US Sherman recovered from sea

[TrondK]

I would be a peso and two to be made if someone manages to find some sunken shipments of german tanks.

That is something i would like to see.

Maybe some interesting panzers are scattered close to the supply lines for the Afrika Korps....

[Adrian Stevenson]

You have forgotten this story:

WW2 Battlefield Relics Lost Cargo of the Sante Fe

Cheers, Ade.

[vwbug1971]

In Normandy near Bayeux, theres a private museum where there are at least 6 of these recovered tanks. There was an M7 Priest, DD sherman, Stuart, and one more sherman. It also has huge anchors and a few large recovered guns. It was quite amazing. Ill try to upload some pics. In bayeux I also found a german bunker, but sadly it was sealed off. If you go to Normandy, I reccomend staying in Bayeux, its a lovely little town with nice little resturants and fresh sea food! Sadly, I wasnt able to stop by some of the museums at Ohmaha Beach. I got an amazing tour from a guy who was an absolute expert of Normandy. He knew the name of each bunker at each beach and knew alot of things. He was very nice too.

I look forward to seeing those pictures. What a great time you had. That's a trip I'd like to take sometime. I'm very near retirement, but finding someone who has a few bucks in their pocket to plan such a getaway is near impossible among the friends I have. Most have been struggling financially since I've known them. I would like to take in Paris as well.

[another ant]

Here you have one

[vwbug1971]

Is there a missing barrel? At what level of restoration is this tank, as good as it gets? It almost looks like snow on the top of it. I remember something of those Donald Duck tanks with propellers. They had floaters around the tank that didn't always work as they should have. The British made them. Good pictures, aa.

[Watchdog]

Donald Duck was a nickname and the DD designation stands for Duplex Drive which refers to the propellers fitted to this variation making it a "duplex" drive (meaning having or being in two parts) ie two methods of propulsion.

The reason so many sank on D Day was because they were launched too far out to sea in a heavy swell which meant they were swamped by the waves. It was not equipment failure.

As for restoration it depends on what one starts with and what one hopes to achieve. The physical state of the piece and availability of parts and finance will pretty much be the deciding factors. It goes without saying though that one could never start with a chinstrap and restore the helmet

Here is a link to Sherman DD tanks in use.

WW2: The Floating M4 Sherman Tank | Military.com

Anther thing to note about the DD is that the large funnel like air intakes behind the turret. These were intended only to prevent water from entering the engine and were to be removed once ashore to avoid overheating and performance issues. In practice "removal" tended to consist of traversing the turret until the gun barrell swept them away thus avoiding stopping and dismounting in a hostile environment.

Regards

Mark

[vwbug1971]

Nice to see one working, aa. Good condition. I did know that there were heavy seas when they were being launched. I've seen videos of their actual demise. I guess I was thinking the makers didn't consider all the variances of the sea, or test them in rough seas. The video you posted was done in a lake it seemed, certainly not in turbulent waters. The tanks were a good idea nonetheless.

I served 3.5 years in the Navy (1969-72) aboard a destroyer out of Mayport, FL. Deployed more than in home port, I twice toured a great deal of Africa and the Middle East: Angola, Sierra Leone, Monrovia, Madagascar, Kenya, Mozambique, Ethiopia, India, Seychelles, Mauritius, and many of the Caribbean Islands. Most of my enlistment was spent as a boatswainsmate seaman.

My career, following the earning of a BA in Literature and Masters work in Public Admin, has been as an employee of a VA hospital for the past 27 years.

Did you serve in the British army? What was it like?

[Watchdog]

Yes I was Bitish soldier, 1975 - 1999 and a few things happened during that time ( NI, Cyprus, Rhodesia, Falklands, Bosnia, Gulf1 etc but the history books are full of that stuff). From one who served to another, there is no substitute for the experience but for those who were'nt there it would take forever to explain

Mark

[vwbug1971]

Thanks for serving, Mark. I have been working for the past 27 years at a VA hospital that is specially designed for caring for the needs of soldiers coming home from Middle Eastern battlefields in all sorts of conditions. A few guys have arrived with parts of their skulls blown off, others without an arm or leg.

A polytrauma building, newly built, added roughly an additional million sq. ft. for my brother and I to care for, as we are the Pest Mgmt. Professionals, which is a lot more than your typical tank carrying spray jockeys. Everything that goes in and out of those buildings, which number in the 80s on 52 acres, we must be aware of. It's an exhausting task that includes wheelchair inspections and the refusal to permit plants and homegrown fruits to be carried into buildings. We just changed to being an entirely in-patient facility. All the outpatient work has been relocated a mile down the road. I could retire in a month, but they asked me to stay for at least another year.

[gew98]

Anyone see the movie FURY yet ?. Pretty good flick exc epting the ending - pretty implausible an immobilized tank would hold of determined infantry like they did. Anyhow was a good watch.