M-26 bested North Korean tanks at Pusan

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: June 24th, 2002

THE LORE OF THE CORPS: Pershing power
M-26 bested North Korean tanks at Pusan

By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times

The backbone of the North Korean invasion of South Korea in June 1950 was its fleet of Soviet-made T-34 main battle tanks. Robust and heavily armored, the T-34s made mincemeat of U.S. Army and South Korean tanks that stood in their way and were instrumental in the North?s early achievements.
However, all that changed with the arrival of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade at Pusan in August 1950. By combining air power, infantry anti-tank weapons and, most important, its M-26 main battle tanks, the brigade blunted the enemy?s armored threat.

The M-26 Pershing tank entered the U.S. Army?s inventory in November 1944 and reached the European combat theater in February 1945.

The Pershing was designated as a medium tank, but additions to its armament and armor changed its classification to heavy. With the introduction of the Pershing late in the war, the United States finally had a tank on par with Germany?s vaunted Tiger and Panther tanks.

Production of the Pershing lasted until late 1945 with nearly 2,000 manufactured.

But while the Pershing emerged from combat as the mainstay of the Army?s fleet, the Marine Corps continued to use its early World War II-vintage Sherman medium tanks until mid-1950.

The Pershings found their way into the Marine Corps inventory just in time for deployment to Korea, arriving at Pusan with Company A, 1st Tank Battalion.

Complaints and firepower

The Pershing was produced at two factories, where Ford gasoline engines rated at 500 horsepower were installed. The engines prompted some of the biggest complaints of the Pershing, criticized for a relatively low power-to-weight ratio that severely degraded the tank?s performance.

A fuel capacity of 220 gallons gave the Pershing an extremely modest road range of 100 miles and its maximum speed was 30 mph on the road and 20 mph cross-country.

The Pershing topped the scales at 42 tons and had frontal armor thickness ranging from 76 mm to 114 mm (2.9 inches to 4.5 inches). Five men manned the Pershing and had access to the vehicle through hatches in the tank?s hull, bow, turret and deck.

The tank?s primary armament was a 90 mm long-barreled gun. The 90 mm could deal with any armor threat of the period and was often put to use smashing fortified enemy positions.

A .30-caliber machine gun was mounted co-axially to the main gun and another was located in the front of the tank for use by the driver. Mounted atop the turret, at the commander?s hatch, was a pintle-mounted .50-caliber heavy machine gun to provide anti-aircraft fire.

Victorious debut in Korea

Marine Pershings saw extensive use in the defense of the Pusan Perimeter and scored numerous victories against North Korean T-34s.

During one engagement, on Sept. 3, 1950, a platoon of Pershings engaged and destroyed three T-34s in the vicinity of Hill 117 during the 2nd Naktong Counteroffensive.

They went on to support subsequent infantry attacks, and when two more enemy tanks appeared the Marine Pershings destroyed them as well.

The Corps? Pershings also provided key support during the Seoul and Chosin campaigns and were used extensively as ?mobile pillboxes? during the long and bloody ?outpost war? of the Korean War?s second and third years.

The Marine Corps kept its stock of Pershings after the Korean War, until they were replaced in the late 1950s by the M-48 Patton.

But many of the Pershings did not retire right away and instead went on to serve in allied armies, which bought them from the United States.

Keith A. Milks is a gunnery sergeant stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/arc...APER-505924.php


Sempers,

Roger