Sherman Sherman V, 2nd Irish Guards, Guards Armoured Division, Holland, September 1944, Market-Garden.

[One-Oh-Four]

Trying to excavate it out of the bedrock, see what the DNA is, put some M2A2 Bradley DNA in to cover the missing spots and we get a Shermannosaurus Rex!

 

Will probably end up something like this: 

 

[Paulster]

Trying to excavate it out of the bedrock, see what the DNA is, put some M2A2 Bradley DNA in to cover the missing spots and we get a Shermannosaurus Rex!

 

Will probably end up something like this: 

 

Hitting the eggnog a little early Erik?

[One-Oh-Four]

Doesn't have to taste good, just has to contain alcohol.... 

[One-Oh-Four]

At this moment in it's box next to the bench. At the moment fondling Do 335B plastic...

[James H]

dammit

[belugawhaleman]

On 2/15/2015 at 2:58 PM, One-Oh-Four said:

The Sherman V.

 

That's what this WIP is all about anyway.... The name "Sherman" for the tank wasn't an American idea. As the British tend to name their equipment and differentiate it by using Marks, they did the same with the American medium tank M4. They called it the Sherman, followed by a Roman numeral to denote the subtype. In this way the M4 became the Sherman I, the M4A1 the Sherman II and so forth. The M4A4 thus way became the Sherman V.

 

One of the challenges during Sherman production was to find enough engines produced to power them. Chrysler offered a solution in the form of the Chrysler A57 Multibank engine. This engine was created by fitting five 6-cylinder L-head (side valve) around one crankshaft. This way they created a 21-liter 30-cylinder engine that delivered 470 hp at 2400 rpm.

 

The 5 cylinder blocks of a Multilink engine under restoration:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/mustang5/ShermanV-M4A4-2ndIrishGuards/ShermanMultibankblocksready.jpg

 

The assembled engine:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/mustang5/ShermanV-M4A4-2ndIrishGuards/ShermanChryslerA57Multibank.jpg

 

American forces didn't use the M4A4 operationally, they used the M4 and M4A1 with the 9 cylinder air-cooled radial engine and the M4A3 powered with a Ford V8 engine. The M4A4 went mostly to Great Britain, Free French forces and China.

 

Although the engine does look rather impressive, it wasn't the easiest to maintain, it seems. Especially in the beginning when every cylinder block had it's own coolant pump, for instance.

 

An M4A4 getting it's engine installed:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/mustang5/ShermanV-M4A4-2ndIrishGuards/Shermanchrysler-a57-multibank-installation.jpg

 

Okay, so what makes an M4A4 is basically it's engine, is there an easy way to identify a Sherman as an M4A4? I hear you ask....

 

Well, yes. In order to get the engine to fit, the hull of the tank had to be lengthened. That is identifiable by the spacing of the suspension bogies. The M4A4 has more space between them than other Sherman subtypes.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/mustang5/ShermanV-M4A4-2ndIrishGuards/Shermanm4.gif

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/mustang5/ShermanV-M4A4-2ndIrishGuards/Shermanm4a4-sherman-V.gif

 

U.S. M4's unloading in Italy, 1944:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/mustang5/ShermanV-M4A4-2ndIrishGuards/Shermans_disembarking_from_LST_at_Anzio_crop.jpg

 

A Sherman V:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/mustang5/ShermanV-M4A4-2ndIrishGuards/shermanv.jpg

 

To read more on the M4A4:

M4A4 Shermans

 

M4A4 Sherman production variants

Thanks I never saw an image of that engine variant. Just plain weird!