This is the M4A3E8 Sherman. It was the last modification of the US Sherman tank series during WWII with production starting in August 1944. The tank was also known as the M4A3(76)W HVSS and featured a welded hull armed with a 76mm gun. The W in the name denoted Wet ammunition storage that we’ll tell you about later in our film. The tank was built with Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension (better known as HVSS), giving it improved ability to cross broken ground, and with wide tracks it had much lower ground pressure and a better ride than previous Shermans. Because of this the M4A3E8 gained the nickname the ‘Easy Eight’. The Easy 8 is famous in films for being the tank portrayed in Fury. But for this film we’ve painted ours as Besotten Jenny or Jenny at the Gates from the Battle for Castle Itter. My name is David Webb and this is Blue Paw Print. The Easy 8 had a crew of five: the Driver, the Bow-Gunner, the Loader, the Gunner and Commander. The Easy 8's hull was 20 feet 7 inches long, the overall length increasing to just under 25 feet when the main gun overhang from the hull front was taken into account. It was just under 10 feet wide at its widest point on the hull and 7 feet 5 inches wide between the mid-point of each track. This gave it a lower center of gravity than earlier variants of Sherman, which in turn meant it was less likely to topple over if it slipped off a road or onto an embankment or similar. Its internal weight distribution allowed the Easy 8 to cross ditches up to 90 inches wide. The Easy 8 was 9 feet 9 inches tall from the bottom of the track to the top of the turret. This was tall for a combat tank, much taller than the equivalent British Cromwell, which was a whole 19 inches shorter than the Sherman. The extra space allowed for ‘wet’ under floor ammunition stowage lockers, which significantly improved the chances of crew survival. The Easy Eight Sherman could go over vertical obstacles up to 2 feet high, climb slopes up to 60 degrees and wade through water 3 feet deep without any preparation. It had a fully loaded combat weight of 74,200 pounds, making it 3,600 pounds heavier than the M4A1 fitted with a 76mm gun. But this extra weight was more than offset by the improved performance of suspension and track, giving it lower ground pressure. The upper frontal armor consisted of a one-piece hull front, as opposed to multi-piece hull fronts on other welded models, such as the M4 and the M4A4. As any weld line is a potential weak spot, their removal aided the overall protection capability of the tank’s armor. The front slope angle was 47 degrees from the vertical, instead of 57 degrees on variants like the M4 and M4A1, which looks initially like a backwards step, as the steeper the angle the more effective the armor. But the Easy 8 had frontal armor 2.5 inches thick instead of the 2-inch armor of regular Shermans, so overall effectiveness of the frontal armor was better than the other models. The one piece welded armor lower hull front carried armor between 2 inches thick (where the transmission housing sloped), and 4.25 inches thick (where the housing sat vertically). The vertical side sponson armor thickness on the Easy 8 was 1.5 inches. The rear armor was 1.5 inches and the under-floor armor was 1 inch thick, with the top deck armor ¾ of an inch thick. The armor was an all steel, homogeneous plate, meaning the steel was one solid layer, as opposed to other tank types that used multi-layered face-hardened steel which could be prone to cracking and spalling. The Easy 8 had larger Driver and Bow Gunner escape hatches than earlier Sherman variants, to allow ease of escape if and when the Sherman was hit. In common with all other Shermans there was also an escape hatch set into the hull floor. The Easy 8 turret was a brand-new design, derived from that used on the experimental T23 medium tank. A new turret type was required because of the extra length, larger breech, and larger counter-balance weight fitted to the M1 76mm gun. The turret was a single piece steel casting, 2.5 inches thick all round, with a 1 inch thick turret roof. The 2.5 inch thick turret frontal armor was a half inch thinner than that on earlier Shermans. But the new M62 gun mantlet, speciifically designed to help carry the 76mm main gun, was fitted across the entire front of the turret, adding an additional 3.5 inches to the overall thickness of the turret’s frontal armor. The turret came fitted with a commander’s cupola with six vision blocks inset into it to give a 360-degree view when the crew buttoned up. All T23 turrets fitted to Easy 8's had two hatches – one for the Commander and Gunner, and one for the Loader. Inside the turret, the turret basket was largely cut away, the Commander and Loader’s seats attaching directly to the turret ring, so they rotated with the turret. The Easy 8 turret used a hydraulic system powered by an electric motor, the unit sat in front of the Gunner. The turret could be traversed either through a power grip held by the Gunner, or by an override handle used by the Commander. The system had handles to operate the traverse if the hydraulics failed. The traverse speed was excellent, a turret could rotate 360 degrees in just 17 seconds. This gave it a significant advantage over its German opposite numbers, a Panzer IV took 26 seconds to fully rotate its turret and a Tiger took nearly a minute! The engine was an 18-litre Ford GAA 8-cylinder V-shaped liquid-cooled gasoline engine, with 4 cylinders per block, both blocks sitting at an angle of 60 degrees. The engine block and casings were made from aluminium to minimize overall weight. The engine had a nominal power output of 500 hp. But after powering ancillaries and going through the transmission there was only 450 hp that was effectively moving the tank. The Easy Eight had a top speed of 26 mph, which compares well to the top speed of the Panzer IV H at 23 mph and the Panther G at 28.5 mph. The drive shaft was coupled low down on the engine rear, which allowed the shaft to exit horizontally and stay this way under the fighting compartment to the transmission unit at the front of the tank. This meant that the fighting compartment was considerably roomier, which allowed space for under floor wet stowage for the ammunition. In the left rear sponson was an auxiliary generator used to charge the batteries (of which there were two), and provided power without having to have the main engine running. The Easy 8 had four fuel tanks. This gave the tank a fuel capacity of 168 US gallons, and gave the tank a range of 100 miles, with an average fuel consumption of 0.6 US gallons per mile. The Easy 8 used a system whereby the gearbox, differential, final drives and their armored housing were all combined into a single, easily interchangeable unit, called the Powertrain, which weighed in at 11,200 pounds. The Powertrain converted the power output of the engine and directed it to the drive sprockets, either side at the front of the tank. The unit could be removed in one piece. If one part of the unit failed, the whole piece was removed and another one slotted in. This was a massive time-saver when maintaining the Sherman in the field. The transmission design did not allow for track rotation while the tank was in neutral, so unlike other Allied tanks (such as the Cromwell) it could not turn on the spot. This restriction gave the tank a minimum turning circle of 62 feet. The Driver could select from five forward and one reverse gear. There were two pedals to the Driver’s front: the clutch on the left and the accelerator on the right. Braking was done via the two steering levers (which sat between the driver’s legs), one controlling the power to the left track, the other one controlling the power to the right. If the lever was pulled back that would apply the brakes to the appropriate track. The tank turned in relation to the amount of power placed into the final drive on each side of the vehicle. So, if the left-hand lever was pulled as far back as it could go then no power would be going into that track. If the right-hand lever is at the same time pushed as far forward as it can go, maximum power would be applied to the right track, slewing the tank sharply to the left. The opposite use of the levers would mean a sharp turn to the right. Both levers pulled back meant stop. Both levers pushed forward meant all ahead. To start the Easy 8, the Driver needed to turn the battery master switch to the "ON" position, put the gearshift lever in neutral, then press the foot throttle pedal and pull the hand throttle out about 0.25 inch. Then they would turn the ignition switch to the "BOTH" position. If the engine was cold, he would prime it with one to three quick strokes of the primer. He would then turn the starter switch lever to the left. The engine should start readily. If it did not continue to run, then they would repeat the priming. To drive the vehicle, it was much the same as a manual car. Clutch, select gear, release clutch and accelerate. The nickname Easy 8 was also thought to come from the suffix E8 placed at the end of the tank's developmental name, and indicated the tank was fitted with the new Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension or HVSS. The suspension allowed smoother travel over rough ground. With the HVSS system the volute springs were fitted horizontally between the paired bogie wheels. The compression provided by the tank’s weight was then converted into lateral force onto the bogie wheels, which in turn spread tension more uniformly along the track. The Easy 8 was fitted with 3 bogie units on each side. Each bogie unit had four road wheels set in pairs on each side. There was also a single-track return roller above and just behind the lead pair of wheels on each bogie, and two double return rollers on each side, set above and either side of the central bogie unit. Most importantly, this suspension allowed the fitting of wider tracks, from 16.5 inches wide up to 23 inches wide. This significantly reduced the ground pressure of the tank alowing travel over softer ground. The Easy 8 could be fitted with three different types of track. Because damage to enemy roads was not too much of a concern most were fitted with T66 steel tracks during the war. The gun fitted to the Easy 8 was a variant of the M1 76mm gun. But because the 76mm was too heavy, the gun was reduced in length by 15 inches and became the M1A1. The barrel length was 11 feet 8 inches. The Easy 8 carried 71 rounds of 76mm ammunition. If encountering a lightly armed tank or truck the Loader would select the m62 APC round. The Commander could select a target up to 500 yards distant and still penetrate 3.7 inches of non-sloping armor. But if encountering something like a Tiger head on, then the Loader could use an M93 HVAP-T round which had a tungsten carbide core. A Tiger or similar armored vehicle could be destroyed head on from a distance of 400 yards. Inside the tank were two .30 caliber M1919A4 Browning machine guns, one in the turret in front of the Loader, co-axial with the main gun, and one in the hull front in a ball mount. Additionally, on the turret was a .50 caliber Browning M2 heavy machine gun on a pedestal mount. This was quite awkward to use when the enemy was in front of the tank, as a crew member would have to get out of the tank entirely and stand on the rear engine deck to fire All main ammunition stowage in the Easy 8 was ‘wet’ (hence the 'W' in the tank designation). The tank rounds were stored in double walled armored bins. The space between the walls was filled with a mixture of water, ethylene glycol to prevent freezing, and a rust inhibitor. If a bin was hit and penetrated, the liquid flowed into the main bin compartment holding the ammunition, drastically reducing the chances of an ammunition fire. Without ‘wet’ bins it was calculated that Shermans burned 60-80% of the time when hit. This dropped to 10-15% of the time with wet stowage. The tank Commander would almost always have his head out of the turret to enable him to locate the enemy and he would use his 8x magnification binoculars to assist with this. The Loader stood on the hull floor to the left of the gun when in combat. His job was to quickly select and load the type of ammunition called for by the Commander. The Gunner traversed the turret and elevated the gun under the instruction of the tank Commander. When The Gunner thought he had laid the gun correctly on target he would shout ‘ON’. The Commander, if satisfied, would shout "Fire!" and the Gunner would fire the gun. The main gun was fired either via a trigger fitted on the traverse grip, or by the Gunner stamping on a fire button located on a turret floor in front of his left foot. The Driver, Bow-Gunner, Loader and Commander all had rotatable M6 periscopes fitted into their respective hatches, for viewing when locked down. The Commander’s hatch was fitted with a Vision Cupola, which had inset into it six vision blocks, to give a permanent 360-degree field of vision. The Gunner was equipped with a more powerful M10D periscope sight. But most of the time when aiming the Gunner would use the M71 telescopic sight, which had 5x magnification with a 13-degree field of view. The Easy 8 was produced from 1944 to 1945, and 2,617 were built during this time. The Easy 8 served in the US Army for 10 years, then in many other armies all around the world. After World War II surviving Shermans were further modified and refurbished, so they became different models. But the last of the reworked Shermans left the Chilean Army service in 2003, 59 years after the first HVSS tanks rolled out of the factory. If you like our video, please check out our Patreon. Also, if you spotted any errors, please let us know in the comments. We are looking to continuously improve. Thank you!
