A DRIVER’S THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SHERMAN TANK

J. Ted Hartman

The driver of a Sherman tank sat in the left side of the lower hull of the tank. The driver’s seat was mounted on a spring system that allowed the driver to sit with his head out of the hatch opening when moving faster. The seat could also be dropped lower in the hatch to allow the hatch door to be closed during close-in battle. When the hatch door was closed, a periscope in the hatch door allowed a view to the front. The periscope could be turned to either side for a little vision in each direction. When the driver’s hatch was closed, it was necessary for the tank commander to give detailed driving directions to the tank driver because his view through the periscope was extremely limited.

In front of the driver were two metal levers. The left lever was pulled back toward the driver to turn the tank to the left while the right lever was pulled back toward the driver to turn the tank to the right. The mode of action of the levers was to brake the track in the direction the driver wished to turn, thus slowing that track. To stop the tank, both levers were pulled simultaneously. A metal catch allowed both of the levers to be locked in the back position, thus providing a "hand brake."

A pedal under the right foot controlled the "gas," much like the gas pedal in any other vehicle. A pedal under the left foot provided the clutch control. Just to the driver’s right was a gear shift lever, as in most vehicles. There was one reverse gear and five forward gears. Shifting from one forward gear to another required some "muscle," but was nicely meshed and usually went smoothly even in a 33 ton vehicle. A huge transmission sat in the center just to the right of the gear shift and separated the driver’s compartment from that of the assistant driver.

The engine was at the rear of the tank and was accessed by lifting heavy grill doors that were hinged toward each side. Two Ford V-8 engines were welded together to form a single powerful engine that developed a horsepower of 650. Tank mileage was two gallons of gas to go one mile.

The track system of the Sherman tank was less than desirable, especially when compared with that of the German tanks. Although the tracks on the Sherman served adequately on a roadway, they were not sufficiently wide to support the weight of the tank when maneuvering on soft or wet ground. In Soissons, France, just before we entered battle, General Patton ordered us to add track extenders that increased the width of the track by about 4 inches. This helped some but it did not give us a track support that equaled that of the very wide tracks on the German tanks.

The suspension system of the tank connected to bogie wheels that rolled along the track as it was placed on the ground. The bogie wheels were one of the more vulnerable parts of the suspension system. No matter how well we kept them greased, on a fast moving, longer march, the rubber padding on the bogie wheel would get hot and separate from its metal backing. This was known as a "blown bogie" and created a very rough ride in the tank. A 75 mm gun was the major turret weapon on the Sherman tanks in which we entered battle and was very inferior in speed and firepower to the German tanks that we were facing. The replacement tank we received after an ambush in Belgium had a 76 mm gun with a much higher muzzle velocity. Even though still inferior to the German tank guns, the 76 mm guns were an improvement in our ability to engage the Germans in tank on tank battles.

A point of special consideration is the armor on the Sherman tank hull and turret. The hull was constructed of thick steel sheets welded together to form the necessary shape. The front and sides of the hull were 2 and ½ inches thick while the back was about ½ inch thick. The slope of the front plate of the hull was 45 degrees. The German tanks that we were fighting against had front and side thicknesses of at not less than 3 and ½ inches while the King Tiger tanks had a thickness of 6 inches. The slope of the front plate of many of the German tanks was greater than that on our tanks. Between that and the thicker steel plates, the projectiles that we fired were likely to ricochet off the German tank.

The turret on the Sherman tank was cast armor and was approximately 2 and ½ inches thick, less than the thickness of the armor on the German tanks. However, the turret on the Sherman tank could rotate 360 degrees by use of an electric motor, making this one of the few advantages of our tank. The German tank turrets were all rotated by a hand crank, thus causing a slower response time for the turret.

Maintenance was performed by the entire crew of the Sherman tank, although it was primarily done by the driver and the assistant driver. Needed repairs and maintenance of the Sherman tank were a never ending process which took large amounts of time when we were not engaged in combat.

We must, however, give credit to the Sherman tank. It did serve us well in the fast moving type of combat in which we were engaged in the last two to three months of the European campaign.