M26 Pershing
| M26 Pershing | |
|---|---|
M26A1 in the Military Museum in Brussels (2008) |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 5 (commander, driver, radio operator, gunner, loader) |
| length | 8.79 m |
| width | 3.51 m |
| height | 2.78 m |
| Dimensions | 41.8 t (combat weight) |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | - tub front: 101.6 mm at 46 ° inclination - tub side: 76.2 mm at 53 ° inclination - tub sides: 76.2 mm - tub rear: 76.2 mm - tower front: 101.6 mm with sign - ceiling: 50, 8 mm |
| Main armament | 1 × 3.5-inch L / 53 M3 cannon with 70 rounds caliber 90 mm |
| Secondary armament | 2 × MG Browning M1919A4 with 5000 rounds cal. 7.62 mm 1 × MG Browning M2 on the tower roof with 550 rounds cal. 12.7 mm |
| agility | |
| drive | V8 petrol engine Ford GAF 4 373/336 kW (500/450 PS) |
| suspension | Torsion bars |
| Top speed | approx. 40 km / h (road) approx. 18.5 km / h (terrain) |
| Power / weight | 8.9 kW / t or 8.0 kW / t |
| Range | 161 km (road) |
The M26 Pershing was in February 1945, the heaviest battle tanks , of the US Army in World War II was used. The tank, named after General John J. Pershing , was used very successfully in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 . The M26 Pershing was also delivered to allied states such as Belgium , France and Italy during the Korean War . In the US Army, the M26 was replaced in the late 1950s by the improved intermediate model on its basis M46 by the M48 Patton , which was now a complete revision, while the immediate successor M47 Patton was mainly supplied to allied states.
development
After the M4 Sherman went into series production in 1942, the US Army forced the construction of a more powerful successor model, which should, if possible, be on a par with the medium and heavy German tanks such as the "Panther" and "Tiger" . After the prototype of a heavy tank with the internal designation T6 was discontinued about a year ago , various test models were developed, but despite the warnings from the Ordnance Department - the M4 medium tank, which was available in large numbers, could be out of date in 1944 - did not go into production. The proposal made in September 1943 for the immediate mass production of the T25 and T26 models armed with 90 mm cannons failed because of coordination problems within the US military. The armored forces would have preferred to see the 90 mm cannon in a Sherman , while another agency completely rejected the same cannon. From the prototype T26, the heavy tank M26 was developed in the following months , which was ready for series production in August 1944; because of the above Disputes between various US agencies continued to delay mass production. The corresponding 90 mm anti-aircraft gun M90 was then also installed from mid-1944 on a reinforced chassis of the M10 Wolverine based on Sherman, including a new turret, and appeared on the western front in September of the same year as the M36 Jackson (also known as "Slugger") . Only the Ardennes offensive started by the Wehrmacht on December 16, 1944 , was able to end the stalemate in the army command, and the tanks were shipped to Europe from January 1945. The fighting power of the tank, which was nicknamed Pershing (after General John J. Pershing, 1860-1948) shortly before its first use , corresponded roughly to that of the tiger.
commitment
Second World War
In February 1945 the first ten Pershings were used for the first time in the 3rd Armored Division under General Maurice Rose . It was actually supposed to be used in October 1944, but due to an unfortunate coincidence the twelve tanks were shipped to France, but the 90 mm ammunition required was sent to the Pacific . It was possible to divert the delivery to Europe; so the Pershings could still take part in the war.
Thanks to its 90 mm cannon, the M26 was the only US tank that could directly take on the superior heavy German tanks Panzerkampfwagen VI "Tiger" and, with some reservations, the Panzerkampfwagen V "Panther" . Because of this, it was also called "Tiger-Tamer" (tiger tamer), although the US crews were a bit disappointed with this new tank at the beginning, mainly because of its slower speed. However, the Pershing was still clearly inferior to the Tiger II ("King Tiger "), and the few specimens in use tried to avoid fighting with this if possible.
The first Pershing in Europe was shot down by a Tiger I in Elsdorf when it was baptized by fire on February 26, 1945 (this battle is also known as the "Elsdorf Surprise" because of the surprising use of the new US tank). The Pershing belonged to the 33rd Panzer Regiment. The first bullet penetrated the mantelpiece and killed the gunner and loader. The second hit destroyed the muzzle brake. The third hit was deflected at the top of the tower and destroyed the commander's hatch.
An official US report later wrote of the fighting the next day:
“For the better part of February 27, the 9th Panzer Division made a fight of it in Elsdorf, but with fire support from a company of tanks positioned in a neighboring village an infantry battalion broke into the town before noon and began a systematic mop-up . With the tank company was a T26 medium tank armed with a 90-mm. gun, one of the first twenty of this model (the Pershing) sent to the European theater for testing. The tank gave a good account of itself. At a range of a thousand yards, the Pershing hit and destroyed two Mark IV tanks, drilling holes through the thick side armor, and stopped a Mark VI Tiger with a hit at the vulnerable turret joint. "
“On February 27, the 9th Panzer Division fought in Elsdorf, but with the fire support of a company of tanks from a neighboring village, an infantry battalion broke into the city before noon and began a systematic clean-up operation. The tank company had a T26 medium tank armed with a 90 mm gun, one of the first twenty of this model (the Pershing) that was sent to Europe for testing. The tank performed well. At a distance of a thousand meters, the Pershing hit two Mark IV tanks, drilling holes through the thick side armor, and stopped a Mark VI Tiger with one hit at the vulnerable tower joint. "
The tank became known in particular through the Battle of Cologne , in which eight Pershings were used and in which the combat power of the M26 became clear. The command tank with the turret number "1" shot down three Tiger I, three Panther and four Panzer IV single-handedly in two days . This made it the most successful tank in the unit, although it was extremely lucky. He himself received five hits, two in the hull and three in the turret, but these either ricocheted off or did limited damage without incapacitating the vehicle. Only one Panzer IV achieved partial success: the 7.5 cm projectile blew up the open loader hatch on the turret. In total, the eight Pershings recorded 54 kills of various armored vehicles, including battle tanks, after two days of deployment. Well-known is the picture of a panther in front of Cologne Cathedral, which was taken less than a minute after being shot down by the command tank of the Pershing division. The M26 Pershing was then classified as a "heavy enemy" by the Wehrmacht.
After the fighting around Cologne, the M26 quickly became a legend among US soldiers, but some Pershings were also destroyed by German tanks and tank destroyers. After the aforementioned Tiger, which had put an M26 out of action in February 1945, a Rhino tank destroyer of the heavy tank destroyer division 93 succeeded in an ambush on March 6, 1945 near Remagen south of Cologne, an M26 of the 3rd US Armored Division shoot at a combat range of just over 250 meters. A Pershing fell victim to a Tiger II, and another M26, which has been shown to have been completely destroyed in the Iserlohn area (front armor broken through and burned out), was shot down with some certainty by a heavy Jagdtiger tank destroyer from a greater distance. An advance command of the 3rd Armored Division of the US Army with three Pershing tanks advanced 72 kilometers on March 29, 1945 and reached a position about 24 kilometers from Paderborn that evening .
The number of German armored vehicles destroyed by the end of the war on May 8, 1945 can no longer be determined.
On the day of the German surrender , five of the twelve remaining M26 tanks were in field workshops ; They suffered from the usual "teething problems" that almost every new type of tank had to contend with at first: damage to the engine, power transmission and electrical system. The Otto engine, an eight-cylinder V-engine of the Ford GAF type with 500 hp , was actually not intended for a tank weighing about 42 tons, but designed for the M4A3, which is about ten tons lighter; it therefore turned out to be a little underperforming in the M26 Pershing and not always reliable. The new power transmission was not fully developed and was prone to overload damage under heavy use.
1945-1950
In May 1946 the classification of the Pershing was changed from Schweren Panzer (Heavy tank) to Mittleren Panzer (Medium tank).
In 1948 the improved version M26E2 appeared with a new engine and new power transmission. This new version has been in M46 General Patton or short Patton renamed so that it to the base of the famous Patton tanks series was. The M47 Patton main battle tank was basically an M46 Patton with a redesigned turret; the later M48 Patton II battle tank and M60 battle tank , however, were new designs with the same conception.
Korean War
During the Korean War , there were some missions, as the Pershing or its improved version M46 was the only US tank that was really equal to the T-34/85 . As a result, the M26 succeeded - as pictures show - relatively easily in destroying various T-34s.
Pershings also destroyed a large number of other Soviet armored vehicles in this conflict, including the SU-76 and SU-85 tank destroyers , which were also no longer notable opponents. In the Korean War, no enemy tank of Soviet design succeeded in destroying even a single M26 or M46.
After 1953
The M26 Pershing was also delivered to allied states such as Belgium, France and Italy during the Korean War. It remained in service with the US Army until it was replaced by the M46, the interim solution M47 and finally by the M48 Patton II. The actual immediate successor M47 Patton I was replaced by the M48 in the US military after a short time and almost completely given to allied countries via a military aid program almost free of charge.
Until the development of the M1 Abrams , almost all subsequent American tanks (M47, M48, M60 ) were based on the conception of the M26 Pershing.
literature
- Steven J. Zaloga : M26 / M46 Pershing Tank 1945-53. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2001, ISBN 1-84176-202-4 .
- P. Chamberlain, C. Ellis: British and American Tanks of World War Two. ISBN 0-304-35529-1 .
Web links
- M26 Pershing at wwiivehicles.com
- The tank duel at the cathedral - March 6, 1945
- Photos of the M26 Pershing, Patton Tank Museum, USA
- Photos of the M29, Patton Tank Museum, USA
- Technical educational film on youtube (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles B. MacDonald: United States Army in World War II. European Theater of Operations. The Last Offensive. Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, Washington DC 1973. ( Online ).
- ↑ a b probably meant M26
- ↑ US Army in World War II. Chapter IX - Ninth Army to the Rhine. In: ibiblio.org. P. 169 , accessed on January 26, 2020 (English).
- ↑ US Army in World War II. Chapter XVI - Reducing the Ruhr. In: ibiblio.org. P. 351 f. , accessed on January 26, 2020 (English).
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