BLUF
The Sherman medium tank was not designed to take on heavy enemy tanks such as the German Tiger. However, it was intended to be reliable, maintenance-friendly, versatile, speedy and manoeuvrable. It was very good at what it was designed to do.Summary
This article by Christian Orr in 1945 makes the following points about the Sherman tank:
- Named after Civil War Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.
- The US produced 49,234 Shermans.
- Numbers second only to the Soviet T-34 medium battle tank—84,000 produced.
- Against German Panther tanks, 3.6-to-1 kill ratio.
- Against Tiger tanks, 5/3-to-1 loss ratio-outgunned and outclassed.
- Worth noting that Germany only produced under 2000 Tiger Tanks.
- Used in North Africa, Italy and Western Europe.
- Very few Tigers were used in the West.
- Given the number of Shermans and T-34s, the statement—falsely credited to Stalin—“Quantity has a quality all its own” still rings true no matter who said it.
References
Posts related to this topic:
- Patton: From Gafsa to El Guettar | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
- Battle of Kursk (Military History) | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
References from the Web:
- M4 Sherman Tank- The National WW2 Museum
- M4 Sherman-Fandom
- SEP 2017 Tank Busting – Blowing Up the Myth of the Mighty M4 Sherman-Military History Now
- JUL 2022 Sherman Tank- the Canadian Encyclopaedia.
Source Information: 1945
- Link to Source: 1945
- Media Check: 1945 Media Bias/Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com)
- RAAF RUNWAY: RATIONALE, GUIDELINES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, ETC |
