M26 Pershing

M26 Pershing Tank "The Heavy Tank T26E3" p1-2 1945 US Army FB-191

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more at http://quickfound.net/links/military_news_and_links.html US Army Training Film (Field Bulletin) on the M26 Pershing Tank, which was called the T26E3 until March 1945, when it was renamed M26 Pershing. After WWII many of these tanks were upgraded with improved engines and transmissions and 90-mm gun and were redesignated as the M46 Patton. Part 2: http://youtu.be/zWkoy5hP858 Public domain film slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M26_Pershing The Pershing was the first operational heavy tank of the United States Army. It was designated a heavy tank when it was designed in WWII due to its 90mm gun, which was at the time the largest caliber gun found on an American tank. In 1957, the U.S. developed the M103 tank, which had an even larger 120mm gun, and the M26 Pershing was re-designated as a medium tank. The tank is named after General John J. Pershing who led the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War I. It was briefly used both in World War II and in the Korean War. Intended as an improvement of the M4 Sherman, the prolonged time of development meant that only a small number saw combat in the European theater, most notably in the 9th Armored Division's dramatic dash to take the Bridge at Remagen. In combat it was, unlike the M4 Sherman, fairly equal in firepower and protection to both the Tiger I and Panther tanks, but was underpowered and mechanically unreliable. This became even more evident in the Korean War, where the M26, while an overmatch for the T-34-85, had severe problems with the hilly terrain and was withdrawn in 1951 in favor of its improved derivative, the M46 Patton, which had a more powerful and reliable engine. The lineage of the M26 continued with the M47 Patton, and was reflected in the new designs of the later M48 Patton and M60 Patton... Development The M26 was the culmination of a series of tank prototypes that began with the T20 in 1942 and represented a significant design departure from the previous line of U.S. Army tanks that had ended with the M4 Sherman; a number of design features were tested in the various prototypes, some of which were experimental dead-ends, but many of which would become permanent characteristics of subsequent modern U.S. Army tanks. The prototype series began as a medium tank upgrade of the M4 Sherman and ended as the U.S. Army's first operational heavy tank. Improving on the M4 The army's first lineage of tanks had evolved from the M1 Combat Car and progressed to the M2 Light Tank, M2 Medium Tank, M3 Lee, and finally the M4 Sherman... T25 and T26 The T25 and T26 lines of tanks came into being in the midst of a heated internal debate within the U.S. Army in the mid-1943 to early 1944 over the need for tanks with greater firepower and armor. A 90 mm gun mounted in a massive new turret was installed in both series. The T26 series were given additional frontal hull armor, with the glacis plate increased to 4 in (10 cm). This increased the weight of the T26 series to over 40 short tons (36 t) and decreased their mobility and durability as the engine and powertrain were not improved to compensate for the weight gain. The T26E3 was the production version of the T26E1 with a number of minor modifications made as the result of field testing. Following its introduction into combat, it was renamed the M26 in March 1945. After the war Post World War II, some 800 M26 tanks were upgraded with improved engines and transmissions and 90-mm gun and were redesignated as the M46 Patton... ...production finally began in November 1944. Ten T26E3 tanks were produced that month at the Fisher Tank Arsenal, 30 in December, 70 in January 1945, and 132 in February. The Detroit Tank Arsenal also started production in March 1945, and the combined output was 194 tanks for that month. Production continued through the end of the war, and over 2,000 were produced by the end of 1945. Following its introduction into combat in Europe, the T26E3 tanks were redesignated as the M26 in March 1945... In 1948, the M26E2 version was developed with a new powerplant. Eventually the new version was redesignated the M46 General Patton and 1,160 M26s were rebuilt to this new standard. Thus the M26 became a base of the Patton tank series, which replaced it in early 1950s. The M47 Patton was an M46 Patton with a new turret. The later M48 Patton and M60 Patton, which saw service in later Vietnam and Mideast conflicts and still serve in active duty in many nations today, were evolutionary redesigns of the original layout set down by the Pershing...