D
The Shermans Lyrics

@GoErikTheRed

@Trz Because it's usually better educated people watching history videos. Less susceptible to advertising

@markwilliams2620

@DOOM DAVE
Anything that references Nazis gets demonitized. And Nazis will flag content that calls them out for their doucheyness and get it demonitized.

@matthewlee8667

General Staff: Hey, can you design a new tank to fit our needs?
Tank Designer: Sher, man.

@Zaluskowsky

Ha! Nice one

@Fish-kz8xw

That hit me so hard that I end up blowing myself up

@lufr_7511

Ba- dum tss

@trippybruh1592

You SOAB, have an upvote

@ToastedBreaad

Heh! Nice one

@TheSaturnV

A few fun facts:

1 - Statistically, when an M4 was hit, most of the time 4 of the 5 crewmen survived
2 - M4s traveled in squads of 5, hence the 5 Shermans to take out a German tank myth
3 - Complete burnouts were drastically reduced when wet stowage was introduced
4 - The M4s automotive reliability contributed to spectacular feats such as Patton's 160km road march to relieve Bastogne on December 26th. Something a German armored division could only dream of.

@stevelopez372

TheSaturnV Thanks for the info. I love our chubby M-4 s, but it’s more Romantic to be a Tiger lover and minimize the Sherman. No one could beat our industrial might of that era.

@trannkhaiminh9997

I personally think the success of a tank depends on the crew skill and experience.

@L30n4rdo6

Don't forget the fuel supply. That's something the Allies in 1944 could afford and germans couldn't.

@xraymind

Also Belton Y. Cooper, wrote the book "Death Trap" that the movie "Fury" is based on, was assigned to recovered damaged and destroyed US tanks. So he never survey the US tanks survived those battles nor did he survey any of the damaged and destroyed German tanks.

@M_Alistair

@Chinese Gaijin He probably missed the fact that both sides would keep shooting at knocked out tanks to destroy whatever's left intact and make the tank unrecoverable.

@EthanThomson

"making evacuation procedures difficult"

*6 ft something irishman climbs out of small hatch sherman in no time at all*

@i_dodge_trees

Oh my god, the tank is on fire!

@sethjansson5652

@Cole Stevens Panzer IV: twelve minutes latel

@k-874

@Cole Stevens

M3 Stuart: "So much so that the old narrator got bored, and they had to hire a new one"

@kaneo1

He claims 6'5".

@HaloFTW55

“Significant emotional event.”

@Pyroblaster1

The size of a tank platoon in the US army was 5 tanks, so if the US army was sending tanks to battle, it was in multiples of 5, which is why there would always be at least 5 shermans fighting any german tank.

@kentuckycrittercamera9407

Pyroblaster1 I am a retired tanker, you are absolutely correct. Tanks fight as part of a unit. The smallest maneuver unit is the platoon, which in WW2 was five tanks, today it’s four. Tanks do not fight by themselves. A tank fighting alone is a dead tank.

@CharlesvanDijk-ir6bl

An allied company could be supported by a platoon of Shermans, a German company had a lot of MG 42 machine guns. The role of German infantry in support of tanks were the Panzer Grenadiers. They had a completely different philosophy. The allied philosophy demanded the production of lots of tanks as they had the initiative after El Alamein.

@longnamenocansayy

@Charles van Dijk the americans were caught in a bad situation. they had to have a tank that wasn't a tank. they had to have a tank that could be shipped to europe, land in france and cross every bridge between paris and berlin.


they did it with disposables. it took 10 american tanks to knock out one german tank, but we had lotsa tanks and lotsa tank crews.

@fulcrum2951

The Germans were on the defensive, in order for an attack to be properly carried out the attacking force needs at the very least a 3 to 1 ratio
The reason that the allies have 5 tanks for platoons is primarily because that is what they have brought with them
You're not gonna say 'hey the enemy only has one panzer placed there, lets reduce our number of tanks from 5 to 3, lets make this fair'

@warfaremessiah2929

The British often had a 6th in the form of the Firefly with the very powerful British 17 pounder gun

They'd paint the end of the barrels black and white so they'd look like regular Shermans to the Germans and not get targeted first

@jeffbergstrom1813

"Quantity has a quality all its own."

@rickpin_0612

Cit

@taxidermypolarbear1724

Wrong tank

@nogisonoko5409

@Filipino Countryball
M4 Shermans were mass produced by the US at that time, even participating in several theatre of war so he's correct.

@taxidermypolarbear1724

Nogi Sonoko no Stalin said that it the quote was meant for t34s

@nogisonoko5409

@Filipino Countryball
I know exactly where that quote is coming from but a quote can be applied to many things. That is why it was a quote. It was simply never meant for in this case, only when Stalin talk about his T-34/76

@Wendoverproductions

Wow that whole Curiosity Stream + Nebula thing sounds like quite a deal #notashill

@Wendoverproductions

I think I’ll go sign up now at http://CuriosityStream.com/RealEngineering #notasponsorbutalsokindaasponsor

@xavier1964

Hi there wendy!

@RealCadde

Oh shut up and go make a video about a tank with wings.

@dsdy1205

@Cadde interesting way to ask for an A-10 video

@mrfeicco

@Cadde dont give Wendover ideas!!! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_A-40

@rosstheboss1014

Tiger shoots me thinking I’m a regular Sherman.

Me: Laughs in M4A3E2

@spaky1954

RossTheBoss 101 Panther A Laughs in strong 75mm

@parkertang1167

laughs in Vfw

@raihanarifian5619

Giga toaster

@josefaschwanden1502

Laughts in p1000 ratte

@Loafed_Beans

@Josef Aschwanden laughs across a bridge calling in artillery

@ThePolecatProcess

"Deaths traps" is an extremely unreliable source of info on the Sherman, the Sherman had a 3% crew fatality rate

@johnmckenna5782

I am sorry I find that statement hard to believe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMSvI1lsBEY

@TheEvilmooseofdoom

Yes, it's a memoir from a non-combatant so it's based entirely on personal impressions rather than hard facts.

@SpaceCowboyfromNJ

@John McKenna Tiger tanks were so extremely rare on the western front, that statistically there were basically zero. From D-day to VE day US tanks engaged with a Tiger tank on only 3 occasions, with only two of the times it being a Sherman against a Tiger, both of which the Sherman won, though that 2nd time was really not really a fair fight since the Tiger was being loaded onto a train car. The other time a Tiger faced a US tank the Tiger won, though that was against the US M26 Pershing Heavy Tank.

@dereenaldoambun9158

@Ric Boni
Not even true. There are time when German will used captured Sherman or T-34.
Warzone ain't got time for preferences.

@dereenaldoambun9158

@Ric Boni
The one that is unreliable & hard-to-repair.

@darkninjacorporation

The M4 and it’s family are such durable vehicles, they survived one of the largest and longest lasting misinformation and fuddlore campaigns in history

@billd.iniowa2263

If I may make a correction, at 06:47 The "grousers" mentioned were called duck bills because of their shape. They were added in the field. They tended to break off on rocky ground. "Grousers" are actually the bars on the track face itself that give it traction. The term is still used today for caterpillar tractors.

@armyofshea7941

An oft heard statement in Army planning circles is “amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics.” Granted, you need both, but the fighting and shooting and blowing stuff up always gets more attention than the behind the scenes. Glad to see you are interested in this aspect of warfare.

@johntheux9238

-Boss, the tanks are sinking!
-They are not allowed to go in water!
-No, they are sinking into the ground!

@andrewphillips8341

Sparky all tanks sink into the ground

@geoffbrom7844

-so you fixed the sinking, let's put them in the ocean!

@dreadshells5611

German tanks 100

@___Me_

Germans: what are they sinking about?

@charliedulol

​@Bas l Vhat a keschtion... Just schoot zem you dummkopf!

@andrewlee-do3rf

7:52 True....early on, Sherman tankers placed ammo everywhere they could (but, that changed as the war went on). But, the Germans also did that.

@billwilson3609

The M4 users did that thru out the war out of fear of running short or out of rounds when the fighting became up close and personal due to expending most of their ammunition on supporting the infantry as direct and indirect fire.

@hossep2695

Great video, one thing though, the "Easy 8" refers to the new suspension system not the gun, the 76mm gun was put on many different Sherman variants and is identified by the (76)W after the model number, for instance M4A1 (76)W

@nayahun2

Could you verify this by adding the proof? I heard that many, many times from mutiple sources that easy 8 became themselves because of 76mm gun

@hossep2695

@nayahun2 Most Easy 8s had the 76mm gun, but the term itself refers to the suspension. The Chieftain has discussed it many times on his channel.

@nayahun2

@Hossep  alright if you also have a reliable source for that then fair enough, thanks mate

@donfrandsen7778

Most underrated tank of WW II.
Most reliable medium tank of WW II.
Outstanding video.!!!
Truly thank you .!!!

@TheYupibear123

"The most produced allied tank of world war 2."

T34: Am I a joke to you?

@dynamicworlds1

@Krypanzer the USSR was part of the Allied Powers before the US (officially) was.

@Grumpy_old_Boot

@Krypanzer
Yeah, but the Soviet was an allied force.

@infinitelyexplosive4131

@Blah b If we have both 75mm M4s and 76mm M4s with the T23 turret, I'd argue that both T-34 and T-34-85 should be considered a "T-34"

@admlorenz

Most produced *western tank of WWII.

@TheYupibear123

1. The Soviets are generally considered to be an allied power, no matter what they said they were or decided to call whatever company they kept.

2. In a video set in WW2 do I really need to specify if I was talking about THE T-34 (all variants included) or some post war lesser known american name coincidence. Of course I'm talking about the one that the Germans had destroyed more than 34000 of by 1943. Such staggering numbers that Hitler remarked about "See(ing) everything twice or ten times". And the one that became the never ending swarm that finally halted the blitzkrieg.

3. The numbers are readily available online, slightly less than 50000 M4s were built while around 58000 T-34s rolled off the line (doesnt matter if some were unfinished and unpainted).

4. Have a good day.

@Grumpy_old_Boot

The Soviet T-34 was the most produced tank in WWII, by quite a lot.
Though the Sherman was the most numerous tank on the west battlefront, and during D-day.

Wrong. 35000 built in ww2, versus 49.000 for the M4 Sherman.

@Grumpy_old_Boot

@Blah b
…. dude, the Soviets LOST almost 45 thousand T-34 tanks (and variants) during WWII, and they still had a lot left when they stormed Berlin.

Heck, they lost almost 20k tanks (across all tank types, not just T-34's) to the German Wehrmacht during Operation Barbarossa … how the heck do you think they managed to survive ?
By mass producing the ever living shit out of their tanks ! That's how.

[Quote]
Altogether, as many as 84,070 T-34s are thought to have been built, plus 13,170 self-propelled guns built on T-34 chassis.
It was the most-produced tank of the Second World War, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor, the T-54/55 series.
[end quote]

It should be noted that about 7k of those were thought to have been built after the war, that still puts them at around 75k+ at the most conservative estimate.

The Soviets knew how to mass produce, heck, that's why the line "Quantity has a quality all its own." is so popular with them to this day. Even though it may have originated from an officer working under Napoleon Bonaparte, it is still often attributed to Stalin.
Even if he did not say it, it was certainly his doctrine.

@Grumpy ol' Boot

Okay, but in that case if you're conflating all variants together, we also need to start including the other tanks from that series.


Like the M3 Lee, and the later tanks like the Pershing etc.

@Grumpy_old_Boot

@Blah b
The M3 Lee was not an M4, nor was the Pershing .. completely different platforms. As for the M4, the 49 thousand does include all the M4 variants.
Here's the list :

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Sherman#U.S._production_history


M4 Sherman Production
----------------------------------------------
Designation Produced
M4 6,748
M4(105) 800
M4(105) HVSS 841
M4A1 6,281
M4A1(76)W 2,171
M4A1(76)W HVSS 1,255
M4A2 8,053
M4A2(76)W 1,594
M4A2(76)W HVSS 1,321
M4A3 1,690
M4A3(75)W 2,420
M4A3(75)W HVSS 651
M4A3E2 254
M4A3(76)W 1,925
M4A3(76)W HVSS 2,617
M4A3(105) 500
M4A3(105) HVSS 2,539
M4A4 7,499
M4A6 75
----------------------------------------
Total Production 49,234

Those are the variants based on the M4 platform.

@robertonavarro7713

How many Shermans sank in the Normandy beaches?

@deejayimm

I will always remember that profound moment that Nicholas Moran, aka the chieftain, explained how the lifting eyes were the most important part of a tank designed to fight on battlefields halfway across the world from where it was built.

@cikul0041

Thank you for saying this, myths about Shermans are so unfair. Worth mentioning was also M4A3A2 variat with very thick armour capable of bouncing any 88mm round. More of that, I read somewhere M4 Shermans have the highest crew survivaliability of any WW2 tanks.

@ct92404

Very true. The Sherman was a good tank overall. The idea of it being a "death trap" is a complete myth that has been totally debunked, and which contradicts documented facts. The crew survival rate was about 97 percent. I've read about so many battles where Sherman tanks were hit, but the crew was able to easily get out and survived. Some Shermans were able to keep fighting even after taking hits.

@DC9622

During your engineering analysis you may wish to look at 79 Armour Hobart’s Funny’s, you have shown the DD and Crab. Also look at Firefly, the engineering to take the best Allies anti tank gun and fit to the best tank, was mind blowing in its simplicity but still had to be engineered. Finally considering the Bailey bridge portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge built with AVREs. Still used today.

@andersbackman3977

The problems we have getting a bunch of coders to lunch together at work (Machine games) I always have my deepest respect for the planners of such a huge endeavor as the D-Day! Looking forward to your new series on logistics. Technology wins battles, logistics wins wars!

@lorddashdonalddappington2653

"BUt MuH DeaTH DRaAPS"

@ihavetowait90daystochangem67

Sherman: Is actually a good tank
Weraboos: Fastest death trap in the west

@GreenStuffConsumer

You've yeed your last haw

@mandernachluca3774

Literally any german cat: people either overestimate or underestimate me....

@USSAnimeNCC-

T-34 am I'm joke to you

@GreenStuffConsumer

@USS Anime DD24 rush the tigers they cant kill us all

@USSAnimeNCC-

@Gwinny Lafayette Tiger: So much T-34 ahhhhhhhhhh

@foxtrotfelix9086

Theres something so menacingly terrifying about seeing an entire squad of King Tigers cruise in formation

@Morrigi192

It gets a lot less menacing when you realize that we're comparing production numbers of 500 to 50,000 - and still less than 2,000 if you include Tiger Is.

@The_whales

Even if you put every tiger tank every made in ww2, they would alway and continue to be outnumbered

@Fish-kz8xw

Slaps the side of the tank
Engineer: this tank is the jack of all trades!

@HarrisonSD03

I know this is older, but I had to mention something about the gun. The gun was not terribly inadequate. It could punch through Panzers reliably. Many tankers preferred the 75mm over the 76. Also, the gun was perfect for what it was designed for, assisting infantry. Its he shells were perfect for fortifications and troops.

@lyndoncmp5751

Not at range ir couldn't and mean range in Europe was around 800 yards. At that range both 75mm and 76mm struggled frontally against a variety of German armour.

@beanhavok2287

There was a glowing year in North Africa when the Sherman used by the British reign nearly supreme as the best tank in the theater.

That wonderful year........

But honestly, all things considered, the Sherman was the most underrated tank of the war.

@alexwolf8019

Im glad you er actually looking into things instead of just going by what others have said with non efficient evidence. Looking forward to your series

@brad3154

Real Engineering : the M4 Sherman, the Workhorse of D-Day.



Infantrymen - am i a joke to you?

@mattmopar440

they werent a joke that is why they built it was an Infantrymen dream designed for close in support

@kazedcat

Stop calling soldiers horses they do not deserve the disrespect.

@Me-md7kx

Why is this a joke format?

@Sereze001

@Meme et why should it not be a joke format?

@seneca983

Why are they workhorses and not warhorses? Is it only old generals that deserve to be called warhorses?

@garymcaleer6112

Excellent post. And superb research. Both my father and uncle were in the war: Dad in the Pacific theater and the Bikini test site. My uncle: in the Battle of The Bulge: (One of two out of his whole company to survive). So I appreciate posts like this. Thanks, bro!

@ravitejvarma3781

In my opinion, YouTube needs to wake up from its slumber and realize how important quality content creators like you are.

@billd.iniowa2263

Very good video! I thought I knew quite a bit about the Sherman, but I learned a few things from this. Chiefly, the spring suspension system. Your graphics are very clear. Thanx!

@charlottequillen732

finally a concise mini-doc that solves the mysteries and evolution of the ever-changing sherman. with accurate and timed in sequence intel...also contains some rare, unseen footage of the "Ronson".....outstanding video....kutgw.

@f14tomcata88

The Stuart light tanks are really the best early war us tank and that’s a understatement the often worked as recon for Sherman’s artillery or tank destroyers and like the Sherman served on all fronts so it’s a light tank that was good at its role and was of the few to get there before the us did


However that’s because it’s based of the m2 tank

@fixedguitar47

What was D-Day like grandpa?

“Cloudy” - Grandpa cir. 1988

@caseymcmurtry2124

That's deep on a lot of levels, actually.

@fixedguitar47

Casey McMurtry - He was there, never talked about his experiences that much. He was awarded the silver and bronze star and the Purple Heart.

@black10872

@Fixedguitar Real combat veterans will never actually tell how bad their experiences were. They want to forget it but they can't because... It's playing in their heads almost everyday! So if he tells you one thing about it. That one thing will be THE ONLY THING he tells you about it. War is true horror my friend. Their is no good or bad or good versus evil or black and white. It's just all pure evil that's stuck inside a combat veterans head that they wish they can get rid of.

@fixedguitar47

mark blizzard - My dad would always ask me to ask grandpa for stories about the war.
The only story he ever told me in detail was the one where he got in the news paper years later for his silver star.
That and one where three Germans vs a tank. He was not to pleased about the way it turned out. The Germans got vaporized by his order.

@TheSteveBGreen

@mark blizzard My father was with the 291st Engineers on Omaha beach and trapped with them in Malmedy when they stopped a German Tank army. He only told his funny stories and then he would get quiet and say, "You're lucky to be here, Steven". He kept his M1 carbine and a 1914 German Luger he took of an officer. Said he broke the guys jaw with it too.

@SaturnCanuck

Thanks. I always thought the Sherman got a bad wrap. I look forward to the invasion series, especially Market Garden.

@ditzydoo4378

1). Rock Island Arsenal produced a small tankette for the cavalry which used vertical volute spring suspension (VVSS) instead of a leaf spring suspension. Standardized as the M1 Combat Car, it entered service with the US Army in 1937. The design was used in the M2 light tank and subsequent Stuart tank series. Design features of the Stuart were scaled up for use in the first M2 medium tanks which would evolve into the more successful M3 Lee and M4 Sherman, all using the VVSS.

2). The Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension (HVSS) system was first field with the US M-6 heavy tank prototype in December 1941 and was a successes. However the M-6 itself was plagued with many problems that lead to the projects cancellation. The HVSS suspension would reappear in the later war on Sherman tanks as the E-8 program. It was never called an Easy-8, that was simply a Hollywood name for movies..

3). The high velocity 76mm cannon was first fielded in 1942 with the M-18 Hellcats, this cannon was more than capable of destroying a Tiger-I from any angle, even the front. Later with the development of the HVAP round (high velocity armor penetrators') even the Panther and King Tigers thickest front armor was meat on the table.
The first time the 76mm appeared on a Sherman was in 1942 as the proposed M4A1(76)W quick fix turret. This project was cancelled because the Sherman's original small turret with the 76mm gun combination was found to be too cramped with other flaws by Armor Board even though it did technically work.

This did however kick off the E-6 program when the Chief of US Army Ordnance directed that the then Prototype turret (T-23) be placed onto the Sherman's hull which could easily take the 76mm. This resulted in the M4A2(76)W, the M4A3E2 "Jumbo" and finally the M4A3(76)W.

4). As to the myth it took 5 Sherman's to kill a cat i.e. Tiger is total bunk. American armored units move and fight as a "Platoon". A Platoon is the smallest tactical unit on a battlefield by doctrine and consists of 5-tanks. An American WWII tank company consisted of 3-Platoons with up to 3-spairs for18 tanks. It was Hollywood once again who perpetuated the idea that tanks went about fighting other tanks in one-on-one Chivalric duels.

I highly recommend the YouTube talk called "Myths of American Armor", given by United States Army, Armor Officer, Major Nicholas Moran also know as the Chieftain at his web sight the Chieftain's Hatch.

@killraven123

The stabilizer wasnt for firing on the move, it was to make aiming/firing much quicker once the tank had stopped. Most tank crews werent trained how to use it and so for the most part it was under utilized. Those who were trained on its operation did love it though.

@someguy2393

Im no expert but playing the easy 8 in war thunder is a blast when you compare how long it takes to get your gun on target compared to a panther

@Frebreese

Watching your logistics of d day video on nebula I'd like to add Dieppe was known to be a suicide mission before it started and the Canadians bravely gave their life to give the allies information on what to expect on an assault, they ended up making it further than expected and gained a lot of critical nazi information. The Canadian Juno Beach was also stormed first on D-day while the other allies struggled as most of their tanks didn't make it on land. Canadian troops then shut down nazi infrastructure from behind and allowed for the other beaches to succeed

@danr1920

My Dad said he say one German tank that was moving under it's own power in combat. Always had Shermans around. It went up against a German solder with a riffle. He was in five major battles including the Bulge.

@thenotflatearth2714

Everybody gangsta until the 75mm gets mounted

@USSAnimeNCC-

British add 17 pounder and call it fire fly who gangster now

@Saiqo17

The NotFlat Earth everybody gangster till the p47-d is rollin out

@jimmyneutron3806

you mean 76mm?

@talhahtaco2035

@USS Anime DD24 everyone gangsta till the Archer tank shows up

@samuelnakai1804

@EpicGta5&BTCTutorials America...
America wins

@xavi-kun

10:33 One must also consider that fact that the smallest formation that uses Tanks would have 5 Tanks anyway.

@coryhoggatt7691

No tank platoon has ever operated at full strength. Ever.

@matthewjones39

@@coryhoggatt7691bait

@geoffwaller8571

I saw a great old Sherman in front of a VFW hall in Ely, Nevada, earlier today. Awesome!

@improbablygonnadie2947

I'd like to take a moment and remind the most dangerous Sherman to tigers was the Sherman Firefly. Kudos to Britain for slapping their fearsome 17 pounder to a turret.

@rogercoulombe3613

The main reason the firefly earned that reputation is because the British brought them, while the Americans left the 76 mm Shermans behind. the firefly had fairly atrocious ergonomics compared to other Sherman variants, making it harder for the crew to bring the gun on target. the 76 was arguably better overall.

@Nobody___

I love these kinds of videos where you bring history and engineering together

@ard-janvanetten1331

3.52 that boy livin' on the edge

@willoconnell1620

The real work horses were the balls of the men running up cliffs while being shot at.

@tacticalfall4505

Will O'Connell really heavy steel balls

@sirBrouwer

No just a bow and arrow, clamor and bagpipes.

@hieronymusnervig8712

The real work horses were horses

@neilwilson5785

War is only successful when the different branches of the service work together. Tanks without infantry are useless, air power means nothing without ground forces, etc. Until those nukes change the equation.

@sirBrouwer

@Hieronmus Nervig the real work horse was and still is our planet earth. It had to endure everything that is happening to it. And still keep on racing true the galaxy around the sun.

@anger_birb

I AM SO HYPED FOR THIS SERIES. DUDE, GOOD LUCK. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR CHANNEL.

@F1avorF1av

Great video, only things I would change is that the t34 was produced in higher numbers and also the 75mm was far superior to the 76mm in anti infantry role as it produced nearly 2x the fragments and also emphasize the impact of rivets becoming projectiles inside the tank when hit on the me lee

@redbarond1

I am so excited to see the rest of the series on D-Day. I think too few history channels and books focus on the engineering decisions behind famous battles and wars.

@k-874

The M3 Lee is pretty much a mutation and mix of everything:

-Speed and mobility of a medium tank
-Small turret of a light tank
-Hull mounted 75mm like an SPG
-armament layout of an infantry support vehicle like in the Char B1
-and a bunch of machine guns like an Armored Personell Carrier
-The size and weight of a heavy tank

@22steve5150

They were a miracle of vehicle engineering considering the logistical requirements they had to adhere to. No other tank was designed to be massively produced, super easy to operate, maintain, and repair in the field, able to travel extreme distances over rough terrain without breaking down, designed to fit on standard railcars and through standard existing rail tunnels, designed to be shipped around the world on existing vehicular cargo ships, all while being highly tactically competitive against any other medium tank in the world and actually one of the safest armored vehicles of the entire war despite the rep they got.

@TheEvilmooseofdoom

That's logical.. and has no place in a youtube comment section. You can only cite what you learned from video games and/or repeating things someone equally ignorant has told you. THOSE are the hallmarks of the true expert!!

@Randicore

the 5:1 myth for Tigers also comes from US using tanks in groups of five for operating. Ask yourself: if you spot an enemy heavy tank, are you going to send one of your tanks against them, or all of your tanks?

@albinoofthesunlongboof3889

But so did the Germans they didn't have 1 tank just sitting around the only time you find any tank by them self is if the rest of the platoon was already destroyed BTW Germany had 5 tanks in a platoon or it was 1945 and you were in Germany and the war was basically over...

@mediamattersismycockholste562

Depends: which tank full of malcontents are you trying to get rid of? :)

@gabrielsistonamoca6963

I wouldn't do both, I just have a cup of coffee and order the radio man to call for Thunderbolts to delete it.

@kitdaberserker555

Great show. I really love the work you do. Thanks for helping to keep me sane in insane times.

@StellarGryphon

Finally, a video on the M4 Sherman! Been waiting for this ^^

@tomasteran1585

“Oh my god, the tank is on fire” 7:40

@KuraIthys

You know, this video suddenly makes me wonder which companies actually build tanks?

Like, you know with military aircraft, although in wartime they were sub-licenced to many factories to meet demand, the design is typically the work of a single aircraft manufacturer that frequently also makes civilian aircraft.
And it's not hard to find the name of the manufacturer of any given military aircraft...
Plus, the designs were made by those companies to a government specification list.

Yet tanks always seem to give off the impression that they're government made designs.
Even if this isn't the case, there's just something about the way they're discussed that makes it feel like that...

So who DOES actually make tanks?

@RWJP

Generally tanks tend to be designed by the countries government/military and then built under contract by heavy industry firms. For example, in WW2, US Tanks were designed by the US Military, and were then contracted out to heavy industry to build them. For example, Shermans were built by around a dozen different companies, including a number of car and railway manufacturers. Over in Germany, it worked a little differently, with the German military/government going out to companies to ask for designs. For example, the Panzer III was a Daimler Benz design, chosen from designs by Daimler Benz, Krupp, MAN and Rheinmetall.

@nickc4063

This video should have been called “The workhorse after D-Day”

@matthewsay3756

Sherman’s appeared in Africa in 1942 so I think it should be called the western allied workhorse seeing that the t34 was built in higher numbers

@crazeelazee7524

Sherman: is as likely to burn when it gets hit as any other tank of WW2

Belton Cooper: "unfortunately for you history won't see it that way"

@TheChieftainsHatch

Unfortunately for Cooper, his credibility is questioned on things he did not personally observe.

@alaric_

@The_Chieftain So any ancient history historian's credibility can be questioned because they didn't "observe personally" the period?

@TheChieftainsHatch

Depends on whether there is any evidence to back up the assertion. In the case of Cooper's book, there often is not.

@flakmag1004

Holy shit the chieftain

@andrewphillips8341

WOW!

@Bacchasnail

As soon as I get a job I will get a Nebula account.
I don't have many subscriptions since I'm in high school but I will get this if for no other reason than to keep watching you man. You have my views and soon money.

@barbrasosi

Am very excited for you to cover the logistics of ww2! I don't see many ww2 channels covering that topic.

"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."

@grantharriman284

The hedgerow clearing Sherman wasn't a variant. It was an unauthorized field mod. Soldiers ran into hedgerows they couldn't get through, and tried things to solve the problem. Welding metal forks and blades on Shermans worked, so they did it a lot. No 2 mods are the same either.

@mugofbrown6234

Nicholas Moran (the Chieftain) has a lecture on his channel about the 2 major problems that the U.S. faced when it came to WW2 (sorry, no clues.) The whole reason behind the Sherman according to him is multifaceted and he argues, made for a great tank. Linking into your talk about Ford, German tanks were bespoke things of war mongering beauty (?!) but with parts almost tailor made for each tank thus not interchangeable resulting in increased production time, less reliability and difficulty to perform maintainence in the battle zone. Percy Hobart is a fella worth looking up as well.

@anthonyfeliciano5533

If a Tank spends more time in the repair depot, its not a good tank * looks at Panther, Tiger I&II *

If a tank, when penetrated, can't save the crew, its bad * looks at T-34 *

Sherman can save crews, Shermans spend more time fighting than worrying about breakdowns, and can fit fucking anything

@castsmith6783

tiger: "i'm the best tank in ww2"
sherman: i can operate without breaking down every 5 minutes

@jamesrussell2936

That's the way I view American cars. I just want a car that works and I don't have to fix every five minutes. So I go Japanese.

@maxvanvijfeijken2699

@James Russell or German

@crazeelazee7524

Also Sherman: "Not to mention that our mechanics have a much lower suicide rate since you don't need to disassemble the tank to replace a road wheel or the transmission"

@andrasjuhasz7011

The shermans(and most other WW2 tanks) were pretty unreliable too. Good serviceability and abundance of repair parts made breakdowns less of a problem though.

@moebossman

And towards the end of the war, the Sherman could easily kill the Tiger from the front thanks to the high velocity 76mm. Not to mention it had better optics and maneuverability.

@teddy.d174

Truly incredible content, thanks Real Engineering! 👍🏻👍🏻

@terminatorsuffs7498

Came in beautifully! Just started watching Band of Brothers and wanted to learn about this!

@Britishshooter

Very good informative video. Just to clarify one point, Shermans did fight the Tiger 1 but not Shermans crewed by Americans who actually never fought the Tiger 1. They mistook the Panzer 4 for Tigers as covered in camouflage it was visually similar. So outside of Hollywood, it was only the British and other allied forces who faced the Tiger in their Shermans. When D day landings took place there were only 6 Tigers in France. Later the Germans brought in 143 more but only the British and Canadian forces fought them. Sorry Brad!

@steveallen8987

Nice doconi did notice a few mistakes. The track width extensions were called duckbills. Trousers are fitted to the track plates and provide more grip, a bit like snow chains do on tyres. They are usually in the form of ribbed plates. The dad tanks did not wade they swam, it was the tanks with extended trunk air inlets and exhausts that waded ashore. Quite a few shots were of M10 tank destroyers. Also you diagram showing the extent of the early main body casting also included the removable front gearbox assembly that bolted into the front.interesting point the VVSS tanks were fitted with 10 different types of track. Otherwise a great little docco just like your others

@kkattavega117

The humble M4 Sherman easy eight....much respect.😎💯

@thenotflatearth2714

War Thunder players:
The Expert

@Richi_Boi

PTSD from the old M4A3E8

@Ernest-Li

Laughs in mg hole

@brunos6599

Russian bias!

@theboostedbass5297

Rash B blin was it removed?

@TheHilariousGoldenChariot

as a german tank player, this video gave me PTSD... those damn jumbos

@gideontay8599

It's very interesting,informative and easy to understand about how the sherman evolves.Thanks for the video!!!

@joeis18

Nebula is the greatest idea ever. Like, everyone is there, even my boy Isaac Arthur! Amazing!

@shadowkiller1793

Fun fact the most produced tank in WW2 was the soviet T-34, with over 57.300 of them being built by the end of 1945.

@SandyEA

Look at landing ship tanks (LST) for your logistic series. They were the backbone to all invasions both in the Atlantic and Pacific.

@murderbus

Real Engineering: I'm doing a series on ww2 logistics
Me: HEAVY BREATHING

@willhunt1750

I don’t wanna be that mean commenter but it’s almost sickening that you got demonetized. Your an educational YouTuber? I’m kinda confused.

@Bird_Dog00

Not surprising. YT has made it its policy to demonetise anything more serious and potentially controversial than a cat riding a roomba.

They faced some (at least partially overblown) criticism - most from other media who jumped at the opportunity to hurt the competition - over having some ISIS propaganda vids on their servers and generaly not policing their platform well enough. Advertisement companies not wanting their adds to be associated with some arsehole burning a defenceless prisoner alive - somewhat understandable - demanded action and YT shatt its pants and went full retard in the oposite direction.

@Bird_Dog00

Jick Magger
Wow. That's your interpretation of this? (unless this is some joke or attempt at trolling ofc)
YT making a short sighted and ham-fisted busines descision is in truth part of some world conspiracy to create a comunist world gouvernment?
I wonder what you use for shaving. For it's clearly not Ockham's Razor...

@mediamattersismycockholste562

@Jick Magger "The DNC Approves!"

@mediamattersismycockholste562

@Bird_Dog It isn't Gillette either...

@luftwaff3ls714

How are you being mean? It is sickening YouTube has been an absolute joke for a long while now

@MFKR696

Fun fact: With vertical volute dual-bogie suspension setups like that, if you lose a road wheel on any of the assemblies, the crew could just tie it up and the suspension would still do its job. Sure, track stress would spike in that space where the damaged or missing road wheel would normally bear down on, especially when climbing barriers, crossing trenches or going over large ground debris, but with an intelligent driver, this isn't a huge issue. Obviously though, if the bracket/assembly itself is damaged, you're in for some hard times. You could lose one road wheel on each suspension assembly and still be able to limp home.

@magistrumartium

Very interesting video. I would love to know the story behind that short bit at 7:31 when a Sherman was shot in battle. I wonder who was filming and how much of the war he survived.

@michaelhatch1255

Great program, thank you, just signed up for Curiosity Stream. Keep em coming!

@draco18s

If you're going to look into WW2 and the intelligence behind the Normandy location, I would recommend Connie Willis's books Blackout/All Clear. Its set in her time traveling historians universe (which you should read in intended order) but Blackout/All Clear is all about WW2 right around the time of The Blitz and features some of the things that the UK intelligence agency did.

@Redbaron_Gaming

I'm so happy creators are banding together to support and build and alternative to YouTube and I'd be happy to drop a few quid to support it.

@rouymalic4463

Sherman has some spring loaded hatches
Wehraboo: *DEATH TRAP!!!!*

Tiger tank having some mechanical breakdown
Wehraboo: *Greatest tank ever devised!*

@mrbladesletplays

@Trung Thien Dao it was known for eating up Transmissions real fast truthfully it's design it was extremely unreliable

@chevytos97

@Trung Thien Dao so your telling me that because of shortages, it has a poor design, which is the point, it had reliability problems

@Thekilleroftanks

@mrbladesletplays besides the fact the tiger was design to be repaired over weeks of time solely because they were a breakpoint tank theyre shit?


look at the role it was designed for and it was a good tank for that.

@Thekilleroftanks

@Salvador Sanchez besides the reliability problems wasnt a problem at first until it was thrown into a role it wasnt design for. gotcha.

@Dreachon

@mrbladesletplays

Really? Got any actual written proof or documentation that shows that Tigers ate up their transmission really fast and were so extremely unrealible?


Or should I simply come to the conclusion that you're little more than yet another one of those dumb sherman fanboys.

@TroaBarton

Really looking forward to this upcoming series!

@dernwine

Good video, only one minor gripe:
M4A3E8 - E8 was the experimental designation for testing the HVSS, in the field it would officially be M4A3(76) W - HVSS for the final most upgraded verion. M4A3 being the model (76) or (75) indicating the caliber of gun, W meaining it was equipped with wet stowage, and HVSS indicating it had been given the upgraded with the horizontal suspension.
And yes if you look around you can find some M4A1(76)W -HVSS's as well.
and then not a gripe but just to expand on what you said:
In British Service the Shermans M4AN designations where replaced with a simple N designation. So the M4 became the Sherman I, M4A1 the Sherman II etc, with the most common British Service M4 being the Sherman V (a slightly longer Sherman with a different engine), and the Sherman Vc, which replaced the 75mm with a 17lb gun.

@chasetoyama8184

I think you’re a little bit off on the Easy Eight, but it’s a pretty common and small misconception so it’s fine. The Easy Eight nickname originated from the E8 in the designation. The word that stood for ‘e’ before the NATO phonetic alphabet came along was ‘Easy.’ Thus, when referred to verbally, it would be called the Easy Eight. However, the designation was for the prototype tanks to test HVSS suspension on the battlefield, not for any specific variant of Sherman. A lot of people seem to believe that it was for any Sherman with a high velocity 76mm, HVSS suspension, and large hatches. It was not. The only requirement for a Sherman to be an Easy Eight was the suspension. However, the later HVSS models of Sherman were not designated by E8, but HVSS, meaning that E8 is only for prototype Sherman’s with the HVSS suspension. I’d suggest going to Eta320’s video on the Easy Eight. It’s well researched, especially for as small a YouTuber as he is.

@icyfyer

Congratulations, man! I'm proud of you and the work you're doing. Thank you for educating the world.

@JamesPhieffer

One quibble - the most powerful WWII era M4 was the Sherman Firefly, armed with the British 17-pounder/76.2 mm, which served mainly with British and Canadian armoured units in Europe. It could take out a Tiger from any direction.

@Louis-gr5jd

What people dont see, particularly ones who aint been in the army. Is logistics and simplicity. Logistics being the parts being easy to produce and maintain. Simplicity as in being easy to replace and fix THIS is what the Sherman did. Panzer V "Panthers" took far longer too make and maintenance was at times a nightmare. It was a fantastic tank in battle but fights it not what it will mostly do. Tanks mainly throughout war spend time moving or being stationary. War now is 90% moving or waiting 10% fighting as it was then.

@MistahFox

The sherman had some genius design to it. If you want to replace the transmission, just remove some bolts on the front and the entire housing will fold down. I'm pretty sure the panther had to remove its turret to get to the transmission.

@Dreachon

@Mistah Fox

You're pretty sure that the Panther needed to remove its turret? You never went through the effort and take a few minute search on google, have you?


There are several phots that a 5min search on google will reveal that shows Panther getting their transmission replaced with the turret still on the tank.


And no, it was not a genius design feature of the M4 and do you know why? Because it already was like that on the M3 medium.

@GeorgiaBoy1961

What's the old saying? "Amateurs discuss tactics; professionals discuss logistics"...? That's an oversimplification, but basically true. Your fighting men can be the best-trained, bravest and toughest fighters around, but if they can't be supplied with "bullets, beans, and band-aids," they will have a very hard time winning. Oh - and don't forget POL, gasoline, oil, lubricants, fuels. It wasn't simply that German tanks were more-complex, costly and difficult to manufacture, it is that the German high command refused to standardize upon a few tank and TD designs and then turn them out in true quantity, as the Russians did with the T34 and the U.S. did with the Sherman. They were always tinkering with their designs, when what they already had was good-enough. Why make the Tiger II when the Tiger I was equal to almost anything sent against it? Why devote resources to such boondoggles as the Maus super-heavy tank, when the Panther had the potential to be such an important and war-winning weapon? For a people reputed to be so logical, it was very illogical thinking. The T34 and Sherman were outclassed by war's end, but made up for their deficiencies by sheer weight of numbers and also by the skilled use of combined arms warfare ("deep war" doctrine is what the Soviets called it). If a formation of Shermans got in trouble and was pinned down and taking losses, the commander could get in the radio net and call in reinforcements in the form of one or more of the following: tank destroyers, artillery, tactical air support, armored infantry, or some combination thereof. No German tank crew wanted to be in the open when it was raining 155mm shells - or rockets or bombs from the feared and hated "Jabos" - Allied ground-attack aircraft. The Anglo-American logistical advantage extended also to the ability to recover, repair or replace damaged/destroyed armored and other vehicles. German tanks and other vehicles once damaged or out of fuel were often abandoned and lost, due to advancing Allied forces, whereas the British, CW and American units could often recover and repair their battle-damaged equipment. The German lack of something similar and as-capable was keenly felt by their ground forces.

@Someguy6571

@GeorgiaBoy1961 I believe for the transmission or final drives on the panther requires spinning the turret sideways and lifting off the roof of the hull with a crane to get at the transmission. Also road wheel and suspension replacement on a panther was a nightmare. Often the vehicles were just abandoned and destroyed when they broke down. Which was a lot considering the panther was still going through teething problems. However at the point of panther Germany was already pretty much on the losing side (massive defeat and capture of the sixth army at Stalingrad). Also properly trained crews was another problem. More often than not the crews never had enough time to be properly trained how to use the vehicles. Most of the good tank crews were already dead or missing from fighting on the eastern front and Africa. By the time the Americans had landed they were pretty much just mopping up whatever was left.

@majungasaurusaaaa

@GeorgiaBoy1961 They weren't logical once Nazism was in full swing. Weapon designs were trying to vie for Hitler's favor. The more you satisfy Hitler's ego, the more you shall get ahead. And of course no one wants to tell him "No".

@gammarey7070

I never knew wet storage existed, Thank you Real Engineering, very epic

@roncruiser

I love your channel and work. We need more XL T-Shirts with the large Gear Tooth Logo!

@elchechocleta

Tanks to the m-tree thank, so funny the Irish accent, love your vids

@83athom

One slight 'correction'; the 76mm upgrade was first ordered before the Sherman even made it to Africa. The idea was that the 75 was meant as a "good enough" gun for everything they were fielding, while having the 76 available when the time comes where it needed to be upgraded to have better AT. The issue was when the brass wanted most of the Shermans upgraded, they had pushback from a lot of people on the fronts that didn't want to get rid of the 75 yet, due to it being better against soft targets (which was statistically more than 60% of what they shot at) and fortifications.

Interestingly a similar situation happened with the M18 replacements of the M10. The TD battalions that were fielding the M10 at that point were very adamant about keeping their M10s and not upgrading to the new M18. So instead the M18s were supplied to the TD battalions that were at that time fielding M3 GMCs. It wasn't until the M36 to where M10 equipped battalions accepted new vehicles (because the M36 was essentially an upgrade of the M10 with a 90mm, but now based on a later Sherman variant).

@thegoodaussie1968

when he says "german" instead of "nazi"

happy Historian noises

@attilarischt2851

For those still interested, I recommend looking up "The Chieftain" here on youtube. The guy is the historian for World of tanks NA office, and have a bunch of videos detailing both using and living in tanks, as well as historical stuff. He even has a presentation specifically about why the sherman was actually a really good tank, despite what popular media oftentimes portrays.

@wikingagresor

He also takes part in the whole 'World War Two' project where we can watch the WWII unfold week by week, check their channel too.

@chrishunter7065

Thanks!

@Metagross555

Yes, for any tank stuff, his videos are the best

@Mathwayb

Was just looking through the comments to see if anyone mentioned The_Chieftan. His channel is fantastic for learning about tanks and armored vehicles.

@neilwilson5785

His description of how easy it was to escape from a late model Sherman is really good.

@DobDob

I look forward to your series! :D

@WillN2Go1

Good video) Take a look at Stephen Ambrose's book on the M4 Shermans at Normandy. The hedgerows, which are steep embankments between some fields, covered by brush. They were apparently completely missed in aerial photographs. (I drove around Normandy, already knowing about hedgerows and had a moment after passing miles of them of ' O yeah, that's not just bushes, that's a hedgerow.' The Germans set machine guns up on the far side of fields and waited for the Allies to come over the tops hedgerows. It was going to turn into WWI, but American tankers and mechanics, according to Ambrose, just started working on the problem and in three days had worked through several designs and ended up welding up a pointed ram that would just plow right through the hedgerow berm and then start machine gunning the German positions on the other side. Ambrose goes on to make the claim that one key advantage Americans had in the war was they were always repairing and improving their gear. (I'm a DIY American so of course I buy into this completely, and probably have no objectivity. As a non-American engineer, it would be interesting to find out what you think. I think I'm pretty clever and can prove it, but.... most of the fixing and improving I've done has been done for other Americans who when the door knob falls off can't get out of the room. . I always like to quip: My grandmother and the Red Army won WWII, the Russians at Stalingrad, and my Polish grandmother in Detroit building Sherman Tanks at Dodge Main. (She only made parts. So the image of my babushka and row of Shermans rolling out of the factory never happened. Of course a few others contributed to the war effort.

@SephirothRyu

You don't often hear much about the M3. Yes, it was not the best designed for its day, but it was as you noted a stopgap. And it was actually pretty good for a tank that looked more like something from WW1 than what WW2 popularized as the standard tank appearance.