Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Schlageter
It also meant that one would become less exhausted. being tired = mistakes = dead
Lets look a some data:
M4A2
weight - 31800kg
height - 2.74m
T-34/85
weight - 32000kg
height - 2.72m
Not much difference.
Note that the M4A2 was diesel powered. The Soviets received some 4,102.
Shermans faired no better than what the T-34 did and were certainly more reliable.
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On average tank lasted for 7 days on eastern front, independent on it's type. That means that each tank had a combat expectance of 1,2 attack. That also means that crew members on average got killed faster then they got tired. There were a lot of differences between soviet and american design schools - as vterans recall it "American equipment was great for peace time, but it had a lot of unnecessary features which supposedly enhanced, but actually lessened it's combat potential. Soviet equipment was well suited for war, but it was a nightmare for peace time use. For that matter, Germans had best equipment of all, but they lacked the man resourced to operate what they achieved in technological terms".
Size in mm: T-34 T-34-85 Sherman
Lenght 5920 8100 5893
Width 3000 3000 2616
height 2400 2720 2743
Main gun, mm 76,2 85 75
HP 500 500 350
Speed (top) 55 65 39
Speaking of reliability - once again at 7 days life expectance it did not matter at first. Secondly, Shermans had their own "bugs". For example, it could not withstand more that 100 km (sometimes even 20 km was more than enough for a breakdown to develop) race, which was common at last third of WWII due to disentegrating rubber bandages in the wheels, and thus it could not be used to chase retreating Germans... Sherman was so prone to overturning, that in some regiments it was forbidden to use them cross-country. It was so badly handling on frosen roads or ice that it got a nick name "cow on skiis". Another commonly described defeciency of Sherman was a main gun jamming at the recoil - this defect called for installing a new gun, since by no means it could be repaired in the field. Whats the use of the tank without a gun, which is unable to move, even if it's engine and transmition is running smoothly?
And what's 4,102 compared to 52,000 T-34s?