（翻译）战争雷霆维基百科 M4“谢尔曼” 坦克（下篇）
接上文：
历史
The Battle of France in 1940 proved to America that their current Tank arsenal would not be able to withstand a German assault. The only Tanks in their inventory at that time was the M2 light Tank and the M2 medium Tank, both are inadequate against the German panzer IIIs and the panzer IVs. The US Army, in response, ordered for a Tank armed with a 75 mm gun. While a 75 mm gun was available for use, a turret able to mount the gun was not. So while the turret and Tank design underwent development, the 75 mm would be mounted on the stopgap M3 Lee Tank in a sponson mount. This interim design put the 75 mm on a lower and limited traverse mount that restricted its firing angle, but it did give the Western Allies a Tank with the gun, so it was issued by the thousands until a better design could be produced.
1940年的法国战役向美国证明，他们目前的坦克无法抵挡德国的进攻。当时他们的库存中只有M2轻型坦克和M2中型坦克，这两种坦克都不足以对付德国的三号和四号坦克。作为法国战役的回应，美国陆军订购了一辆装有75毫米炮的坦克。虽然有一门75毫米炮可以使用，但没有一个能安装该炮的炮塔。因此，当可安装75毫米炮的炮塔和坦克的设计正在进行时，75毫米炮将临时安装在M3“李”坦克上。这种临时设计将75毫米炮装在一个较低且有限的横装上，从而限制了它的射击角度，但它确实给了西方盟国一辆带有该炮的坦克，所以它被成千上万的人使用，直到生产出来更好的坦克。
During the M3 medium's development, the designs of the 75 mm armed vehicle were being drawn up and submitted by the Ordnance Department. Specifications on the Tank design were strict in order to maximize logistical support. Restrictions were made on the Tank's height, width, and weight in order to make it able to be transported over bridges, roads, railroads, and on naval ships. These specifications would help the Army by making the Tank be very flexible on strategic, logistical, and tactical grounds. On April 1941, the Armored Force Board chose the simplest of the designs, which was a redesigned M3 hull and chassis with a turret mounting the 75 mm gun designated the T6, completed in September 1941. This Tank would then designated the Medium Tank M4 in American service. The Tank would eventually become the most used Allied Tank during World War II as it was lent out by the thousands in the Lend-Lease program to the Allied countries. The British designated the M4 the "Sherman", which coined into the Tank's name M4 Sherman that it would be known as in history. The production for the Shermans began on October 1941 and would continue to be produced until the end of the war in 1945 with around 50,000 units produced, making it the second most-produced Tank in World War II before the T-34 Tank.
在M3中型坦克的发展期间，军械部起草并提交了搭载75毫米炮装甲车的设计。坦克设计的规格很严格，以最大限度地提高后勤保障。为了能在桥梁、公路、铁路和海军舰艇上运输，坦克的高度、宽度和重量都受到了限制。这些规格将有助于陆军在战略、后勤和战术方面非常灵活使用坦克。1941年4月，装甲兵委员会选择了最简单的设计方案，即一个重新设计的M3车体和底盘，炮塔安装了一门被命名为T6的75毫米炮，于1941年9月完成。这种坦克后来被指定为中型坦克M4在美国服役。这辆坦克最终成为二战期间使用最多的盟军坦克，成千上万的M4在《租借法案》中被租借给盟国。英国人将M4命名为“谢尔曼”，并将其命名为M4“谢尔曼”。谢尔曼坦克的生产从1941年10月开始，一直持续到1945年战争结束，大约生产了5万辆，使其成为第二次世界大战中产量仅次于T-34坦克的第二大坦克。
设计
Many variants of the Shermans were produced, but they all followed a similar layout. The driver and bow gunner sat in the front driving compartment, the fighting compartment in the middle housed the turret its three crew member, and in the back was the engine compartment. The Sherman used many features present in previous American Tank designs, the vertical volute suspension system (VVSS) and radial engine from the M2 Light Tanks, and the sloping armour of the M2 Medium Tanks. This became a contributing factor on the Sherman's reliability on the field, as most of the design flaws were ironed out with the previous Tank designs. The Tank-mounted the 75 mm M3 gun, giving the Tank very good AP and HE capabilities. The Sherman's turret traverse speed was very fast, able to traverse a full 360 degrees in only 15 seconds, which is considerably faster than the traverse speed on most German Tanks. Another unique feature on the Sherman was the installation of a gyroscopic stabilizer on the gun and sight, making the Sherman one of the first produced Tanks to incorporate those features. While the stabilization was only done for the vertical plane, it kept the gun stable enough to be able to shoot on the move effectively, with a study showing a 70 % hit probability on an enemy 300 to 1,200 yards away when moving at a speed of 15 mph. However, this feature was controversial among the crew and experiences with it vary.
谢尔曼有许多不同的被投入生产的型号，但它们的布局相似。驾驶员和机枪手坐在前面的驾驶舱中，中间的战斗舱容纳炮塔内的三名乘员，后面是发动机舱。谢尔曼使用了很多美国坦克以前的设计特点，M2轻型坦克的垂直螺旋弹簧悬挂系统(VVSS)和星形发动机，以及M2中型坦克的倾斜装甲。由于大多数设计缺陷都被先前的坦克设计所排除，这成为了保证谢尔曼的战场可靠性的一个重要因素。安装在坦克上的75mm M3炮，给了坦克非常好的反装甲和反步兵能力。谢尔曼的炮塔转速非常快，能够在15秒内转动360度，这比大多数德国坦克的炮塔转动速度要快得多。谢尔曼坦克的另一个独特的特点是在炮和瞄准器上安装了一个陀螺仪稳定器，这使得谢尔曼坦克成为首批具备这些特点的坦克之一。虽然这种稳定器只在垂直平面上使用，但它能保证火炮足够稳定，使其能够在移动中有效射击。一项研究显示，当以每小时15英里的速度移动时，射击300到1200码外的敌人上有70%的命中概率。然而，这一功能在装甲兵中存在争议，他们的体验也各不相同。
The M4 Sherman model ran on a gasoline Continental R975 radial engine and was one of the first models of the Sherman developed. The early M4 Sherman featured the M38 telescopic sight in the M4 periscope with no zoom, but experience in North Africa and recommendations from the British changed the sight into the M55 telescopic sight integrated into the gun mantlet.[1] This change in optics required appliqué armour to be added at the turret area in front of the gunner since the modification left the area weaker than the overall turret. This problem would be fixed in later-production models of the M4 Sherman. The Tank's hull was welded, with the front armour plate placed on a 56-degree sloping angle. An early design defect with the design was the protruding armoured hatches for the driver and assistant driver. These protrusions create "shot traps" as they were in a near vertical position that gave less protection on the front armour than the sloping areas. This was fixed on later models as well. Up to 6,748 M4A1s were produced from July 1942 to January 1944, out of the 49,234 total Sherman units produced in the war.
M4“谢尔曼”装备有一个大陆R975星形汽油发动机，这是谢尔曼的第一个型号。早期的M4“谢尔曼”在M4潜望镜中使用了M38望远式瞄准镜，其没有变焦功能，但是在北非作战的经验和来自英国的建议，使谢尔曼将望远式瞄准镜更换为了M55望远式瞄准镜，并集成到了炮盾上。这种光学器材上的变化要求在炮塔前部增加嵌花（appliqué）装甲，因为光学器材的修改使得该区域比整个炮塔更弱。这个问题将在M4“谢尔曼”后期型中得到解决。坦克的车体是焊接的，前装甲板有56度的倾斜角度。设计的一个早期设计缺陷是驾驶员和副驾驶的装甲舱口突出。这些突起形成了“射击陷阱”，因为它们处于接近垂直的位置，对前装甲的保护比倾斜的区域要差。这个问题在后来的型号上也解决了。从1942年7月到1944年1月，总共生产了6748辆M4A1，在战争中总共生产了49234辆谢尔曼。
战斗使用
欧洲战场
The Shermans first saw combat in the North African Campaign in the Second Battle of El Alamein on October 1942 in the hands of the British. It was much quicker to reinforce the British armoured divisions with the more than 300 Shermans sent to North Africa than it was to create new American ones. It proved much better than the German panzer IIIs and panzer IVs, able to eliminate them at distances more than 2,000 yards away. The Americans received their first Shermans in the next month in Operation Torch. However better the Shermans were to the German Tanks at the time, the Allied armoured units still suffered casualties against the German Tanks and anti-Tank guns, most notably in the Battle of Kasserine Pass. In Italy, the Shermans proved much more mobile than the German panzers, able to travel cross-country on the hilly terrain with ease. However, it was at this stage that the Sherman's shortcoming began to take face in the advent of the newer German Tanks, the Tiger Is and Panthers. These two Tanks featured armour that proved impenetrable when fired at the front, and with guns that could take out the Shermans from farther than the Sherman's effective combat range. The Shermans have to hit the side of these Tanks for penetration and at ranges that were considered suicidal. Although programs were initiated to up-gun the Sherman with a 76 mm gun, American leaders determine that the Panther and Tigers would not be produced in large quantities and were not as great as a threat as these two vehicles could still be destroyed by the 75 mm gun and standard anti-Tank equipment.
在1942年10月的第二次阿拉曼战役中，谢尔曼坦克在英国人的使用下迎来了自己的首战。300多辆谢尔曼被派去北非增援英国装甲师，这比组建新的美国装甲师要快得多。事实证明，它比德国的三号坦克和四号坦克好得多，谢尔曼能够在2000码以外消灭它们。下个月，美国人在“火炬行动”中收到了他们的第一批谢尔曼。尽管谢尔曼坦克在当时的表现比德国坦克好，但盟军的装甲部队在与德国坦克和反坦克炮的对抗中仍然遭受了伤亡，最著名的是在卡塞林山口战役(Battle of Kasserine Pass)。在意大利，谢尔曼坦克被证明比德国坦克机动性更好，能够轻松地穿越全国的丘陵地带。然而，正是在这一阶段，随着德国新式坦克：虎式坦克和豹式坦克的出现，谢尔曼的缺点暴露了出来。谢尔曼坦克无法击穿这两者的装甲，并且虎豹的火炮可以在比谢尔曼的有效作战范围更远的地方消灭谢尔曼。谢尔曼必须击命中这些坦克的侧面才能击穿，而且要推进到被认为是自杀式的距离。虽然装备76毫米炮的谢尔曼项目已上马，但美国领导人认为虎豹不会大量生产，而且这两大威胁车辆仍然可以被75毫米炮和标准的反坦克装备给敲掉。
During the invasion of France, it was clear that the Sherman's current build with a 75 mm gun was no longer going to cut it against the German armoured forces. While the Sherman was adequate against what little panzer III and IVs the Germans have left and against infantry and fortifications with the 75 mm gun, the Panthers and Tigers were in much large quantity than expected, and proved better in armour and firepower to the Shermans. Though in the bocage country of France, the Allies lost more Tanks to hidden anti-Tank guns and infantry weapons than to Tanks. Despite these losses, the mass production of M4 Sherman back in the United States ensured that enough Tanks were available for the Allied Forces as they spearhead through France, plus the lack of any other capable Tanks meant they had to use the Shermans for the time being. The large quantities of Shermans produced during the war gave the Allied armoured units a major advantage of being fully equipped as the German panzer divisions were rarely in full strength, with some US infantry divisions having more tracked vehicles than some of the panzer divisions. Due to the high attrition rates, Tank crews sometimes add improvised armour onto their Shermans in the form of sandbags and logs in hopes of increased survival, but these were determined to be ineffective from evaluations. A more effective method was to have metal armour welded on in improvisation, and an official project was made for such "assault Tanks" that ended with the M4A3E2 "Jumbos" with 254 made for the fighting in Europe. The Allies continued to use 75 mm Shermans until the Battle of the Bulge in Winter 1944, when the commanders request only 76 mm Shermans to be brought into Europe as the battle showed the intense armour disparity with the German's large numbers of Panthers and Tiger II Tanks. While new units arriving in Europe were armed exclusively with 76 mm armed-Shermans, the veteran units kept the 75 mm Shermans, to which it continued to do well against softer targets with little threat from German armour due to their declining numbers.
在第二次法国战役期间，很明显，装备75毫米炮的谢尔曼已经无法和德国装甲部队对抗了。谢尔曼坦克足以对抗德国留下三号坦克和四号坦克以及使用75毫米炮的步兵和防御工事，但豹式坦克和虎式坦克的数量比预期的要多，而且在装甲和火力方面都优于谢尔曼。尽管在法国的丛林中，隐蔽的反坦克炮和步兵武器对同盟国坦克所造成的损失要多于轴心国的坦克。尽管有这些损失，但在美国大量生产M4“谢尔曼”坦克的情况下，确保了盟军在法国的先头部队有足够的坦克可用，加上没有任何其他有能力的坦克意味着盟军不得不暂时使用谢尔曼。在战争期间大量生产的谢尔曼坦克给了盟军装甲部队一个装备齐全的主要优势，因为当时德国装甲师很少处于满员作战状态，一些美国步兵师的履带式车辆比一些装甲师的还要多。由于高战损率，坦克乘员有时会在谢尔曼装甲上添加沙袋和圆木，希望能增加存活几率，但从评估来看，这些都是无效的。一个更有效的方法是临时焊接金属装甲，一个“突击坦克”的官方项目上马，并以生产出254辆谢尔曼“巨无霸”而宣告结束。盟军继续使用75毫米炮的谢尔曼坦克，直到1944年冬季的突出部战役，当时指挥官们只要求将76毫米炮的谢尔曼坦克带进欧洲，因为75炮谢尔曼的战斗力比德国大量的豹式和虎式坦克差太多了。虽然欧洲的新部队只配备了76炮的谢尔曼，但老部队保留了75炮的谢尔曼，在对付软目标时，由于德国装甲单位的衰减，75炮谢尔曼仍然表现出色。
太平洋战场
The M4 Sherman's importance in the Pacific theatre was less than that of the European theatre due to the different tactical doctrine established from the amphibious nature of combat. Only about 20 Tank battalions fielded by the US Army were sent to support the Pacific theatre of operations, compared to the total 16 armoured divisions and 70 Tank battalions they have in service. The low priority in Tanks was due to the following reasons. Firstly, the jungle terrain on most of the islands fought on was unsuitable for the deployment of large-scale armoured units, relegating armour support to light Tanks such as the M3 Stuarts. Secondly, the Japanese forces' armoured units were rather inferior to the American Tank forces by 1943. While the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go Tank was comparable to the M2A4 Light Tank, the Shermans out gun these Tanks by a large margin. Such a large margin that the Tank crew prefer to use high-explosive shots against the Japanese Tank than regular armour-piercing as the AP rounds would penetrate straight through without causing much damage in the interior of the Tank. The Japanese developed the Type 3 Chi-Nu and the Type 4 Chi-To to fight back the Shermans, but these two never saw combat as they were kept at the Japanese homeland for the defence against the Allied invasion.
M4谢尔曼在太平洋战场的重要性低于欧洲战场，这是因为不同的战术原则，太平洋战场是建立在两栖作战的基础上的。美国陆军只有大约20个坦克营被派往太平洋战区支援作战，而但美军总共有16个装甲师和70个坦克营。由于以下原因，导致坦克的优先级较低。首先，大多数岛屿上的丛林地形不适合部署大型装甲部队，装甲支援只能依靠M3“斯图亚特”等轻型坦克。其次，到1943年，日本军队的装甲部队远远落后于美国坦克部队。虽然日本95式轻战车可以与M2A4轻型坦克相媲美，但谢尔曼在对抗这些坦克时有很大的优势。因为差距如此大，以至于坦克乘员更喜欢用高爆弹而不是普通的穿甲弹来打日本坦克，因为穿甲弹弹可以直接打个对穿而不会对坦克内部造成太大的伤害。日本人研制了了三式中战车和四式中战车来对抗谢尔曼，但这它们没有交手过，因为他们被留在日本本土以抵御盟军入侵。
The Shermans, when deployed, were superior to most of the Japanese anti-Tank equipment and often were essential to some of the Marines advances on some of the island assaults. In 1945, the equipping of flamethrower Shermans known as M4A3R3, nicknamed "Zippos", were a significant boost to the infantry's firepower in having a very long range of fire compared to the standard infantry-modelled flamethrowers with the benefit of being in an armoured vehicle. The Japanese solution against the Shermans, other than with their 47 mm anti-Tank guns, were often suicidal tactics ranging from placing satchel charges right onto the Tank, using pole-mounted anti-Tank mines to reach and destroy the Tank or even simply throwing oneself underneath a Tank with mine or other explosive and triggering it manually.
谢尔曼坦克部署时，日本的绝大多数反坦克火力都伤不了它，谢尔曼经常是海军陆战队（四等人）攻击某些岛屿的关键。1945年，代号M4A3R3的火焰喷射型谢尔曼列装，绰号“打火机”，与标准步兵型火焰喷射器相比，它具有非常远的射程，大大提高了步兵的火力，并在装甲车辆中发挥了优势。日本对付谢尔曼的方案,除了47毫米反坦克炮,通常是通过自杀战术从把炸药包贴到坦克上，使用刺雷（拔粪宝）摧毁坦克,甚至只是在身上绑上手雷或其它炸药手动触发。
租借
The Sherman Tank was given out in large numbers to American Allies during World War II under the Lend-Lease policy. While America retained about 20,361 Shermans in the Army and Marine Corps, 17,184 went to Britain (about 34% of Shermans produced and 78% of Shermans given out) and the Soviet Union obtained 4,102 Shermans.[2] China obtained 812 Shermans, Brazil with 53, and New Zealand and Australia for 153 Shermans total. Other countries using the Shermans were Poland, Free France, and Czechoslovakia. The British deployed the Sherman among their armoured squadrons in such a large number to become the standard Tank of their armoured forces. The increased threat of German Tanks in the European theatre also provoked the British to up-gun the M4 Sherman with a more capable gun, resulting in the Firefly.
在第二次世界大战期间，根据《租借法案》，谢尔曼坦克被大量分发给美国的同盟国。当美国在陆军和海军陆战队中保留了20361辆谢尔曼时，17184辆被分配给了英国(援英谢尔曼约占谢尔曼总产量的34%，78%的谢尔曼被援助给其他国家)，苏联得到了4102辆谢尔曼，中国有812辆谢尔曼，巴西有53辆，新西兰和澳大利亚共有153辆谢尔曼。其他使用谢尔曼的国家还有波兰、自由法国和捷克斯洛伐克。英军在其装甲中队中部署了大量的谢尔曼坦克，成为了其装甲部队的标准坦克。德国坦克在欧洲战场上的威胁增加，也促使英国人在M4谢尔曼上换装了更强大的火炮，从而产生了“萤火虫”。
战后
After the war, the Shermans continued serving America and its allies as the M4A3E8 with a new suspension and the 76 mm gun. The M26 Pershing that was introduced late in World War II was phased out for the Shermans due to its unreliability, and the Sherman stayed until the M46 Patton was introduced. After being phased out of American service, many other countries still used the Sherman as their main Tank, mainly Israel where they up-gun the Tank with the much powerful post-war French 75 mm and 105 mm gun as the M-50 and M-51 respectively (nicknamed "Super Shermans"). These proved successful as they were able to fight against the Soviet-supplied T-54 Tanks and T-34-85s in Middle East service, proving the Sherman as a successful and adaptable design for many years to come.
战后，换装新悬挂系统和76毫米炮的M4A3E8“谢尔曼”继续在美国及其盟国中服役。在第二次世界大战后期服役的M26潘兴因其不可靠而被谢尔曼淘汰，谢尔曼一直待到M46巴顿的服役。在被美国淘汰后，许多其他国家仍然使用谢尔曼作为他们的主力坦克，其中主要是以色列，他们用强大的战后法国75毫米炮和105毫米炮改装谢尔曼，分别命名为M-50和M-51(绰号“超级谢尔曼”)。这些谢尔曼被证明是成功的，因为他们能够对抗苏联提供的在中东服役的T-54坦克和T- 34-85，这证明了谢尔曼在未来许多年仍是一个成功的且适应强的设计方案。
游戏描述
The Americans did an excellent job recognizing the problems with the M3's main-caliber weaponry being mounted in a side sponson. Immediately after it began full-scale production, they began work on a new, more modern Tank with a 75 mm cannon in a fully traversing turret. Its prototype, termed the T6, was ready for trials at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in September 1941.
美国人做了一个出色的工作，即认识到M3的大口径武器被安装在一侧是个问题。在M3开始大规模投产后，他们立即开始着手设计了一款新的，更现代化的坦克，75毫米火炮被安放在了一个可全向旋转炮塔中。这就是谢尔曼坦克的原型，代号为T6，并准备1941年9月在阿伯丁试验场进行试验。
The M4 was a medium Tank boasting a welded hull, a cast turret, and the 350 hp Continental R-975, a gas-powered radial engine. Design of the M4 began in 1941, and by July 1942 it was ready for full-scale production. between July 1942 and January 1944, 6,748 M4s rolled off the line. The Tank's welded hull boosted its ammunition capacity in comparison with cast hulls by expanding its internal armoured capacity. The hull's front plate initially had viewing slits, though armour covers were welded over them and periscopes were added. The front part of the hull's gear compartment on older models consisted of three sections bolted together. Tanks had a narrow mantlet for the M34 artillery mount, while subsequent units employed a fully cast forward hull section and M34A1 artillery mount with a wide mantlet. The last batches, which were made beginning at the end of 1943, had the front of their hulls made from cast and rolled pieces. At the beginning of 1944 the frontal plate became one piece, moving the driver and gunner hatches to the top of the hull. The angled frontal armour went from 56° to 47° from vertical.
M4是一款中型坦克，拥有焊接车体、铸造炮塔和350匹马力的大陆R-975，这是一种汽油动力星形发动机。M4的设计开始于1941年，到1942年7月，它已经准备好全面投产。在1942年7月到1944年1月之间，6748辆M4走下生产线。与铸造车体相比，该坦克的焊接车体通过提高装甲质量提高了防弹能力。车体的前板最初有观察窗，有装甲板焊接在上面，并增加了潜望镜。在旧型号的车体的前部分齿轮是由三部分螺栓连接在一起。坦克有一个狭窄的炮盾用于安装M34火炮，之后生产的单位使用一个完全铸造的前车体和M34A1火炮，并安装有一个宽的炮盾。最后生产的一批，开始于1943年底，它们的前车体有铸造的也有轧制的。在1944年初，谢尔曼的前装甲板成为一块整体，并将驾驶员和炮手舱口移到车体顶部。前装甲的垂直倾角从56°减少到47°。
The Pressed Steel Car Company kicked off production of the first M4 Tanks in July 1942. Four more companies were added later.
1942年7月，冲压钢汽车公司开始生产第一批M4坦克。后来又增加了四家公司来生产谢尔曼。
M4 Tanks saw combat in Africa, Italy, the Western front, and the Pacific islands through 1945.
M4坦克经历了非洲、意大利、西线和太平洋岛屿的战斗，一直持续到1945年。
Shermans proved a strong option with good reliability and maneuverability in addition to armament and armour suiting its roll as a medium Tank.
谢尔曼被证明是一个很好的选择，具有良好的可靠性和机动性，除了火力和装甲稍拉，它很适合作为一款中型坦克。
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