M51 Super Sherman
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The Sherman M-50 and the Sherman M-51, both often referred to abroad as the Super Sherman, were modified versions of the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
M4 Sherman tank that served with the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
from the mid-1950s to early 1980s. The M-51 was also referred to as the Isherman (i.e. Israeli Sherman). However, the nicknames "Super Sherman" and "Isherman" were never officially used by the Israeli Defense Forces.


History

In 1953, an Israeli military delegation visited France to examine the then-new AMX-13/75 light tank, which was armed with the high-velocity CN 75-50 75 mm tank gun. While the tank's main gun was considered satisfactory, its armor was deemed to be too light. Eventually, Israel did purchase the AMX-13, but, in a similar parallel development, it was decided that the 75mm main guns of the AMX-13s Israel bought would be grafted to the more-familiar and the better-armored hull of the American M4 Sherman medium tank, which was the standard tank of the IDF's armored units (a large quantity of post-WWII Sherman tanks ended up under Israeli military service from 1948 onwards) during the period of the early 1950s. This project started in 1954 and in 1955, a prototype turret was sent from France to Israel.Givati, pp. 83-84. In March 1956, Israeli Ordnance Corps military facilities began to convert (up-gun) their Sherman tanks with 75mm tank guns of AMX-13s bought and received from France.Granovskiy, ''Names, Designations and Service Figures of IDF Armored Vehicles''. The 75mm tank gun was known in Israel as the ''M-50'' and, as a result, the up-gunned Sherman was designated as the Sherman M-50. The M-50 was similar to the WWII-era British Sherman Firefly tank in that it possessed the original smaller type of Sherman tank turret (as used by US Shermans which carry the original 75mm M3 tank gun) which was fitted with a large counterweight at the turret's rear end to balance the weight of a longer and heavier tank gun. The first 50 units were based on M4A4 hulls, had a
Continental R-975 The Wright R-975 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of about and power ratings of . They were the largest membe ...
gasoline engine and VVSS suspension. However, the increased weight of the vehicle combined with narrow tracks led to poor off-road mobility. It was also putting too much strain on the engine, resulting in frequent mechanical failures. Consequently, for the rest of the conversions, hulls fitted with HVSS suspension and Cummins V-8 diesel engine were adopted. These subvariants were sometimes referred to as the M-50 Continental and M-50 Cummins, or M-50 ''Degem Alef'' and M-50 ''Degem Bet'' respectively. Diesel engines were also preferred since diesel fuel is less flammable than gasoline, which factors into battlefield survivability. In total, about 300 M-50s were built by 1964 (though it's possible that this number includes 120 155 mm self-propelled guns on Sherman chassis, also designated M-50). This same gun was also fitted to a number of M10 tank destroyers. In the 1960s, 180 Sherman tanks received a shortened version of the even more powerful French
105 mm Modèle F1 The Canon de 105 mm modèle F1 (or CN-105-F1) is a French 105 mm tank gun used with the AMX-30. History The CN 105 F1 was designed at the end of the 1950s by the arsenal of Bourges (EFAB) under the project name D1512, its development was ...
gun. The barrel length of the gun was reduced from 56 caliber to 51 and it was equipped with a unique double-baffle muzzle brake; ammunition was altered to use a smaller cartridge. In Israel the gun was designated ''M-51'' and the tank the Sherman M-51. M4A1 hulls and the larger T23 turrets (from 76 mm armed Shermans) were used for the conversion. All tanks were fitted with Cummins diesel engines and HVSS suspension. The tank was displayed to the public for the first time during the
Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
ceremony in 1965. Abroad the M-50 was known as ''Super Sherman'' (the "Continental" variant as Mark I and the "Cummins" variant as Mark II) and the M-51 as either ''Super Sherman'', ''Isherman'' (i.e. ''Israeli Sherman'') or ''M4A1 Revalorise''. These designations were never used in Israel. The only tank model designated Super Sherman by the IDF was the M4A1 with 76 mm M1 gun and HVSS suspension, which was named ''Super Sherman M-1''.


Service history

The first 25 M-50s were finished just in time for
Operation Kadesh The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
– the Israeli 29 October 1956 invasion of the Sinai – against the Egyptian Army (which also employed its own up-gunned version of the M4 Sherman, fitted with the French AMX-13 turret, making it equal to the M-50 in firepower). In 1964, Israel neared completion of its National Water Carrier to divert water from the
Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest ...
as allocated in the multinational 1955 Unified (Johnston) Plan. The Arab nations were in uproar, and
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
began a project to divert water into Jordan (the
Headwater Diversion Plan The Headwater Diversion Plan was an Arab League plan to divert two of the three sources of the Jordan River, and prevent them from flowing into the Sea of Galilee, in order to thwart Israel's plans to use the water of the Hasbani and Bania ...
). Maj General Israel Tal had trained Israeli tank gunners to shoot beyond and, on March 6, 1965, an M-50, commanded by Tal, engaged a Syrian
recoilless rifle A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...
that had killed an Israeli tractor driver; Tal personally destroyed the recoilless rifle at long range. A few days later, General Tal, with an M-50 and a Centurion Mk III tank, was waiting for a chance to fire upon the Syrian water diverting project. When Syrian gunners fired on a border patrol, Tal's M-50 and the Centurion fired on eight tractors away, and destroyed them all in two minutes with 10 shots – Tal destroyed 5 tractors with his M-50's 75 mm gun, and the Centurion destroyed the remainder. Both the M-50 and M-51 saw combat in the Six-Day War that left the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Sinai peninsula in Israeli hands, often fighting against Soviet World War II-era armor like the T-34-85 (for example at the Battle of Abu-Ageila). Both were also employed in the 1973 Yom Kippur War alongside and against much more modern tanks. The use of such seemingly obsolete tanks was necessary given the desperate nature of the fighting. In combat against the Arab armies, the M-51 proved itself capable of fighting newer, heavier tanks like the Soviet-built T-54/55/ T-62. The M-51's 105 mm gun could penetrate these adversaries using HEAT ammunition. The M-51 served well during its time, and is regarded as an excellent example of how an obsolete tank (the Sherman) can be upgraded beyond the limits of its original capabilities.Gelbart, p.45 The M-50 Continentals were retired by 1972. The M-50 Cummins and M-51 were gradually phased out in late 1970s to early 1980s. During the Lebanese Civil War, some 75 M-50s were given as aid to the Israeli-supported Lebanese Christian militiasKataeb Regulatory Forces (19), Tigers Militia (20), Guardians of the Cedars (1), the
Lebanese Forces The Lebanese Forces ( ar, القوات اللبنانية '')'' is a Lebanese Christian-based political party and former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's parliament and is therefore th ...
(40), and the South Lebanon Army (35) – in 1976; two tanks were later captured by the
Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...
(PLO), which employed them in the defense of West Beirut during the June 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.Photos of two derelict M-50 Shermans at the Beirut Stadium being inspected by French paratroopers from the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), September 1982.
/ref> About 100 of the remaining tanks of this model were sold to Chile in the late 1980s. Some of those were fitted with the IMI-OTO 60 mm Hyper Velocity Medium Support (HVMS) gun, and were often referred to as M-60. This variant was never used by the IDF. Chile used its Shermans until 1999, when they were replaced by the Leopard 1. The few M-51s that Israel retained were converted into engineer vehicles and self-propelled artillery.


Operators

* – ≈50 M-50 upgraded with the 60 mm IMI-OTO HVMS gun, ≈150 M 51 * – M-50, M-51 * – M-50 ( Kataeb Regulatory Forces,
Lebanese Forces The Lebanese Forces ( ar, القوات اللبنانية '')'' is a Lebanese Christian-based political party and former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's parliament and is therefore th ...
, Tigers Militia, Guardians of the Cedars, South Lebanon Army) * – two captured M-50s in Lebanon


See also

*
Postwar Sherman Tanks In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
* M4 Sherman *
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
* List of weapons of the Lebanese Civil War


References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * Givati, Moshe - ''The Armor Craftsmen - The History of the 7100 Restoration and Maintenance Center'', MoD 1998 ( , 1998, משה גבעתי - בידיהם חושלה הפלדה - סיפורו של מרכז שיקום ואחזקה 7100, משרד הבטחון הוצאה לאור ). * Samer Kassis, ''30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon'', Beirut: Elite Group, 2003. * Samer Kassis, ''Véhicules Militaires au Liban/Military Vehicles in Lebanon 1975-1981'', Trebia Publishing, Chyah 2012. * Steven J. Zaloga, ''Armour of the Middle East Wars 1948-78'', Vanguard series 19, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1981. * Moustafa El-Assad, ''Blue Steel IV: M-50 Shermans and M-50 APCs in South Lebanon'', Blue Steel books, Sidon 2007. * Zachary Sex & Bassel Abi-Chahine, ''Modern Conflicts 2: The Lebanese Civil War, from 1975 to 1991 and Beyond'', Modern Conflicts Profile Guide Volume II, AK Interactive, 2021. ISBN 8435568306073
Oleg Granovskiy, ''Names, Designations and Service Figures of IDF Armored Vehicles'' (Олег Грановский - ''Названия, обозначения и количества бронетанковой техники АОИ'') at Waronline.org


External links



*Sherman at Israeli-weapons.com:





:A restoration of an original M50 at
Eden Camp Museum Eden Camp Modern History Museum is a large Second World War-related museum near Malton in North Yorkshire in England. It occupies a former Second World War prisoner-of-war camp of 33 huts. After the prisoners left, the camp was used for s ...

Global Security's history of the Super Sherman
{{Subject bar , portal1=Tanks , portal2=War Tanks of Israel Medium tanks of the Cold War M4 Sherman tanks Military vehicles introduced in the 1950s