M26 Pershing | From Concept to Combat Across Conflicts

The M26 Pershing came into production at the end of WWII, addressing the challenges of earlier US Sherman tank models. Although it missed its chance to fully counter the German Panzers in WWII, the Pershing became a formidable force in Korea, effectively facing down Russian T-series tanks. Despite its weight and width leading to the continued use of the Sherman tank, the Pershing's impact was undeniable. In this video, Associate Curator Hank Wilcox takes you through its engineering journey and highlights the technological advancements that set it apart.

[s.marcus]

Note that at the 15:46 mark, the tank in the Korean War clip is named "Alice", from which the museum staff decided to name their tank after....

[stevearbuckle]

A little-known 1951 movie titled "The Tanks are Coming" presented a story about the arrival of the Pershing in the ETO. It was filmed at fort Knox, KY. My dad played a part in it. He was assigned to post ordnance and restored the 88 mm gun from the Patton Museum there and served the piece in the ambush scene shot at Otter creek on post.

[deadmeat]

The T/M26 was a great American WW2 "Heavy" that pushed the boundaries of what the US MIC could produce in class. The fact that a capable and (mostly) working tank was actually produced and deployed well before VE Day is a minor miracle. The T/M26, while not a "wunderwaffe", was more than capable of defeating any German armor produced during the war and went on to help save the UN in Korea.

[TheBruceGday]

I was just visiting the museum last week. Incredible! Above and beyond expectations! Nice video.

[davidk]

Nice work, Hank. And thanks to all the folks behind the scenes who help with scripting, production, and editing. One major factor of US WW2 tank doctrine and usage was logistics for our troops and lend lease recipients. The M4 was a modifiable jack of all trades, theaters and applications. Sacrifices (such as tank on tank capabilities) were inevitable. Would 500 Pershings have been a tactical game changing player in the Normandy Campaign, for example? I'm not sure, possibly. But given that most ammo expended by M4s was HE in support of infantry/indirect, etc., the Pershing's tank on tank improvements may have had marginal positive impact. Transition training of crews/mechanics takes time and logistical supply of new spares and tooling for field repairs may have been an obstacle. I question whether the war would have been over any sooner with significantly lower loss of American lives. Cool tank, however. Was it significantly more resistant against Panzerfausts/shrecks?

[wwiiimpressionsinc.]

Again, another great video. Thanks for hi-lighting the M26. The tank duel at Koln against the Panther helped make the Pershing legendary.

[HarveyAndToddTheWraith]

If I remember correctly the M26 called "Fireball" after it was damaged, it was repaired with 90mm gun from M36, because they didn't brought any spare 90mm gun.

[ghoul]

Still my absolute favorite production tank, when I visited the museum I spent a good while just admiring the M26 in person

[DSS-jjcw]

I enjoyed visiting the museum. It was very nice. In hindsight the U.S Army should have spent all those resources they spent on Tank destroyers on the heavy tank. They really should have had the Pershing after North Africa.

[guylelanglois]

Thank you, Mr Stark, for identifying the m 26 as the tank my father was photographed in front of in Korea when I visited last week. Awesome museum content wait to see you all again.

[johnnyzippo]

I knew it ! Just as I said, from your first narration to this piece, wow, YOU Sir have found your marks . Very well done, thank you for committing yourself to these efforts, I can assure you the improvements in craft are nothing short of phenomenal .

[willcullen]

A misunderstanding in the use of tank destroyers by AGF. Tank destroyers per field manuals did not chase or persew enemy units and were defensive units only. Per us army doctrine tank destroyers were held in reserve for enemy armored breakthroughs and were not to be used in the assault.
The reason for the t 20's series was as replacement for the sherman but none of the those were deemed acceptable and a backup design using a t 23 current on a m 4 sherman hull with the 76 mm gun was accepted as the new medium tank.
The pershing came from the t 23 program as an order to upgun and up armor a t23 thus the many variants until they decided on the pershing design

[ForceM]

The T22 E1 with the 20 shot/minute 75mm autoloading cannon looks hilarious.
Okay, the cannon was a bit subpar, but could you imagine even a heavy German tank taking a 75mm hit every 3 seconds? Penetration or not, that‘s gotta leave a mark!
Not even speakinh of fixed positions taking a HE shell every 3 seconds!

[scubasteve]

Great video. I wish more channels were this purely informative.

[Boric]

Really well done this - by jumping the development (except in summary) you avoid some seriously confusing history.

[misterstanley]

Hank the Tank strikes again with an excellent video!

[trappenweisseguy]

I’m still surprised to this day that they didn’t make many, many more of the M36B1, which is basically a Sherman with the 90 mm gun turret. It would have retained the good qualities and familiarity of the Sherman with the much greater hitting power of the 90. They could have also welded on some spaced armour here and there to deal with panzer fausts. I’m also still surprised that they didn’t have the foresight of the need for more powerful engines of 650-700 horsepower range.

[lxrj]

I love Tank Hank! Thank you to all involved for making such great and engaging content!

[phil_]

It's nice to see someone got some of the stories firmed up from WWII. So many recounts are hard to understand and incomplete.

[MM-vvmt]

Please do a doc about the role played by Tank Ordinance Engineers with the Advanced Section of Command Zone in Europe during WWII. My dad was an ombudsman with AdSec assigned to 1st US Army and tasked to work with 2nd and 3rd ADs to set up their armored logistics trains (recovery and repair) for the line units as they moved off the water and moved up to the front.