M4 SHERMAN COMMANDER COPOULA PLUS

30 caliber machine guns, one coaxially and the other in a smaller cupola which the tank commander would operate. (American Tanks & AFVs of World War II, pg 23) Additionally, it would feature a smaller 37mm turret with two. To address these issues, Ordnance designed a hurried stop-gap tank design which would mount the 75mm gun in a side sponson (a design feature found in WWI armor) of a redesigned M2A1 chassis that could scale to handle the additional weight expected. (ibid) The main issue at hand was manufacturing capability to produce the required cast turret large enough to mount a 75mm gun which had been developed from the venerable French 75mm 1897 gun, a design which had been found to be robust, light enough to mount on a vehicle and was far more powerful than the 37mm gun which was the primary armament on U.S. By July of 1941, they only had enough medium tanks to outfit two armored divisions, as production capability was being heavily drawn on by all the branches and United State’s overseas allies. (Weapons of the Tankers, American Armor in World War II, pg 11). But just how dire was this logistical situation?īy June of 1940, the U.S. (Weapons of the Tankers, American Armor in World War II, pg 45). (Oxford Companion to World War II, pg 1192) However, there was a long road ahead, as in 1939 the U.S. The Army Branch which contained armored vehicles grew from 690,083 people to 1,512,730 in the space of a single year from 31 Dec. began to arm themselves for the coming war and swell their ranks with both manpower and vehicles. America and their allies would need a lot of tanks, and the light tanks which formed the bulk of their fledgling Depression starved Armored Forces wouldn’t have the staying or fighting power to do the trick. This required great endurance, low consumption of gasoline, and the ability to move long distances without a break-down.” (The War Against Germany - Europe and Adjacent Areas - Center for Military History, United States Army, 1989). tank was designed as a weapon of exploitation to be used in long-range thrusts deep into the enemy's rear where it could attack his supply installations and communications.

M4 SHERMAN COMMANDER COPOULA PLUS

These convinced them that small caliber towed AT guns would not be enough to deal with the threat of German armor in large numbers, plus it wouldn’t give them a tank capable of the mission they envisioned “The U.S. However, reports from France and fighting in North Africa had started to roll in. ( Popular Science, Aug 1942 - 'Little Poison'). They had just recently finalized a design for a towable AT gun, a modification of a German 37mm AT gun first made in the early 1930's. As the shockwaves from the first bombs falling in Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec., 1941 reached all the way to Washington DC, a profound soul searching was in store for the U.S. Generals and strategists of the era certainly did, with all the urgency demanded by watching several countries regarded as having 'the largest and best' standing armies get swallowed up in record time by a new type of warfare, called Blitzkrieg, or Lightning war. To understand how, and more importantly why, the M3 Lee was rushed into service, one must first look at the state of the U.S. It is in the intervening years that our view of this has changed. Many might assume we are disparaging the vehicle that it was cheaply and quickly made, but in WW2 the phrase “Close enough for Government work” was actually a compliment to quality work, as the Government would only accept items built to exacting tolerances. Like the title, sometimes our comprehension of something can use a deeper and closer look to challenge our assumptions.

M4 sherman commander copoula