{"id":50053,"date":"2023-01-14T20:00:37","date_gmt":"2023-01-14T19:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=50053"},"modified":"2024-01-14T01:41:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-14T00:41:32","slug":"the-day-the-american-m-26-pershing-tank-knocked-out-the-soviet-t-34-tank-in-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/01\/14\/the-day-the-american-m-26-pershing-tank-knocked-out-the-soviet-t-34-tank-in-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"The day the American M-26 Pershing tank knocked out the Soviet T-34 tank in Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"

The M-26 Pershing was a medium tank introduced by the United States at the end of World War II, playing a very limited role in it.<\/p>\n

Ye Olde Pub: The American B-17 bomber saved by a German Bf-109 fighter pilot<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe air combat in which an obsolete WWII fighter managed to shoot down a MiG-15 jet<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

During that war, the M-26 Pershing starred in a famous tank duel in Cologne<\/a> against a German Panther. Thanks to its armor and its 90mm gun, the M-26 was the only American tank capable of fighting the Panther, Tiger and King Tiger<\/strong>, which were the best German tanks. The arrival of the Cold War brought the M-26 face to face on the battlefield with another excellent tank of World War II: the Soviet T-34.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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An M-26 Pershing at the end of World War II (Photo: Real History Online<\/a>).<\/div>\n

At the beginning of the Korean War (1950-1953), the US deployed M-24 Chaffee light tanks, which proved to be no match for the T-34<\/strong>. The M-4A3 Sherman medium tank was up to the task, but the Soviets were able to supply North Korea with large numbers of T-34s, putting the UN forces in serious trouble. This situation led the US to deploy the M-26 Pershing in Korea<\/strong>. Would he be able to successfully fight the famous Soviet tank?<\/p>\n

On August 17, 1950, near Busan, South Korea, a US Marine company made up of four M-26s engaged in combat with four T-34s<\/strong>. The difference was staggering: the M-26's 90mm gun proved capable of piercing the T-34's turret and causes shells to exit the rear. Although the T-34 was a tough tank, that fight ended with three North Korean tanks destroyed and not even one M-26 damaged<\/strong>, as the T-34's 76.2mm rounds proved ineffective to penetrate the tough armor of the M-26 (with a thickness of 102 mm at the front of its barge, that is, more than double the 47 mm of the T-34 at that same point).<\/p>\n

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An M-26 Pershing in 1950 or 1951 (Photo: Reddit<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Although the M-26 was not deployed as widely as the M-4A3 Sherman in Korea, it scored 32% of the victories against the 97 North Korean T-34s destroyed in that war<\/strong>, in which tank battles took place on a small scale and mainly during the 1950s, due to the mountainous nature of Korea. That was the last war of the M-26<\/strong>, since it was soon replaced by the short-lived M-46 and by the M-47.<\/p>\n

The excellent channel Yarnhub<\/a> has today published a video recreating that historic combat of 1950<\/strong> between four M-26 and four T-34:<\/p>\n