How many US Army tanks were named for Civil War generals?

And of course our trucks were absolutely critical in their offensive operations.
Oh yes! Absolutely the case! Detroit auto-workers put the Soviet army on the road to Berlin... Wilys Jeeps, Studebaker and Dodge trucks, etc. etc. Also very important alloys and assistance in making aircraft engines, manufacturing high-octane fuel, etc. None of that named after our Civil War, at least I don't think so? Plenty of their stuff was named after their Civil War generals, at least those who didn't disappear from books and vanish from photos in the 1930s, right? Chief Stalin toady and sycophant Kliment Voroshilov of Tsaritsyn got the KV-1 and KV-2 heavy tanks named after him, for instance.
 
And of course our trucks were absolutely critical in their offensive operations.
Stalin would have lost the war if we hadn't sent him a kazillion of our wonderful Studabaker trucks. The two top scoring aces of the Soviet Air Force got a majority of their kills in the Bell AiraCobra. A fighter plane that our pilots hated (it would flat spin like a Frisbee all the way to the ground).
 
BTW it was the Brits who named the M4 medium tank the Sherman and the M3/M5 light tank the Stuart . These were not official U.S. Army names , but they became universally known by these names .
Not so - the American name was Stuart because it was a light and lightly-armed and armored vehicle intended mainly for scout duties like the cavalry predecessor for whom it was named; however, when the first of them arrived in the North African desert through Lend-Lease, the British liked them so well they named them "Honeys" and that was name that stuck for them.
 
The M3 Lee and Grant tanks were nicknamed by the Russian Lend Lease recipients as the "coffin for seven brothers" while their own inadequate light-tanks were the "coffin for two brothers."

On the other hand, much of the Lend Lease equipment to the USSR proved highly popular: The Stuart light tank (J.E.B. Stuart), the Sherman tank, the Aircobra mid-engined fighter plane, the British/Canadian Valentine tank, and most of all, the "tishonka" or Spam!
Funny the Russians liked the Aracobra - the USAAF didn't, so that's why it was available to send to them in large numbers.
 
The M3 Lee and Grant tanks were nicknamed by the Russian Lend Lease recipients as the "coffin for seven brothers" while their own inadequate light-tanks were the "coffin for two brothers."

On the other hand, much of the Lend Lease equipment to the USSR proved highly popular: The Stuart light tank (J.E.B. Stuart), the Sherman tank, the Aircobra mid-engined fighter plane, the British/Canadian Valentine tank, and most of all, the "tishonka" or Spam!

The main difference between the Lee and Grant versions of the M3 was that, at the request of the British, the turret was redesigned, eliminating the upper commander's turret with its .30-caliber machine gun and relocating the radio to the turret bustle* (rear extension). This did away with the need for a radio operator, reducing the crew from seven to six.

Russians have a good sense of humor, and while making sardonic jokes, were delighted with anything that would help them kill fascists. One of their own fighters, the LaGG-3 which was largely made of wood, was called the "varnished wood coffin".

Tushonka is a traditional Russian recipe - https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/299 - which could easily be adapted to mass production in the US. At a time when Stalin's propaganda claimed the western allies were not doing enough, it was nicknamed "second front", Russian humor again.

* getting back to the Civil War era, a bustle was the item under a woman's skirt which also extended the rear :wink:
 
Funny the Russians liked the Aracobra - the USAAF didn't, so that's why it was available to send to them in large numbers.
Since so many Soviet pilots were less-well trained than Luftwaffe counterparts, part of the appeal was the 37mm cannon, which allowed for a distant knock-down hit out of typical German fighter range. Also, the bulk of flying there was apparently at relatively low altitudes, so the Aircobra's shortcomings were less an issue. Apparently the wing root guns were removed, and that improved performance to some degree. It was sturdy. It had a good radio. For an air force that couldn't get its pilots toothe paste, it must have seemed "good enough."

Recall that tiny Finland fielded many aces with the homely, unloved Brewster F2A Buffalo, which was a desirable plane because it used 87 octane gasoline...

Any aircraft with Civil War monikers, I wonder? Or just "cavalry" stuff like tanks? Of course McClellan got a saddle with his august surname appended to it....
 
Stalin would have lost the war if we hadn't sent him a kazillion of our wonderful Studabaker trucks. The two top scoring aces of the Soviet Air Force got a majority of their kills in the Bell AiraCobra. A fighter plane that our pilots hated (it would flat spin like a Frisbee all the way to the ground).

The top Soviet - and Allied - ace Ivan Kozhedub - got most of his 62 kills in the La-7.

Second ace Alexandr Pokryshkin - got most of his 59 kills in the P-39 and was a strong advocate of the aircraft. It was popular with the Soviets in general, quite effective at the low/medium altitudes where most Russian front air combat took place.

It's sometimes suggested that the P-39 with its 37mm cannon was used mainly for ground attack, but the Russians were fine with it for air-to-air combat.

Funny story, several Russian fighters also carried 37- or even 45mm cannons. Pilots landing on icy airstrips sometimes had trouble braking, so they would fire a few shots from the big gun to slow the plane down!
 
The M36 Jackson ( as well as the M18 Hellcat) were used into the 1990s in the Serbian-Croatian conflict. They were upgraded with newer equipment .

The Balkans were the source of many of the currently restored M36 and M18s now in the US.

When they ran out of spare parts, the Yugoslavians replaced the GAA Ford powerplants with diesels from their T-55 fleet (including the engine compartment floorplates). In two cases, I witnessed the cooling flywheel (lower center hull rear) give way (once when Alan Cor's was delivered at the Baltimore docks and prior to that at Indiantown Gap). Both times, only one of nine bolts was left and they had sheered.

That can not have been coincidence.
 
The Balkans were the source of many of the currently restored M36 and M18s now in the US.

When they ran out of spare parts, the Yugoslavians replaced the GAA Ford powerplants with diesels from their T-55 fleet (including the engine compartment floorplates). In two cases, I witnessed the cooling flywheel (lower center hull rear) give way (once when Alan Cor's was delivered at the Baltimore docks and prior to that at Indiantown Gap). Both times, only one of nine bolts was left and they had sheered.

That can not have been coincidence.
Yes , there is a restored M18 at the Sloan Museum in Flint , Michigan . It came from the Balkans and was restored to WW2 specs. All the M18s were assembled by Buick in Flint . There is a credible story of at least one being driven to a bar near the plant. My grandfather worked at Buick during the war.
 
Not a tank, but oh did I get excited when I saw this little beauty on my timeline ... the Cushman Scooter.

Cushman Scooter.jpg


Sadly, upon further research, I found it wasn't named after the accomplished actress and successful Union spy, Pauline Cushman, but after Everett and Clinton Cushman who founded the company in Clinton, Nebraska in 1903. No relation as far as I know.

Back to the drawing board I guess ...
 
Weren't they called Bufs short for Buffaloes ?
Or was that a WW2 aircraft?
I was thinking the nickname for B-52's

Big Ugly (ermm) Foxtrots :D

Britain is apparently good place to watch take offs, alot of videos from there
 
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Abroad, some of these vehicles had a very long service life indeed... The Stuart light tank was used in Angola during the Portuguese colonial wars in the 1960s until the April 1974 Carnation Revolution and decision to precipitously decolonize, and were continuously in use in Brazil until quite recently. Some may even now appear from time to time as trainers or something like that?

The Sherman was used by one Fidel Castro Ruz for his triumphal entry into Havana 8 Jan. 1959 after a week-long journey from Santiago de Cuba after Fulgencio Batista departed in haste, having time to pack the national treasury, but little else besides...

Sherman tanks appeared from time to time in the many wars (some ongoing) in the Middle East.
I saw an M8 Greyhound in Guatemala in 2006. Right tool for the right job: one of those old girls might not be competitive against a modern main battle tank in any way, but as an infantry support vehicle it´ll do just fine. One of the guys who works for me, with a couple Iraq tours under his belt said ¨I´ll take a Sherman if the other guy doesn´t have one.¨
 
Abroad, some of these vehicles had a very long service life indeed... The Stuart light tank was used in Angola during the Portuguese colonial wars in the 1960s until the April 1974 Carnation Revolution and decision to precipitously decolonize, and were continuously in use in Brazil until quite recently. Some may even now appear from time to time as trainers or something like that?

The Sherman was used by one Fidel Castro Ruz for his triumphal entry into Havana 8 Jan. 1959 after a week-long journey from Santiago de Cuba after Fulgencio Batista departed in haste, having time to pack the national treasury, but little else besides...

Sherman tanks appeared from time to time in the many wars (some ongoing) in the Middle East.
Here is a high-tech-for-the-era use of the Sherman chassis by the Israeli IDF during the Arab-Israeli wars:

 
I saw an M8 Greyhound in Guatemala in 2006. Right tool for the right job: one of those old girls might not be competitive against a modern main battle tank in any way, but as an infantry support vehicle it´ll do just fine. One of the guys who works for me, with a couple Iraq tours under his belt said ¨I´ll take a Sherman if the other guy doesn´t have one.¨
One of the central American air forces still had some P-51 Mustangs as COIN aircraft up till the 90's.

Could still strafe and drop bombs on guerillas who had no planes.
 
One of the central American air forces still had some P-51 Mustangs as COIN aircraft up till the 90's.

Could still strafe and drop bombs on guerillas who had no planes.
Probably Guatemala, which retired them in the 1970s? Certainly El Salvador flew some P-51s during the 1969 "soccer war" with Honduras. The Dominican Republic was the last air force to fly the type into the mid-1980s. Both El Salvador and Honduras used the Vought F4U Corsair into the late 1970s, including in the 1969 war. The US provided El Salvador with A-37 B Dragonfly ground attack planes, which were used in the long 1980s to early 1990s Civil War. The T6 Texan trainer was also often used as a COIN bomber and ground attack plane.
 
Probably Guatemala, which retired them in the 1970s? Certainly El Salvador flew some P-51s during the 1969 "soccer war" with Honduras. The Dominican Republic was the last air force to fly the type into the mid-1980s. Both El Salvador and Honduras used the Vought F4U Corsair into the late 1970s, including in the 1969 war. The US provided El Salvador with A-37 B Dragonfly ground attack planes, which were used in the long 1980s to early 1990s Civil War. The T6 Texan trainer was also often used as a COIN bomber and ground attack plane.
I had an Air forces of the World book back in the 80's it listed one having like a dozen P-51's. Another still had a few WW2 bombers, not positive, wanting to say B-25's, it wasn't Forts or Liberators
 
I had an Air forces of the World book back in the 80's it listed one having like a dozen P-51's. Another still had a few WW2 bombers, not positive, wanting to say B-25's, it wasn't Forts or Liberators
Could have been the A-26 Invader . It was a twin engine ground attack / bomber. They were WW2 vintage but we still used them in Viet Nam. They were re-designated the B-26 in 1948 . The original B-26 was a WW2 medium bomber and the Invader was originally designated the A-26 to avoid confusion. Brazil used them into the 1970s.
 
The A- designator was used by the Army Air Corps/Forces for ground attack aircraft. Examples include the A-24 (Army version of the Navy SBD dive bomber) and A-36 (dive bomber version of the P-51). When it became an independent Air Force, A- was dropped, but it reappeared when close support requirements in Vietnam led the USAF to acquire Navy-designed A-1s and A-7s. Later of course came the A-10 Thunderbolt II/Warthog.
 
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