Sometimes, even the best weapons arrive too late to make a difference. The M26 Pershing was supposed to be America’s answer ...

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.

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 ...

While heavy tanks like the King Tiger, M26 Pershing and IS-3 dominated lighter tanks in armament and armor, they were expensive to produce, slow and not well suited for fast mobile warfare.