Posted: 10/31/2008 10:34:10 PM EDT
|
I recently stumbled upon this series on Direct TV HDTheater (ch 76). They are restoring old WWII tanks is just awesome to watch. I have recorded 4 episodes and they are all very interesting as they have history and a story with each tank type. I know these were 06 episodes but I am really enjoying them. Looks like each Friday at 8pm.  |
|
That is a labor of love. Everything has to be made from scratch. And by that, I mean SCRATCH.
While warbirds like the P40 and 51 have drawings preserved, most of the drawings for the parts for a Sherman are long gone. Casting pistons? That is an art. Machining rings? To oversize? Pure art. Tracks and sprockets..Ring gears and pinions. That is a labor of love. Spending a weekend helping these heros of history is well worth the effort. Do it. And buy a few rounds. |
The SHerman was the American workhorse tank of WW2; seriously outgunned and outclassed by the TIger and the Panther, the Sherman made up for these shortcoming with incredible reliability, speed and sheer numbers; The Sherman was modified to carry anything from the long 76mm (British Firefly) to a short 105mm gun, also fitted with dozer blades, mine flails, Duplex Drive and fording skirts; these Shermans (Known as Horvart's Funnies) stormed into Normandy on Juen 6th, 1944 and paved the way to the eventual victory of the Allied Powers against Nazi Germany.
The Sherman came in many variations that were as versatile as deadly. 3in Gun Motor Carriage M10 - Tank Destroyer, aka Wolverine 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage M36 - Tank Destroyer, aka Jackson 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 - self-propelled artillery, aka Priest 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M12 - GMC M12 with Cargo Carrier M30 (both used Sherman components) 155/203/250 mm Motor Carriages - 155 mm GMC M40, 8 in. (203 mm) HMC M43, 250 mm (10 inch) MMC T94, and Cargo Carrier T30 Flame Tank Sherman - M4A3R3 Zippo, M4 Crocodile, and other flame-throwing Shermans Rocket Artillery Sherman - T34 Calliope, T40 Whizbang, and other Sherman rocket launchers Amphibious tanks - Duplex Drive (DD) swimming Sherman. A British variant used by US forces. Engineer tanks - D-8, M1, and M1A1 dozers, M4 Doozit, Mobile Assault Bridge, and Aunt Jemima and other mine-clearers Recovery tanks - M32 and M74 TRVs Artillery tractors - M34 and M35 prime movers 
Cutaway of an M4A4 Sherman Tank. 
M4A3E8 "Easy Eight" Sherman, with it's long 76mm gun and Horizontal Volute Suspension System (HVSS) 
M4A3 with a short 105mm gun and a Dozer blade, like the ones used to clear obstacles during the Normandy Breakout in 1944. 
Israeli M51 Super Sherman, armed with a 105mm long range gun. |