Editing M4 Sherman (section)

==In Real Life==
[[File:M4 Sherman IRL.jpg|thumb|"This American tub's not half bad wot?"]]

The M4 epitomizes the US Government's commitment to supplying its soldiers with massive quantities of good enough equipment. From the onset, the M4 was designed to maximize ease of repair and part longevity over all other concerns since the damn thing had to serve an ocean away from the factory making the parts for them. Mechanically, it was largely a continuation of the ''definitely not good enough'' M3, minimizing the amount of factory changes needed to produce it. Ultimately M4s would be churned out by a dozen companies with half a dozen different engine setups, ranging from V8s to twin diesels to repurposed aircraft engines. Its slab-sided high profile was a consequence of a secondary requirement that it be easily transportable by existing railroads, which initially limited its overall width to 103 inches. It is fitting then that with all these considerations in mind, most of which were pragmatic consideration for logistics of waging an overseas war, that the vehicle would be named after one of the United States' most infamously pragmatic Generals.

Contrary to popular belief, the Sherman was very much intended to fight other tanks; its original 75mm gun M3 (the same as the M3's sponson gun, but more sensibly mounted in the turret) was the best possible tank gun the Americans had at the start of the war, and projects to find a replacement began as early as 1942. The 75mm was adequate against Panzer IIIs and IVs and could perform surprisingly well against the big cats as battles like Arracourt demonstrate. 75mm HE ammo was also highly regarded for its ability to kill enemy infantry (and this ''was'' a pretty significant consideration for tankers, with one tank battalion claiming to have used 55 AP rounds in 5 months but 19,634 HE rounds during that same time), and the Marine Corps retained the older Shermans for this reason while 76mm-using Sherman's HE rounds were largely considered disappointing by comparison (containing a third less explosive filler). 

Additionally, the tank was technically supposed to be capable of providing anti-air fire with the M2 Browning 50. caliber machine gun attached at the back of the turret; however, the other methods the Allies used to control the skies were working well enough that the gun in this spot was rarely used in this role. Instead, they tended to be used against infantry and light armored vehicles, with aircraft as something of an afterthought. Early variants had the M2 mounted on the rear of the turret on the principle of supporting infantry using it, but many later had it moved to the front to be fired from inside the metal deathbox by one of the crew. More so, it was just American doctrine, due to the obscene number of M2s manufactured before and during the war, to bolt the damn things onto any vehicle that could take them. This tradition continues to this day, everyone and their dog in the vehicle sections has an M2.

Early attempts to add more powerful guns resulted in extremely cramped turrets, significantly compromising the ability to lay guns and make follow-on shots. The British decided the added anti-tank ability was worth the compromises, resulting in the Ic and Vc "Firefly" tanks incorporating their massive 17 pdr gun; these were effectively ambush vehicles, and would always be incorporated into larger units with 75mm Shermans. The US would finally adapt the T23 turret (with 76mm gun M1) from the Pershing prototypes in the "easy six" conversion, although very few of these tanks arrived in Europe in time for D-Day.

Like most prewar US tanks, the Sherman incorporated a bogie suspension system, with its initial incarnation using a vertical volute spring for each bogie. This made replacement of suspension elements very easy in the field, compared to a Christie or torsion bar system or ''Gott helfe dir'', a Schachtellaufwerk system. However, the Sherman had more limited roadwheels, narrower tracks and a correspondingly higher ground pressure, making it a more difficult tank to operate in rough terrain. The US Army would attempt to mitigate this through "duckbill" end connecters, giving a somewhat wider track (the tank pictured has both a VVSS suspension and duckbills). Later, the "easy eight" modification introduced a new suspension bogie, with dual road wheels and a horizontal volute spring. The HVSS would make the Sherman more of an off-road contender, and its smoother travel allowed tanks to more effectively shoot on the move.

In spite of this, the Sherman gained a reputation for being a deathtrap on tracks that would go up in flames or explode after suffering a hit with even the Jerries being said to nickname them "Tommycookers", which had some basis due to poor storage of ammo, but later variants moved the ammo and introduced wet-ammo storage to mitigate this (In reality, most burning tanks are the result of deliberate overkill to prevent recovery). Their height tended to be a liability in open plains, making them easier to see and hit, and harder to employ in ambushes compared to casemate assault guns like Hetzers or Archers. By the end of the war the vehicle suffered against the immense number of weapons that could penetrate it, because two [[Nazi|fanatical]] [[Communism|retards]] thought that having a tank arms race was hilarious. Compare this to the Pacific Theater, where the Sherman was better than literally any of the tanks the Japanese were fielding operationally. 

Shermans, being one of the most modular chassis in the entire war, had tons of variants that we won't waste your time with. Instead, we'll just focus on the two cool ones: The "105 Sherman" and the Flame variant, but we encourage you to look up "Hobart's Funnies."

Officially called the M4A3(105), the Sherman 105 is what happens when you look at the [[M8 Scott|Scott]], decide that its a good start, then proceed to shove a 105mm howitzer in the turret of a larger tank. 500 were built, and they were used in much the same role as the Scott fully replacing the [[M7 Priest]] in armor battalions. The 105 would go on to serve after his brothers had been withdrawn from US service until the end of the Korean War.

The U.S. Marine Corps, somewhat fed up with dealing with people with Katanas and bayonets at close range with flamethrowers decided to yank out the cannon and shove in a heavy flamethrower, creating an "M4 Zippo". It gave up its anti-tank capability and shared the same overall shortcomings as the conventional M4, but Marines loved this thing, because torching the enemy in their caves and bunkers with a [[Metal Boxes|MEHTUL BAWK]] was vastly better than going in after them with nothing but a shirt and a prayer between you and their bullets. Officially called the M4A3R3 because technical designations.

Despite it's shortcomings as a combat vehicle, the Sherman can easily be considered one of the "greatest tanks of WW2". Sure, it didn't fire [[Tiger|88mm shells of death over 2km]], or [[T-34|shrug off dozens of 40mm AT shells]], but no one can deny that it fulfilled one goal that almost no other tank fielded in that conflict could: That it was everywhere that it was needed and did its job well enough, and could do just about anything you needed it to, from the Deserts of North Africa to the Jungles of Burma, the Mountain Passes of Italy, the Beaches of the Pacific, the Rice Fields of China, the Steppes of Russia, the Hedgerows of Normandy, and finally the Streets of Berlin. The Sherman was everywhere.

Israel used the upgraded M-50 and M-51 "Super Shermans" retrofitted with high velocity French 75mm and 105mm guns in that order. These Shermans both served until the end of the Yom Kippur War. The M-50 was given as aid to Israel aligned factions in the Lebanese Civil War and some were exported to Chile which retrofitted 60mm self loading autocannons until being replaced by Leopard 1s. The post-war models saw combat service until 1999 when they were withdrawn from Yugoslav War service. Paraguay had 10 for training and support and 5 in storage usually deployed for parades until 2018 when these last few were retired from service.

{{US Forces in Flames of War}}
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