BK6583 Posted October 13, 2000 Share Posted October 13, 2000 Just a curious question for the tank experts out there. I went to one of Wild Bill's links on technical specs for tanks. I couldn't help but notice two things: Only about 284 Sherman Jumbo's were produced; and the production period lasted only from Jun to Jul '44. Since this tank had some awsome armor protection, why was production halted? Too much extra weight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PzKpfw 1 Posted October 13, 2000 Share Posted October 13, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BK6583: Just a curious question for the tank experts out there. I went to one of Wild Bill's links on technical specs for tanks. I couldn't help but notice two things: Only about 284 Sherman Jumbo's were produced; and the production period lasted only from Jun to Jul '44. Since this tank had some awsome armor protection, why was production halted? Too much extra weight?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> BTW, there were also over 200 Shermans converted to Jumbo standards in the ETO. French steel companies were contracted for the add-on armor plate and the conversion was done by Ordnance companies of First and Third Armies. Regards, John Waters ------------------ "We've got the finest tanks in the world. We just love to see the German Royal Tiger come up on the feild". Lt.Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. Febuary 1945. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiJoe Posted October 13, 2000 Share Posted October 13, 2000 If they had just pulled heads out of their arses and mounted the 17 pounder on the jumbo they would have had a tank that could go toe to toe with the Panther. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busboy Posted October 14, 2000 Share Posted October 14, 2000 I think the problem was weight. The US coulda turned out jumbos by the thousands, but shipping 'em across the channel would have been another matter. We had a heavy tank under development, the M8 I think, that had a 76.2mm gun with a co-ax 37mm cannon, good armor, ect. Why did we never make that? Well, first it was deemed unsatisfactory, but more than that is they were heavy. What does that matter? If they're heavy, that means you can't ship a whole heap across the atlantic like you could the relitively light shermans. Plus, there were U-boats poping off the occasional merchant ship. They really had to ask "now, do we want a few heavy tanks that we're not satisfied with, or lots of "adequate" medium tanks?" IMO, thank goodness they went with the Shermans, the M8 would have been no match for the zoo. Anyhoo, there's the fact that they couldn't ship as many. Also, if I understand right, the jumbos just were converted Shermans; no strengthened suspention systems. One time Patton came across some shermans with sandbags all over 'em and he "spiritedly" ordered the sandbags removed. He pointed out that they'd do nothing to slow down an AT round, and a shaped charge either would go thru them too, or it wouldn't go thru at all. He then went on to point out that if it provided no increased protection, then it only wore out the tank's suspension system faster and increased mantianance problems. Now, the jumbo DID have effective armor, but I'd bet that it was far less reliable than standard shermans. Furthermore, its top speed was reduced, and ground pressure I'd bet went WAY up. So, in conclusion, while the jumbo may have been able to take hits from the krauts, the higher-ups weighed its effectiveness vs. its costs and decided that it wasn't worthwile once we broke out of bocage country. Weather they were right is debatable. I personally think that we should have had some for assaults, but in general once the breakout occured the standard Shermans were better suited for the job. ------------------ busboy CO, 99th Dragons A Warbirds Squadron 'We will heat you up' "It is well that war is so terrible, else we would grow too fond of it." -Robert E. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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