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recon4ww2 · Last edited by recon4ww2 on Thu Jun 11, 2009 4:53 pm; edited 1 time in total

I found my photos from Troy and Pleasant Hill, OH
Please click on photo for larger version

Mike Haines

recon4ww2

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recon4ww2

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recon4ww2

Pleasant Hill

ShermanWasRight

- recon4ww2

Pleasant Hill

Thanks for posting these. Do you have a better location for the Pleasant Hill tank? I've got what google maps gave me saved, but it's just a field in the middle of nowhere.

Joe_D

Wow,

That tank (SN 20) had went through a complete refurb at one time. Armored air cleaners, newer phone box, newer headlight guards, all the old attachment points removed from the turret for the M2 and search light, even has the newer T142 track. Data plate says it all. If it was the original plate it would have an inspectors acceptance stamp and manufacture date along with who built her. There should be a smaller plate riveted in there (usually right of the drivers panel) of the rebuild date and who did it. The Thurmont MD tank went through a similar upgrade and she's a "Training Tank Only" .

IAW "Patton" by Hunnicutt, only the 4 pilots and first 15 production tanks were thin hulled and marked like this. This one should be the first "To Specs" M60 produced. Also IAW Hunnicutt, 2205 production models were produced. I need to check my other references closer now Confused

recon4ww2

When you go west on Fenner road off of State Route 48 and come to the first curve there should be a VFW sign and on the left a long gravel lane going south through the woods at the end of the lane you will see the lot and a loop with the tank in the middle. On Goggle maps it is just above the border between the 2 levels of resolution (blurry to the south clear to the north)
Hope this helps,
Mike

ShermanWasRight

- recon4ww2

When you go west on Fenner road off of State Route 48 and come to the first curve there should be a VFW sign and on the left a long gravel lane going south through the woods at the end of the lane you will see the lot and a loop with the tank in the middle. On Goggle maps it is just above the border between the 2 levels of resolution (blurry to the south clear to the north)
Hope this helps,
Mike

Once again, Oy. Thanks for pointing that out Smile

recon4ww2

use this link and pan west, south west and you can see the tank pretty good (If the link works)
www.bing.com/maps/defa...E0MjMzNA==

It should work for the Troy tank also

Mike

Kurt_Laughlin · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 577

In the 1950's and beyond it seems that the serials were not always issued in exact chronological order. Note for example the mismatch between serial and registration number sequences.

Regarding Hunnicutt, he probably used the best available information. I have a number of official Ordnance documents that completely mistake the model of the tank. There were also more Shermans made than the well-known 49,000 - odd number of accepted tanks. They were just not counted as part of the normal contractual process.

KL

Joe_D

Kurt,

In regards to M60's, the SN's are a much better indicator of age than most since they were produced at one plant (Detroit) with the exception of the first two batches in Newark Delaware. Going through some of my Army references I found the following,

M60 SN 6 thru 1909 M17C Rangefinder
M60 SN 1910 thru 2209 M17A1 Rangefinder
M60A1 SN 2210 on up M17A1 Rangefinder

No mention of SN 1 thru 5, which would include the four PV's

In another manual it stated SN 1 thru 364 had a unique torsion bar anchor for the front and middle units. This corresponds with the Newark production numbers and four PV's.

I wonder if there ever was a SN 5 produced. Would explain the SN 20 being a thin hull. Just doesn't jive with Mr. Hunnicutt's total M60 production numbers of 2205. TACOM does list a SN 5 at Waukon/ Manona IA, Kinda far to drive for me check it out in person, especially since there's no really good address. Picture I have doesn't show the front hull either.

Another mystery on my list to solve Confused

Kurt_Laughlin · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 577

What I was meaning was that the later serials may not have been consecutive on a micro scale. For example, S/N 5 through 10 may have been built on the same day but may have rolled off the line as 5, 7, 8, 9, 6, 10. The asignment of R/Ns seems to have been by a guy going down a line of parked tanks while in WW II there seems to have been a greater effort to match the R/N with the S/N.

Don't discount the second point either. Just last night I was looking at some original records that listed a particular Sherman as S/N 30253 when I have photos of the vehicle with 30263 painted on the side.

KL

bsmart

Also don't discount the 'oops facter' It may be easier to change the paperwork than restencil the vehicle if you get it wrong

(Or just let it slide and hope no one notices before it gets far enough into the system that it never gets caught) Rolling Eyes

Joe_D

RN' also get screwed up since they are Army tracking mechanisms.

Tanks produced new for foreign sales and the USMC wouldn't receive them and would cause serious jumps in the sequence. Many of the early M60's I documented didn't have RN's stamped in the front hull. The ones that did looked like it was done later in life during a rebuild. Most of the Mississippi RN numbers stamped were a much smaller size, about 2/3rds the size of the standard numerals you would find on a later model tank. Coincidentally these tanks all appeared to have gone through a major refurbishment.

What I was meaning was that the later serials may not have been consecutive on a micro scale. For example, S/N 5 through 10 may have been built on the same day but may have rolled off the line as 5, 7, 8, 9, 6, 10.

That I agree with,

Another consideration is that production, weather it be in Detroit or Newark, was dependent on delivery of the cast hulls and turrets from other locations (East Chicago, Pittsburgh, Wheeling, etc). So in theory a thin hull could be a higher number than 20 if delivered late. All thin hulled tanks I've seen were one piece made by General Steel Castings Corporation from Pittsburgh. This would explain why I haven't found any official list of SN's in Army TM's or Memos of these tanks yet. But I really can't believe there isn't one, considering they had to notify units to mark these particular tanks. The most maddening thing is that when these tanks are retired, some have the markings ground off when restored for display. SN 10 at FT Hood is a good example of that. (BTW if your out there Jeff, I'm still waiting to get a good location on her to check out the smooth bore gun).

Still deciphering M60's one at a time.

MarkHolloway

CEV Prototype with backhoe attachment:

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