Where did the name of this tank come from.

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

Why was the Sherman Tank called the Sherman Tank? Is it named after the founder of the tank?

2

It is named after General Sherman, like how the Lee tank is named after General Lee, The Pershing is named after General Pershing, Patton tank is named after General patton. All American tanks have been named after Generals sence World War 2

3

On a side note, does any one know why British tank names all begin with the letter C? Churchill, Cromwell, Crusader, Chieftain, Centurion, Challenger, Conqueror, and perhaps I missed a few…Aside from the Matilda and Valentine, which clearly don’t start with C.

4

I believe that the reason why the Matilda and the Valentine tanks didn’t hac “C” names is since they were “Infantry” tanks, and not “Cruisers”. Cruisers were like cavalry and ranged the battlefield, while infantry tanks were to support infantry which is the reason why they were so slow.

Mike T.

5

All lend lease tanks built in the US and used by British forces were assigned names of American Civil War generals while in use by British forces- In US WWII service it was known as the M4 Medium. Later on the Sherman name caught one with US forces as well . Around the same time US forces adopted the naming of its tanks after Generals- Chaffee, Pershing, Walker, Patton…

6

True, but the Churchill was an Infantry tank as well. I do recall that the Valentine was developed as a private venture and not specifically by Army request. That was one of the reasons for its’ naming outside the standard “C” range.

7

Makes sense. So they named the tanks after US Generals.

8

Yes, American Civil War generals in particular.

9

Stikpusher - yes, the Valentine was a private venture, supposedly the design was submitted on Valentine’s Day.

The Churchill, I believe was named after Winston, and not his glorious ancestor John, the first Duke of Marlboro. One story has it that it was designed by a group of designers from the WWI days and were trying to have a vehicle with good mobility over trenches against open field mobility. It also had good hill climbing capability as well.

Mike T.