One of my favorite Israeli tanks.
"The first Sherman tanks were bought during the 1948 War of Independence, from an Italian junkyard where they were being sold as scrap metal. The IDF eventually bought 35 of these, but only 14 were operational by the end of the war. Since these tanks had sabotaged guns, some were re-gunned with the Krup 75mm field gun.
During the early 1950s, more M4s were purchased from various sources, and the Sherman became the standard tank in Israeli armored units. In collaboration with France, the tanks were re-gunned with the M50 75mm gun (M-50) and, later, with a 105mm gun (M-51). Some "Super Sherman" tanks, armed with a 76.2mm (M-1) gun were also purchased.
The Sherman saw action in the 1956 "Kadesh" operation in the Sinai Peninsula, against the Egyptian army (who employed its own version of the M-4, re-turreted with AMX-13 turret). In Six Day War (1967), Sherman brigades were still the mainstay of the Israeli armored forces, though more modern MBTs were in service at the time. In the Yom Kippur War (1973), Sherman tanks fought, as always, in the front lines. Fighting against Syrian and Egyptian T-55 and T-62 MBTs with a WW2 vintage weapon, the Sherman crewmen embodied the motto of the IDF's armor corps: "Man is the steel".
No other vehicle in IDF use was modified and had so many variants based upon as the Sherman. Besides its use as a tank, there were engineer variants, mine plows, rescue vehicles, live fire moving targets, self propelled guns, mortars and MLRs, ambulance and many more. The M-50/155 Howizter is another conversion of the M-4 Sherman. The M-50 155mm is an Israeli indigenous self propelled gun – a French 155mm howitzer was fitted on a Sherman chassis. "
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"The M-50 was designed with the CN 75-50 gun to defeat T-34 and T-85 tanks, with appearance of T-54 and T-55 Israel needed a new gun and as on M-50 Israel used a French gun, the new 105mm CN 105 F1 gun. This gun was a 56 caliber and 6m long, firing a HEAT round with a 1000 m/sec velocity. However, this gun could not be installed in a Sherman turret, as this offered not enough recoil space. Israel then came up with a solution of their own: By shortening the gun to a 44 caliber gun (about 1.4 meters shorter) and accepting a lower muzzle velocity of around 800 m/sec. this modification, called the CN 105 D1 gun, could indeed be crammed into a T23 turret.
This gun was fitted in M4A1 tanks with HVSS, 180 M-51 tanks were ready in late 1960's.
The M-51 Sherman tank developed with French-Israeli collaboration of the basis of the US Sherman tank, mounted a long 105 mm gun. The tank also had installed a US diesel engine and wide track and suspension. The tank participated in combat during the Six Day War (1967). The M-51 was a key participant in the famous battle in the Dotan Valley, as well as in the Yom Kippur War (1973).
When the Six Day War (1967) war broke out, Israel had 515 Sherman tanks ready for battle out of a total of 520 Shermans, and when the Yom Kippur War (1973) war broke out, Israel had 340 Shermans.
In the mid to late 70s, Israel had supplied over 150 M-51 Sherman tanks to the Chilean army.
M-51
A: 105mm CN 105 D1 gun
B: T32 turret
C: With commander's cupola, counterweight
D: HVSS "
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Lots of great photos or real ones here,
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Robert