M4A1 (76) W

This page is about the American medium tank M4A1 (76) W. For other versions, see M4 Sherman (Family). For other uses, see M4 (Disambiguation).

M4A1 (76) W

M4A2

M4A2 (76) W

M4A1 (76) W

M4A2

M4A2 (76) W

USA

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.0	5.0	5.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:18 000

Purchase:47 000

Description

The M4A1 (76) W Sherman is the first variant of the late-generation Medium Tank M4 (Sherman) family. These were essentially up-gunned and upgraded models of the early generation M4A1 variant, with a modified T23 turret housing the new 76 mm M1 tank gun and split loader's hatches, and "wet" ammunition stowage to reduce the risk of ammo rack detonation. The M4A1 (76) W featured an upgraded oil gear turret traverse mechanism and a simpler stabilizer. The M4A1 (76) W tank was the first of the late-generation M4 Sherman variants to see action in the U.S. Army. These tanks were shipped to depots in England in time to be assigned to units for Operation Neptune, also known as the Normandy landings. It never saw combat, though, because no one wanted them at the time. The primary reason was a lack of time for training on the M4A1 (76) W before the landings, and no one wanted any supply difficulties on the M1 tank gun's ammunition for the logistic lines. However, the M4A1 (76) W and other 76 mm-armed Shermans would see heavy combat in Israeli hands after the Second World War.

Introduced in Update 1.45 "Steel Generals", the M4A1 (76) W provides much-needed improvements in armour penetration and firepower over previous early-generation M4 Sherman variants. Ballistic properties and armour-piercing characteristics have clearly improved. However, the M4A1 (76) W retains the same overall protection and armour thickness as the early-generation M4 Sherman variants, which begins to feel inadequate at its BR. Most enemy tanks will easily penetrate the M4A1 (76) W at any range, as the hull's upper front armour plate can hardly withstand any shells at its rank. Players have to alter their playstyle and take advantage of the M4A1 (76) W's mobility to cover strategic areas early in the battle. Exchanging shots with adversaries is not recommended because the M4A1 (76) W's protection is below average for its rank.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull63 / 63 / 38

Turret63 / 63 / 63

Crew5 people

Visibility122 %

Armour type:

• Cast homogeneous armour
• Rolled homogeneous armour (Lower side hull)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	63.5 mm (40-62°) Front glacis 63.5 mm (16-59°) Transmission housing	38.1 mm	38.1 mm (16°) Top 38.1 mm (16-53°) Bottom	19.5 mm
Turret	63.5 mm (0-51°) Turret front 88.9 mm (5-19°) Gun mantlet	63.5 mm (1-20°)	63.5 mm (0-57°)	25.4 mm
Cupola	63.5 mm	63.5 mm	63.5 mm	25.4 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, bogies are 10 mm thick, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
• Front armour slope not even, lower part is weaker than top.
• Unlike original model, part of roof can be seen on very top of front glacis, presenting a weak point right under turret
• Belly armour is 25.4 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB43 / 6 km/h

RB and SB39 / 6 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight32.7 t

Engine power

AB763 hp

RB and SB400 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB23.3 hp/t

RB and SB12.2 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)		Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse	Stock	AoA	Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	43	6	32	0.65	620	763	19.34	23.33
Realistic	39	6			354	400	11.05	12.23

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB869 → 1 243

RB1 014 → 1 451

SB1 276 → 1 825

Total cost of modifications19 950

32 700

Talisman cost980

Crew training13 000

Experts47 000

Aces330

Research Aces280 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

60 / 90 / 110 %

136 / 136 / 136 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 100 130 Suspension Research: 890 Cost: 1 500 90 Brake System Research: 890 Cost: 1 500 90 Filters Research: 1 700 Cost: 2 800 170 Transmission Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 100 130 Engine Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 100 130	Improved Parts Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 100 130 Improved FPE Research: 890 Cost: 1 500 90 Crew Replenishment Research: 1 700 Cost: 2 800 170 Add-on Armor Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 100 130	Horizontal Drive Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 100 130 Adjustment of Fire Research: 890 Cost: 1 500 90 76mm_usa_APCBC_ammo_pack Research: 890 Cost: 1 500 90 Elevation Mechanism Research: 1 700 Cost: 2 800 170 Artillery Support Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 100 130 76mm_us_M88_Smoke_ammo_pack Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 100 130

Priority modules for research should be Parts, FPE, and mobility modifications. (These will make up for the vehicle's poor cross-country driving capabilities.)

Armaments

Main armament

76 mm M1 cannon

Vertical stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in one plane while moving

Ammunition71 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

7.6 → 5.9 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 25°

76 mm M1					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	71	-10°/+25°	±180°	Vertical	22.85	31.62	38.40	42.47	45.18	7.67	6.79	6.25	5.90
Realistic					14.28	16.80	20.40	22.56	24.00

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
M79 shot	AP	134	132	121	109	99	89
M42A1 shell	HE	16	16	14	13	11	10
M62 shell	APCBC	149	146	133	119	106	94

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%
M79 shot	AP	792	6.8	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
M42A1 shell	HE	823	5.84	0.2	0.1	390	79°	80°	81°
M62 shell	APCBC	792	7	1.2	14	63.7	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)
M88	274	3.44	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M4A1 (75) W (China) (identical)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
71	66 (+5)	31 (+40)	1 (+70)	No

Note:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear from the rack after having been shot or loaded.

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)	576	-10°/+30°	±60°

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

Usage in battles

In general terms, the M4A1 (76) W is an excellent tank for its battle rating, offering an effective gun, decent mobility, decent armour, and excellent gun handling.

The M4A1 (76) W has an unusually high profile and thus it is difficult to drive around undetected. While playing this tank, the unusually high profile, but well-armoured turret combined with excellent gun depression means that the M4A1 can take advantage of many hull-down positions throughout the map. The stabilizer also gives an excellent first shot/first hit possibility and allows the M4A1 to drive around some corners at low speed and make itself slightly harder to hit. The cast shape of the hull also creates some extreme angles where even more powerful shells from the 85 mm D-5T, 88 mm KwK36, and 75 mm KwK42 can bounce. It is notably better armoured than the Pz.IV H or T-34-57 of similar rank and offers equal or better mobility than most.

Since the ammo stowage in this model is wet stowage, the ammo is stored in a box filled with water on the floor of the tank so it's harder to hit than in previous Sherman models (M4, M4A1, M4A2, and M4A3 (105)), but the more powerful tanks like the Tiger H1 and Panther D can easily destroy the M4A1 even if the latter shoots first. In addition, they can easily penetrate the Sherman's frontal armour at almost all ranges and in most cases, if they are using the correct ammo, the shells' shrapnel will incapacitate all the crew. When not in a max up-tier, the M4A1 (76) W can confidently engage most enemies at its BR with little issue. In the event of a max up-tier, the Sherman must rely on its fast reload time of 7.6 seconds, its gun stabilizer in order to make accurate moving shots, its gun depression of -10 degrees, and its possession of enough mobility to flank heavier tanks. With its pintle-mounted 12.7 mm M2 gun and the coaxial M1919A4 7.62 mm gun, the M4A1 can defend itself and the team from enemy aircraft as well as to incapacitate most SPAA.

The most dangerous opponents the M4A1 (76) W can face (This will apply to most American tanks armed with the 76 mm M1 gun, excluding the Jumbo 76) are the Tiger H1/E, Panther Ds, and the Soviet IS-1s and KV-85s. High-velocity guns carried by these tanks combined with their very thick/sloped armour makes them extremely dangerous opponents the M4A1 (76) can face. The standard T-34-85s and Panzer IVs can also be a danger, and can instantly knock out the M4A1 with one shot. However, so can the 76 mm gun on the M4A1.

While it is recommended to disable the turret on the tanks mentioned above, note that for the T-34-85s, the best spot to target would be their abnormally large turret gap/ring. The gap is a well-exploitable weakness found on many T-34 designs starting with the T-34 1942 model, as it is noticeably large, thin and not-at-all angled. Shots here with the M62 APCBC shot will result in an instant knock out.

The speedy R3 T20 FA-HS can appear in higher BR battles and circle around you with ease and wipe out all your crew with its fast firing autocannon. In a close encounter, never expose your side to it, and do not even angle your hull. Face your hull directly to the R3, because on each side of the cast hull, above the inducer wheel there is a triangular area that blends and connects the upper front plate to the side. By angling the hull, this triangle becomes unangled to the R3, making it easily penetrated, and the driver / gunner will usually get knocked out first. It is harder for the R3 to penetrate your unangled hull thus giving you more time to react and destroy it.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good rate of fire for the main gun
• Great gun depression of 10° means impressive terrain adaptation
• Angled frontal slope which may sometimes bounce larger calibres if angled correctly
• A standard 5 crew members, which equates to 3 spare crew members to take over positions of the tank if necessary
• A pintle-mounted heavy machine gun (12.7 mm), which can be used for anti-aircraft purposes
• Gun mantlet and spall shield is fairly thick
• Turret has a nice armour layout
• Applique armour (road wheel and track sections) is situated on the transmission of the vehicle
• Fast horizontal turret traverse
• An installation of a vertical plane stabilizer (noticeable by extremely fast gun depression/elevation) allows for shoot-n-scoot tactics, stopping immediately to shoot, or better accuracy when firing on the move
• Wet ammo storage - Which reduces greatly ammo rack chances, is indicated by the "W" in its name, this also means tightly packed ammo only placed under the turret
• Has access to Add-on Armour
• Has more horsepower than most other Shermans (A3 Variants have 500) making this one of the better hp/t for Shermans

Cons:

• Frontal armour can easily be penetrated by German 75 mm guns
• Is quite tall
• Prone to tipping over when travelling across steep inclines
• Sides and rear are thinly armoured
• Engine compartment is poorly armoured
• Susceptible to nearby artillery explosions
• Narrow tracks mean poor ground flotation and cross country performance
• Only reaches its top speed on paved surfaces
• Cannot be angled properly, hull "cheeks" are a weak spot
• The cast hull creates frontal weak spots with very little effective thickness, e.g. the triangles between upper front plate and the side, and the curved hull hatches

History

M4 Sherman

The start of World War II and the Battle of France had America find that their current armoured forces were completely inadequate to fight back a German armour assault. With only the M2 light tanks and the M2 medium tank available with their 37 mm M3 cannons, the Americans greatly increased their efforts in tank development to bolster their defenses, but to satisfy demands from Great Britain for adequate tanks to rebuild their decimated armoured forces. The requirements set by the US Army called for a tank armed with a 75 mm M3 gun. While a 75 mm gun was available for use, a turret mounting the gun on a tank was not. Thus, while the turret and tank design underwent development, the 75 mm would be mounted on the stopgap design - the M3 Lee tank - in a "sponson" mount. During the M3's development, the designs of the 75 mm armed vehicle were submitted by the Ordnance Department. In April 1941, the Armored Force Board chose the simplest of the designs, which was a redesigned M3 hull and chassis with a turret mounting the 75 mm gun designated the T6, completed in September 1941. This tank would then designated the M4 Sherman. The production for the Sherman began in October 1941 and would continue to be produced until the end of the war in 1945 with around than 50,000 units produced, making it the second most-produced tank in World War II before the T-34 tank. The Sherman first saw service in North Africa in the hands of the British, and the Shermans continued to see service throughout the North African campaign, Tunisian campaign, and the Italian campaign in the British and American armies. However, the 75 mm gun on the Sherman soon found itself saw as inadequate when the Germans began fielding their new generation of heavy tanks, the Tiger I and the Panther, which could defend itself against the 75 mm gun and take out the Sherman at a long range. A desire to up-gun the Sherman grew among Ordnance officers to fight incoming armour threats and started as far back as 1942.

Development

The desire for a hole puncher on the Sherman started in the Ordnance department, seen as an improvement to the Sherman's overall combat ability to fight future tank threats. It started with the adaption of the 3-inch anti-tank gun into the M4 Sherman. The gun proved too heavy and too bulky for a straight adaption so a simpler and smaller gun model was created called the 76 mm M1, which could be practically fitted into the M4 Sherman turret. The 76 mm differed from the 3-inch in ammunition by using a different propellant case but the same shells, yet kept the same ballistics. The first guns were trialled in a M4A1 Sherman; while Ordnance approved the vehicle, Armored Board rejected it as the design caused the turret interior to be too cramped for the crew and also the lack of need of such vehicle. This solution was fixed by taking the cancelled T23 project and adapting the turret into the Sherman, which was easy as the Sherman and the T23 used the same turret ring diameter. The larger turret allowed for a more practical mounting of the 76 mm gun and more room for the crew to move around in. This variant was approved and production was to start in early 1944 for the upcoming invasion of Europe in Operation Overlord to counter the German Tiger I and the Panther tanks.

Design

Aside from the enlarged T23 turret, the Sherman interior layout was largely unchanged from the original design. The driver and bow gunner still sat in the front, the three-man turret crew in the centre, and the engine compartment in the back. The exterior design of the hull was also largely unchanged with the vertical volute suspension system (VVSS) and sloping front armour.

The M4A1 (76) W Sherman model ran on a gasoline Continental R975C-4 radial engine. The M4A1 designation was given to Shermans constructed with a fully cast tank hull, giving the tank a distinctive rounded slope front and sides. Though the rounded shape gave the frontal armour uneven angling, it provided adequate protection up to 100 mm in thickness in certain areas. The cast hull, while efficient in protecting the tank, was hard to manufacture due to limited capabilities in most factories and was hard to repair in the field, so the cast design was changed to welding in future Sherman variants. The M4A1(76)W variant, as indicated by the name, mounted the 76 mm gun instead of the usual 75 mm. The "W" designation on the Sherman indicated that the vehicle had the "wet stowage" feature in response to complaints that the Sherman can easily catch fire due to exploding ammunition. The "wet stowage" encased the ammo containers in a liquid mixture that would douse the flames when penetrated or block flaming shrapnel from penetrating shots from hitting the ammunition. The containers also placed all the ammunition in the bottom centre of the tank, reducing the likeliness of it being hit by a shell as the penetrating shell must go through every armour and obstacle to hit the tank centre. This feature was only present after February 1944 and severely decreased the rate of Sherman fires. Of the 49,234 Sherman produced in World War II, 3,426 M4A1(76)s were produced from January 1944 to July 1945.

Combat usage

Despite the stock of 76 mm Shermans now available for them, the commanders opted to not bring any during the invasion of France in June 1944. The issues were logistical, as having a 76 mm armament would mean supplying a different set of ammo to the tank forces. Another issue was that the 76 mm gun had a less lethal high-explosive round at hand, meaning combat against infantry or fixed emplacements would be slightly harder. This forced 75 mm armed Shermans to have to compete against the better armed and armoured Panthers and Tigers in the initial period of the invasion. The combat debut of the M4A1 (76) Shermans was during Operation Cobra in July 1944, as a response to the growing German armour threat in Europe. The 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions received 52 of these Shermans and the rest were distributed among the tank battalions in the infantry divisions. The M4 (76) and M4 (75) Shermans served alongside each other, though the 75 mm Shermans were around in larger numbers and the opinions of the 76 mm cannon vary from a necessary addition to a burden. The 75 mm guns stayed as the primary armament of the armoured forces until the Battle of the Bulge, which had many American armours destroyed by the German onslaught of heavy German tanks such as their Panther and Tiger IIs. The negative response from both troops and press had Allied commanders, even Eisenhower himself, request only 76 mm Sherman to be delivered instead of 75 mm in response. The new units arriving in Europe after the Battle of the Bulge were all equipped with 76-mm Shermans. Despite their appearance, 75 mm Shermans were still in stock in the armoured divisions and were still held in high regards for their better capacity to destroy soft targets with high-explosive shells.

After the war, the Shermans continued serving America and its allies as the M4A3E8 with a new suspension and 76 mm gun. The M26 Pershing that was introduced late in World War II was phased out for the Shermans due to its unreliability, and the Sherman stayed until the M46 Patton was introduced. After being phased out of American service, many other countries still used the Sherman as their main tank, mainly Israel where they up-gunned the tank with the much powerful post-war French 75 mm and 105 mm gun as the M-50 and M-51 respectively (nicknamed "Super Shermans"). These proved successful as they were able to fight against the Soviet-supplied T-54 tanks and T-34-85s in Middle East service, proving the Sherman as a successful and adaptable design for many years to come.

Archive of the in-game description

In July 1942 ATC began development of M1 and M1A1 76 mm cannons to boost the tank's firepower. Trials showed that the M4's turret was too small to fit long-barreled weapons, and the decision was made to use modified T20/T23 turrets. Tanks boasting 76 mm cannons hit assembly lines in February 1944, making them ready for the Normandy invasion. Ammunition bins were moved to recesses above the tracks on the floor of the battle compartment and on both sides of the driveshaft. An interesting peculiarity was so-called "wet stowage", which had double-walled water jackets surrounding the main gun ammunition storage. It was thought that if the ammunition storage suffered a hit, the water would keep a potential fire from spreading. Tanks with 76 mm weapons were given the additional suffix "76", while the 76 mm M1A1C and M1A2 and their muzzle brakes were installed later. The initial shell speed for the new weapons clocked in at 810 m/s, making the modernized tanks capable of standing up to the heavy German tanks. Tankers welded extra armour onto the front, sides, and occasionally turret to strengthen the weakly protected ammunition and fuel tanks. Field modifications included stacking sandbags onto the front or welding extra tracks to the most vulnerable areas. Sometimes armour shields or concrete blocks were also attached to the front of the hull. The Pressed Steel Car Company built 3,396 of these units between January 1944 and June 1945.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M4A1 (76) W from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #114 - Pages of History section at 08:02 discusses Lafayette G. Pool, US tank ace.

M4A1 (76) w, American Tier-3 Medium Tank - Angry Nerd Gaming

Tank Chats #111 Sherman M4A1 (76) W - The Tank Museum

See also

Other M4A1 vehicles in the game

• M4A1
• Sherman II
• M4A1 (France)
• M4A1 (FL10)
• M4A1 (75) W (China)

External links

• [Devblog] Steel Generals: M4A1(76) Sherman tank
• [Devblog] Developers about the M4A1(76)W
• [Historical] The 761st Tank Battalion