M4A5 – Designation set aside for Canadian Ram II. M4A4 – 3 piece bolted nose, Chrysler Multi-Bank petrol engine in lengthened hull. Army and was also the most advanced version. The M4A3 was mainly kept for use by the U.S.
M4A3 – Welded hull, one piece cast transmission cover, Ford GAA petrol engine. M4A2 – Same as M4 but with twin General Motors 6-71 diesel engines. Later tanks also had the M3 75mm gun when it became available. Early models had the 3 piece bolted transmission cover, later models had the one piece cast cover. M4A1 – Same as M4 but with cast hull M3 type bogie units. M4 – Welded hull, Continental R975 engine, 3piece bolted transmission cover. The production tank was designated the M4 Medium Tank and 6 basic versions were built from 1942 to 1944. Both pilot models were armed with the M3 tank’s M2 75mm gun, as the M3 75mm gun wasn’t ready yet. The 2nd pilot model was built for the British and was named ‘Michael’ after Michael Dewar who led the British tank mission to the U.S. In September 1941 a pilot model was completed which incorporated a cast hull. Some slight changes were made to the T6 mock-up, including removing the high commander’s cupola and the removal of the side doors. The T6 also incorporated a radio in the turret, but retained the 5th crewman in the hull to operate the hull machine gun. The biggest change was of course the new turret which housed the 75mm Dual Purpose main gun. These common components included the chassis, suspension, engine and transmission. The T6 did, however, incorporate many of the M3’s components that were already tried and tested. There had been 4 major problems with the M3, these were limited traverse for the main 75mm gun in the hull sponson, limited performance of the main gun, poor armoured protection and a high silhouette which made the tank an easy target. It was built as a mock-up in April 1941 and was designed incorporating lessons learnt from the M3. The M4 Sherman was the successor to the M3 Lee/Grant Medium Tank and began life as the T6 Medium Tank.
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