M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck

This target range wreck is offered for sale by the Museum as a restoration project for 65,000 Euros. The gun is not real and the gun mantel is an old oil drum. It is owned by www.military-classic-vehicles.fr

Surviving M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck

M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck at the Normandy Tank Museum near Catz.

Location

The Normandy Tank Museum is not hard to miss. It is next to the main N13 (E46) motorway. Set your Sat-Nav to the town of Catz in Normandy and then the road of La Fourchette or Rue de la Fourchette to be directed to the Museum entrance.

Specification

The M4A2 Sherman Tank was powered by a General Motors GM 6046 twin diesel (conjoined 6-71s) engine and produced 410 hp. It had a top road speed of 30 mph (48 km/h). It had an operational range of around 120 miles (193 km) The tank had a crew of five, commander, driver, gunner, loader and co-driver/machine gunner.

Its armour thickness ranged for 25 mm to 75 mm. It was armed with the standard 75 mm M3 L/40 gun and two 30-06 Browning machine guns, one in the hull and the other next to the main gun in the turret. Between April 1942 and May 1944 8,053 were manufactured.

Preserved M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck

M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck gun is not real and the gun mantel is an old oil drum

The Sherman Tank chassis was rescued from a Military firing range in France. The differential housing is not the correct version for a M4A4 Sherman and the Bogies do not fit it either. The turret comes from a Sherman 105mm but is bent out of shape and cannot fit a standard turret ring anymore. It is a confused wreck that catches the eye of passing motorists as they zoom past the museum's entrance.

Surviving M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck

M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck

Surviving M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck

The shell hole on the left went through the reinforced armour plate that protected the ammo storage bin very easily. 

Surviving M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck

The shell hole on the right went through both sides of this M4A4 Sherman Tank Wreck

D-Day 1944 books