M4/T26

This page is about the American medium tank M4/T26. For other versions, see M4 Sherman (Family).

M4/T26

M4A3 (76) W

T25

M4/T26

M4A3 (76) W

T25

USA

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.0	6.0	6.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:46 000

Purchase:155 000

Show in game

Description

When the US Army came to the realization that the new German tanks, Panthers and Tigers, were not only getting progressively tougher and deadlier, but were also becoming more numerous on the battlefield, they began to search for solutions to adequately deal with the threat. The 76 mm M1 gun was available and implemented onto their standard M4 Sherman tank, but the 76 mm firepower proved to be disappointing against the German tank armour. The search for a bigger gun was needed for the US tanks, and one solution was to simply add the turret of the developing M26 Pershing (then still known as T26) onto the M4 Sherman hull. The single prototype test in 1944 proved that the conversion could be done, however the overall project was cancelled once it was determined that the research and development time to test out the viability of the design in combat would not make the design come any faster than the newer M26 tank.

Introduced in Update "La Royale", the M4/T26 is a strange amalgamation of components from two tanks. On one hand, the T26 turret introduces the mighty 90 mm gun into the Sherman chassis, allowing better chances against more heavily armoured foes. On the other hand, all this is being performed on top of a M4 hull and components. Aside from the additional weight of the T26 affecting the tank body, the Sherman armour is no longer competitive against its opponents. In addition, the relatively tall Sherman hull raises the T26 turret higher than from the original M26 Pershing, so players need to be aware of accidentally exposing the M4 hull that would allow enemies with any sort of high-velocity cannon to quickly pierce through the Sherman's armour and knock out the tank. That said, players would benefit from their familiarity with the Sherman handling to continue playing as though they were the 76 mm armed version, with the 90 mm gun making even heavy tanks easy picking for the player.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull38 / 38 / 38

Turret101 / 76 / 76

Crew5 people

Visibility122 %

Sharing a similar hull with the M4A3 at its BR, little protection is offered against most guns it will face, even with proper angling. Additionally the lack of interior walls in the crew compartment means a single APHE shell from the front or sides will almost certainly knock out most or all crew members. With the use of the much larger 90 mm shells, ammo storage takes up large amounts of space in the hull and turret, making ammo hits more likely, further decreasing survivability. The T26 turret itself is better armoured than the 75 mm and 76 mm Shermans, with the mantlet offering the best chance at protection, however this can still relatively easily be penetrated by most large calibre AP shells at its BR, and when combined with the elevated profile of the tall Sherman hull, little protection is offered.

On the other hand, as with most Shermans, the transmission will provide some defence against AP shots to the transmission housing. The much larger 90 mm cannon breech can soak up damage from certain angles, especially shots to the mantlet, preventing crew knockouts and ammo detonations to provide a chance at getting to cover and repairing. From the rear, the large engine will absorb a lot of shell fragments which would otherwise enter the crew compartment, while the radio station can provide some protection to the driver and machine gunner from shots to the rear of the turret.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, turret roof)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, mantlet, transmission housing, MG port)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	63.5 mm (47°) Upper Glacis 63.5-107.9mm (2-57°) Transmission Housing 25.4mm MG Port	38.1 mm (0°)	38.1 mm (5°) Top 38.1 mm (11-89°) Bottom	19.5 mm (0-21°)
Turret	101.6 mm (1-55°) Turret front 130-255 mm (1-79°) Gun mantlet	76.2 mm (2-54°)	76.2 mm (0-79°)	25.4 mm
Cupola	76.2 mm (64°)	76.2 mm (54°)	76.2 mm (58°)	25.4 mm

Notes:

• Suspension members and wheels are 15mm of structural steel
• Track covers are 4mm thick, though shots to the right hand side front overhang track cover from 88mm+ HE shells at certain impact angles can potentially knock out crew members from overpressure.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB44 / 6 km/h

RB and SB40 / 6 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight33.0 t

Engine power

AB878 hp

RB and SB460 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB26.6 hp/t

RB and SB13.9 hp/t

The stated max speed is achievable over level ground albeit with reasonable acceleration, while the reverse gear is not particularly fast but not extremely slow either. Braking is sharp and stops the vehicle in a short enough distance from top speed to allow for fast reactions to enemies. The use of differential braking means the tank will crawl forward when turning in place, and the turn rate is not especially fast with significant speed losses from steering.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	44	6	33	713	878	21.61	26.61
Realistic	40	6		407	460	12.33	13.94

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 262 → 2 911

RB2 700 → 3 474

SB3 443 → 4 431

Total cost of modifications40 600

78 600

Talisman cost1 400

Crew training45 000

Experts155 000

Aces630

Research Aces440 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

100 / 150 / 180 %

160 / 160 / 160 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 120 Suspension Research: 2 300 Cost: 4 400 140 Brake System Research: 2 300 Cost: 4 400 140 Filters Research: 3 400 Cost: 6 600 210 Transmission Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 200 Engine Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 200	Improved Parts Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 120 Improved FPE Research: 2 300 Cost: 4 400 140 Crew Replenishment Research: 3 400 Cost: 6 600 210	Horizontal Drive Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 120 90mm_us_M82_APCBC_ammo_pack Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 120 Adjustment of Fire Research: 2 300 Cost: 4 400 140 Elevation Mechanism Research: 3 400 Cost: 6 600 210 Artillery Support Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 200 90mm_us_M313_Smoke_ammo_pack Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 200

Armaments

Main armament

90 mm M3 cannon

Ammunition76 rounds

First-order10 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

9.7 → 7.5 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

90 mm M3					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	76	-10°/+20°	±180°	-	20.0	27.7	33.6	37.2	39.5	9.75	8.62	7.95	7.50
Realistic					12.5	14.7	17.8	19.7	21.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
T33 shot	APBC	175	172	160	146	134	122
M71 shell	HE	20	20	18	17	16	16
M82 shot	APCBC	185	182	169	155	142	130

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
T33 shot	APBC	853	10.91	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
M71 shell	HE	823	10.55	0.2	0.1	1,210	79°	80°	81°
M82 shot	APCBC	853	10.91	1.2	14	137.2	48°	63°	71°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M313	821	10.7	9	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M4/T26

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
76	54 (+22)	42 (+34)	33 (+43)	11 (+65)	1 (+75)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Rack 5 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 10 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
• This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 5 - 1 - 2 - etc. until 4.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-4 into rack 5. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB machine gun

Ammunition600 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate575 shots/min

Vertical guidance-10° / 30°

Horizontal guidance-60° / 60°

7.62 mm M1919A4 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 000 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	600 (200)	575	-10°/+30°	±60°

7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,000 (250)	500	-	-

Usage in battles

The M4/T26 has a powerful 90mm gun, but very weak frontal armor. Enemies will have no trouble penetrating the armor, this tank should be a support tank and not a pure attack tank. This tank must never fight alone, it must always have a teammate if possible with heavier armor to be used as cover.

The M4/T26 has a very visible profile, so it should be played carefully, if possible the turret shell should be visible as it has higher armor than the frontal armor.

This tank has no trouble breaking through the Tiger H1 and Tiger E, for other heavy tanks, play a little more strategically to break through their weak points but with a 90mm gun, they can fight off most enemies in its BR range.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent gun depression of -10° plus the angled frontal turret allows it to utilise hills very well
• Top-mounted .50 cal machine gun is useful against aircraft and open-topped or lightly-armoured vehicles
• The M82 shot has a high chance of knocking out most tanks in one shot
• Very fast turret traverse
• Turret armour can resist some shots, excels at a hull down position

Cons:

• Hull armour is very weak against most cannons at its battle rating
• Its tall profile makes it a big target
• Slow top speed for a medium tank at its BR
• Lacks a vertical gun stabilizer compared to other Shermans, making it harder to take out targets on the move
• 90 mm gun has a long reload time

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M4/T26 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #368 - Pages of History section at 03:21 discusses the M4/T26.

The Shooting Range #365 - Metal Beasts section at 00:24 discusses the M4/T26.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] M4/T26: a "Sherman" and a half