MISSION STATEMENT

This website is to serve as a catalog of historical information for various tanks, across various stages of development, created for use by the United States from Pre-WWII through to the 1970s. However, the primary purpose for this website is to illustrate a proposal for what an "endgame" could look like for the US tech tree in the game, World Of Tanks, and to show that there's still plenty of life left to breathed into this game.

My aim is to see as many tanks in the game about tanks as possible, and I hope to show that in a way that respects both the historicity of the tanks shown and the balance of the game overall. As such, I will not be going into great detail on individual statistics. Rather, I will only be showing the possible modules for each tank, changes that could be made to make it more historically authentic, a historical overview, and how the tank's playstyle may be represented in-game. I will also attempt to future-proof this by including alternate hulls, half-tracks, and wheeled vehicles.

This is certainly not perfect and everything is subject to change. This is still a work in progress, and updates are frequent if not daily. This is a fan project and a labor of love. Do enjoy.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

M551 Sheridan

Early production M551 Sheridan.


On 29 June 1966, the first two production M551s were completed and delivered to the US Army's test and evaluation center for durability testing, where they recommended further development of the XM81 gun-launcher. This involved redesigns of the conventional 152 mm ammunition. Early production M551s used a bore evacuator on the M81 gun-launcher, but later production versions had this feature removed and thickened the tube walls near the muzzle, resulting in the M81E1.
Late production M551 Sheridan.

A total of 1662 M551s would be built. The overall cost exceeded $1.3 Billion, nearly a 25% increase from the initial figure which was expected to cover about 2500 vehicles, including ammunition and supply costs. Nonetheless, the program did produce a vehicle with capabilities unmatched by any other in the Army's inventory.

Compared to the old (Tier X) XM551 Sheridan, this new tank is made simply faster and more mobile. Other improvements over the old Sheridan might include increased view range, increased accuracy or aim time, and better on-the-move dispersion. Its armor is relatively unchanged, however, still being very poor. In fact, the “spaced” foam armor is reduced rather drastically, making it even easier to penetrate. It’s also possible for any of the guns found on the new XM551 I proposed to be mounted here. I didn’t include them because Wargaming has shown hesitation towards Tier X tanks with extra modules in the past. But if that mindset has changed, then any of those guns are more than welcome here.



Guns: 152 mm Gun-Launcher M81E1 (conventional)

Engines: GM 6V53T Late (300 hp)

Turrets (Turret Armor (mm)): M551 Sheridan (38/15/15)

Suspensions/Alternate Hulls, Total Weight (metric tons): M551 Sheridan (15.18)

Hull Armor (mm): 15/32/13

Top Speed: 69 km/h

Crew: 4 (Driver; Gunner; Loader; Commander/Radio)

Parent: XM551
See Also: M551 SPH, M551 105, M551A1, M551 MBT, XM551 TB

Sources:
Hunnicutt, R. P. Sheridan, 2015.
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