Does anyone know what type of radio an M4A3E4 would have had?

The MDAP issued M4A3E4 would have had whatever recipient nation wanted it to have. If Denmark used one sort, then it would have had that. If another country used another, then it goes to reason either that sort of radio was included or the area was left blank for local modifications.

Perhaps it was surplus US radios. You can check to see what other vehicles of that country, of that era, were using.

I know it was repositioned to the righthand sponson, would love to know if during the conversion at the plant it was just repositioned or at the same time switched out for something different. Sadly very little information seems to be available.

To the right of the asst driver was no problem. Look at the M32 -- that's where its radio was located. Was no big deal. The SCR508/506 radio rack would just be screwed in place, the radio units installed, and everything plugged into place.

IIRC, Shermans came in two "flavours", command tanks and ordinary tanks. The difference was that command tanks had a second radio on the RH sponson next to the asst driver for HQ communication (to supplement the standard fitting in the turret bustle), while ordinary tanks had a .30cal ammo rack in the same position. As Roy says, changing it was a simple matter of undoing some bolts...

Did they base those on all Sherman types or just some? Did they change any other interior features or just the radio? Were they field modifications or did they also leave the factory?

Sorry for all these questions, I am looking to expand my Shermanology to get a better understanding

Here is another theory: the M36B1 was basically an M4A3 with a different turret and like the M4A3E4 also supplied under MDAP. Taking the M4A3E4 interior conversion description in mind and looking at the M36B1's it almost appear as if they are a match? Would it have made sense to standardise interiors of both and supply radios of lesser capability which seemed to be a common train of thought during the MDAP conversion program?

Whatever radio mounting gear was used by the needs of each recipient country -- it would be an extremely simple add/delete of the mounting bracket. The wartime SCR 506/508 bracket was large -- it fit easily in the right sponson. If what you're proposing is true ("lesser" capacity radios) -- as long as those were not bigger than the SCR 506/508 radios, it would cause no issues.

The depots do what they're told to do -- they don't dictate what the customers want. If the issuing command says Lot A is going to country B and it will need C-type radio racks, the depot will add C-type radio racks to Lot A. If Lot D is going to Country E and requires F-type radio racks, that's what going to be installed. If a recipient country had a very unique, non-standard radio, then they'd request the area to be left blank or would have just torn out the depot installed rack.

There's no problem here Willem. These things are very simple and flexible. It's not that complicated. It would be stupid for the issuing command to demand each country have a standard radio -- when as mentioned before, it was a simple few bolts to a commonplace rack.

Roy please step back for a moment and see that I do not yet know everything about the Sherman and all it's variants. That means questions will be asked even if they do not make sense to someone who already has the knowledge and I am not sure if I appreciate the way you label my search for information as a problem

My second set of questions arose because it looks like the M32 could have been based on any Sherman variant, who knows how they or the M4A3's in the MDAP program got converted exactly and if the radios were always located to the same spot? Teach me something about the M32 then and maybe I will build one for my next project?

Willem: I do not mean to be harsh in my tone. But I have a great familiarity with US military provisioning and the question you first posed strikes me as not a very big deal in the broad picture.

Suppose you wish to buy a new car. The car comes standard with one sort of tire. However, some clients can order another option. All I'm saying is that the provisioning of radios in tanks, to be given to foreign customers -- is a very simplistic thing for the supplying command to accomplish. It has nothing to do with Sherman production and re-work at an MDAP depot. ANY item that is to be shipped to a customer (anohter unit, another country under MDAP), can have simple changes made. It's not as if the MDAP country demanded something extreme like a different engine pack or transmission. That's what I mean when I say radio racks are not a problem. I hope this clarifies my meaning. I apologize if i was condescending earlier

Hi Willem,

You mention being new to "Shermanology", so you might want to take a look around the Shaddock Free website for a TON of detailed info on this family of tanks! There is a great book "Son of Sherman" that really sets out the whole development of the different Sherman models - worth a look if you can afford a copy.

Now, you are asking about radios in M4A3E4s and M36B1s. The M36B1 used the M36 open turret, which had no room for a radio. So, they put a radio in the "command" location on the RH sponson next to the Asst Driver. The M4A3E4 was a standard Sherman turret, up-gunned to the 76mm gun, so there wasn't enough room in the turret to retain a radio in the usual place. It makes sense that they instead put the radio in the RH sponson, since all the mounting hardware was there already. Two different tanks, designed by different teams, with different needs, but the original design of the Sherman tank meant the end result (radio in sponson) was the same. The same goes for the M32 conversions, since their turret had to be kept clear for the winch cable, so the radio went in the sponson. (All M32 variants were rebuilt from gun tanks, hence the "B1", "B2", "B3" designations depending on what kind of hull they started from...)

Now the problem is we cannot tell exactly what type of radio any of the MDAP export tanks got, if we do not know who the recipient country was - each country would specify whatever radio equipment their own army was using. (Same as you buying a new car and specifying the colour and options!) So you need to narrow down your search to a single country. They might have had other "options" too, and of course they might have modified the tanks once they arrived - best to work from photos if you can.

I hope this helps! The world of Shermans is big and complex...

Greetings - sorry have been out of things a bit having made an unscheduled trip to the hospital.

As everyone seems to agree, for US Shermans it would have been the SCR-508 radio combination installed in the sponson.

That would be comprised of:

1 - FT-237 rack/mount/shelf
1 - BC-604 FM radio receiver (this unit also included the dynamotor to power the other radios and provide commo throughout the tank.)
1 - BC-603 Radio Receiver (used for squad or unit level communication.)
1 - CH-264 Spare parts cabinet (same size as BC-603.)

OR . . .

IN A COMMAND TANK the CH-264 was replaced with another BC-603 to provide Battalion level communication for the squad commander.

SCR-508 assembly:

SCR-508 assembly is comprised of:
FT-237 Shelf/rack, BC-604 Receiver and Dynamotor and two BC-603 transmitters.
(Sorry photo credit unknown.)

Additional Notes:
- Dynamotor is located behind small round glass window on left side of BC-604. Dynamotor was changeable and available in 12V. or 24V. to match vehicle specs.
- Rectangular metal panel in upper left corner of BC-604 is a screw locked drawer containing additional tuning crystals.
- Each receiver and transmitter could accommodate up to ten crystals and the chrome buttons on each device allowed you to select the desired channel just like an old fashioned car radio.
- SCR stands for "Signal Corps Radio"
- BC stands for "Basic Component"
- Whenever the "push to talk" button was pushed on any microphone in the vehicle one would often pause a second to allow the dynamotor to run up to speed before talking.
- Dynamotor only ran when transmitting or when communicating internally within the tank. But when the vehicle was more of less quiet you could hear the dyna wind up before someone spoke so it was sort of a "call to attention"
- Beer can sized round tube often seen on front left of FT shelf rack is "dead load resister" for antenna circuit. When in use this device greatly limited the broadcast range of the radio when multiple tanks were closely parked and concealed and did not wish to give away their position. (Also used for radio maintenance and tuning.)

Hope I am not covering ground everyone already knows.

I was fortunate to have been the Project Assistant on the installation and repair of five of these radios in two operating Stuarts and three Shermans at the Patton Museum some years back.

Thank you for the replies everyone, hope this gets me closer to how I need to build the interior of my build.

p.s. In this case all radios in both the Shermans and Stuarts were originally installed in the turret bustle - unfortunately no sponson placed radios on the Patton project.

Now we are getting somewhere. Closer scrutiny revealed the following:

2 tanks including the subject of my build have an SCR-508 base with mast on the hull location BUT.. also an SCR-610 base WITHOUT mast on the turret. The third tank has a 610 base WITH mast on the hull and either nothing or a 508 base on the turret.

All things considered it looks like my build needs a 508 in the sponson like everyone suspected but what's with the mastless 610 base and seemingly reversed combination on the other tank?

Both SCR-508 and SCR-610 are FM radios but of different frequency ranges.

SCR-610 was probably used to communicate with ground troops and/or forward artillery spotters.