Sherman Firefly

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Sherman Firefly
General characteristics
Crew	4 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Length	19 ft 4 in, 5.89 m
Width	9 ft, 2.75 m
Height	8 ft 7 in, 2.62 m
Weight	33 tonnes
Armour and armament
Armour	89 mm
Main armament	OQF 17 pdr (76 mm) gun
Secondary armament	.50 Browning M2 machine gun (12.7 mm) .30 Browning M1919 machine gun (7.62 mm)
Mobility
Power plant	Chrysler Multibank (5 x inline-6) gasoline 425 hp ( kW)
Suspension	coil spring
Road speed	25 mph (40 km/h)
Power/weight	hp/tonne
Range	120 miles (193 km)

The Sherman Firefly was a British variation of the Sherman tank, fitted with the more powerful British 17 pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon.

Contents 1 Origins 2 Service 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Origins

The Sherman Firefly program was initially only viewed as an insurance policy against the possible failure of the 17 pdr equipped Challenger design based on the Cromwell tank. However the Challenger was significantly delayed and not particularly successful when it was completed and it was easier and cheaper to convert Shermans so for much of the rest of the war the Firefly remained the only tank in the British inventory armed with the 17 pounder gun.

The turret had to be altered to fit such a big gun by moving the radio to a new bustle on the turret rear and by turning the long-recoiling AT gun on its side. A distinctive overhang at the back of the turret was added to give space for the recoiling weapon. The bow machine gun position was sacrificed for the storage of the longer shells.

The nickname Firefly quickly became synonymous with any Sherman fitted with this gun, and while plans were devised to modify the Sherman IV, only the Sherman I and V were used in the end. In British nomenclature, a C at the end of the Roman numeral indicated a tank that had been refitted with the 17 pounder gun. The resulting vehicles were called Sherman IC and VC Firefly.

[edit] Service

Fireflies were introduced to British armoured divisions in 1944 just in time for the Normandy landings. After experience in the Battle of Normandy it was decided to employ Fireflies spread between every troop (platoon) of each tank battalion, rather than forming special troops or squadrons (companies) just of Firefly vehicles.

They were among the few Allied tanks capable of taking on the German Panzer V (Panther) and Panzer VI (Tiger) tanks. Though no more well-armoured than most M4 versions, the 17 pounder anti-tank gun offered far better performance than the standard 75 mm gun which had been chosen for the infantry support role. Even using the regular APC round it could penetrate the front armour of a Tiger I at up to 1,000 meters; with the more advanced rounds that became common towards the end of war, the APCBC and then the APDS it could penetrate at over 2,000 meters. The principle disadvantages of the Firefly were its low rate of fire (about half the rate of a 76mm Sherman) due to the cramped nature of the turret and the need to reload a gun turned on its side, and the very large and bright muzzle flash of the 17-pdr gun.

The effectiveness of the Firefly resulted in German tank crews being under instructions to eliminate Fireflies first before dealing with the regular M4 tanks. In an attempt to prevent the Fireflies from being identified, some had the end of their 17 pounder gun painted white on the bottom and darker green or the original Olive Drab on the top to give the illusion of a shorter gun barrel. The actual effectiveness of this tactic is questionable however. A proposed alternative was to point the gun over the rear of the tank where it would be concealed under camouflage. A shorter wooden dummy gun would be mounted on the rear of the turret and point forward; this tactic does not appear to have been used in combat.

The conversion was carried out on Sherman I (M4), Sherman I Hybrid (M4 Composite) and Sherman V (M4A4) Shermans. Some sources state that some Sherman IIs (M4A1) were converted and used in action but photos allegedly showing these conversions are in fact views of the front half of Sherman I Hybrid Fireflies. To complicate matters a very small number of Canadian licence built Sherman IIs (M4A1) known as Grizzlies were converted to Fireflies in Canada and were used for training, none saw action. The majority of Shermans converted were the Sherman V/M4A4 model of which the British received about 7,200. Some 2,200 Fireflies were produced.

[edit] See also

• Lend-Lease Sherman tanks
• M4 Sherman tank
• M4 Sherman variants
• Allied Technological Cooperation During WW2

[edit] External links

• Shermanic Firefly