M26 Pershing
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The Heavy Tank M26 Pershing was an American tank used during World War II and the Korean War. It was named after General John “Black Jack” Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force in World War I.
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History
Much like other armies at the time, the U.S. Army envisioned two main roles for a tank: infantry support and breakthrough exploitation. From 1942 until the end of World War II, both roles were covered in the main by the M4 Sherman, which was better suited for the latter, "cavalry" role. Infantry would have preferred a better protected and better armed vehicle, even at a price of less mobility. In the fall (autumn) of 1942, U.S. Army Ordnance started to work on an "infantry oriented" design, which was supposed however to be more versatile than the British infantry tanks. During the next two years, various prototypes were built under the designations T20, T22, T23, T25, and T26. these covered a variety of combinations of weapons, transmissions, and suspensions. However, the initial success of the M4 led the Army Ground Forces command to believe that there was no urgent need for a new tank. They didn't alter their position with the appearance of the heavy Tiger and medium Panther tanks. The AGF believed both tanks would be fielded in relatively small numbers. Also according to the current Army doctrine, tanks were not supposed to engage other tanks—this was the remit of tank destroyers, more mobile armored vehicles with powerful guns, such as the M10 Wolverine. As a result, the development of the new tank was slow. When the Allies invaded Northern Europe during Operation Overlord in June 1944, the M4 still formed the bulk of their tank units. It quickly became clear that the tank destroyers doctrine failed in the field and that the upgunned Sherman was still unable to engage the Panther on more or less equal terms. Unfortunately, about half of the German tanks in France were Panthers. Efforts were made to speed up the development, but the tank, by now called the T26 and dubbed Pershing, only reached the battlefield after the Battle of the Bulge and saw little action in WW2.
In May 1946, due to changing conception of the US Army tank needs, the M26 was reclassified as medium. Designed as a heavy tank, the Pershing was a significant upgrade from the M4 Sherman in terms of firepower and protection. On the other side, its mobility was unsatisfactory for a medium tank (it used the same engine that powered the M4A3, which was some ten tons lighter) and its transmission was somewhat unreliable. In 1948 the M26E2 version was developed with a new powerpack. Eventually the new version was redesignated as the M46 General Patton. Thus the M26 became a base of the Patton tank series, which replaced it in early 1950s.
Combat history
World War II
The M26 was a long while in development and only just reached combat status during WW2. A small number were brought across to Europe under the Zebra Technical Mission which included tanks, spares and military and civilian observers. They were assigned to the General Omar Bradley's 12th Army Group and split between the 3rd and 9th Armored Division. They first saw combat in February 1945. The first Pershing loss was on the 28th February to a Tiger but it was recovered and put back into operation.
An ordnance officer at the Combat Command (brigade) level in the 3rd Armored Division during World War II, Belton Y. Cooper, wrote a memoir about his experience. According to Cooper, ten Pershings were sent to the 3rd Armored Division beginning in February 1945. He claims they would have been sent sooner, had General George S. Patton not intervened. Patton favored the Sherman tank, contending it would require less gasoline and had better mobility. At that time Patton expressed his opinion, the inferiority of the Sherman's main gun and armor protection had yet to be demonstrated. Cooper's accusation has not been proven by him in his book and according to Charles Baily [1]:
While researching the development of the M26, this author examined the records of the Ordnance Department, Army Service Forces, Army Ground Forces, War Department G-4, and European Theater of Operations. There is nothing in those records associating George S. Patton with the development, production, or introduction of the M26.
Overall, the Pershing was considered roughly equal in performance to the Panther. In the first engagement with the M26 by the 3rd Armored Division, Cooper writes that the M26 managed to catch two Tigers and one Mark IV tank by surprise from a flanking position. The M26 engaged the tanks from a range of about 1000 yards (1 km), and knocked them out. Cooper asserts, "It is doubtful that the M26 could have knocked them out had the Tigers been confronted with a frontal assault. Our M36 tank destroyers, with the same 90 mm gun, had difficulty penetrating the Mark V Panther's faceplate."
Two M26A1E2 tanks were built during the Second World War. One of these made it to the ETO, assigned to the 3rd Armored Division. This experimental version of the Pershing, sometimes referred to as "Super Pershing" (as are other upgunned Pershing variants), had the 90 mm/70 caliber T15E1 high-velocity gun that threw a projectile at 3,850 ft/s (1,173 m/s). On April 4, 1945 near Dessau, the "Super Pershing" destroyed one King Tiger by striking its underbelly and knocked out another tank, probably a Panther, with a shot to its flank [2]. However, that was its only known combat engagement. Thus, the full capabilities of the T15E1 90 mm main gun were never demonstrated.
Korea
Image:US-tanks-korea.jpg The M26 also saw service in the Korean War, although few armored units were sent because the initial response from battlefield commanders was "Korea isn't good tank country." The official US Army history states a number of M26s were pulled from pedestals at Fort Knox, where they had been WWII memorials. The Pershing and its derivative M46 were the only American tanks employed in Korea that were better armed than the North Korean T-34/85 (but not the only ones in the UN forces) and were credited with almost half of T-34s destroyed by the US Armored Corps. The M4 76 mm gun variants in use, whose anti-tank performance was improved thanks to availability of the HVAP shells, is responsible for most of the remainder.
Variants
- M26 (T26E3). M3 gun with double-baffle muzzle brake.
- M26A1. M3A1 gun with bore evacuator and single-baffle muzzle brake.
- M26A1E2. Experimental version armed with a longer T15E1/E2 gun.
- M26E1, T26E4. Longer gun, single-part ammunition.
- M26E2. New engine and transmission. Ended up as the M46 Patton.
- A prototype derived from the M26, the T26E2 was standardized for use as the M45 Heavy tank — a close support vehicle with a 105 mm gun.
- T26E5. Prototype with thicker armor — a maximum of 279 mm.
See also
- Centurion, the equivalent British tank of the same period.
- List of "M" series military vehicles
References
- Belton Y. Cooper, Death Traps (Presidio Press, 1998, Novato, California).
- Steven J Zaloga, Tony Bryan, Jim Laurier, M26–M46 Pershing Tank 1943–1953 (Osprey New Vanguard 35).
- A D Coox, Staff Memorandum US armor in the anittank role, Korea, 1950' ORO-S-45
- R. P. Hunnicutt, "Pershing, A History of the Medium Tank T20 Series' (Feist Publications 1996).
External links
- AFV Database
- Armour Reference Articles
- OnWar specifications
- WWII Vehicles
- M26 Pershing prototypes and variants at ww2photo.mimerswell.com
| American armored fighting vehicles of World War II |
|---|
| Light tanks |
| M2 Light Tank | M3/M5 Stuart | M22 Locust | M24 Chaffee | Marmon-Herrington CTLS |
| Medium and heavy tanks |
| M2 Medium Tank | M3 Lee | M4 Sherman | M26 Pershing |
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| M10 Wolverine | M18 Hellcat | M36 Jackson |
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| M2 Half Track Car | M3 Half Track Personnel Carrier M4 Mortar Carrier | M5 Half Track Personnel Carrier |
| Amphibious vehicles |
| Landing Vehicle Tracked | DUKW |
| Armored cars |
| M8 Greyhound | M3 Scout Car | M20 Armored Utility Car T17 Deerhound / Staghound | T18 Boarhound |
| Experimental vehicles |
| M38 Wolfhound | M6 Heavy Tank | T-28 Tank/T-95 GMC | T14 Heavy Tank |
| American armored fighting vehicle production during World War II |
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