M4A4 (1st PTG) (China)

␗M4A4 (1st PTG)

␗M4A4 (1st PTG)

China

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.7	3.7	3.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:1 300

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Description

The ␗Medium Tank M4A4 Sherman (1st PTG) is a gift rank II Chinese medium tank with a battle rating of 3.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Survivability and armour

The hull is very similar to the American M4 Sherman, with a 50.8 mm thick upper glacis and protruding hatches interrupting the glacis ( augmented with applique armour). Weak spots here include the machine gun port and ventilator on the right side. The hull sides feature applique armour plates covering the ammunition storage racks. The turret is also very similar but lacks the applique armour on the right cheek, leaving a small weakened zone in that area. Frontal protection is quite good for its rank and shots from smaller anti-tank guns can generally be shrugged off, particularly when hull down. However more powerful guns such as the Panzer IV F2's long 75 mm can destroy the tank easily, so care should be taken.

Guns with good penetration against sloped armour, such as those on the YaG-10 (29-K) and SU-85 are particularly threatening as they are more than capable of penetrating your frontal armour without much issue. There are also a number of weak spots, notably, the flatter armour in front of the driver and machine gunner, the hull machine gun, the round section of armour in front of the right ammo rack, the rounded area in front of the transmission, and a thin square-shaped section of armour on the front of the turret to the right of the main gun. The side armour is only 38.1 mm thick and can be easily penetrated by just about any anti-tank gun, even many anti-aircraft guns, but the applique armour on this model can help if the tank is angled.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	45	6	32.2	620	811	19.25	25.19
Realistic	41	5		354	425	10.99	13.2

Armaments

Main armament

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	98	-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	101	90	78	68	59

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	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°
M48 shell	HE	463	6.3	0.4	0.5	666	79°	80°	81°
M61 shot	APCBC	618	6.79	1.2	14.0	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	3.0	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M4A4 (1st PTG) (China)

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	Visual discrepancy
98	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Machine guns

The M4A4 is armed with both a pintle-mounted 12.7 mm M2HB .50 cal machine gun and a coaxial 7.62 mm M1919A4 .30 cal machine gun. The latter is useful as a secondary machine gun to supplement the larger 12.7 mm machine gun, both increasing the volume of fire you can put out in a burst of your machine guns and providing a backup machine gun in case your .50 cal gunner runs out of ammo or is knocked out. The 12.7 mm machine gun is more useful as it does more damage and has more penetration. It can swivel independently of the main gun, but not a full 360 degrees around so you will still need to traverse the turret to follow moving targets. Both can be used to shoot at aircraft and unarmored spots on enemy vehicles, and the .50 cal specifically is capable of damaging vehicles with very light armour due to the penetration.

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	300 (200)	576	-10°/+25°	±60°

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

Usage in battles

The M4 Sherman is an effective medium-range combat tank. Equipped with a fast-firing 75mm gun and with good handling characteristics, the M4 can be an extremely useful asset in most battles.

In battle the M4 performs well as an all-rounder; the thick turret front and 10 degrees of gun depression make the tank ideal for taking hull-down positions which protect the thinner hull armour from being penetrated by enemy fire. The sloped front upper glacis, when angled, also provides good protection against enemy fire. An unusual - and useful - difference is that the upper glacis is sloped at 56 degrees rather than the standard 45 degrees, making it more of a threat and more powerful due to improving the chances of a round ricochet. The only downfall may be the 2 crew member position in the front that protrudes out to form a flat surface, but both are covered with an additional 20 mm plate. The reasonable mobility of the Sherman makes flanking a viable tactic. The main weakness of the M4 is the side armour - not only is it vertical and thin, but behind it most of the ammunition is stowed. The tall silhouette of the tank also makes finding suitable cover difficult. Overall, the M4 Sherman can be considered as an armoured jack-of-all-trades - it will serve a tanker well, however it will not excel in any particular role.

In battle, try to use terrain as cover. Hull-down positions are especially strong in the M4 Sherman, as it has a good 10 degrees of gun depression. The gun mantlet and turret are reasonably strong, but avoiding shots is still the best strategy. In this respect, a hull-down position hides the vulnerable hull. If this is not available, then angling the hull armour to present a greater slope is often a good idea, as this can bounce some low-powered cannon at any range and at longer ranges, render the hull impenetrable.

Another way to play the M4 Sherman is to tap into its traditional cavalry role, its mobility. The M4 Sherman is a great flanker as it is fast enough to get the jump on the enemy's side. Defeat the enemy at their weak front lines or go around the entire enemy force. Once in position at their sides or rear, ambush them. Ideally, the enemy should be too busy focusing on allies attacking in the front to notice the M4 instantly. Take out the weaker light or medium tanks, the 75 mm gun is not very ideal against heavy tanks like the KV-1 so take out its friends to allow allies more room to outmanoeuvre the KV tank. An organized attack will increase the M4 chances on the battlefield and success.

The presence of a pivot-mounted .50 calibre machine gun gives the Sherman some flexibility. It can engage softer targets such as some tank destroyers and many SPAAGs at short ranges when loading a HE shell would be inconvenient. While not ideal, they provide the Sherman tank with some measure of protection against aircraft- sometimes enough to dissuade a pilot from making another pass. It can be an effective rang-finder for targets at longer ranges where the M1919 in the turret would be less effective. While it pales in comparison to the destructive effect of tank guns, it provides the Sherman with some flexibility over other comparable vehicles, who are restricted to their rifle-calibre coaxial machine guns.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent gun depression of -10° plus the angled frontal turret allows it to utilise hills very well
• Great penetration and post-penetration damage when using M61 shells; can frontally penetrate and one-shot most opponents like the Pz.IV F2, Chi-Nu and StuG III F
• Great turret traverse speed allows it to deal with multiple threats easily
• Adequate top speed allows it to get to positions in time, or to do tactical manoeuvres like flanking
• Pintle-mounted HMG provides an anti-aircraft defence or anti-tank duty against tanks like Marder III
• Fitted with a vertical stabilizer, allowing more accurate fire on the move compared to other tanks, as well as better usage of shoot-n-scoot tactics

Cons:

• Large profile and weak side armour; flankers like the Sd.kfz.234/2 can easily see and penetrate it
• Frontal armour is still inadequate, will get frontally penetrated and one-shot by tanks like Pz.IV F2 / G, StuG III F / G, M10
• The best M61 shell struggles to penetrate heavy targets like KV-1 (ZiS-5), Churchill Mk.III or even the T-34 and M10 when angled
• Trajectory is curved and velocity is low due to its short barrel, thus distant/moving targets are hard to shoot at
• Hull traverse is quite slow, making it sluggish in a turn. Also the narrow tracks offer poor ground flotation, thus poor off-road capabilities. Can only reach its top speed on paved or hard surfaces
• Roof armour of 19.5 mm thick is vulnerable to airstrikes with AP cannons. For example the widely used M2 Browning

History

Vehicle background

The M4A4 (1st PTG) was one of many M4 medium tanks armed with a 75 mm gun provided by the U.S to China through the lend-Lease program in April 1944. It saw service during World War 2 (1939-45) in China against the Japanese and went on to serve in the China civil war (1946-49) where it was destroyed by China communist forces in 1949. The tank had a "Tiger face" painted on it's manlet and "claws" painted on the armoured plate in front of the driver. The top of the tank was painted yellow in order for it to be recognized by the allied air unit.

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See also

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China medium tanks
ZTZ59	Type 59 · ZTZ59A · ZTZ59D1
ZTZ69	Type 69 · Type 69-IIa
ZTZ88/96	ZTZ88A · ZTZ88B
	ZTZ96 · ZTZ96A · ZTZ96A (P)
ZTZ99	ZTZ99-II · ZTZ99-III
ZTZ99A	ZTZ99A · WZ1001(E) LCT
Export series	MBT-2000 · VT4A1
ROC	CM11
Other	Т-34-85 Gai · Object 122MT "MC"
Bangladesh	T-69 II G
Japan	␗Chi-Ha · ␗Chi-Ha Kai
Pakistan	Al-Khalid-I
USA	␗M4A4 · ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · ␗M4A1 (75) W · ␗M48A1 · ␗M60A3 TTS
USSR	␗T-34 (1943) · ␗Т-34-85 (S-53) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545