US Army service in 1980.
About 6000 upgraded M1A1 Abrams were produced and used a 120 mm smoothbore
Smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...
cannon, improved armor, and a CBRN
CBRN
CBRN is an initialism for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear. It is used to refer to situations in which any of these four hazards have presented themselves. The term CBRN is a replacement for the cold war term NBC , which had replaced the term ABC that was used in the fifties...
protection system.
As the Abrams entered service in the 1980s, they would operate alongside M60A3 Patton. These exercises usually took place in Western Europe, especially West Germany, but also in some other countries like South Korea. During such training, Abrams crews honed their skills for use against the Soviet Union. However, by 1991 the USSR had collapsed and the Abrams would have its trial by fire in the Middle East.
Gulf War and War on Terrorism
Since the Cold War the U.S. has moved away almost completely from using light tanks; instead supplementing these with heavily armed armored cars. The M60A3 Patton still was used by the Marines and saw action in the Gulf War.M60 Patton
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
in 1991, opposing Iraqi armor which included the T-54/T-59
Type 59
The Type 59 main battle tank is a Chinese produced version of the Soviet T-54A tank, an improvement over the ubiquitous T-54/55. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963...
, T-55, T-62
T-62
The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank, a further development of the T-55. Its 115 mm gun was the first smoothbore tank gun in use.The T-62 was produced between 1961 and 1975. It became a standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, partly replacing the T-55, although that tank continued to be...
, Type 69
Type 69/79
The Type 69 and Type 79 are two models of Chinese main battle tanks. Both developments of the Type 59 , they were the first independently-developed main battle tanks by China. Their lineage can be seen through the distinct gap between the first and second roadwheels...
, and T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
. The M60A1s were fitted with add-on explosive reactive armor (ERA) packages and supported the drive into Kuwait City where they were involved in a two day tank battle at the Kuwait airport with the loss of only one vehicle and no crew. They saw service with the United States Marine Corps, and the Saudi Arabian Army.
M1 Abrams
When the Abrams entered service in the 1980s, they operated alongside M60A3 within the United States military, and with other NATO tanks in numerous Cold War exercises. These exercises usually took place in Western Europe, especially West Germany, but also in some other countries like South Korea. During such training exercises, Abrams' crews honed their skills for use against Soviet soldiers, equipment and vehicles. However, by 1991 the USSR had collapsed and the Abrams had not been in any combat.The Abrams remained untested in combat until the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
in 1991. A total of 1,848 M1A1s were deployed to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. The M1A1 was superior to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
's Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-era T-55
T-55
The T-54 and T-55 tanks were a series of main battle tanks designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in March 1945, just before the end of the Second World War. The T-54 entered full production in 1947 and became the main tank for armored units of the Soviet Army, armies of...
and T-62
T-62
The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank, a further development of the T-55. Its 115 mm gun was the first smoothbore tank gun in use.The T-62 was produced between 1961 and 1975. It became a standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, partly replacing the T-55, although that tank continued to be...
tanks, as well as Iraqi assembled Russian T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
s, and locally produced copies (Asad Babil tank
Lion of Babylon tank
The Lion of Babylon or Asad Babil was an Iraqi-built version of the Soviet T-72 main battle tank, assembled in a factory established in the 1980s near Taji, north of Baghdad....
). The T-72s like most Soviet export designs lacked night vision systems and then-modern rangefinder
Rangefinder
A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target, for the purposes of surveying, determining focus in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon. Some devices use active methods to measure ; others measure distance using trigonometry...
s, though they did have some night fighting tanks with older active infrared systems or floodlights—just not the latest starlight scopes and passive infrared scopes as on the Abrams. Only 23 M1A1s were taken out of service in the Gulf and one of these losses resulted in crew deaths from Iraqi fire. Some others took minor combat damage, with little effect on their operational readiness. Very few Abrams tanks were hit by enemy fire, and there was only one fatality, along with a handful of wounded as a result.
Interwar upgrades
The M1A2 was a further improvement, with a commander's independent thermal viewer and weapon station, position navigation equipment, digital data bus and a radio interface unit.Further upgrades included depleted uranium
Depleted uranium
Depleted uranium is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope U-235 than natural uranium . Uses of DU take advantage of its very high density of 19.1 g/cm3...
armor for all variants, a system overhaul that returns all A1s to like-new condition (M1A1 AIM), a digital enhancement package for the A1 (M1A1D), a commonality program to standardize parts between the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps (M1A1HC) and an electronic upgrade for the A2 (M1A2 SEP).
During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and for Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, some M1A1s were modified with armor upgrades.
Afghanistan/Iraq Wars
Further combat was seen during 2003 when US forces invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. As of March 2005, approximately 80 Abrams tanks were forced out of action by enemy attacks. Nevertheless, the campaign saw very similar performance from the tank with no Abrams crew member being lost to hostile fire during the invasion of Iraq, although several tank crew members were later killed during the occupation that followed.Depleted uranium
Depleted uranium is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope U-235 than natural uranium . Uses of DU take advantage of its very high density of 19.1 g/cm3...
, anti-armor RPG fire and 12.7 mm rounds was encountered. But on no occasion did anti-tank guided weapons
Anti-tank guided missile
An anti-tank missile , anti-tank guided missile , anti-tank guided weapon or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily-armored military vehicles....
or anti-tank mine
Anti-tank mine
An anti-tank mine, , is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles....
s strike the US MBTs.
The most lopsided achievement of the M1A2s was the destruction of seven T-72 Lion of Babylon tank
Lion of Babylon tank
The Lion of Babylon or Asad Babil was an Iraqi-built version of the Soviet T-72 main battle tank, assembled in a factory established in the 1980s near Taji, north of Baghdad....
s in a point-blank skirmish (less than 50 yards (45.7 m)) near Mahmoudiyah, about 18 miles (29 km) south of Baghdad, with no losses for the American side. However, on October 29, 2003, two soldiers were killed and a third wounded when their tank was disabled by an anti-tank mine
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
, which was combined with other explosives (500 kg (1,102.3 lb), including several 155 mm rounds) to increase its effect. The massive explosion beneath the tank knocked off the turret. This marked the first time deaths resulted from a hostile-fire assault on the M1 tank from enemy forces.
The Abrams has shown surprising vulnerability to Improvised Explosive Devices during the occupation.
The M1A3 Abrams is in the early design period with the U.S. Army. The Army aims to build prototypes by 2014 and to begin to field the first combat-ready M1A3s by 2017. The Army anticipates that the Abrams may remain in U.S. service until 2050.
The U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems
Future Combat Systems
Future Combat Systems was the United States Army's principal modernization program from 2003 to early 2009. Formally launched in 2003, FCS was envisioned to create new brigades equipped with new manned and unmanned vehicles linked by an unprecedented fast and flexible battlefield network...
' XM1202 was to replace the Abrams and was in development when funding for the program was cut from the DoD's
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
budget. The U.S. Army's developing BCT Ground Combat Vehicle Program
BCT Ground Combat Vehicle Program
The Ground Combat Vehicle is the U.S. Army's replacement program for armored fighting vehicles in Heavy and Stryker brigade combat teams. The GCV is organized under the Follow On Incremental Capabilities Package of the BCT Modernization program. The first variant of the vehicle is to be prototyped...
might also produce a permanent replacement for the Abrams.
See also
- History of the tankHistory of the tankThe history of the tank began in World War I, when armoured all-terrain fighting vehicles were first deployed as a response to the problems of trench warfare, ushering in a new era of mechanized warfare. Though initially crude and unreliable, tanks eventually became a mainstay of ground armies...
- Tanks in World War ITanks in World War IThe development of tanks in World War I began as a solution to the stalemate which trench warfare had brought to the western front. The first prototype of the Mark I tank was tested for the British Army on September 8th 1915...
- List of interwar armoured fighting vehicles
- Tanks in World War IITanks in World War IITanks played a great role in World War II. Invented by the British in World War I, the tank gradually improved in the inter-war period and also saw rapid changes in the Second World War...
- Comparison of early World War II tanksComparison of early World War II tanksThis table compare the tanks in use by the belligerent nations of Europe at the start of the Second World War, employed in the Polish Campaign , the Fall of France , and Operation Barbarossa ....