The first tanks the US landed in Normandy were the 75mm armed models of the M4 Sherman tank. It was quickly realised that against the Panthers and Tigers something with more hitting power would be needed. The up-gunned M4A1 (76mm) Sherman was rapidly shipped to France.
These tanks arrived in time to take part in Operation Cobra with the 2nd "Hell On Wheels" and 3rd "Spearhead" Armored Divisions in the last week of July 1944. They were issued at a rate of one platoon per Tank Company. The offensive saw the Allied armies break out of their initial beachhead in Normandy and advance further into France.
The other US divisions didn't get any 76mm Shermans until September 1944.
The 76mm gun offered improved velocity and thus armour penetration (2,600 ft/sec, range of 16,100 yards, penetrate 4 inches at 1,000 yards) over the earlier 75mm gun. The M4A1 (76mm) was also used later by British, French, Polish and South African units and was known as the Sherman IIA.
These first M4A1 (76mm) Shermans had an early model 76mm turret based on that from the T23 medium tank prototype. This turret had two round hatches, a commanders and loaders.
The commander had a vision cupola mounted above the turret hatch. It had 6 prismatic vision blocks of 3" laminated bullet-resistant glass. Later models replaced the round loaders hatch with a smaller oblong hatch.
It also had water protected ammo racks installed (so called wet stowage).
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Flames of War: M4A1 (76) Platoon!
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