M4A3E10 Super Sherman

This page is going to a big work in progress, right now I'm all over the board on this and I can't seem to find an area to start. 


 * Current Section: Variants and Upgrades

The M4A3E10 Super Sherman, officially the Medium Tank, M4A3E10, 90mm was the primary battle tank used by the Democratic Republic in the early Cold War, and proved to be reliable and a highly mobile workhorse.

D.R. Design Prototype
The D.R. Army Ordinance Department designed the Medium Tank M4A3E10 as a replacement for the earlier Medium Tank M4A3E2 'Jumbo' and Medium Tank M4A3E8 'Easy 8'

Using the M4A3E2 Jumbo Hull and then later the M4A3E8 'Easy 8' Hull, several prototypes were developed with the the M1A2 76mm High Velocity Rifled Gun, however the T23 turret was undesired, instead the D.R. Army Ordinance Department took the turret of a M26 Pershings tank, mounted it on the hull of the Jumbo and mounted the M3 90mm High Velocity Main Gun.

Production
Production officially began in April of 1949 at the Xeres Locomotive Plant. The new tank, designated as the M4A3E10 Super Sherman by the D.R. Army and the D.R. Marine Corps began to be assigned to combat units while the older M4A3E2s and M4A3E8s sent to the Guard and Reserves. In 1950, the D.R. Army ordered an additional 500 Super Shermans to equip more divisions. Several plants were repurposed to fulfill the order(I shall go into this later)

First Combat
The M4A3E10 first saw combat in 1952 during the Jurchen War, facing off against a multitude of Morskovian supplied tanks ranging from the T-34 to the IS-2 Heavy Tank.

Armament and Ammunition
The gun on the M4A3E10 is a long-barreled high-velocity 90mm M3E1 Rifled Maingun borrowed over from the M26 Pershing Capable of penetrating a tank at over 1,500 yards. typically used with the M81 High Velocity Armor Piercing Round and later on the M83 High Velocity Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot (HVAPDS).

The 90mm Gun M3E1 (Later M3E1 L/58 90mm Rifled Maingun) could penetrate some 200mm of un-sloped face at 750 yards using M81 HVAP.

Primary
Original Armament of the M4A3E10, it was in turn based on the Pershing M3 90mm. A two caliber longer version of the standard M3E1, it was a prototype armament and only saw integration into two different M4A3E10s. The same gun that armed the M26E4 and the M46 Tanks, the M15E2M2 was considered as a possibility to create commonality between the 90mm armed tanks. One of the experimental armaments designed to retrofit the M4A3E10 for more firepower, it was unfeasible and dropped from the rearmament program. Equipped to late production M4A3E10s, the M5A1E1 became the standard tank gun on many of the earlier models that had been retrofitted too. An experimental tank gun designated after the Anti-Tank Gun of the same name, the T8 is based on a captured example of the German 88mm PaK 43/41. However the Tank Gun is based on the 88mm KwK 43 Tank Gun. It could also be seen as a development of the M5A1E1 105mm, as the T8 boasted superior penetration and performance over the M5. Production version of the T8, 250 Guns were built and only 75 were equipped. A cooperative project between Decatur Marine and Federal Steel, the M8E1 was a development of the M8. The M8E1 was designed as an improvement, the main improvement made was to barrel life, gunners and commanders were noting that the rifling was being stripped out after X amount of shots, it was also the first tank gun to be equipped with a bore evacuator. The M8E1 is known to have been equipped to a handful of Super Shermans that operated during the Jurchen-Seres War and produced impressive results. Experimental L/70 High Velocity Maingun, developed in response to the examination of the KwK 42 L/70 used on the Yohaas Panther I Tank. Similar to the Federal Steel M4 105mm L/37, many of the original Super Shermans that Sal-Kar had received were armed with the Krupp 75mm Field Howitzer, before any of the local retrofits took place. Salvaged off unrepairable Panzer IV Tanks by the Kingdom of Sal-Kar, these Krupp guns were primarily chosen due to the fact they offered superior performance compared to the DMW M3 75mm. Like the KwK 40, the KwK 42 was salvaged off unrepairable Panther Tanks. Very few examples of M1 Shermans armed with the KwK 42 exist due to the small amount of Panther Tanks the Kingdom of Sal-Kar had. Perhaps the most interesting of Sal-Kari Salvage efforts, of the 13 unrepairable Tiger Tanks in their inventory. These 13, KwK 36 guns were retrofitted into the T26E1 Turret as developed by Tarakia. The new Sherman in Sal-Kari service was designated as the M55 Super Sherman.
 * Xeres Locomotive M3E1 90mm L/58 Rifled Maingun
 * Xeres Locomotive M3A2E1 90mm L/60 Rifled Maingun
 * Xeres Marine M15E2M2 90mm Rifled Maingun:
 * Xeres Locomotive M17 100mm L/55 Rifled Maingun
 * Decatur Marine Works M5A1E1 105mm L/52 Rifled Maingun
 * Decatur Marine Works T8 105mm L/65 Rifled Maingun
 * Decatur Marine Works M8 105mm L/65 Rifled Maingun
 * Decatur Marine Works/Federal Steel M8E1 105mm L/65 Rifled Maingun
 * Decatur Marine Works/Xeres Locomotive M3 75mm L/37 Rifled Maingun
 * Decatur Marine Works/Xeres Locomotive M3A1 75mm L/44 Rifled Maingun
 * Federal Steel M4 105mm L/37 Howitzer
 * Xeres Locomotive M1A2 76mm L/55 High Velocity Maingun
 * Xeres Locomotive T2 76mm L/70 High Velocity Maingun
 * Federal Steel M7 60mm L/49 Hyper Velocity Medium Support Gun
 * Federal Steel M9 80mm L/52 Hyper Velocity Medium Support Gun
 * Krupp 75mm L/?? Field Howitzer
 * Krupp KwK 40 75mm L/48 Rifled Maingun
 * Krupp KwK 42 75mm L/70 Rifled Maingun
 * Krupp KwK 36 88mm L/56 Rifled Maingun

Ammunition List
90x600mm R
 * M77 Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M77A1 Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M82 Armor Piercing Composite-Tracer
 * M93 High Velocity Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M318 Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M318A1 Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M318A2 Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M332 High Velocity Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M332A1 High Velocity Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M381 High Velocity Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M381A1 High Velocity Armor Piercing-Tracer
 * M383 High Velocity Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot-Tracer
 * M336 Canister Cartridge
 * M377 Canister Cartridge
 * M348 High Explosive Anti-Tank
 * M348A1 High Explosive Anti-Tank
 * M431 High Explosive Anti-Tank-Tracer
 * M690 Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot-Tracer
 * M690A1 Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot-Tracer

105x788mm
 * M392 Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot-Tracer
 * M393 Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot-Tracer
 * M393A1 Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot-Tracer
 * M393A2 Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot-Tracer (DU Penetrator)
 * M416 White Phosphorus-Tracer
 * M456 High Explosive Anti-Tank-Tracer
 * M456A1 High Explosive Anti-Tank-Tracer
 * M494 Anti-Personal-Tracer
 * M662 High Explosive Anti-Tank-Tracer
 * M724 Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot-Tracer (DU Penetrator)

Prototypes

 * T13: Prototype Designation of M4-90. Prototype M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbos refitted with an M36 turret, design shifted towards T26 Turret with T13E2.
 * T13E2: Final Prototype. The last prototype built and tested at Kellermann Proving Grounds, there at the Proving Grounds several T13E2 prototypes were put through various stress tests and various situations, after nearly 3 months of rigorous testing by Tank Crews and Engineers from the factories, the T13E2 was accepted into service as the Medium Tank, M4A3E10, 90mm.

Early Production(1949-1952)

 * M4A3E10: Low Rate Initial Production variant. Low Rate Initial Production M4A3E10, early M3 90mm High Velocity Maingun with Double Baffle Muzzle Brake.
 * M4A3E10 N.S.E: Night Sight Equipment. Super Shermans built with the M31 Stereoscopic Gunners sight. The M32 Stereoscopic Rangefinder was also added for the Commander. The M31 was night capable, but relied on the ambient light of the moon to function properly. Early Night Vision goggles were also issued to crews. A Xenon Searchlight was also added and sat mounted on the gun shield.
 * M4A3E10 I.S.E: Infrared Sight Equipment. Select Super Shermans were modified with the PVS-1 Active Infrared Sight to aid in night fighting.
 * M4A3E10(IP): Improved Production. Starting in Mid '51, Xeres Locomotive began to start manufacturing the first Improved Production of the Early Production Series, this included various new systems, including a new Mechanically Operated Turret Drive with back ups and early stabilization of the maingun. Improved Production E10s were also built with N.S.E and I.S.E as standard, although the Xenon Searchlight was removed and replaced with a Coaxial Heavy Machine Gun mounted above the maingun. A lengthened bustle with blow off panels was also developed to replace the Wet Storage method of storing the 90mm ammunition, this effectively became known as the T26E1 Turret.
 * M4A3E10(76): IP M4A3E10's equipped with the T2 76mm L/70 HV Gun and the M4A3E2 Jumbo Turret, the M4A3E10(76) was a stopgap measure during the Jurchen War to get more tanks into combat quickly.

Mid Production(1952-1956)

 * M4A3E10(B)-Applique: Applique Armor Production. Design Engineers back at the various plants in Tarakia began to see pictures and hearing of Super Shermans being up-armored with spare tracks, armor cut off of knocked out enemy tanks, sandbags and various other materials, these hasty in field modifications resulted in different performance as noted by crews, but provided overall better protection for crews during the close quarters tank fighting in urban environments. Back in Tarakia, the various plants began to produce E10 Hulls and T26E1 Turrets with applique armor added. This in house modification gave the Super Shermans a greater protection compared to the in field modifications performed, An uprated Allison G988C was installed to provide more power, a new strengthened Horizontal Volute Suspension System was added to cope with the additional weight added from the Applique Armor attached. Two, 2 barreled Smoke Dischargers were also placed onto the side of the turret, this would allow the gunner or commander to provide a smoke screen for Infantry or other tanks.
 * M4A3E10(B105)-Rearmament: Firepower Enhancement Production. Select Super Shermans were chosen for rearmament to something bigger then the 90mm. Looking for something similar to the M-51 Isherman, Decatur Marine Works designer John Fickler drafted up several blueprints of various calibers from 92mm up to 120mm, several of these guns were produced and placed on the select Super Shermans. One particular gun, the T52 120mm proved to be too unstable even with a counterweight added, firing it caused the Super Sherman to be pushed back 5 feet. It was ultimately cancelled and dropped from the program. With the deadline not being met, DMW having to act quick. Up scaled the M3 90mm to a bore diameter of 105mm, being relatively the same weight of the M3, and shorter in length by 5 calibers. It was tested for integration into the T26E1 Turret and test fired for several days, with testing concluded the Democratic Republic Army authorized the production of 15 guns, designated Gun, M5, 105mm it was installed onto 15 Super Shermans of which were placed in front line units. However, after realizing that no other tank at the time posed much of a threat, the Super Shermans mounting the M5 105mm were placed in museums. It wouldn't be until 1953 when the program is revived.
 * M4A3E10(B105-P)-Torsion Bar Prototype: New production prototype Super Shermans with torsion bar suspension were developed to replace the HVSS suspension Shermans, the Torsion Bars offered better stability as well as allowing for heavier armaments to be used, the B105-P's were mated with the T26E2 Turret with the M8E1 105mm Main Gun, and a coaxial .30cal machine gun. The T26E2 Turret had bustle stowage for 10 rounds, with ready racks located to the left of the loader in wet storage, the total ammunition storage in the turret was 43, 105mm rounds. To account for the increased combat weight, Allison uprated their E799 Diesel Engine to 580 horsepower, creating the E801 Diesel Engine.
 * M4A3E10(B)-Reactive: Reactive Armor Production. With the advancement in Tank Shell technology and the rising amount of Hyper Velocity rounds being developed and the fact that a unknown tank mounting a 128mm maingun had been making waves made the Democratic Republic Army and Marine Corps rethink the Super Sherman and its protection, with already added Applique Armor providing protection from 75mm and 80mm and to some extent 88mm. This prompted the research into a set of add on tiles capable of defeating warheads of HE, AP, APBC and HVAP, these tiles would be placed on the turret, frontal hull and on the sides to provide protection to areas that could be hit in a direct tank battle. How this was going to accomplished was largely unknown and no one at the time had ever thought of an armor capable of redirecting a blast outwards and destroying the projectile, early work started in mid 1953 and continued throughout the rest of year resulting in several failures and mishaps causing the Democratic Republic Army and Marine Corps to lose faith in the procurement of a cutting edge tile armor. In Jan of 1954, Rockport Arsenal began to develop a Reactive Armor to be attached to the Super Sherman, it's variants and other tanks in the Democratic Republic Military. Within six months, Rockport Arsenal had successfully been able to defeat several types of rounds fired from a Super Sherman at a M26E4 and M4A3E10(T), with this major breakthrough Rockport Arsenal then began full scale production of Reactive Armor Tiles for the Super Sherman, it received the designation Armor, Reactive, Catherine after the head project manager who oversaw the prototype development.
 * M4A3E10(B)-ER: Engine Swap. With the added weight of the Reactive and Applique Armor, the uprated Allison G988C was not enough, contacting Allison in the summer of 1955 for a new engine requirement, within 2-3 months Allison developed the G989 Supercharged Diesel Engine producing 680 horsepower, nearly 90-95 more horsepower than the uprated G988C. The Democratic Republic Army and Marine Corps began accepting orders of the G989-E10 Supercharged Engine and replacing the old 'C' Engines. Engine swaps were primarily done by maintenance crews with the old 'C' Engines being sent back to the Allison factory for storage and then later on refurbished for export models.

Late Production(1956-1963)

 * M4A3E10(B105): Rearmament. The Democratic Republic Army saw the need for a 105mm armed Tank, while the M32A1E2 Scorpion had its 105, Super Shermans and Scorpions never operated closely together in operations. Thus the Rearmament plan was refunded by the Democratic Republic Army. Decatur Marine Works began work on designing a new M5 105mm maingun, the new gun was officially designated by the Democratic Republic Army as Gun, 105mm, M5A1E1(Later M5A1E1 105mm Rifled Maingun) and within a couple months, Super Shermans began to receive the Rearmament and were outfitted with the new M5A1E1 maingun. Due to this a large number of 90mm armed Shermans remained in service and operated in tandem with the 105mm armed Shermans. A new widetrack Torsion Bar Suspension System and roadwheels were added due to increased combat weight, crews found the new suspension system satisfactory over the old HVSS and Bogies. (Go into the rest of this later)
 * M4A3E10(M8E1):

Specialized and Derivatives(1949-1963)

 * M4A3E10R1: Super Zippo. Designed primarily for the use in thick jungles or for us against bunkers or other enemy structures. 45 were converted from Early E10 hulls. Retained the M3 90mm all though it was a faux to make the enemy think it was a regular armed tank. The Flamethrower was put inside the cannon, similar to the M48 Zippo conversions.
 * M38: Super Slugger. A dedicated Tank Destroyer based on the E10 Hull, 10 were converted for trials. While seeming redundant, the M38 Super Sluggers mounted the M15E2M2 90mm Maingun. 610 were delivered.
 * M40: Super Whizz Bang. What could be considered the very first Multiple Launch Rocket System for target and area saturation, the Super Whizz Bang was much different then the regular Super Sherman it was on, due to the recoil force of the M3 90mm, even with it's muzzle break was too hard for the strut to raise and lower the MLRS pod, so instead the T23 turret and the M1A2 76mm High Velocity Gun was used in place of the 90mm. The Whizz Bang was cancelled only after 43 units had been delivered, as it became un-favored by crews for it's higher profile making them a bigger target.
 * M52: Super Stratosphere. Project Stratosphere began in the late 40's when the Democratic Republic Army sought to replace the older 90mm Gun M1 and M2, which had formed the backbone of the DR Armys Heavy Anti-Aircraft on both mobile and stationary platforms. Looking at the the 120mm M1 Gun which had only recently came into service as late as 1947, it was decided that the 120mm M1 Gun would be used for the new mobile anti-aircraft tank.

Export Variants/Foreign Domestic Variants

 * M4A3E4: Export Sherman. Export models based on the M4A3E10 Super Sherman, the E4 Sherman was modular and designed to fit the needs of the customer, fitted with HVSS and Allison Military Engines M774 V8 Supercharged Diesel Engine. Particularly an area of concern was offering a wide array of armaments to various customers to suit the need of their use, the T23 turret was modified to allow for different armaments up to 105mm to be fitted, such examples include the M3 75mm L/44 Medium Velocity Gun, M1A2 76mm L/52 High Velocity Gun, M7 60mm L/49 Hyper Velocity Medium Support Gun and the M9 80mm L/52 Hyper Velocity Medium Support Gun. Another area of interest was also in the engine, while fitted with the Allison M774 V8 Supercharged Diesel, at customer request this could be swapped out for a domestic engine for said country or the Allison G989 V10 Supercharged Diesel for more power.
 * M4A3E5: Export Sherman. An export model also based on the M4A3E10 Super Sherman, one of the main and unique features that sets it apart from the E4 export model is the use of the M43 88mm L/71 Gun (88mm KwK 43 L/71) mounted in the T26 turret, using a similar system as the M26E4 Super Pershing, the top of the turret was fitted with coil springs.
 * M1: Export Sherman. An export model developed for a specific customer(plan to go into this tomorrow)
 * M50: Export/local produced Sherman.
 * M51: Export/local produced Sherman.
 * M53: Local produced Sherman.
 * M55: Local produced Sherman.
 * M60: Export Sherman.
 * Pz.Kpwf M4-748(a): Export Sherman. An export model developed for the Duchy of Yohaas
 * Pz.Kpwf M4-748(b): Domestic model. A Domestic upgrade by Yohaas for the select number of M4A3E10's serving in their Panzerwaffe.
 * Pz.Kpwf M4-748(c): Domestic Sherman. Yohaas M4A3E4 Sherman's with Krupp KwK 40/6 L/56 75mm main guns in place of the M1A2 76mm.

M4A3E10 Super Sherman "King Scorpion"
M4A3E10(B105-P)C, it was one of the few Torsion bar prototype tanks during the Jurchen War with the T26E2 Turret. The particular model of Super Sherman was only assigned to Platoon and Company Tank Commanders, while Platoon Sergeants received the B105 and the rest of the platoon or company receiving the IP models.

First Sergeant Johannes Kellermann's Super Sherman was unique in that his crew had welded plates of steel to the tank to create applique armor, a practice done during the mid 1940's with M4A3E8 Sherman's using steel plates acquired from Yohaas that offered superior protection on top of the Easy Eight's already superb protection.

Commanded by renowned tank Commander Johannes Kellermann, the Super Sherman King Scorpion was very famous among the Armored Corps for having claimed 56 Jurchen Tanks, ranging from light tanks to heavy tanks, Artillery and Tank Destroyers. Due to this, King Scorpion became a prime target for Jurchen Hunter-Killer Teams, who were hunting Johannes and his Crew. King Scorpions fate came during the morning of March 17, 1954 during the Battle of ((Pending)). King Scorpion was hit by a SU-85 Tank Destroyer from an unknown position, throwing the track, another hit came from another unknown position, knocking the engine out and setting it ablaze. Though not giving up, Kellermann ordered the loader to load a APDS round and gunner to scan for the enemy tanks and fire, the gunner fired on a Type-58 tank down in the tree line and and watched as the ammunition explosion popped the turret, with the threat of being overran by Jurchen Infantry, Kellermann turned out and swung the .50cal to bear on the advancing Infantry, the loader also came up and brought the .30cal to bear, both Kellermann and his loader fired on the Jurchen Infantry, they were surrounded by Jurchens, as was his whole unit who was spread thin around the valley and mountain. In one last final act of heroism, Kellermann ordered his loader to get another APDS round in the breach as he had seen the SU-85 down in the tree line, Kellermann then crawled out of the Sherman and fell to the ground, injured. He pulled up his M1A1 Thompson and began to fire on the Jurchen Infantry who were coming towards his tank. His final moment came as yelled to the driver "Tell the unit to retreat out of the valley, we're gonna get overran" a Jurchen stabbed Kellermann in the lower back with the Bayonet on his SKS and pulled it out, Kellermann fell to the ground, taking his last breathes, he drew his M1911A1 and fired at the Jurchen seven times before he finally fell, as he was bleeding out, he crawled away from the tank and laid himself up against the rock and looked at his helpless tank and crew. For his actions, Kellermann was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal