Calliope

Calliope

Calliope

USA

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.3	4.0	4.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:9 740

Show in game

Description

The Rocket Launcher T34 (Calliope) was a special modification of the second variant of the early-generation Medium Tank M4 (Sherman) family. The U.S. Ordnance Department initiated a series of projects experimenting with the attachment of rocket launchers to the M4 Sherman, in order to provide enhanced firepower to its infantry. Despite the fact that its 75 mm M3 tank gun was capable of firing very efficient ammunition, it was unable to handle massive waves of assaulting enemies. Furthermore, it was also insufficient against the Germans' heavily entrenched strongholds. Although not as precise as traditional artillery, rockets can cover a bigger area in less time with explosives and shrapnel, saturating a target in seconds. Rockets also have a negative psychological impact on enemies under rocket attack because of the howling sounds they make as they fly through the air. The most renowned of these tank-mounted rocket launchers was the Rocket Launcher T34, which was called "Calliope" after the Steam Organ due to the deafening roar that burst from the tubes when the rockets were fired.

Introduced in Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory", the Calliope is a unique modified M4 Sherman capable of firing rockets (60 rockets in total) at adversaries as a secondary weapon. Originally designed for anti-infantry use, the 114 mm M8 rockets with high-explosive (HE) warhead rockets carry high explosive warheads that can effectively destroy light enemy vehicles and damage heavier armoured targets sufficiently to make the enemy's repair time extremely long and miserable. It is advised to use many rockets on enemies since a single rocket is frequently insufficient to damage them. Furthermore, the weapon, like any other ground vehicle firing unguided rockets, would emit an extremely loud but distinct firing signature, allowing opponents to identify the type of vehicle as well as its location on the map. The unique smoke trail left by fired rockets might potentially reveal the player's location. However, the M8 rockets' faster fire rate enables many volleys of rockets to be fired at a target in rapid succession. The resulting flash, fire, and smoke effects of continuous bombardment on a target can temporarily blind targets and can thus be employed as an emergency smoke cover. However, the rocket should not be used as a primary anti-tank weapon because it lacks the explosive strength and penetration to successfully destroy tanks. The Calliope's primary weapon is the 75 mm M3 tank cannon, which is more than capable of engaging most opponents in its ranks.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull50 / 38 / 38

Turret76 / 50 / 50

Crew5 people

Visibility750 %

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Front, Side, Rear, Hull roof)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Transmission area)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	50.8 mm (56°) Front glacis 50.8 mm (12-56°) Transmission area 50.8 (13-20°) + 25.4 mm (35°) Protruding hatches	38.1 mm 38.1 + 25.4 mm Appliqué addition	38.1 mm (0-10°) Top 25.4 mm (33-64°) Bottom	19.5 mm Sides 12.7 mm Engine deck and center
Turret	76.2-88.9 mm (4-67°) Turret front 50.8 + 88.9 mm Gun mantlet	50.8 mm (0-68°)	50.8 mm (2-66°)	25.4 mm
Cupola	50.8 mm	50.8 mm	50.8 mm	25.4 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, bogies are 10 mm thick, and tracks are 17 mm thick.
• The front armour has two protruding areas for the driver and co-driver hatches. These are weak points, as they present a flat armour surface.
• Belly armour is 12.7 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB43 / 6 km/h

RB and SB39 / 6 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight30.6 t

Engine power

AB763 hp

RB and SB400 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB24.9 hp/t

RB and SB13.1 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	43	6	30.6	620	763	20.26	24.93
Realistic	39	6		354	400	11.57	13.07

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB1 092

RB1 261

SB2 279

Crew training10 000

Experts210 000

Aces550

Research Aces790 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 80 / 130 / 160 %

2 × 154 / 154 / 154 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment	Horizontal Drive Adjustment of Fire 75mm_usa_APCBC_ammo_pack Elevation Mechanism Artillery Support 75mm_us_M89_Smoke_ammo_pack

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm M3 cannon

Vertical stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in one plane while moving

Ammunition97 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

6.5 → 5.0 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 25°

75 mm M3					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	97	-10°/+25°	±180°	Vertical	22.85	31.62	38.40	42.47	45.18	6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00
Realistic					14.28	16.80	20.40	22.56	24.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
M72 shot	AP	91	88	78	67	57	49
M48 shell	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
M61 shot	APCBC	104	102	93	84	75	68

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M72 shot	AP	619	6.3	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
M48 shell	HE	463	6.3	0.2	0.1	666	79°	80°	81°
M61 shot	APCBC	618	6.79	1.2	14	63.7	48°	63°	71°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M89	259	3	9	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M4 Sherman.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty
97	91 (+6)	88 (+9)	86 (+11)	78 (+19)
5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
63 (+34)	46 (+51)	31 (+66)	1 (+96)	No

Notes:

• To go into battle with the turret basket empty of ammo, pack 78 (+19) shells (racks 1 to 4 emptied).
• To go into battle with the turret basket and the flanks empty of ammo, pack 31 (+66) shells (Racks 1 to 7 empty).
• The 8th rack is large and located at a weak spot: the bottom section of the armour. In case of penetration, there is a high risk of ammo rack detonation. Make sure not to expose your flanks unnecessarily.

Additional armament

114 mm M8 rocket

Ammunition60 rounds

Vertical guidance-10° / 25°

Flight speed260 m/s

Range4 500 m

Rocket launcher tubes can easily be detonated by high-explosives when they are loaded with rockets.

114 mm M8 rocket
Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer
60	-10°/+25°	±180°	N/A

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
M8	Rocket	24	24	24	24	24	24

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M8	Rocket	260	17.28	0	0.1	1.95	79°	80°	81°

Machine guns

7.62 mm M1919A4 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 000 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,000 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Sherman Calliope offers 114 M8 rockets which are mounted on top of the turret, stored in racks which houses them. The racks are also a separate ammo rack, and if hit, can destroy the rockets, with a repair will having to be performed. Machine gun fire can also destroy the rockets, with large volumes of fire from heavy machine guns, autocannons or larger-caliber armaments will destroy the rack and rockets.

With a high amount of HE as its payload, a single hit to the rocket rack can knock out the entire tank, since the round detonates all the rockets in the rack, causing an apocalyptic explosion which blows the turret off and knocks out the crew.

The rocket racks are not protected by any armour plates, with only 5 mm of structural steel. Since the rocket racks are installed above the turret, they are able to fire over objects, although this is a double-edged sword, meaning that you are no longer able to hide behind rocks and objects for safety. Using the M8 rockets, the M8 rockets are not armour piercing, instead being filled with high explosive, meaning they will detonate when they hit something. The M8 rockets can be used to distract or blind enemy tankers and cause damage to their tanks. The rockets also fire rapidly, and can knock out light tanks, lightly armoured vehicles and open-topped vehicles with ease.

The Sherman Calliope is armed with the 75 mm, M3 cannon, that is able to make short work of most enemy tanks at this BR. To best utilize it, use the shot and AP rounds. It's best not to have any rockets in your rocket ammo rack when you engage in CQC, due to the risk of a HE or an artillery round knocking out your tank by detonating the rockets.

However, using the cannon and rockets together can be an exceptionally good combination – the fast reload of the cannon combined with the rockets makes for a very potent weapon. To get the best out of them, use the terrain to your advantage. Use taller buildings and trees to hide behind, then pop out when the enemy drives by and shoot them fire the rockets to cause disorientation. These will produce a thick dark cloud preventing your target from locating you. Then fire the 75 mm M3 cannon into the enemy turret and knock it out. Do not rely on the rockets to reliably destroy enemy medium or heavy tanks, and otherwise play as you would in an ordinary Sherman.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Armament:
  • Quick-firing 75 mm gun with adequate shell options
  • Is now equipped with 60 rockets, a salvo can blind or even cripple, if not destroy other enemy tanks
  • Despite the rockets having very low penetration, the rack sits about a 1 meter above the already tall Sherman, allowing the calliope to hit the very weak top armour of its target at close range
• Armour:
  • Reasonably good frontal protection, can work nicely when in down-tiers
  • Turret is quite strong

Cons:

• Size:
  • The Sherman is already a pretty large vehicle, the addition of the rockets makes the Calliope stick out like a sore thumb.
• Armament:
  • The 75 mm gun begins to lack the penetration to go up against tougher foes
  • Does not get access to the T45 APCR shot
  • Rockets are inaccurate past ~100 m
  • Rockets act as a massive (and unarmoured) ammunition rack
  • Rockets only have 29 mm of penetration
  • Loses access to the .50 cal M2 machine gun
  • The distinctive firing sound of the rockets can lure unwanted enemies
  • The rocket launcher is not linked to the main gun and will also aim at the target marker, meaning it will point downwards when you have returned to cover and the target marker is on the cover directly in front of you.
• Armour:
  • Overall armour protection is no longer effective against tougher foes, especially against the German long 75 mm gun
  • The extra 25.4 mm side plating indicates the location of ammunition racks (can be resolved by taking less than 23 cannon rounds)

History

The T34 "Calliope" firing a salvo of 4.5 inch rockets.

Development

Midway into World War II in 1943, the Western Allies realized that unlike the Soviet Union, they did not have any form of a "multiple rocket launcher system" that the Soviets had with their Katyusha Launchers trucks. The idea of rocket launchers isn't new at this period, they present some advantage over the standard mortar or howitzer. The rocket launcher can launch massive amounts of high-explosive ammunition at a longer distance at a shorter time with a greater psychological impact than normal artillery, at the price of a longer reload time and less accuracy. The Soviets showed the best utilization of this weapon with their Katyushas, having a whole bunch of them fire at a designated target, minimizing accuracy loss with a full area saturation of fire. The effectiveness of this system prompted the Allies to start producing some form of multiple rocket launcher system as well.

In 1943, the project began in the United States and the design was to use the current M4 Sherman tanks in service to mount the rocket launchers to bring into combat. The design, developed by Victor Hawkins, had a rocket mount on the Sherman turret with sixty launch tubes, all made to fire the 4.5 in. M8 rockets. The project gave the experimental tank design the designation T34, and the troops adopted the name "Calliope", which was the name of a steam organ and has a similar look.

Combat usage

These rocket launcher tanks were sent to France in 1944, although many never saw combat for various reasons. During its development, three different variants were made. The original T34 had 60 tubes for the 4.5 in. rockets with 36 fixed tubes on top and 24 on the bottom able to be jettisoned (except on the M4A1 Sherman variant). The second, T34E1, has the 24 jettisonable tubes replaced by 28 tubes, though the total tubes were still 60. The T34E2 had the rocket calibre increased from 4.5 in. to 7.2 in. with the same 60 tubes. This saw combat during the 1944-1945 time span.

However, the modifications of the Shermans seem unnecessary as the war progressed, new development had the rocket launcher system mated to trucks, armoured chassis, and jeeps so the tanks could be left alone to do its purpose. But when the Calliope saw service in the Pacific and Europe, its performance was moderately successful. The T34 was replaced by the T40 "Whiz Bang" Sherman, which was a Sherman with a tank-mounted multiple rocket launcher system like the T34, but only saw combat in the last few months of the war and had the 7.2 in. rockets.

Archive of the in-game description
A jet-powered volley-fire system on the base of regular Sherman tank, it received the addition of a T34E1 launch system with a tubes for M8 missiles. The first versions had the body of a T34, which did not allow them to fire the tank cannon, so a modification of the T34E1 was created that was equipped with a special adapter that allowed the tank cannon to be fired on that body.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Calliope from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #6 - Challenge section at 05:58 discusses hunting aircraft with the Calliope.

See also

Related development

• M4

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• 15 cm Pz.W.42
• BM-13N
• Cromwell V (RP-3)

External links

• [Devblog] РCЗО T34 Sherman Calliope