Along with this were the M4 Dozer (an M4 with a bulldozer blade), the T34 Calliope (mounting a multiple rocket launcher above the turret), the M4A3R3 Flame thrower (flame tank), and the Sherman Crab Mark I (a M4 Medium with a mine flail), as well as many other variants. [7], The German tank destroyers Panzerjäger ("tank hunters") were basically made by taking an existing anti-tank gun and mounting it on a convenient chassis to give mobility, usually with just a three-sided gun shield for crew protection. The second most produced tank during WWII. Medium tanks of 1939 weighed around 20 tonnes (20 long tons). Top image: An Iraqi tank burns during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The A10's cross country performance was recorded as poor, due to narrow, easily thrown tracks, but material losses incurred in the aftermath of Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk in late May 1940) meant they could not be withdrawn from front line service quickly and so saw combat in small numbers in North Africa, where reliability and suspension performance in the desert conditions was praised. The KV-2 close-support version was armed with a 152 mm (6.0-inch) howitzer. This tank and its derivatives, the M13/40, M14/41 and the M15/42 (all with 47 mm main guns) were closely comparable in combat power to light tanks such as the Soviet T-26. However, it was somewhat underpowered, having the same Ford GAA engine as the M4A3. CTMS-1TB1 tanks in Paramaribo, Surinam, 1947 However, the infantry at the time were being equipped with the 37 mm (1.46 inch) PaK 36, and it was thought that in the interest of standardization the tanks should carry the same armament. Welded-on appliqué armor and water jackets were added to combat the problem. However, by the beginning of the invasion of Poland, only a few hundred of these vehicles were available. World War 2 went on to set the new standard in combat tank design, resulting in the Main Battle Tank seen at war's end in 1945. Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order (1-to-Z). [24], The appearance of the M3 "Lee" medium tank in the summer of 1942 finally gave the British a larger supply of medium tanks than they could otherwise have hoped for. The LT-35 and LT-38 models were superior to the Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks used in the Wehrmacht, so the Germans ordered the production of these models to be resumed. 'Stuart' in British service) series beginning in 1941. [47][48], Although the Japanese Army widely employed tanks within the Pacific theater of war, the tanks that Allied forces in the Pacific faced were mostly older designs, such as the Type 95 Ha-Go light tank and Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank. [31], Technically, the M4's design was capable of handling larger guns than the 75 mm and 76 mm guns with which they left the factory. [3], The war accelerated the pace of change in design. [24] The British Army sought to have the US manufacture British designs, but the US refused, offering instead to share the output of US factories building US designs. The tank was invented by the British in 1916 and first used during World War I, with nearly simultaneous development in France. [11], Soviet tanks had turret and gun stabilization, starting with the T-28B, which had a rudimentary form as early as 1938. This was a poor design with thin armor, a high silhouette, a 37 mm main gun and seven machine guns. [22], The Light Tank M2 series was the most important pre-war US tank. A few captured M11, M13 and M14s were pressed into service by British and Australian forces to fill the serious shortage of allied tanks in 1941. This meant that the entire tank normally had to be turned onto its target by the driver, a much slower process than simply rotating a powered turret. Hence the P26/40, designated as "heavy" by the Italians with its 26 tonne weight, was more similar in weight to the medium M4 Sherman tank (30 tonne weight). [21], Prior to the entry of the United States into the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Army had only a few tanks. [6], Turrets, which had always been considered, but were not previously a universal feature on tanks, became recognized as essential. Similarly to the Soviet Union, the United States selected a few good basic designs and standardized on those models. The British fitted Shermans with the more powerful Ordnance Quick Firing 17 pounder (76.2 mm) gun, a variant known informally as the Firefly.

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