Sherman getting a concrete job

[armyjunk2]

Concrete job

[Tanklord]

Looks like a lot of work. What was its main purpose? Defeat HEAT rounds...panzerfaust/panzerschrecke? Or was it additional armor for AP?

[bsmart]

I wish the guy in front wasn't hiding the bow MG.

Gives a whole new meaning to 'Composite Hull'

[claude_GILLONO]

Most probably against hollow charge rockets
HTH

[claude_GILLONO]

Nice 105mm armed Shermie
M4A3 judging by the upright grill arrest plate on the rear side engine deck

[armyjunk2]

ask and you shall recieve

[MarkHolloway]

I see sandbags. I wonder if the layer of cement just held them in place?

[toadmanstankpictures]

The second tank is a M4A3(76) but apparently "concreted" by the same unit. I guess they didn't plan on using the gun travel lock anytime soon.

[Dennis_Smith]

I wonder if that's Stolberg, Germany? Here's an excerpt from a book...

"The tank crews took every means available to reinforce the front glacis plate. They stored spare track blocks and bogey wheels there. Some crews put sandbags on the glacis plate; others used a combination of logs and sandbags laced together with chicken wire.
At Stolberg the crews continued their efforts at the abandoned cement factory, making concrete armor..."

[armyjunk2]

Photo have no info on them, so it could be.

[JeffStringer]

The sandbags actually helped keep the concrete in place. PATTON hated seeing any Sherman sandbagged and probably even this method too.

[bsmart]

Patton hated any non standard 'armor' He felt that it overloaded the suspension and drive train and made the tank less manuevrble. He felt the Sherman was balanced as built and that the jury rigged armor only made performance deteriorate. What he didn't consider was the psychological effects of the extra 'armor'

[Joe_D]

That Panzefaust made it real easy to kill a Sherman, not that it wasn't already.

Any dedicated teenager (Hitler Youth) could use it. Knowing how to stay alive after launch was the key. Unfortunately many did not listen to the older vets and "Volks Sturm" to just go home.

[binder001]

Nice photos. I had seen the 105H version but not the close up of the 76mm.

Obviously the concrete would have very little effect on an incoming 75mm or 88mm AP so the main effect would have been against HEAT weapons, plus the psychological advantage.

On the Patton comment - yes, he hated the extemoraneous armor, but in Feb 45 the Third Army DID authorize a "standard" upgrade using steel salvaged from other tanks.

Gary

[armyjunk2]

I found titles.... these are from the Patton Museum Library

A German Panzerfaust 100 penetrated the side of the M4A3E8 tank reinforced with 7” of concrete at a distance of 20 feet. 1st Armored Group, VI Corps, US 7th Army, Neupfotz, Germany 3/28/45