- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #137
I would like to suggest a conventional Sherman for Israel, the Degem Alef (late) which was later just called M-3 for Israel.
first of all, there is a distinction to make between the model from 1948 and the other acquired later. while in Israel they were all designed by Degem Alef and after 1955 they were called M-3, their performances are very different. the model from 1948 which can be qualified as the early variant is unique to Israel.
from 1949 to 1952 Israel imported an additional 41x Shermans of unspecified variants from Italy. 12x M4A3 and 2X M4A1 from Philipines in 1950 and finally 40x M4A4T from France in 1951 & 1952. this gives a total of 125x Sherman in Degem in services in Israel by 1953. 30 of which were old models. some were Degem Bet while most of them were Degem Alef.
the difference between the Degem Alef Early and Degem Alef Late is the later version was not retrofitted Sherman. in 1948 the Sherman imported from Italy were all M4(105) without guns. Israel mounted the M52 and M34a1 Gun mount on the turret and retrofitted either the 75mm Krupp 1904 as an interim gun or a 75mm M3. That might look like a regular Sherman like that but they aren’t. they are missing 2 parts to match the performance of the later Degem Alef. they didn’t have a Stabilizer, and they didn’t have the hydraulic power drive on the turret. that means the early model was hardly capable of firing on the move and had a very slow-turning turret. while the later model had received little modification from the original Sherman and their stabilizer and power drive were untouched. their turret turns 4 times faster and they can fire on the move with a decent accuracy.
In Israel all 75mm armed Sherman were called Degem Alef. the only exception was the interim armament of the Krupp and M1916 which was just called Sherman. those were refitted with the 75mm M3 once available. there was also the Degem Bet which had the 105mm M4 howitzer. In 1955 with the introduction of the Sherman armed with the 76mm M1 and the Shermand with the 75mm SA50, the designation of Degem Alef and Degem Bet led to confusion as the Degem Alef were to be replaced by those armed with the 75mm SA50. as such they were all renamed according to their armament. the Degem Alef who had the 75mm M3 gun was renamed M-3. the Degem Bet with the 105mm M4 became the M-4. the Sherman with 76mm M1 became the M-1 and the new Sherman with the 75mm SA50 became the M-50. the early and late Degem Alef now renamed M-3 all having the same name without distinction. those include the M4A1, M4A2, M4A3 and M4A4, all of which had at least one service. Israel did bring some modifications on their own for those tanks, but they were rather minor. such as installing the Besa 7.62mm machine gun on the roof. they served in Israel for about a decade and participated to the 6-days war of 1956. but as the M-50 were more and more numbered the M-3 were slowly withdrawn to be refitted with the SA50,
as this tank can include any regular Sherman, I will let Gaijin decide which version they like the most. i have a little favor for the M4A4T as it was confirmed they had at least 40 of them which is likely making them the most common variant. this is why I only show the picture of those tanks in the topic and will only present the performance of this variant but keep in mind, that the other variants have different performances but are all close to each other.
Firepower
The firepower of this tank is not lacking. the Dagem Alef late like every other Degem Alef were armed with the powerful 75mm M3 gun. this gun features a power APCBC HE which is capable of dealing with every tank it might meet at combat distance, even if some Heavy Russian and British tanks might be challenging once in a while. the gun has a fire rate of 12 rounds per minute wich is pretty fast for his kind. the turret will turn at 24°/s thanks to his power drive. the elevation is pretty good with -10° to +25° which allows an easy use of the tank in all normal situations. the gun also features a vertical stabilizer which allows a pretty decent accuracy while on the move. the Degem Alef also features a roof-mounted 7.62mm besa machine gun which is inferior to the 12.7mm the Americans used but it can still be of use.
Mobility
the mobility of this tank will not be his strength but it is not so bad either. the tank will have a pretty average mobility. with a complicated gasoline Chrysler A57 multibank engine providing 425 hp the tank has a fairly powerful engine. weighting 32.2 tonnes it is also fairly heavy. The Synchromesh transmission gives 5 forward and 1 reverse speed. it allows it to get to 40 km/h and has a power-weight of 13.2 hp/ton.
Protection
the tank protection will be good but not without flaws. the front has two huge weaknesses easily penetrated in front of the machine-gunner and driver. those are usually improved a bit by the addition of 25.4mm plate on the front. the side is also rather weak. while the front has 50mm fairly well sloped would offer a pretty decent chance to just take the hit. the tank has a fairly large size and tall profile which makes it easy to spot. the crew of 5 men is pretty decent in size. 3 men are in the turret while 2 in the front of the chassis. in most cases, a penetration will only take out 2-3 men leaving you a chance to survive and repair.
sources
- Medium Tank M4 Sherman
- M4 Sherman - Wikipedia
- Israel’s Early Shermans | Armored Warfare - Official Website
- Post–World War II Sherman tanks - Wikipedia
- "Transformé" tanks
Italian export of the Sherman (CIA report)
