USA M4A1 75mm Sherman Walkaround
Location: Military Vehicle Technology Foundation in Portola Valley, California
Date: May 17, 2008
Photographer: John Admire
After Germany's armored divisions raced across Europe in 1939 and 1940, the United States suddenly found itself with numerous outdated tank designs. To quickly rectify this problem, that Army Tank Board, in cooperation with Detroit auto makers, took elements of the M2 medium tank and combined them with new features to produce the M3 and M4 medium tanks. The M4 combined proven running gear and automotive elements with a new turret and 75mm gun, all optimized for mass production. The original M4 Sherman mounted a radial engine, designed for aircraft, in an all-welded hull. Detroit could not produce welded upper hulls fast enough, so a cast hull was designed for substitution. The combination of M4 components with the cast upper hull became the M4A1.
This tank features an early three piece transmission cover, dry hull with applique armor plates, plain sprocket, straight return roller arms, later 75mm turret with vision copula, and A34A1 mantlet with later roter shield. The turret includes cast in cheek armor but appears to lack a pistol port. The hull carries later air cleaners. The type of loaders hatch, if any, is not apparent from these pictures. Note that the tools are painted olive drab, just like the rest of the tank. The shade of olive drab looks wrong for a World War II vehicle, but the lighting makes this difficult to confirm.
You can find more information about this vehicle in the Wikipedia.
Walkaround (select a picture to view at full size):
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All photographs copyright by photographer. All rights reserved. All photographs used with permission.
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