"M-26 Korea" Topic

I didn't know this about the first Pershings sent to Korea. Robert

"The M26 saw service in the Korean War. When the war began in June 1950, the four American infantry divisions on occupation duty in Japan had no medium tanks at all, having only one active tank company (equipped with M24 Chaffee light tanks) each. When these divisions were sent to Korea at the end of June 1950, they soon found that the 75mm gun on the M24 could not penetrate the armor of North Korean T-34 tanks, which had no difficulty penetrating the M24's thin armor. Three M26 Pershing tanks were found in poor condition in a Tokyo ordnance depot. They were hastily brought back into operation with missing fanbelts improvised. These three M26s were formed into a provisional tank platoon commanded by Lieutenant Samuel Fowler and sent to Korea in mid-July. When used to defend the town of Chinju, the tanks soon overheated when the substitute fan belts stretched and the cooling fans stopped working, and so the only three American medium tanks in Korea were lost.[54]"
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The entire first half of the war was a fiasco. Lots of burnt out weapons were found and used, a heavy percentage of the ammo was bad and entire battalions of REMF were gathered together, told to ungrease weapons flow in and shoved into combat with no training.

Read about some of the disasters that happened on the way to Pusan.

Of course, the destruction of the 2nd Infantry near the Yalu River is a horror story of its own.

Dan

The defense of Chinju makes a good game scenario. When I have done it I have the North Koreans descending from the forested hills onto a river flood plane covered with rice paddies that restrict movement and high speed maneuver. The Americans consist of Fowler's tanks in dug in hull down positions with a second prepared position for each tank. There are also three squads of American infantry with two bazookas but with poor morale and ready to bug out. Behind the bridge over the river is rigged for demolition and the engineers will blow it if the Koreans get anywhere near the bridge. The Koreans have a Battalion of T34/85 tanks and a battalion of infantry that have to come onto the table and advance down a single lane road through the hills.

American tanks have a 5% chance of overheating every turn (roll a 1 on a d20) this increases by 5% each successive turn so that by turn 10 it is 50/50 they will overheat and break down.

The Americans cannot hold, and they should be briefed that they win even if they all die as long as they prevent the Koreans from crossing the river and kill three to one.

The Koreans win if the Americans fail either condition. We have played it a couple of times and it is bloody and the Americans fight hard and don't seem to be discouraged by the odds against them.

Another sign of the US's unpreparedness in 1950. The M-26 would fare better against Nork T-34/85s than the M-24 … I was with the 2ID, Jan.'84- Nov.'85. I got a pic of an M-26 sitting as a monument, I think on the outskirts of Seoul … We don't like to say the 2ID was destroyed, but we just got our butt kicked … a little …

Sounds like a great scenario. Thanks for sharing.

I read in "Marine Tank Battles in Korea" that when well maintained, crewed and equiiped M-26 arrived at Pusan, they were a major surprize to the over confident North Koreans.

If I remember correctly, 5 USMC M-26 tanks took out a full company of T34/85 that advanced at first down the road, then deployed in the open fields.

Yes, I have heard similar, the M-26 could best the T34-85 … After all the M-26 was designed to take on German Panthers, Tigers, etc. … The M-26 could have been fielded sooner in WWII, but the Generals, including Patton, didn't really see the need at the time (?!)… But as the Nazis knew, to take on a "monster" you have to become a monster. The Panther was basically designed to take on T34s. After the Panzers IIIs and IVs didn't fare too well.

"Although the greater part of the !9th Regiment has departed Chinju and ROK sources account for the capture of Chinju at 0900, one defiant U.S. contingent remains—three M-26 Pershing tanks, led by Lieutenant Sam Fowler. The tanks, not committed to the defense of Chinju, had been waiting for new fan belts to solve an ongoing problem. Fowler is under orders to destroy the tanks, but he and his twelve crewmen are holding tight, hoping for a train with flatcars, which never shows. The engine passes through Masan, but is unable to depart Chungam-ni. Slightly after noon, a South Korean soldier passes the rail yard, noting that the town contains only several S.K. troops. He suggests to the Americans that they move out.

Soon after, an AP correspondent, William Moore, urges Lieutenant Fowler to glance north at an approaching unidentified column moving along the tracks. After a South Korean trooper calls for identification, an interpreter is no longer necessary. The contingent is North Korean. The tankers commence firing, spreading a steady stream of machine gun shells into the enemy ranks, thinning the platoon. But a burst of return rifle fire wounds Fowler. Still determined to keep the Pershings, the troops place Fowler in a tank and drive east toward Masan. About two miles down the highway, they encounter a destroyed bridge and are forced to abandon the tanks.

As the tanks are being destroyed, a concealed enemy contingent posted near the bridge suddenly commences firing. One man, Master Sergeant Shrader, having reached an operable tank, unleashes its .30-caliber machine gun to cut the odds. The enemy ambush has devastated the small contingent of Americans. Shrader ceases firing his machine gun and nudges the tank close to one of the others, quickly picking up six men and then heading back toward Chinju. Along the way, the surviving tank overheats (bad fanbelt) at a bridge over the Nam River. The seven occupants dart through the nearby bamboo, eventually reaching the sanctuary of the 25th Division lines west of Masan.

Some of the original contingent had been killed at the bridge and others are killed or captured attempting to flee to safety. One captured soldier later relates that he saw several bodies floating in the water. He recognized one as Lieutenant Fowler and another as William Moore, the Associated Press correspondent. The first three Pershing tanks (M-26 Medium) to enter Korea and the first three to go down in combat leave a valiant legacy from the courage of their crews at Chinju."
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" On 28 June 1950, the fourth day of the Korean War, Col. Olaf P. Winningstad, Eighth Army Ordnance chief, found three M26 Pershing medium tanks at the Tokyo Ordnance Depot in bad condition and needing extensive repairs, including rebuilt engines. The repair work began at once and was completed on 13 July. The three tanks were shipped to Pusan where they arrived on 16 July, the first American medium tanks in Korea. With them were Lieutenant Fowler and fourteen enlisted crew members. Trained to operate M24 light tanks, they were now expected to become familiar with the Pershing tank.

The tanks gave trouble because of improper fan belts that would stretch and permit the motors to overheat. Belts made in Japan were either too short or Eighth Army hoped to use these tanks to help stop the North Korean drive in the southwest. It sent them by rail to Chinju where they arrived at 0300, 28 July. They were unloaded at the Rail Transportation Office on the south side of the Nam River where the rail line terminated. There they awaited new belts. When the North Korean 6th Division entered Chinju on the morning of 31 July, these tanks took no part in the battle.

A little later, William R. Moore, an Associated Press correspondent, suddenly appeared and suggested to Fowler that he should check a body of men coming up the rail track. They were North Koreans. Fowler ordered his tank crews to open fire. In the fire fight that immediately flared between the tank .30- and .50-caliber machine guns and the enemy small arms fire, Fowler received a bullet in his left side. In this close-range fight the tank machine gun fire killed or wounded most of the enemy group, which was about platoon size. The tankers started the three tanks east on the road to Masan. Two miles down the road the tanks came to a blown bridge. The men abandoned the tanks and proceeded on foot."
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I wonder if the outcome would have different if Moore's advice wasn't taken. Robert

" … for want of a nail …"

Would be an interesting scenario. Robert