The M26 Pershing provided a much-needed boost to the fighting capabilities of the American armored units. The Panthers and Tigers; The nemesis’ of the good old M4 Sherman, were no longer untouchable.

So, aside from the M26 Pershing's lower profile, the tank also featured thicker armor. Its upper front hull had armor 100 mm thick at 46 degrees, giving it an effective thickness of 139 mm.

The M26 Pershing, designed to replace the M4 Sherman, was a larger, heavier tank meant to provide American tankers with the means to fight German Tiger and Panther tanks on even terms.

The M26 Pershing had a combat weight of about 42 tons (41, 892 kg), compared to around 30 tons (30,300 kg) for the World War II-era M4 Sherman.

The heavier M26 Pershing, meant to replace the lighter M4 Sherman, was designed to take on German Panthers and Tigers. Though it arrived too late in the war to make an appreciable difference, ...

Army veteran Clarence Smoyer, the 'Hero of Cologne' who helped take the town of Cologne, Germany in March 1945 as tank gunner with the famous 'Eagle 7' M26 Pershing tank crew, finally received the ...