T26E1-1

T26E1-1

T26E5

T34

T26E1-1

T26E5

T34

USA

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.7	6.7	6.7

Class:

Heavy tank

Research:31 000

Purchase:200 000

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Description

The Heavy Tank T26E1-1 "Super Pershing" is a Rank IV American heavy tank with a battle rating of 6.7 (AB/RB/SB). The T26E1-1 was added with Update 1.57 "Battle March". The tank takes the basis of a normal M26 Pershing, then increases its armour with welded-on metal slabs and up-guns it with a T15E1 cannon, which is nearly identical to the one in the T32. This gives the tank a much appreciated armour protection and firepower for the battle rating and is comparable with the premium M26E1.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Cast homogeneous armour (Front, Turret)
• Rolled homogeneous armour (Side, Rear, Roof, Turret appliqué armour)
• Structural steel (Hull appliqué armour, Rear turret counterweight)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	101.6 (42-46°) + 38.1 (47°) + 38.1 mm (57°) Front glacis 162.5 (25-60°) + 38.1 (47°) + 38.1 mm (57°) Upper front glacis 76.2 mm (53°) + 38.1 (41°) + 38.1 mm (48°) Lower glacis	76.2 mm Front 50.8 mm (0-2°) Rear	50.8 mm (4°) Top 22.2 mm (68°) Lower	22.2 mm
Turret	101.6 mm (1-55°) Turret front 114.3 (1-84°) + 80 mm (3°) Gun mantlet	76.2 mm (2-54°)	76.2 (0-79°) + 100 mm (3°)	25.4 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	76.2 mm	25.4 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
• The left turret side has a few tracks welded on, providing an additional 30 mm of armour where they are.
• The "ear flaps" on the turret provide 38.1 mm of armour. The steel on the gun mantlet gives an additional 80 mm of armour.
• Front glacis have sheets of 38.1 mm armour added on, sloped at varying angles.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
49.9	N/A	43 (AB)
		40 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	646	795
Realistic/Simulator	442	500
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	12.94	15.93
Realistic/Simulator	8.86	10.02

Armaments

Main armament

90 mm T15E1
Capacity				Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
42				-10°/+20°	±180°
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	14.28	19.80	24.0	26.60	28.24
Realistic	14.28	16.80	20.4	22.60	24.00
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
16.25	14.38	13.25	12.50

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
T43 shot	AP	217	216	202	186	172	164
T42 shell	HE	13	13	13	13	13	13
T41	APCBC	204	202	196	181	165	152
T44 shot	APCR	270	266	250	231	214	195

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
							0%	50%	100%
T43 shot	975	11	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
T42 shell	975	11	0.4	0.5	925	+0°	79°	80°	81°
T41	975	11	1.2	20	137.2	+4°	48°	63°	71°
T44 shot	1143	7.6	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	66°	70°	72°

Ammo racks

Last updated: 1.77.2.68

Ammo racks of the T26E1-1.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
42	32 (+8)	28 (+14)	24 (+18)	20 (+22)	16 (+26)	12 (+30)	8 (+34)	4 (+38)	0 (+42)	No

Notes:

• Recommended ammo load is 18 to remove most ammo from the hull floor, leaving rack 9 intact.
• Ammo rack 1 is a ready rack, and takes priority in being filled at the beginning of the battle, then fills racks 9 through 2.
• Full reload speed will be realized as long as ammo exists in the ready rack. If the ready racks is empty, a penalty to reload speed will occur.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will load ammo from racks 2-9 into rack 1, as long as there is ammo in racks 2-9. Firing will interrupt the loading of the ready racks.

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB
Pintle mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,000 (200)				576	-10°/+70°	±60°

7.62 mm M1919A4
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
4,500 (250)				500	N/A	N/A

Usage in the battles

This is not exactly a brawling tank. Try to take the shots that is positive to hit and then fall back into cover. Don't stay exposed too long as enemy shells will most likely penetrate the armour. Try to stick with an ally, going of alone can/will be suicide.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Same 90mm gun as the T32 and the premium M26E1.
• M82 APCBC shot is available that can mess up any penetrated tank's internals.
• Thick sloped frontal armour.
• .50 on top of the turret is useful against low-flying aircraft and lightly armoured vehicles.
• 204 mm of penetration for the M82 shot makes Tiger IIs less of a threat when met dead-on.
• Front spaced armour can reduce effectiveness of HE and HESH rounds.

Cons:

• Despite the add-on armour, the armour is still inefficient for the BR.
• Spaced armour doesn't help against HEAT.
• The add-on armour has a negative impact on mobility on the already sluggish M26 it is based on.
• Gun gets damaged quite often due to its long profile.
• Springs on top of the turret tend to deflect shells into the turret.
• Hull machine gun port is a prominent weak spot.
• 90mm gun takes a long time to reload compared to its competitors.
• Slightly lower penetration in comparison to its adversaries like the Tiger II (H).
• Due to over-matching mechanics, the layered front is more of a weakness than a bonus due to the plates being only 38 mm by themselves, despite the total thickness of the front being 177.8 mm.

History

Development

It should be noted that the name T26E1-1 is a misnomer. The tank that would later be called the "Super Pershing" was originally a T26E1, serial number 1 registration number 30103292, manufactured at Fisher Body. Upon installation of the T15E1 gun and recoil springs, it was redesignated T26E4, temporary pilot 1, but the registration number did not change. At some point between the date of manufacture (February of 1944) and delivery to 3rd Armored (March 15, 1945), the name T26E1-1 was painted on the side of the turret. Although this does indicate the vehicle and serial number (T26E1, serial number 1), this specific title does not appear to have been used officially.

The M26 Pershing helped the American armoured forces by bringing in the heavy 90 mm Gun M3 into service on a tank mount. The gun was similar in performance to the German's Tiger I's 8.8 cm KwK 36 cannon, but Army Ordnance wanted something to match the more powerful 8.8 cm KwK 43 cannon on the Tiger II. The development to match this cannon made the T15E1 90 mm gun; the gun was 73 calibers long, compared to the 90 mm Gun M3's 53 calibers length. The first produced guns were called the T15E1 and had a large fixed ammunition. The gun was mounted on a T26E1 tank #1, one of the few early prototype tanks of the M26 Pershing, which gave it the name T26E1-1. The extreme length of the T15E1 gun barrel caused the manufacturers to add a very prominent counter balance on the mantlet, which could be seen on the left side of the turret when facing it. The T26E1-1 would be the only M26 model with the T15 gun to see service in Europe. Among the troops, the T26E1-1 in Europe would be known by its eponymous name "Super Pershing" when compared alongside to the normal M26 Pershing.

Combat usage

The T26E1-1 "Super Pershing" was sent to Europe and arrived sometime in March 1945. The T26E1-1 was assigned to the 3rd Armored Division and was given additional armour by the maintenance crew in hopes to keep it up to date against the heavier German tanks. The front hull had two large pieces of metal welded onto it, each 38 mm in thickness, with a space in between the metal pieces. These metal pieces were sloped more than the hull armour it was over. An additional armour piece was welded on the turret mantlet, the metal was taken from a Panther turret and was about 80 mm thick when welded onto the turret. The T15E1 gun has much promise to the crew when using the tank as the gun could reliably penetrate the frontal hull of a Panther tank, a feat not many other American tank gun could claim at the time.

The T26E1-1's performance in battle is largely written in the accounts of John P. Irwin, who was the tank gunner of the only active "Super Pershing" in the war. He mentions of three prominent combat actions with the T26E1-1, each one destroying the enemy with little difficulty. Records show that the T26E1-1 destroyed a total of three tanks and captured one after an extended firefight that left the opposing tank out of ammunition. Thought it was hoped to have the T26E1-1 fight a Tiger II for a rather explosive comparison, the T26E1-1 never saw a Tiger II during its tour in Europe. After the war, the T26E1-1 was most likely scrapped in the post-war demobilization as the final image of the tank was it lying in a vehicle dump in Kassel, Germany.

Legacy and similar vehicles

The T26E1-1 "Super Pershing" gave the Americans a tank that excelled in anti-tank performance more than its younger brethren M26, it made a legend in the battlefield and a showcase of the new philosophy of how prepared the Americans were if come face to face with another superior enemy like they did with their Shermans against the Panthers. The T26E1-1 continued as an idea long after the war was over, with the next development arming the long 90 mm cannon in the T26E3 tank models, but the cannons used the new two-piece ammunition gun T15E2 rather than the one-piece one in the T15E1 when it was found that the long 50 inch rounds made loading prohibitive in the M26 turret. 25 of these tanks were built and were designated the T26E4. Another development was to convert normal M26 Pershings to mounting the T54 cannon, another development of the T15E1 which featured shorter ammunition. These tanks were redesignated the M26E1, but work was halted due to issues with the guns and a cut in project funds.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

[Devblog] T26E1-1 Super Pershing: Under a Panther Mask

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

USA heavy tanks
M4 Jumbo	M4A3E2 · Cobra King · M4A3E2 (76) W
M6	M6A1 · T1E1 · T1E1 (90) · M6A2E1
T26	T26E1-1 · T26E5
T29/30/34	T29 · T30 · T34
T32	T32 · T32E1
M103	M103
Others	T14