Indiana
Tanks, Armored Fighting Vehicles and Artillery on Outside Display
M4 Sherman
Tanks M60 Patton Tanks
Other Indiana Tanks
Armored Fighting Vehicles
Indiana
M4 Sherman Tanks
This page updated
4-24-2023.
There are
sixteen M4 Sherman tanks on outside display throughout Indiana. As of this date, I have been able to photograph eight of
them. With the exception of one Ford built M4A3 located in St.
Leon, all of the remaining M4 Shermans in Indiana are late model M4A1s built by the
Pressed Steel Car Company. They are identifiable by their cast
hulls, 76mm main guns, Horizontal Volute Suspension System, and wide
tracks. All were powered by a Continental R-975 400 hp aircraft radial engine.
Apparently, after WWII, the Indiana Army National Guard and Army Reserve
units were equipped with the M4A1.
The Ford built
M4A3 at the American Legion Post in St. Leon is a recent arrival from
Ohio, where there are several of them on display. These had a
welded hull, a 75mm main gun, Vertical Volute Suspension System, narrow tracks,
and were powered by a Ford V-8 500 hp
engine. With many examples of the Ford built M4A3 in Ohio,
Michigan, and Wisconsin, it appears the Army National Guard and Army
Reserve units were equipped with the Ford built Sherman after WWII.
A total of
49,234 Sherman tanks were built by ten companies during World War Two.
Brazil:
National Guard Armory, Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS, August
2019.
Brownstown:
Jackson County Courthouse, Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS, February
2016 - This Sherman is located on the north corner of the courthouse
property. This tank is identified in several tank databases as an
M4A3. This is not the case, as the cast hull indentifies this as
an M4A1.
Crown Point:
Street Side Display Area, Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS,
December 2017 Sequence number 1-321 which was produced in January
or February 1945
Edinburgh:
Camp Atterbury Display Area, (2) Pressed Steel Car Company
M4A1(76)HVSS, June 2014 - There are two M4A1s located in the display
area. One is serial number 67977and the other is 68080. Both
were previously on display at Stout Field in Indianapolis, IN.
This is serial number 68080 which was
built in February 1945.
This is serial number 67977 which was
built in January 1945.
Griffith:
Street Side Display Area, Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS,
December 2017 Serial Number 71729 built in June 1945
This late model Pressed Steel
Sherman has armored air filter covers.
Hartford City:
National Guard Armory, Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS,
October 2019 - This is serial number 67984 and was built in January
1945.
Huntington:
Memorial Park, Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS, October 2016 -
The Sherman is now part of a Veteran's Memorial Display that
includes a T-33. It is Pressed Steel Car Company serial number
68091 and registration number 30126070.
Here is the ID tag from the
Watertown Arsenal showing that 68091 was rebuilt in 1950.
Kokomo:
Foster Park, Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS, February 2019 -
This Sherman has been on display at Foster Park in downtown Kokomo, IN
since 1958, and had not any restoration work done on it during that
period. That all changed after 60 years when in 2018 the Howard
County Veterans Memorial Corporation raised $20,000 for an exterior
restoration. And what a restoration it is! The M4A1 now
looks brand new, and it even has all of the pioneer tools on it.
One does not see this level of detail on many restored tanks on inside
displays, let alone one that is outside like this one.
This something I have not seen on
any other tank. These are the shafts that attach together that go
with the bore brush to clean the main gun.
Original
December 2013 Photos:
Lafayette: American
Legion Post 11,
Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS, April 2023 - This was
previously on display at the VFW in Attica, which closed.
Lawrence: VFW Post
1719, Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS, February 2016 -
Muncie:
Army National Guard Armory, Pressed Steel Car Company M4A1(76)HVSS, December
2015 - The tag attached to the front glacis indicates the Watertown
Arsenal overhauled it in 1950. This is serial number 68434 and
registration number 30126413. It was built in March 1945.
The serial number 68434
is on the overhaul tag and was one of 295 built by Pressed Steel Car in March 1945.
Scottsburg:
National Guard Armory, M4A1, October 2016
St. Leon:
American Legion Post 464, Ford M4A3, February and March
2016 - This M4A3 is serial number 12281 and registration number
3054436. It was built at the Ford Highland Park, Michigan plant
during June 1943. As recently as 2000, this Sherman
located in Sunman, IN. At some point after that it moved to Eaton,
OH and then back to St. Leon, Indiana.
Ford built 1,690
M4A3 Sherman tanks between June 1943 and September 1943 in its Highland
Park, Michigan plant. Ford introduced the concept of the 500hp
V-8 engine in the Sherman at the time the US Army had standardized on
the R-975 radial engine in the M4 and M4A1. Therefore the Ford
built M4A3s were used for training in the US until after the Battle of
the Bulge, when some were sent to Europe as replacements for all of the
American tanks destroyed in that battle. Some Ford built M4A3s
also saw service on Okinawa.
The Ford built M4A3 was a small
hatch tank with a 57 degree angle on the front glacis, as referenced to
the vertical. This photo shows protrusions
from the glacis for the hatches for the driver and assistant driver.
These protrusions were obvious weak spots in the front armor right
where the heads of the crew members were located. Small hatch
tanks normally had the one inch armor plate added to increase the armor
protection at these locations. Also, one inch armor plate has been
added on the side to give added protection to the ammunition storage in
the tank at that location.
This plaque in front of 12281
indicates it came from Eaton, OH. This is not the same M4A3 that
was previously on display in front of the now closed National Guard
Armory in Eaton, as it had a different serial number.
The serial number, 12281, on
the rear of the tank is just barely visible.
Vincennes:
Indiana Military Museum, Pressed Steel Company M4A1(76)HVSS, January
2019 - This is an inside display. I have added because it is
the only M4A1 on inside display in Indiana.
Winchester:
Randolph County Courthouse, Pressed Steel Company M4A1(76)HVSS, December
2015 - This Sherman is well maintained and is in excellent condition.
It sits on the southeast corner of the courthouse property. This tank was
previously located at the National Guard Armory.
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