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 “Black Jack” Pershing.
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History
It was intended as a replacement for the M4 Sherman. However, it arrived late and saw very little action in WW2. It was the main American battle tank in the immediate postwar period and for the first part of the Korean War, eventually being replaced by the M48 Patton.
Variants
- M26A1 - From 1948 with the 90 mm Gun M3A1
Cooper, in his book cited below, asserts that 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 had the 90 mm/70 caliber T15E1 high-velocity gun as its main weapon.
Ordnance tank designers had been aware of M4 Sherman combat losses to the 88 mm KwK 43 L71 and similar guns. They felt the T15E1, loaded with ammunition that threw a projectile at 3,850 ft/s (1,173 m/s), would even the odds against the PzKw VIb King Tiger heavy tank and Panther. Cooper asserts the cannon could "blast the hell" out of the Mark VI Tiger.
Combat history
World War 2
The M26 was a long while in development and only just reached combat status during WW2. The 3rd and 9th Armored Divisions received some M26's and they first saw combat in February 1945.
An ordnance officer at the Combat Command (brigade) level in the 3rd Armored Division during World War II, Belton Y. Cooper, wrote a memoir, Death Traps (Presidio Press, 1998, Novato, California), about his experience. According to Cooper, ten Pershings were sent to the 3rd Armored Division beginning in February 1945. They would have been sent sooner, had George S. Patton not intervened. Patton favored the Sherman tank, contending it would require less gasoline and had, in his opinion, 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] (http://www.knox.army.mil/center/ocoa/ArmorMag/so01/5tankmyths01.pdf):
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.
Cooper, who probably saw more knocked-out American tanks than anyone, wrote, "The M26 was the closest thing we had to the German Panther... Overall the two tanks were evenly matched, but the Pershing's mobility was somewhat neutralized because the Panther often fired from stationary and sometimes dug in positions whereas the Pershing was usually moving on the offensive."
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 also, "Had the Tigers made a frontal assault, it is doubtful that the M26 could have knocked them out, because our M36 tank destroyers with the same 90 mm gun had difficulty penetrating the Mark V Panther on the faceplate."
The "Super Pershing" mentioned above, only saw engagement in combat once, at night. The 3rd Armored Division was on the move, and the unit the tank was in could not afford the luxury of stopping to see results. During the Battle of Dessau, the "Super Pershing" destroyed one King Tiger by striking its underbelly and a Panther with a flank shot. Thus, the full capabilities of the T15E1 90 mm main gun were never demonstrated.
Korea
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 WW II memorials. US Army M4A1 Sherman medium tanks in the Korean theater were no match for the T-34s used by North Korean People's Army units. The M26 was the only US Army tank available in sufficient numbers at the start of the conflict which could match the T-34 in combat.
See also
Centurion the equivalent British tank of the same period.
External links
- AFV Database (http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m26pershing.html)
- Armour Reference Articles (http://ipmslondon.tripod.com/armourreferencearticles/id14.html)
- OnWar specifications (http://www.onwar.com/tanks/usa/fm26.htm)
- WWII Vehicles (http://www.wwiivehicles.com/html/usa/m26_pershing.html)
- AFV INTERIORS part 1 (http://www.chars-francais.net/kithobbyist/m26a.htm), part 2 (http://www.chars-francais.net/kithobbyist/m26b.htm), part 3 (http://www.chars-francais.net/kithobbyist/m26c.htm), part 4 (http://www.chars-francais.net/kithobbyist/m26d.htm)
3rd Armored Division History Website - Super Pershing vs. King Tiger (http://www.3ad.com/history/news/super.pershing.1.htm)
| American armored fighting vehicles of World War II |
|---|
| Tanks |
| M3/M5 Stuart | M3 Lee | M4 Sherman | M22 Locust | M24 Chaffee | M26 Pershing |
| Self-propelled artillery |
| M7 Priest | M8 Scott | M12 GMC | M40 GMC |
| Tank destroyers |
| M10 Wolverine | M18 Hellcat | M36 Jackson |
| Armored half-tracks |
| M3 Half-track |
| Armored cars |
| M8 Greyhound | M3 Scout Car | M20 Armored Utility Car | T17 Staghound |
| Experimental vehicles |
| M38 Armored Car | M6 Heavy Tank | T-28 Tank/T-95 GMC | T14 Heavy Tank |
| American armored fighting vehicle production during World War II |
fr:M26 Pershing he:M26 פרשינג ja:M26パーシング no:M26 Pershing pl:M26 Pershing