Comments by "TheThirdMan" (@thethirdman225) on "3 things the M4 Sherman did BETTER than other tanks" video.
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@Mustapha1963 So basically everything the? Look, ALL tanks have their limitations. If your criteria were to be used, the only tank that would meet it would be the Maus.
But if you take the trouble to read how these things were used, you’ll find that the Sherman was a very good tank which was highly thought of by its crews. In this day of the internet, gamers in particular, have contributed a large swath of information based entirely on tank v tank on a level playing field (Tank battles are never fought that way).
That is not the best way to assess a tank.
If you are a designer, you will most likely try to minimise compromising the triangle of effectiveness. If you are an end user, you probably want the thickest armour and the heaviest gun available and neither could ever be big enough. If you are a senior army commander your values are different.
It has to stop somewhere. And what about the commanders? They needed a tank that could be there and work well, while providing high levels of effectiveness. The Sherman did that probably better than any other tank in WWII, barring the T-34-85.
Just because a Sherman could be defeated by a Tiger doesn’t mean the Sherman was not a good tank. In fact, the two only rarely met. But the fact is that about 85% of the work of a tank in WWII was in the role of infantry support. Only maybe 15% of the time did they come to blows with enemy tanks.
This was reflected on both sides. Only 15% StuG III’s ammunition was AT. The rest was HE. The British tank units used one Firefly for every 5 75mm versions. The 75mm gun was very good at infantry support. The 17-pounder, less so. The two complimented each other and again the German ratios and British ratios agree.
Read James Holland’s book Brothers in Arms and Steve Zaloga’s book, Armored Champion. Holland describes the war from the perspective of a British Army tank unit from D-Day to the end of the war. Zaloga tries to assess the best tank of each year of the war from various perspectives. He’s done a great job. IMHO, it’s arguable that there was no greatest tank of WWII but some were better than others. The Sherman was pretty good. It was also one of the more survivable tanks. Casualty rates among American tankies were quite low.
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