M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo
In service 1944 - 1945
Based onM4 Sherman (variant of)
An assault Sherman with 140 mm of hull front and a 177 mm turret face - the most heavily armoured Sherman built.
Built byFisher Tank Arsenal
Photograph pending. No clearly licensed photograph of this vehicle was found.
Development history
Requested for the breakout from Normandy, the Jumbo added thick applique plate to the hull and an entirely new heavy turret, at the cost of speed and with no engine change. Only 254 were built, but they were prized out of all proportion to their number: crews put them at the head of columns to absorb the first anti-tank round. Many were rearmed in the field with the 76 mm gun. Jumbos led at Bastogne and in the Rhineland, and the type proved the value of an assault tank inside a medium tank fleet.
Variants
One canonical record, 2 recorded variants.
M4A3E2 (75 mm)
1944As built, with the 75 mm M3 gun in the heavy T23-pattern turret.
M4A3E2 (76 mm)
1944Field rearmament with the 76 mm M1A1 gun for better armour penetration.
Notable actions
- Breakout from Normandy
- Siegfried Line
- Battle of the Bulge