The photo above provides a close-up view of a "small hatch" M4A2(75)
with the elongated drivers' hood castings welded into the 57° glacis.
Note the additional periscopes in front of the drivers' hatches. This
example is part of the collection of the Tank Museum at Saumur in
France.
An interesting variation of the elongated drivers' hoods was developed
by Fisher at the request of the Government. In order to save casting
capacity, these drivers' hoods were not cast but were assembled by
welding. We refer to them as "fabricated." The fabricated hoods were
designed to accommodate the standard "small" drivers' hatch castings.
Current evidence suggests that the fabricated drivers' hoods were
exclusive to Fisher M4A2(75)s. At present, our best guess is that Fisher
began the transition from the direct vision drivers' hood castings to
the elongated, fabricated hoods in November 1942 and used them until
around November 1943 when they transitioned to production of large hatch
M4A2(75)s. The example shown above is a December 1942 M4A2(75) on
display in Chieti, Italy. Note the sharp angles of the fabricated
drivers' hoods. Fisher also developed some other fabricated components
to use in lieu of castings. These included the antenna bracket (1), the
bow machine gun socket (2) and the headlight sockets (3). While it would
appear that only Fisher M4A2s utilized the fabricated drivers' hoods,
photographs and a few surviving Shermans indicate that Baldwin and
Pullman used some of the smaller fabricated fittings on some of the
their production M4A2s and M4s (Baldwin). For
instance, earlier we showed a photo of a Pullman M4A2 at the Australian
Army Tank Museum. It is an example of a non-Fisher M4A2 outfitted with a
fabricated antenna bracket and bow machine gun socket.
The upper rear hull plate of the M4A2 is sloped and is installed with a
series of horizontal bolts that secured the rear engine deck plate along
with a few vertical bolts that secured an internal fitting for the twin
radiators. All models of the M4A2 were built with grouser compartments
accessed through oblong holes (1). These were blanked off with plates
(2). Note the sheet metal exhaust deflector (3).
All models of the M4A2 were equipped with a dual muffler and exhaust
system (1) which ran across the lower rear hull plate. Consequently,
M4A2s did not have engine access doors in the rear like the other
Sherman types. This example is missing its exhaust deflector.
The engine deck was designed with several removable plates. The engine
could be accessed through "two heavy steel louvered doors" (1) mounted
in the forward plates. First Generation M4A2(75)s had 7 fuel/oil/water
filler points protected by armored covers. The two covers on either side
of the engine access doors are unique to the M4A2 and can serve as
recognition features. The forward armored covers protected the
lubricating oil filler points for the left (2) and right (3) engines.
The ones directly behind provided water to the left (4) and right hand
(5) radiators. M4A2s were designed with a removable guard (6) to protect
the lower rear of the turret from damage by "bullet splash."
M4A2(75) with large hatches
Current evidence is that only Fisher produced the M4A2(75) with larger
drivers' hatches. In late 1943, the Ordnance Department directed that
all new production Shermans would be equipped with larger drivers'
hatches as an essential safety measure. For the Sherman models that used
the newly designed "rolled front plate" with the 47° 1-piece glacis,
the "Freeze Date" is listed as "11/15/43" [Nov. 15, 1943]. Our best
guess is that about 1000 of the last M4A2(75)s built by Fisher starting
in November 1943 were manufactured with the 47° "rolled front plate"
incorporating the larger drivers' hatches. However, these cannot be
considered true 2nd Generation Shermans since they retained the
so-called "dry ammunition stowage" of the original design in which the
majority of the 75mm rounds were stored in more vulnerable positions
above the sponson line. Thus, they were factory installed with the
1-inch applique plates (1) seen here to add a bit more armor protection
for the ammunition bins located inside. We believe that the unit shown
above was one of the first M4A2(75)s built with larger drivers' hatches.
It was evaluated at the General Motors Proving Ground and is stated to
have been Serial Number 27283 / USA 3035813 indicating November 1943
acceptance. Period photos show large hatch M4A2(75)s in service with the
Soviets and the US Marines.
We are aware of but two surviving examples of the M4A2(75)
with large hatches. The one on the left appears to be a former USMC
Sherman, now on display at the People's Revolution Museum in Beijing.
The cut-in-half example on the right is a Soviet combat casualty on
display at the National Military Museum in Bucharest, Romania. For our
research, we hope that we might obtain the Serial Numbers of these tanks
at some point in the future. Counting heads suggests that a gun travel
lock (1) was standard on all models of large hatch, 47-degree welded
hull Shermans.
M4A2(76)W
Sherman
As mentioned previously, the M4A2(75) was replaced in production by the
M4A2 with 76mm gun starting in May 1944. The Fisher Tank Division
manufactured 2894 M4A2(76)s from May 1944 through May 1945. In addition,
Pressed Steel Car produced 21 M4A2(76)s with HVSS from April to May,
1945. The M4A2(76) was equipped with a redesigned turret, enlarged to
accommodate the 76mm gun. A number of Ordnance documents added "W" for
"Wet Stowage" to the M4A2(76) nomenclature to indicate that the tank
incorporated a significant change whereby most of the main gun
ammunition was relocated to safer positions in the floor of the hull and
the ammunition bins included sealed chambers that were filled with a
liquid "quenching solution." It was thought that if an ammo rack was
penetrated, the "quenching solution" would be dispersed, and at least
slow the progress of an ammunition fire in order to give the crew a few
more seconds to escape. The British are reported to have received 5
M4A2(76)s as Lend Lease in the second half of 1945; that is, after VE
Day. The Fourth Russian Lend Lease Protocol ran from July 1944 through
31 June 1945 and called for the delivery of 3000 M4A2(76)s. As it turned
out, over 900 were cancelled with the end of the war. US Lend Lease
documents have it that the Soviets were shipped 2073 M4A2(76)s out of
the total of 2915 produced. The photo above is one of a series taken at
the Soviet Proving Ground at Kubinka during evaluation trials, circa
November 1944. In a number of documents, the Soviets identified their
Lend Lease AFVs by the USA Registration Number. This example was listed
as "3080862" indicating July 1944 production. Yuri Pasholok, author of
the webpage [translated as] “Emcha With a Long Gun” reports that
the first M4A2(76)s arrived in Baku on the Caspian Sea in late September
1944. Details are still a bit sketchy, but the Red Army did use
M4A2(76)s in combat during WW II. The 1st Mechanized Corps is said to
have been the first to receive the new “long gun” Shermans starting in
October 1944. First combat appears to have occurred in late 1944. Soviet
records indicate that units of the 9th Guards Mechanized Corps reported
losses of M4A2(76)s starting 5 December 1944. Photo courtesy of Yuri
Pasholok.
The
photos above show the way the large drivers' hatches were mounted into a
casting (Part Number E 8020) that spanned the width of the top front of
47-degree, welded hull Shermans.
The engine deck details are more or
less the same as on 1st Generation M4A2(75)s except that an armored
cover (1) was added to the rear engine deck plate. With the adoption of
the diesel engine, pressed metal labels were affixed near each of the
armored filler caps to help the crews avoid contaminating the tanks
with the wrong solutions. On several surviving examples including
the unit shown above on display at the Canadian Tank Museum / Ontario
Regiment Museum, the curved label directly in front of this armored
cover is still intact and reads, "ENGINE OIL GAUGE." Perhaps an owner
could enlighten us further, but we are assuming this was to check the
oil level and that there was a dipstick attached to the inside cap. We
have yet to come across any documentation, but the earliest it appears
in a period photo of a unit with a known good Serial Number is September 1943. So,
our evidence is that this new cover appears to have been added to some
of the last small hatch M4A2(75)s built by Fisher and was standard on
the company's large hatch M4A2(75)s and M4A2(76)s.
Starting on 1 January 1944, Fisher was directed to replace the original
sheet metal exhaust deflector with the new Barber-Colman type (1) seen
here. Thus, some large hatch M4A2(75)s were factory installed with the
B-C deflectors as were the M4A2(76)s produced up to March 1945. A
"blanket roll rack" (2) was a standard item added to 2nd Generation
Shermans. Spare track holders (3) mounted in fittings on the upper rear
hull plate were also standard up until the changeover to Horizontal
Volute Spring Suspension [HVSS].
Only
three manufacturers continued to produce Shermans from the beginning of
1944 until the program was terminated in mid-1945 as WW II came to an
end. The Chrysler Corporation designed the Horizontal Volute Spring
Suspension [HVSS] system that increased the track width to 23 inches in
order to improve the floatation properties of the original design VVSS
suspension which had tracks that were only 16 9/16 inches wide. Chrysler
made the transition to HVSS starting in August 1944. However, HVSS
components could not be made available in suffficient numbers to Fisher
and Pressed Steel Car until the beginning of 1945. While official
documentation has yet to be found, best evidence is that all Sherman
production from 1 January 1945 on incorporated HVSS. We calculate that
Fisher produced at least 1299 M4A2(76)s with HVSS and Pressed Steel Car
another 21. The example shown above is Serial Number 69132 (April 1945
acceptance) and is on display in Kelowna, British Columbia. It is one of
the 300 (or 294 according to one source) M4A2(76)s with HVSS that
Canada is reported to have purchased from the US in 1946 at the very
reasonable price of $1,460.00 each. While 2nd Generation Shermans with
VVSS stored spare tracks on the upper rear hull plate, those with HVSS
stored them on the sides of the tank as seen here. Reports from the
battlefield noted that the radiators of M4A2 and M4A3 Shermans were
vulnerable to shrapnel and other types of combat damage. In late 1944,
the Ordnance Department designed armored exhaust deflectors. Counting
heads suggests that Fisher replaced the Barber-Colman deflector with the
two-section armored deflector (1) shown here in March 1945. The armored
first aid box (2) appears to have been factory installed by Fisher
starting in April 1945. Photos courtesy of Alf Adams.
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