SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - Busting Tank Myths: T-34, M4, and MkIV Compared

Neutrino 123 · 07-26-06, 03:58 AM

Indeed, I mentioned in the first post that the T-34 was designed and produced well before the Sherman. When it first came out, the T-34 was revolutionary, while the Sherman was merely decent. However, the actual abilities of these tanks are quite similar.

The Sherman 76.2mm gun armed tanks did not come out until 1944 (maybe late 1943). The 76.2mm was perfectly good for taking on the MkIV and StuG III, but could only deal with Panthers and Tigers at close range or from the flank. Since Panthers and Tigers did not have signifigant numbers until 1944, the 76.2mm would have been adequate before then (and indeed, the 75mm gun was decent against the earlier German tanks). The Sherman did not experiance major problems before 1944 when it met Panthers and Tigers in notable numbers.

As for the burning Sherman reputation, I am not sure if it is wholly deserved. True, the early Shermans brewed up alot more then the late ones, but did they really brew up more then the T-34 or early German tanks? I'm not too sure about this...

The North Korean tankers had good training, but neither the North Koreans nor Chinese had very many tanks throughout the war. There were a few tank vs. tank incidents near the beginning where U.S. M24 Chaffes did poorly against T-34/85s, but the M4A3E8s and M26/M46s did much better.
Edit: I found some more information about this at http://www.korean-war.com/Archives/2.../msg00280.html

07-26-06, 03:58 AM	#45
Neutrino 123 A-ganger Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: UCLA, Los Angeles Posts: 73 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Indeed, I mentioned in the first post that the T-34 was designed and produced well before the Sherman. When it first came out, the T-34 was revolutionary, while the Sherman was merely decent. However, the actual abilities of these tanks are quite similar. The Sherman 76.2mm gun armed tanks did not come out until 1944 (maybe late 1943). The 76.2mm was perfectly good for taking on the MkIV and StuG III, but could only deal with Panthers and Tigers at close range or from the flank. Since Panthers and Tigers did not have signifigant numbers until 1944, the 76.2mm would have been adequate before then (and indeed, the 75mm gun was decent against the earlier German tanks). The Sherman did not experiance major problems before 1944 when it met Panthers and Tigers in notable numbers. As for the burning Sherman reputation, I am not sure if it is wholly deserved. True, the early Shermans brewed up alot more then the late ones, but did they really brew up more then the T-34 or early German tanks? I'm not too sure about this... The North Korean tankers had good training, but neither the North Koreans nor Chinese had very many tanks throughout the war. There were a few tank vs. tank incidents near the beginning where U.S. M24 Chaffes did poorly against T-34/85s, but the M4A3E8s and M26/M46s did much better. Edit: I found some more information about this at http://www.korean-war.com/Archives/2.../msg00280.html __________________ Neutrino 123 Last edited by Neutrino 123; 07-26-06 at 04:40 AM.