Freedom Edition

Post tanks, preferably with flags!

the very first sherman to see combat, the M4A1 sherman
confusingly not the actual first sherman , the M4 was primarily used by the US and would see combat later in operation torch

the M4 was a rush job and it was clear here, no telescopic sight (US had a 1.4x zoom on the gunner periscope which was linked to the gun instead), the internal arrangement for the crew was still not optimal, the periscopes were easily damaged
but the british didnt really care, it was a sight better than their crusader tanks and thats all that mattered

the M4 sherman, with improved turret based on their experiences in north africa

the thinner driver bulges are still there, but they have an additional inch of armor placed over it
the turret has a wider gun sheld, to accommodate a 3x gunner sight
not visible from the outside, but the periscopes were beefed up to prevent them from getting knocked loose

There is something really cursed about pic related

>>63937136
>no flag
1 demerit

>>63937480
are we allowing fire support vehicles in here now?

>>63937494
Yes because the 3 inch gun motor carriage deserves more love!

>>63937069
More like Abraps

>>63937554
they really should have made those applique armor kits for them
an additional inch of armor would have made a big difference against the L/46 AT gun

>>63937597
>you will never bomb an airfield with these
>>63937602
What movie is this a prop from?
>>63937689
Do you mean the Pak 40? Yeah could have but if I recall by the time said kits were tested and ready to be made it was 1945 and by then most M10's were basically being used as pic related to bombard static positions.

>>63937826
the patent for the armor was filed in early 1943, so there was no reason why they couldnt have kits ready by overlord
its a bit over 1/2 an inch thick and was installed as spaced armor

no reason was ever given as to why it was not provided, seemingly they never got around to making them in the first place
some people guessed that the people who thought up TDs didnt think their super speedy ambush tanks would need additional armor

>>63937932
Filed in 43 but I am pretty sure they didn't actually test them till 45?

Do you think Ital WW2 tanks should have had a rocket installed on the side of the turret?

>>63938236
>but I am pretty sure they didn't actually test them till 45?
patented, but it looks like none were produced, tested, or issued
so they designed it with the capability to take it and then promptly forgot about it
later M10s dont even have the mounting points for it

>>63937061 (OP)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10vnuku2VrI

Found these on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0umweipUbM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43CqMkvwFtA

>>63938454
>going on a queer hunt.webm

The effect of the shell losing balance when penetrating 1/2 inch thick armor seems to apply to 20-30mm bullets, but considering the caliber of German anti-tank weapons, this doesn't seem to make much sense.

>>63940457
In what context? Talking WW2? Know fuses were much more prone to failure during those days right?

Sherman that was sent to shah Iran after WWII, then got captured by the iraqis, somehow wound up on the battlefield during Iraqi Freedom. The craziest part is that it still had it's WWII US paint job.

M4A1 76mm sherman

M4A1s were being phased out in the US army due to being hard to field repair and the cast armor being slightly softer than regular armor
but the first long gun shermans to arrive in europe used the M4A1 as the basis, because they had been produced much, much earlier in january 1944 before the preferred M4A3 was still in wide service

the long gun came with an equally long sight, a 5x telescopic sight and a 6x periscope

i like the swedish strv103
two engines, hydropneumatic suspension, fixed turret, aim by adjusting the hull suspension

silly me forgot pic

>>63940821
>>63940831
Holy cow. I hope it made it back to the US.

>>63941250
I always thought the skirts made of jerry cans were cool

>>63941272
I think they did bring some of them home?

>>63937600
Lol

>>63941205
Its kind of impressive these were around for Normandy but they choose not to bring them. Also when you see reenactors with them they often bring the 75mm armed Sherman over 76mm.

>>63942423
it was a combination of underestimating how many panthers the enemy had and the Vth corp having already been trained on the 75mm gun and a desire not to have them go into battle with vehicles they had only just received
so even though they were available for use, no one actually requested them
they offered them to the british, who also didnt want them because they already had the sherman firefly

panthers did end up being more common than anticipated, but the first panzer brigade to attack the US beachhead was annhilated before it saw a single US tank after 16in naval gunfire dispersed them
so the 76mm shermans werent issued until the breakout from beaches, where they would have expected more tank combat when maneuvering out to entrap the germans

>>63945983
Everyone focuses hard on the German infrared systems in WW2 but forget completely about the Allied versions which actually predate the German systems. Suppose getting photographs of them is a pain in the ass though. Pic related is 1943 by the way.

>>63941250
That's no tank, that's a compact sexo machine

>>63946726
> which actually predate the German systems
> Pic related is 1943 by the way
you do realize that the "ZG 1229 Vampir" wasn't the first german IR-device either?
pic rel is a Marder II with a ZG 1221, developed in 1939 it was first used during troop trials in late 1942

>>63947314
And Soviets also had them in 1930's as well?
That Sherman system was in production early 1942.

>>63946885
yeah it's a pretty neat design
still don't know why they abandoned it for their new tanks

>>63947584
both the Sherman and soviet designs were only night driving equipment*- visiblity was anywhere from 30 to 200 yards
meanwhile german designs were used to actually aim the guns
it is hard to find any info on the ZG 1221s range (found an unsourced claim of 650 yards) but there is a british report on the 1250 where it states that a standing person was clearly discernible at 400 yards

also early 1942 is still about 2.5 years after the ZG 1221 got developed
(* I have read blog articles where it is claimed that the soviet desings were also for fire control but they only state that the "commander" had an extra set and they never give any sources so I have my doubts)

>>63947773
It was cheaper in the short term to just buy than research and develop their own vehicle. That's why.

>>63947808
There's also articles discussing IR systems for nighttime naval engagements for both sides with much higher range but the sources seem theoretical at best or ones out there aren't exactly what I'd trust.
I know the Bongs had something on the cusp of being a night vision goggle but its hard to find any good descriptions of its capabilities or photos of it for that matter.

Anyway on a change of topic, would there have been anyway to make a multi-turreted design not retarded? About the only thing I can think of is some sort of massive flame tank for urban combat.

>>63947465
>Sherman with oscillating turret
>Israeli flag
>Panzer IV
>What looks like a StuG III behind that
What the fuck is this image?

>>63948560
Shit was pretty crazy in MENA for a while.
>>63937063
What's the story with this one?

>>63948669
>whats the story
Not much. Just a Super Sherman that made its way to a US museum. Think that one is Cavanaugh. Super Shermans seem surprisingly common in museums across the world even in ones in countries that never operated them.

American troops operating the French made Renault FT in 1918
considered the first modern tank and one of the most influential designs in tank history
first production tank to have its armament within a fully rotating turret

>>63939181
Love this channel

>>63949484
Also one of the more widely copied tanks in history. Think the only thing that has it beat for being copied is the Vickers 6 Ton, adopted and adapted by virtually every nation on Earth except the British.
>>63950246
Do you think that tanks have machine spirits?

>>63951099
every machine does.

>>63947821
>Would there have been anyway to make a multi-turreted design not retarded?
Inventing the microcomputer decades early and computerizing the mini-turrets' control.

>>63953542
>>63947821
come to think of it

why were BB even a thing in ww2?
why didn't they just build a 100 destroyers with two 40 cm guns instead?
was ist because radar was still pretty expensive?

>>63953658
>why didn't they just build a 100 destroyers with two 40 cm guns instead?
Cause to build something like that destroyer sized that can withstand the recoil you end up with a monitor which is slow and a sitting duck? If you decide to make it larger so it can devote more space to engines so can go faster then you'll want to add more protection then at that point you've just made another Battleship once everything is added on.
Battleships were also still highly capable in WW2. A single shot from one of their main guns could instantly vaporize most destroyers and even their secondaries would make short work of them. Furthermore and contrary to popular belief, a Battleship was a nightmare for aircraft to deal with. The volume of AA fire a single one could bring alone was often enough to break up an air attack and could essentially protect a fleet. Even if a Battleship took a hit from an aircraft in most cases they could shrug it off.

>>63953658
Brits tried that, found it wasn't worth the compromises in seagoing ability and endurance.

the M4A2 was, by production numbers, the definitive M4 sherman
but only a few saw service with the US army, mostly with the marines
the british recieved 5000 of them, mostly 75mm versions
and the soviets 4000 of them, half of them 75 and the other half 76mm

primary difference from other M4s is the use of a twin-diesel engine, 2 smaller engines driving a common drive shaft
this was the obvious choice for the soviets, who already used diesel engines in large quantity
the british
the british primarily used the M4A4 instead, but they found the M4A2 was well suited to warm weather

forgot the pic
an M4A2 with 76mm gun

>>63954930
Think that ship has the distinction of firing the heaviest shell fired from a warship in anger. The 18inch gun on that fired a heavier shell than the Yamato.
>>63955239
It was kind of insane the amount of different variants of Sherman there were and most were to do with the engine. Think the Valentine had something similar going on.

>>63955405
>It was kind of insane the amount of different variants of Sherman there were and most were to do with the engine
engines were the second big bottleneck to tank production, the first being the hull itself

the US really did not want more than one type of engine in service at the same time, but engine production tapped out pretty quickly
but this all worked out in the end, because they wrong-engined shermans ended up as lend-lease fodder
the M4A3 was meant to be a full replacement for the radial-engined M4 and M4A1 in US service, but the sheer number of those produced meant they were always the majority of shermans in the field