RE: Tamiya classifies shermans as light tanks
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Some of you who disparage the “lowly” Sherman need to remember American Military doctrine of the era. It was based on combined arms, which incidentally, the Germans used to great effect in the early stages of the war when they had air superiority. I find it ironic the allies took that concept and perfected it to great effect which won the war. I just finished “Tank Men” and the German tankers quoted in that book feared air power. They were constantly harassed by Typhoons, Lightnings and Thunderbolts. The Soviets threw men and tanks in simple mass and numbers against German armor, I would argue the allies did not. The Soviets lacked air power.
General Leslie McNair believed in the Tank Destroyer concept and pushed for its continued development to deal with the German tank threat. He believed American tanks were not designed or should go “toe to toe” with German armor, rather to find gaps in the lines and exploit the rear areas. This is why the Sherman was more reliable and quicker than any German tank in production. The Soviets even joked how pathetically unreliable German armor was if you had a road march of any appreciable distance. The Germans had to train their stuff wherever they went.
General Patton's famous motto was "Grab them by the nose and kick them in the ass" andwhen asked if he wanted the Pershing, he turned it down as he feared the heavy tank due to weight, lack of speedand fuel consumption would slow down his thrusts deep into the heart of Germany. As Monte stated, the Sherman and the 75mm was “good enough” and many historians agree the Sherman was equal to the most numerous German tank, the Pz4. The Sherman proved this in North Africa.
In my opinion using 20/20 hindsight, our doctrine was flawed only that it cost more lives than necessary. I believe the Pershing should have been brought over sooner as it could go “toe to toe” with anything the Germans had. In the end, who knows? We could have been chasing the next best thing like the Germans instead of producing what worked in great numbers.
I think American armor gets unfairly criticized considering the Sherman was used by Israel until the 1980’s and was THE tank which prevented them from being pushed into the sea during the six day war fighting against the newer T-55. The Pershing proved it’s superiority to Soviet designs in the Korean War with ridiculous kill ratios and was the basis for every American tank used in front line service until the retirement of the M60 in 1997. What war time German tank can claim that distinction? The only service most saw following the war was as a bumper on a VW Bug or an ashtray in France. Again, read “Tank Men” along with other wartime accounts and you will see a great deal of Germans were “cooked” in their tanks as well.</div>