How many tanks did the US use in World War 2?

Answer 1

The US produced 88,000 M4 Sherman tanks for WWII. A great many of these went, via "Lend-Lease", to Russia, Great Britain and other Commonwealth nations, and France. There were several evolution in the Sherman - the first one had a short-barreled 75MM main gun, then a long barreled 75, then a high-velocity 76MM gun. None was effective against German tanks. The US also produced thousands of M2 Stuart light tanks, and thousands more of a truly horrible design, the M3 Grant, which was far more dangerous to its own crew than to the enemy. Late in the war the US got some M-26 Pershing tanks into the fight, but never enough of this excellent design, with its 90MM gun.

The US had 91 divisions in WWII - 65 infantry divisions, 5 airborne, 1 Mountain, 2 cavalry, and 16 armored divisions. Thus there was one armored division for every four infantry divisions, and this number and type of divisions approximated an army corps.

Of the sixteen armored divisions, two retained the Table of Organization from before the war and were called "heavy" armored divisions, with around 400 tanks. The rest were "light" armored divisions, and went through several readjustments in their Organization, but generally had about 250 tanks, two-thirds of which were the M4 Sherman medium tanks and the other third the light Stuart tanks.

The US also fielded dozens of "independent" tank battalions. No one knew for certain how tanks should be used in the years leading up to WWII. Should they be massed in large formations to smash through the enemy line, and then rapidly exploit the breakthrough in his rear areas? Or, should they be used to support the traditional infantry? Conservative military thinking naturally favored the latter. In the end the army decided to do both. The armored divisions were for breakthrough and exploitation, and the independent tank battalions were to support the foot soldiers. In practice many US infantry divisions had the same tank battalion more or less permanently "attached" and under its control, and developed great teamwork. These tank battalions usually had about 55 Sherman tanks.

The US also had tank-like vehicles in its forces - tank destroyers, and self-propelled artillery. Both had tracks like a tank, but no armor. Some of the early design tank destroyers did not even have a top - just a hull and a cannon, so the entire crew could be killed by a single hand grenade tossed in. The idea was that US tanks would be attacking and exploiting, not fighting enemy tanks. The tank destroyers were intended for that. As one might expect this did not work out well for the tank destroyermen. By late in the war the tank destroyers were being used as self-propelled artillery, very effectively. Purpose-built self-propelled artillery was also dearly loved by the infantry, for the firepower it brought to the battlefield.

Answer 2

I don't know the exact figure of tanks used by the Brits, Americans, Australians and Russians. I do know it is a figure in the thousands. The Brits and Americans brought well over 5000 tanks on Normandy Invasion D-day. But many more came after that. The Russians had many thousands too.

Answer 3

Nazi Germany developed two main varieties of tanks for the Wehrmacht to use: The Tiger (Mark I and II [Otherwise known as the PzKpfw Tiger]) and the Panther (Mark I-IV [Otherwise known as the PzKpfw Panther V]). About 5,000 Tigers were produced over the course of the war. About 6,000 Panthers were created.

Please note: All tank variations are included in the total tally of tanks produced.

Answer 4

The Americans used 183,396 tanks, nearly half of this was Sherman tanks.

Answer 5

Approximately over 50,000 tanks, of which about 39,000 were Shermans.