US Units Equipped with M26 Pershing

Discussion in 'US Units' started by Paul Reed, Jun 2, 2014.

  1. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Can anyone tell me which US armoured unit(s) were equipped with the M26 Pershing in 1945.

    By unit I mean the specific unit rather than just the Division.
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

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  3. m kenny

    m kenny Senior Member

    Hunnicutt says 320 were 'in theatre' of which 200 were issued to units.
    The first 40 went to 2nd AD (22) and 5th AD (18) A further 30 went to 11th AD.
    The Zebra mission was the first 20 tanks and 10 went to 3rd AD ( 5 to 32 Arm. Reg/5 to 33 Arm. Reg) and 10 to 9th AD (5 to 14th TB/5 to 19th TB).

    Thats all Hunnicutt says about Units.

    Zaloga says:

    Totals issued....March.......April.....May........AD Total

    2nd AD................0..........19..........21.........40
    3rd AD...............10..........10..........18.........38
    5th AD ...............0.............0..........17.........17
    9th AD...............10..........10..........17.........37
    11th AD ..............0 ..........0..........32.........32

    Total .................20..........39........105........164

    It seems they were distributed within regiments in small groups rather than being concentrated together.
     
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  4. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Thanks to you both, that is very useful.

    The figures of numbers issued very useful too, thanks indeed.
     
  5. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Paul,

    Steven Zaloga mentions several accounts of the T26E3 Pershing in combat in his book "Armored Thunderbolt".

    Photo of a Pershing from Company A, 14th Tank Battalion, 9th Armored Division, near Vettweiss, Germany, which would take part in the capture of the Bridge at Remagen a week later on March 7th,1945.

    Also one shown in the streets of Cologne that accounted for two Tigers.

    Photo of the Knocked out Panther outside Cologne Cathedral, the Panther accounting for two Shermans before the Pershing commanded by Sgt Bob Early.
    As the Panther was traversing the Pershing hit the Panther side on three times.

    The Video has been posted previously.

    Two Pershings were knocked out approaching Cologne but only one was a complete loss.

    One was hit by an 88mm fired at 200 Yards from a Self propelled Nashorn, which penetrated the lower bow armour under the Transmission and set off the ammunition in the floor.
    The round passed between the Drivers legs, but surprisingly, the entire Crew survived. Lady luck being with them.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  6. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    Saw this in an antique car group on Facebook. I thought all the Perishings were built by Chrysler in Detroit but this looks like the Ford plant in Chester, Pennsylvania, according to the sign.

    upload_2022-5-17_16-17-28.png
     
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  7. Ewen Scott

    Ewen Scott Well-Known Member

    There were two plants producing T26/M26 in WW2 but all the vehicles that saw combat came from the Grand Blanc Tank Arsenal run by the Fisher Body division of General Motors. Fisher Body production (excluding the prototypes) ran from Nov 1944 to Oct 1945. It produced most of the Pershings. The Chrysler run Detroit Tank Arsenal only began production in March 1945 and ceased in Sept with the last vehicles being the 105mm armed M45 version.

    Plenty of detail on these pages including the Zebra Mission tanks and the units they were attached to, right down to the serial numbers. You will need to scan down some of the pages to reach the M26 data.

    Fisher Body Grand Blanc Tank Arsenal in World War Two
    M26 and M46 Tanks of the American Auto Industry
    Chrysler

    In terms of tanks/tank destroyers Ford only produced 1,630 M4A3 Sherman’s in 1942/43 and 1,038 M10A1 tank destroyers. It did however produce over 25,000 tank engines used in tanks built both by itself and other manufacturers.

    Ford’s involvement with the Pershing was that it built the Ford GAF engines that powered them, which may explain the photograph.
    Ford Motor Company
     
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