The M26 Pershing was an American tank used during World War II and the Korean War. It was named after General John J. Pershing.

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 90mm Gun M3A1

Cooper, dealt with two M26A1E2 built during the Second World War, a version of the M26. One of these made it to the war in Europe, assigned to the 3rd Armored Division. This version of the Pershing had other changes in addition to having a 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

Belton Y. Cooper served as an ordnance officer at the Combat Command (brigade) level in the 3rd Armored Division during World War II, and wrote a memoir, Death Traps (Presidio Press, 1998, Novato, California), about his experience.

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.

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.

Characteristics

• Role: main battle tank
• Power plant: Ford GAF V8 Gasoline, 375 kW (500 hp)
• Speed: 44 km/h road speed
• Range: 150 km
• Length: 8.79 m
• Width: 3.51 m
• Height: 2.78 m
• Weight: 41.8 tonnes
• Crew: 5
• Armament: 90 mm M3 gun, 2 .30 in (7.62 mm) MGs, 1 .50 in (12.7 mm) AAMG
• Armor: 102 mm front, 76 mm side

External links

• AFV Database
• Armour Reference Articles
• OnWar specifications
• WWII Vehicles
• AFV INTERIORS part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4