![]() Rather unique in the Pacific theater was the deployment of Sherman tanks that were equipped with flamethrowers, which were seen in the European War but the usage was limited. The armor piercing rounds, though, remained effective against defensive fortifications. Unlike their North African and European counterparts, the Sherman tanks deployed to the Pacific often used high explosive rounds instead of armor piercing rounds the decision was made due to the reason that the Japanese tanks were thinly-armored, and armor piercing rounds often went through the tank without detonating the explosives. Ww2dbaseIn the Pacific War, where tank battles were few and far in-between, the M4 Sherman tanks easily out-classed their Japanese counterparts. ![]() Sherman Firefly tanks were first used by British and Commonwealth units on at the Normandy landings, and were used until the end of the European War. The end result were the Sherman Firefly tanks, which effectively became the most powerfully gunned Allied tanks of World War II, capable of dueling the feared German Panther and Tiger tanks. Royal Tank Regiment Major George Brighty led an effort to modify certain batches of M4 Sherman tanks, particularly the M4 (Sherman I) and M4A4 (Sherman V) variants, so that they would carry the larger caliber 17-pounder guns. Ww2dbaseWhile Americans developed more lethal rounds to improve the M4 Sherman tanks, the British took a different approach. By the end of the European War, half of the US Army tanks in this theater were M4 Sherman tanks. In Jul 1944, the hypervelocity armor piercing (HVAP) ammunition entered mass production as M93 and became the standard armor piercing ammunition, which eased the situation slightly, but limited production meant only tank destroyer units received them. Despite the upgrades, however, the armament of Sherman tanks were still far inferior to the Panther tanks' 75-millimeter gun, only effective against Panther tanks at close range, which led to the high loss rate at the start of the Normandy Campaign. After the invasion of Normandy in Jun 1944, it was discovered that the 75-millimeter guns found in earlier Sherman tanks were ineffective against new German tank types, namely the Panther and Tiger models, and two new variants were produced, one with the new high velocity 76-millimeter M1 guns and the other with a 90-millimeter M3 guns. Through the Desert War, they slowly replaced their predecessor, the M3 Lee tanks, as the main medium tank of the United States Army. They were extremely effective with high top speed, adequate armor to stop smaller caliber anti-tank guns, and weapons capable of penetrating German armor. The first American Sherman tanks in combat were of the M4A1 variant that landed in North Africa in Nov 1942 during Operation Torch, although the British had already saw combat with them a month before at the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt. Ww2dbaseDuring the war, the M4 tanks, now nicknamed "Sherman" by the British, served with the United States with its Army and Marine Corps, and also with several Allied nations, notably Britain and Canada, and with the Soviet forces. The first model was completed on, and the design entered full production in Feb 1942, three months after the United States entered WW2. ![]() It was approved on as the prototype promised a tank that was as capable as the successful German tanks. Ww2dbaseOn, the United States Army Ordnance Department submitted the M4 tank design as a potential replacement for the existing M3 tanks.
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