M-26 Pershing heavy tank
After the M-6 (p.W:MP69) was cancelled, the Ordnance Department continued working on a heavy tank as it was obvious to many that the M-4 (p.W102) was not up to dealing with the Tiger (p.W104) or Panther (p.W:IC81). The resulting vehicle, the T26E3, was about the same size as the M-6 but was much lighter and armed with a more formidable gun, a modification of an anti-aircraft gun and nearly the equal of the German 88. As with the M-6, there was a fight to get the M-26 into production, but this time the heavy tank advocates won. Only around 200 were deployed operationally in Europe before the war ended (plus another 110 in reserve), including some 20 test models which saw action in late 1944. Some 1,400 were built by June 1945 and around 2,000 by the end of 1945.
The M-26 had a conventional crew complement for the period, with commander and gunner in the turret, the driver and co-driver/hull MG gunner in the body and the loader split between the two. The M-26 uses 16.8 gallons per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel and ammo costs $2,608.
Subassemblies: Very Large Tank chassis with mild slope +4, full
rotation Large AFV turret [Body:T] +3, full rotation Mini open mount +0,
tracks +3.
Powertrain: 373-kW HP gas engine w/ 373-kW tracked drivetrain
and 220 gallons fuel in self-sealing fuel tank [body]; 16,000-kWs batteries.
Occupancy: 2 CS Body, 2 CS Turret, 1 CS both Cargo:
8.2 Body, 2.3 Turret.
| Armor | F | RL | B | T | U |
| Body | 5/510 | 4/250 | 4/150 | 4/75 | 4/75 |
| Tracks | 4/50 | 4/50 | 4/50 | 4/50 | 4/50 |
| Turret | 4/400 | 4/300 | 4/300 | 4/100 | 0/0 |
Weaponry
88mm Medium TG /90mm M-3 [Tur:F] (70).
Ground LMG/M-1919A4 [Tur:F] (3000).
Ground LMG/M-1919A4 [Body:F] (2000).
Very Long Ground HMG/M-2HB [OM:F] (550).
Equipment
Body: Fire extinguisher, small radio receiver and transmitter,
10.5-kW traversing gear for turret.
Statistics
| Size: 29’¥12’¥9’ | Payload: 2.43 tons | Lwt: 46.3 tons |
| Volume: 178 | Maint.: 29 hours | Price: $47,900 |
HT: 9
HP: 2300 [Body], 225 [Turret], 800 [Each Track]
| gSpeed: 25 | gAccel: 2 | gDecel: 20 | gMR: 0.25 | gSR: 6 | GP: Low (2/3) |
Design Notes
The design purchased 219 gallons of fuel tanks. The historical value
has been used instead. The design weight was decreased 4% to match historical
weight and gSpeed was reduced from the 28 mph design speed. Turret armor
is expensive.
Variants
The M-45 (1945) was a close-support tank that replaced the 90mm tank
gun with a 105mm howitzer.
Sources:
http://www.wwiivehicles.com
http://www.onwar.com/tanks
Armored Wargaming, Bruce Quarrie, 1988