Tankopedia
WW2HeavyHeavy TankUnited States

M6 Heavy Tank

In service 1942 - 1944 (training only)

America first heavy tank: powerful, tall, and rejected because shipping space favoured more Shermans.

Built byBaldwin Locomotive Works

M6 Heavy Tank
M6 heavy tank — US War Department, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Development history

Ordered in 1940 when a European invasion looked to need breakthrough tanks, the M6 carried a 76 mm gun with a 37 mm alongside it, 800 hp and armour heavier than any American tank until the Pershing. Armoured Force objected that one M6 took the shipping and fuel of two Shermans without twice the fighting value, and that its height made it an easy target. Forty were built and used only for trials and training; one survives at the US Army armour collection.

Variants

One canonical record, 3 recorded variants.

  1. M6

    1942

    Cast hull with Wright radial engine and torque converter drive.

  2. M6A1

    1942

    Welded hull version, otherwise similar.

  3. M6A2E1

    1944

    Trials vehicle with a 105 mm gun in a T29-pattern turret.

Notable actions

  • Training and trials only