Sherman's the last of the combat and non combat varients of the M4

 Sherman's

By Sol Mathews


Tank Recovery Vehicle M32

The M32 Tank recovery Vehicle is a non combat version of the Sherman. Built on the chassis of your standard M4 Sherman the M32 had its turret replaced with a fixed turret and its cannon replaced with a boom a frame jib and thirty ton winch system. These were used to recover damaged and disables armored vehicles. The M32 saw service by the US and Britain in world war 2 and Korea and conflicts in foreign wars up untill 1965 in the Indo-Pakistani war. The M32 had a total of ten variations including the Initial M32 and ending with the M32 Prime mover. These variants included the M32B2 - M32B3 -M32B4 - M32A1 - M32A1B1 - M32A1B2 - M32A1B3 - M34 Prime Mover. The M32 also could be equipped with mine exploding devices.



M74 Tank Recovery Vehicle

The M74 was the upgrade from the M32, While the M73 was still built off the M4A3 chassis it was constructed for the use during the corean war but was quickly replaced in the US Army by the M88 Hercules. The M74 had one variant the M74B1. The M73 was used by the Belgian army up until 1976 before being fazed out for more powerful recovery vehicles.

Experimental Sherman's

Demolition tank T31 – experimental vehicle. Turret with 105mm howitzer main gun and single 7.2 inch rocket projector each side on a M4A3 HVSS chassis.
Multiple Gun Motor Carriage T52 – single 40mm auto cannon with twin 0.5-inch machine guns in ball mount on M4 chassis. Project stopped in October 1944 after trials.

90 millimeter Gun Motor Carriage T53/T53E1 – 90 millimeter gun mounted on M4A4 chassis. Design modified for dual anti-tank and anti-aircraft use as T53E1 with outriggers for stability. Order for 500 cancelled in 1944 after design rejected by both Tank Destroyer and AA branch of US Army

Special attachment Sherman's

Sherman DD (Duplex Drive) tanks were special M$ Sherman's equipped with propellers and ballasts to be deployed in the water and Sail to the shore. The M4 DD (Duplex Drive) were the first "Swimming Tanks" in the world. sure tanks like the LVT existed but those are Amphibious assault craft not a "Swimming Tank".  While Many DD tanks were used quite a few sank before reaching the beaches of Normandy. The M4 DD (Duplex drive) Was not the only version of the (Duplex drive) tanks There was the DD Valentine and DD M10 Wolverine tank destroyer versions as well. The (Duplex Drive) Tanks service lasted six years 1944-1950 before being decommissioned. While Many (Duplex Drive) tanks were scrapped there are a few remaining examples of this vehicle in Museums. One such example of a surviving DD Tank lies within the walls of the Tank Museum in Bovington England.

M4 mobile assault bridge

Not much to say about this one. it is a M4 chassis with a deploy-able bridge to allow vehicles and personnel to cross small rivers.

M4 Dozer

Also self explanatory a M4 Sherman with a bulldozer blade attached to the front for digging fortifications. This variant still boasted its 75 millimeter main cannon

T-Series Mine clearing vehicles

This was covered in the post about Obscure Sherman's the M4 Sherman Crab.

   M4 Rhino

The M4 Rhino was specific to the Normandy post D-Day warfare. The M4 Rhino was your standard M4 series Sherman being any Sherman from M4 to the M4E3E8 (Easy eight) fitted with a Bocage cutting device or Tusks as the crews like to call it. These were used to break through the dense hedge rows in Normandy.

T34 Calliope

The T34 Calliope is an American tank despite having the same name as the Russian T-34. The Calliope is your standard issue Sherman with a rack of 60 4.6 inch rocket tubes mounted to the turret. The T34 Calliope also had the standard 75 Millimeter main cannon. The rocket tubes rotated with the turret of the tank having been mounted to the tank itself. The T34 Calliope had many variants but only two were ever used in combat. The T34E1 and E2 and a special variant called the T40/17 whiz bang.

M4 Flame throwers

The M4A3R5 designated by the USMC is a retrofitted A3 variant of the M4 to shoot fire against the enemy bunkers

then there was the Sherman Crocodile. and M4 Sherman modified with the Churchill crocodile flamethrower and fuel trailer.

Post War Sherman

The M4 08/60: Modified Israeli M50 Sherman that were received with out armament and were retrofitted to boast the IMI-OTO 60 millimeter HVMS (High velocity medium support)

M50: The M50 is a Israeli post War variant of the M4 Sherman boasting a more powerful 105 millimeter howitzer cannons.

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