American Tank "Sherman" - one of the most successful versions of combat equipment manufactured allies during World War II.It is worth noting that it was used not only by the Americans in their combat against the Japanese and the Germans, but to actively supply the Soviet Army under contract Lend-Lease.
its name Tank "Sherman" was in honor of one of the military leaders of the northerners during the Civil War - W. Sherman.The engineering development this machine featured first called T6, and then - M4 in different versions.After the signing of the act of surrender to Japan this tank stood still long enough in service around the world, participated in the Korean War, and many of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
United States entered into World War II without any serious modifications of medium tanks, which has been shown to play a crucial role on the battlefield.The government has set a target as soon as possible to correct this gap, but a decent result was achieved only by the end of 1941.T6, after which the series production began to be called the M4 had a cast body, and his armor was placed in a rotating turret, which increased maneuverability and control of the battlefield.It should be noted that the tank "Sherman" was much more profitable in economic terms of their predecessors, in terms of huge losses had almost a priority.During the war, American industry produced more than 49 thousand of these machines.
Browse tank "Sherman" leads to the conclusion that its layout meets all the requirements of this period.Motor located behind, while the transmission compartment - front.The tower served as a basis for the crew compartment, lying almost on the geometric center of the machine.At the same time to the absolute disadvantage of the tank can be attributed to the relatively high body, making it a perfect target for the enemy.However, such a height was almost inevitable, since otherwise a huge aircraft engine that was installed here, it does not hide.
Tank "Sherman" had a very decent weapons.If you run it in the series of the tower was placed 75 mm gun, inherited from the previous models, at the subsequent models have staged larger weapons, including 105 mm howitzers.Apart from the main gun, the tank (depending on version) also had a coaxial machine gun caliber rifle, and next to the commander's hatch was located a heavy machine gun.In addition, later models were equipped with smoke mortars and Thompson submachine gun.
Tank "Sherman" can be safely attributed to one of the most reliable types of military equipment during World War II.From other similar models, such as the Soviet T-34 or the German T-4, it featured a longer period of operation of the engine, as well as the excellent transmission, allows the machine to maneuver with confidence both in the desert and on the road.
