M4 Sherman Firefly

Three different variants of sherman firefly served during the second world war each based on different variants of the m4 sherman.

M4 sherman firefly. The united states provided tens of thousands of its medium tank m4 also named the sherman to many of its allies during the second world war under the terms of lend lease. Sherman firefly about 2 000 m4s firefly ic and m4a4s firefly vc were re armed by the british in 1944 with their 17 pounder 76 2 mm guns as the sherman firefly. It differed from the u s. The m4 sherman officially medium tank m4 was the most widely used medium tank by the united states and western allies in world war ii.

In all some 2 000 sherman fireflies would make it into service. Therefore the sherman i which was a base m4 sherman was used for the new sherman firefly as were the sherman i hybrid m4 composite named as sch due to the welded and cast hull construction and the sherman v an m4a4 sherman. The sherman firefly is easily distinguishable by its very long gun even compared to the shermans with the american 76 mm guns. In late 1944 88 m4s and m4a3s were upgraded with the 17 pounder gun at the request of the us army a small handful being issued the italian theater.

Version by having a more powerful 17 pounder gun different placement of the radio and ammunition no bow gun and no driver s assistant position. The firefly conversion was carried out on sherman i m4 sherman i hybrid m4 composite and sherman v m4a4 tanks. It is essentially an m4 sherman tank with its main cannon replaced by a massive 17 pounder anti tank gun. Turning the sherman into a killer from the hedgerow of normandy france to the hills of italy and the plains of netherlands the firefly was one of the few allied tanks the germans learned to fear.

A british version of the american m4 sherman tank developed in early 1944. It was based on the us m4 sherman but fitted with the powerful 3 inch 76 2 mm calibre british 17 pounder anti tank gun as its main weapon. It was also the basis of several successful tank destroyers such as the m10 achilles and m36. The sherman firefly was a tank used by the united kingdom and some commonwealth and allied armoured formations in the second world war.