Does anyone have pictures of the various types of Sherman turrets? Also info as to what variations and when they were used? Thanks in advance.

That's a rather large request. Perhaps if you describe your project we can better narrow down an answer.

Yeah, I knda figured it was. My real question is are the turrets basically the same? What is the difference between "low bustle" and "high bustle". What about mantlets? I know I have seen different shapes, but when was there a difference?

Huge, actually! :-)



It's more accurate to say they were all similar when the same gun was fitted. The basics stayed the same, i.e. turret ring dia. exterior dimensions, location of gun mount, location of commander's hatch, etc.

Now, the 75mm turrets were significantly different than the later 76mm turrets, which also went through a list of changes, abeit a smaller list to be sure.




The bustle is the bulge at the very back of the turret. On "low bustle" turrets, there is a very noticable slope between the flat roof of the turret and the rear face of the bustle, close to 45 degrees. On "high bustle" turrets the floor of the bustle was raised 6-8" to clear the larger hatches on the new hulls and thus there isn't much of an angle between the roof top and the rear face of the bustle.



Very early 75mm- M34 rotor shield, a simple curved casting that just protected the opening in the hull for the gun elevation. The co-ax MG barrel sometimes had a seperate rotor shield as well.
Early 75mm- M34 rotor shield. Later production M34s had a vertical extensions on either side of the barrel (frequently referred to as "cheeks") that protected the reciprocating portion of the barrel from bullets & splinters that might otherwise cause the gun to jam when recoiling. The co-ax MG barrel sometimes had a seperate rotor shield as well.
Later 75mm - M34A1 rotor shield. Widened to extend across the face of the gun mount. Includes the "cheeks", MG rotor sheield and themount for the telescope.
Reworked 75mm turrets - Some M34 mantlets with cheeks were reworked when the vehicle was overhauled with cast extensions to make then function like the M34A1 design.



Not entirely sure what you mean by this. If yuo are asking when each of teh changes entered service, then this is a very hard question as most of these changes were implemented as the production houses a) received stock of new parts and b) decided when to use up stocks of old parts. Some plants would do first in-first out batching while others did last in - first out meaning that new featured turrets could end up on older hulls or vice versa.

Note that these are far from the only changes or differences in 75mm turrets. You have variations on pistol ports, commander's hatches, loaders hatches, gunenrs armour, applique armour, periscope or telescope sighting, etc., etc., etc.

I can almost guarantee that this hasn't helped. More details on Sherman issues almost never helps, it just leads to further research and the need for more books...

:-)

On the contrary Paul, this information has helped considerably. I know my questions were very vague. It's sometimes hard for me to get outta my mind what I'm trying to ask, but you haave help a bunch. Thanks.

Paul generally answered most of them.

Not really sure what you're seeking but once again giving us a better idea of what you have in mind would certain narrow down the timeframe and location thus giving us more clues as to the combination you are seeking. There are lots of restrictions among the various combinations of Sherman parts that were available.

Hi Tony ..Welcome to the world of the Sherman tank ...Paul has done a super job to help you out ..Now if you tell us when and where you want to place your Sherman we might narrow down some of the characteristics ie; Invasion of Italy 1943 ...Or D-day or Battle of the Bulge... Let us know and I'm sure we can help.

Rick

Okay, let's say late 1944, BoB or early 1945.

Late 1944 you would probably see a lot of 75mm M34a Mantlet with the high bustle turret and small oval loaders hatch. The commander's hatch could be the split hatch or the all around periscope single hatch.

About that time you would start seeing an increasing number of 76mm T23 turrets with the round loaders hatch.

One thing to remember is that the later the war there is still a chance of any earlier model turret out there. There are pics of M4A1 with direct vision and M3 bogies still around in 1945!!

Tony
Two great Sherman books I reccomend are from Squadron-Signal Sherman in Action and Sherman Walkaround A lot of great pics

Osprey has some titles as well However the Squdron series has a lot more pics If you get a chance try to get the Concord books on the Sherman Sadly they are out of print Also U.S. Tank Battles in France/Germany Also out of print But maybe E-bay has them Or someone selling them on the forums here


Here's a link to a Yahoo group on the Sherman tank
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShermanTankModeler2/

Good deal. Thanks to everyone for the info and assistance. One more question, was the "Easy Eight" about the last of the variations to be produced? I know they made it to Korea.

Well first of all the E8 only refers to the HVSS suspension type. M4A3E8 would be an M4A3 with HVSS. However there were other variations after the M4A4. There were M4A5 and A6s that were not E8. I don't believe that the A5 or A6 were made in any significant quantities since WW2 ended. Many of these went into storage around the US so that they would not be caught short of armored forces like they did at the start of WW2.

So I guess to answer your question the E8 versions were probably the last significant version to see combat in WW2 although it was not really the last Sherman produced.

M4A5 was the US designation for the Canadian built Ram II medium tank. The M4A6 was a diesel powered(different from the M4A2) Sherman of which only 75 were built between October 43 and Feb 44. None were shipped overseas.

Chris "toadman" Hughes
Toadman's Tank Pictures