"The Americans considered improving the firepower of the Medium Tank M4 back in September of 1941. A year later, experiments with installing the 76 mm T1 gun into the stock turret commenced. Even though the gun fit, the military was unsatisfied with this rearmament. A decision was made to equip the M4 with the turret from the Medium Tank T23, which did not enter production. This was not hard, since the turret ring diameter was the same.
Shortly before that, the M4 (known in the USSR under the nickname "Emcha") was equipped with wet ammunition racks. These modernized tanks, whose name received the suffix (76)W, went into production in January of 1944. Among them was the M4A2(76)W, the production of which began in May of 1944. The USSR received these tanks under the Lend Lease program.
Study with a time limit
Dmitriy Loza's memoirs "Commanding the Red Army's Sherman Tanks" make it seem like the first M4A2(76)W were at the front lines in August of 1944, but that is not the case. Usually, at least several months went by between a new modification going into production and it appearing in Lend Lease shipments. The M4A2 with a 76 mm gun was no exception. Information about the upcoming arrival of Shermans armed with 76 mm guns was made available by the People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade on August 22nd, 1944…."
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Amicalement
Armand
makes corrections when some models don't turn out the way he expected!
