- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #6
I would like to suggest unique vehicles for Israel. the Sherman M1916
This tank is rather mysterious as the picture was said to be found in the IDF museum. the tank is surely a modification made by the Israelis using a 75mm M1916 field gun. this gun was also used by the Syrian and Lebanese which was eventually used as the main armament for SPG as well later.
this photo was often misidentified as carrying the 75mm Krupp M1903 only this is nothing like the Krupp. just like the gun on the Syrian SPG was often misidentified as the 25-pounder. the fact is the 75mm m1916 is not a very common gun and was probably supplied in the Middle East during WW2 or even right after WW2 by either the French or the Americans because the gun was simply inferior to what they had such as the French 75mm 1897 who also use the same round. at the same time, this gun was offering a lower velocity which is often what the French like to use in the colony where the indirect fire with APHE rounds is quite effective. this made this gun more effective in the eyes of the French in the colony, notably in Lebanon where the French had a Protectorate following WW1. it is quite possible they sent there the WW1 75mm M1916 to Lebanon as soon they received the Mandate over Lebanon and left it there after WW2.
if the picture misidentified the gun, it could probably not misidentify the user. the Israeli was the only user of the Sherman and also the only one who was known to modify it. Syrian did not use Sherman. the only one they used was a turretless Sherman which was probably a destroyed Israeli tank.
in 1948 Israel acquired 43 tanks from an Italian Scrapyard. those tanks was all damaged from WW2 but 13 were in working condition and none had guns. they were M4A3 105mm tanks. with this, the Israelis also got every 75mm M3 gun and the part they needed to repair the Shermans. but they didn’t have enough guns. at least 6 of them were refitted with 75mm Krupp M1903 guns and were put into service in 1949. this tank was probably another solution for the lack of a gun. the gun was larger than the M3 and the M1903 but was stronger than the M1903. It is quite possible the installation was not convenient to use due to the large size of the gun and the modification in the turret.
there is little clue of what happened to this particular Sherman. it was probably used for a very short time until the Israelis could find a better gun to install in this tank
Firepower
the main was a 75mm M1916 gun. this is a rare gun from WW1 which was surely captured by The Lebanese or Syrians who were known to use it. the gun has the advantage of using the 75x350R rounds which is the same as the OQF 75mm and the 75mm M3 used in the Crownwell and Sherman tanks respectively. this means the gun used the standard shells of the usual Sherman. only it does not perform as well. the rounds have a fair reduction of the velocity to 531 m/sec instead of 618 m/sec. this results in a noticeable reduction of penetration. still, it will allow this tank to be playable.
Mobility
The mobility of the M-3 is not his best feature, but it’s not lacking either. powered by Ford GAA V8 gasoline engine providing 500 hp , it remain in his best condition a decent engine. weighting 31,700 kg , the tank would be capable of reaching 29 km/h which is nothing bad. The power-weight ratio of 13.2 hp/ton , would allow the M-3 to move around decent and be where it belongs, in the frontline.
Protection
the M-3 has the main disadvantage of being a rather big target. but outside his size, the tank delivers good protection. with a hull featuring 51mm at the front with a important slope, 38mm at the side and rear , the M-3 would hard to penetrate by a frontal hit. his side being more vulnerable still can offer good protection. but there is an important detail to note on the M-3 suggested here. even if the chassis is the M4a4, the turret is the one from an early Sherman which is found on the in-game M4a1 and features a huge weakness over the later turret. the gun shield was smaller, and most of the turret only gave 50mm of armor with a rather flat surface this made this particular Sherman closer to the US M4a1 than the M4a4 from any nation. The crew of 5 men would also allow the tank to take good damage before being destroyed. it wouldn’t be rare to survive and return fire even if you lost 1-2 crew members during a fight.
Source
- IDF ARMOR חיל השריון-צה"ל: Sherman M4A4 tank in the IDF service
- M4 Sherman variants - Wikipedia
- Israel’s Early Shermans | Armored Warfare - Official Website
- Medium Tank M4 Sherman
- Suenkler, Soeren, and Marsh Gelbart. IDF Armoured Vehicles: Tracked Armour of the Modern Israeli Defense Forces. Erlangen, Germany, Tankograd Publishing, 2006
- Israeli Sherman, by Thomas Gannon
- https://shiryonarchive.com/the-krupp-sherman/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/75_mm_gun_M1916
- https://books.google.ca/books?id=LN2gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA89&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false