Rare surviving WW2 PT Boat to be restored

[41chevy]

The armor was thin, the were under gunned and a tall target. Early ones lit off from fuel and un protected ammo, but experience brought improvements. My uncle wa in an M4 in North Africa. The first German 88 round went in one side and out the other. That actually saved the crew and tank initially. The second round went in the transmission and killed or wounded most of the crew. He spent 3 years as a POW.

The original Lee and Shermans were designed as infantry support not for head to head tank warfare.

Gasoline? My M-113 was gasoline fueled and Mopar 440 powered

Remember the Sherman was built with requirements for transport by rail, truck and ship with the need to fit on roads, bridges and ships the little or no modifications. Existing factories need to by able to mass produce them with no major retraining of employees or machinery replacement. The basic gasoline fueled power pack was something mechanics and crews were familiar with. There were very few diesel mechanics, nor the time for training them. Some form of gasoline was available in their field of operation more so then diesel. Lastly diesels were heavy and just didn't have the power to engine size the gassers did, very few compact diesels than making 400 to 500 h.p. in 1940

The British and other Allies got the M4A4. The $10.70 Sherman M-4A3W dozer we restored at the American Armour Museum was Ford powered. The M4A2 we moved to the new facility in Northern Virginia was and Ex USMC with Twin GMC Diesels.Most ran gasoline with mainly the Soviets running Diesels in their armor/ . Later in 1944 early 45 we made approximately 100 M4A6 Shermans powered the Caterpillar D200A radial diesel engine.

There was on left at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds on display in the Mile Of Tanks. After 9/11 when the security changed and things moved at APG, it is now in Cat's care.

Along with the T-34 the Shermans are still in service in Chile, Peru, Israel and a few Eastern Bloc countries and were in combat in the Balkans in the 90's.

Like the Bulldog the Sherman is an American Icon

[kscarbel2]

The armor was thin, the were under gunned and a tall target. Early ones lit off from fuel and un protected ammo, but experience brought improvements. My uncle wa in an M4 in North Africa. The first German 88 round went in one side and out the other. That actually saved the crew and tank initially. The second round went in the transmission and killed or wounded most of the crew. He spent 3 years as a POW.

The original Lee and Shermans were designed as infantry support not for head to head tank warfare.

Gasoline? My M-113 was gasoline fueled and Mopar 440 powered

Remember the Sherman was built with requirements for transport by rail, truck and ship with the need to fit on roads, bridges and ships the little or no modifications. Existing factories need to by able to mass produce them with no major retaining of employees or machinery replacement. The basic gasoline fueled power pack was something mechanics and crews were familiar with. There were very few diesel mechanics, nor the time for training them. Some form of gasoline was available in their field of operation more so then diesel. Lastly diesels were heavy and just didn't have the power to engine size the gassers did, very few compact diesels than making 400 to 500 h.p. in 1940

The British and other Allies got the M4A4. The $10.70 Sherman M-4A3W dozer we restored at the American Armour Museum was Ford powered. The M4A2 we moved to the new facility in Northern Virginia was and Ex USMC with Twin GMC Diesels.Most ran gasoline with mainly the Soviets running Diesels in their armor/ . Later in 1944 early 45 we made approximately 100 M4A6 Shermans powered the Caterpillar D200A radial diesel engine.

There was on left at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds on display in the Mile Of Tanks. After 9/11 when the security changed and things moved at APG, it is now in Cat's care.

Along with the T-34 the Shermans are still in service in Chile, Peru, Israel and a few Eastern Bloc countries and were in combat in the Balkans in the 90's.

Like the Bulldog the Sherman is an American Icon

You are so right about the thin armor. If the German shells didn't go all the way through, they rattled around within the Sherman like marbles in a Maxwell coffee can. It was bad.

The best tanks of the war were the T34, Panther and Jagdpanther.

As I mentioned before, the Shermans didn't evolve into a formidable weapon until the British modified it. They needed more tanks but recognized the Sherman's deficiencies, having suffered heavy losses with U.S. M3 "Grants" against Rommel's Afrika Korps. The most important British modification was replacement of the short 75mm cannon with a lethal long barreled 17-pounder anti-tank gun that could take on most German armor. It could penetrate more armor than the 88mm in the German Tiger.

Mid-way thru the war, U.S. Army Shermans were upgraded with the heavier T23 turret and a 76mm high velocity gun, giving our guys a chance (but still unequal to the British Sherman "Firefly").

With its early weaknesses resolved, the matured M51 Super Sherman was being used successfully against significantly more modern Russian T54 and T55 tanks as late as 1973 by the Israeli Defense Force. The Israeli Super Shermans mounted a deadly French 105mm Modele F1 gun in a much modified turret, with 460 horspower Cummins VT8-460Bi V-8 engines and HVSS suspension.

[Gmerrill0516]

100 Octane too! They should sell rides when it's done. I'd pay $100 to go out and open them up for 5 minutes....They have to sound amazing. I wonder how many guys you could fit on it reasonably...Would have to be a lot given the fuel consumption...I guess if it were 5 minutes all out and the same fuel use to get in and out of port...wear and tear, maintenance costs...probably need another zero but 5 minutes is only 40 gallons...What is race fuel these days, $5.00/gallon?

Would be cool as hell. Need to dig up more useable engines I guess. HHMMmmmmm.

[41chevy]

100 Octane too! They should sell rides when it's done. I'd pay $100 to go out and open them up for 5 minutes....They have to sound amazing. I wonder how many guys you could fit on it reasonably...Would have to be a lot given the fuel consumption...I guess if it were 5 minutes all out and the same fuel use to get in and out of port...wear and tear, maintenance costs...probably need another zero but 5 minutes is only 40 gallons...What is race fuel these days, $5.00/gallon?

Would be cool as hell. Need to dig up more useable engines I guess. HHMMmmmmm.

Gotta be cool. Clark Gable had one for toy PT 615 kind of an early cigarette boat. It one of the boats in N.Y.

[MADDOG93]

That's them !