T26E4 Super Pershing
- For the non-premium vehicle, see M26 Pershing.
T26_E4_SuperPershing (Stock)
| 7200 Price |
| 1460 Hit Points |
| 49.9 / 53 kgWeight |
- Commander
| 178/76.2/51Hull Armor(front/sides/rear, mm) |
| 102/76.2/76.2Turret Armor(front/sides/rear, mm) |
| 500 h.p.Engine Power |
| 40.2 km/hSpeed Limit |
| 32 deg/secTraverse Speed |
| 240 Standard Shell Damage |
| 170 mmStandard Shell Penetration |
| 8.2 Time for Complete Loading |
| 24 deg/secTurret Traverse Speed |
| 390 mView Range |
| 745 mSignal Range |
The T26E4 "Super Pershing" is a M26 Pershing with upgraded protection in the form of spaced armor. It is to the Pershing as the M4A3E2 Jumbo is to the M4A3E8 Sherman Easy Eight in that it is the up-armored variant of a mobile medium. The T26E4 does not however have access to the upgraded engine or the long 90mm of the M26, but instead does have the historical long 90mm tested on the tank. The turret face of the T26E4 has very good durability to complement the tough frontal hull. The T26E4 is very slow for a medium tank and is especially vulnerable while climbing hills or when it has found itself to have been flanked. The T15E1 gun has good accuracy, but lacks in penetration, alpha and DPM. This, coupled with the T26E4's sluggish mobility and turret traverse, means it will often be unable to flank opponents, having to fight them head on with less than ideal weaponry. When playing the Super Pershing, great care must be taken to aim for the weakpoints on enemy armor.
As a premium Tier VIII tank, the T26E4 is a is relatively inexpensive tank in terms of operating costs per battle, but will not normally generate as much income as other premiums with more effective guns due to its issues generating damage without premium ammo. However, with its APCR round the T26E4 should not be underestimated when squared off against an opponent, as players who take advantage of premium ammo sales are still quite capable of easily destroying tanks the long 90 should never have otherwise penetrated while laughing all the way to the bank.
T26E4 Super Pershing
Stock
| Level | Turret | Weight (t) | Turret Armor (front/sides/rear, mm) | Gun Traverse Speed (deg/s) | View Range (m) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
VIII | T26E4 | 11000 | 102/76.2/76.2 | 24 | 390 |
| Level | Gun | Weight (t) | Average Penetration (mm) | Rate of Fire | Dispersion at 100 m | Aiming Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
VIII | 90 mm Gun T15E1 | 1551 | 170/258/45 | 240/240/320 | 7.32 | 0.38 | 2.3 |
| Level | Engine | Weight (t) | Engine Power (h.p.) | Chance of Fire on Impact | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
VI | Ford GAF V8 | 569 | 500 | 20 |
| Level | Suspension | Weight (t) | Load Limit | Traverse Speed (deg/s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
VIII | М26Т80Е1 | 10000 | 53 | 32 |
| Level | Radio | Weight (t) | Signal Range (m) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
X | SCR 528A1 | 0 | 745 |
Compatible Equipment
Compatible Consumables
Player Opinion
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Thick sloped frontal armor
- Very strong spaced armor on most of turret- gun mantlet is nigh impenetrable
- Spaced armor on frontal hull is sufficient to stop some shots with angling
- Weak spots in the front are inconspicuous and hard to hit from a distance
- HE, HEAT and Artillery resistant when impacted in the front.
Cons:
- Poor gun performance- 90mm T15E1 has low penetration.
- Very thin side and rear armor.
- Commander's Cupola and turret cheek weak spots means a hull-down position is still vulnerable.
- The top half of the Upper Front Glacis, above the machinegun port, is unreliable against guns with over 200mm of penetration.
- Angling the frontal armor enough to bounce shots leaves your soft side armor exposed.
Performance
In the patch 8.8 the Super Pershing was "re-balanced." While on paper, it's frontal armor was reduced by 1mm, its angle was changed causing the tank to lose over a third of its effective frontal armor. The tank is no longer able to lead the charge like it could, but since its turret armor was unchanged it can still be played as a hull-down support tank, although turret still has the cupola and cheek weakspots. On the other hand view range and camouflage value received a buff. Accuracy on move and dispersion during turret rotation was significantly improved resulting improved fire control, even if on paper it remains the same. Terrain resistance was buffed and tank can reach around 30kph on flat ground, slightly surpassing IS-6. Hill climbing still remains abysmal.
The front of a T26E4 can still be a serious challenge to inexperienced players and tanks at a distance. The T26E4 is similar to the M26 Pershing in many ways, such as shape and armament; however, the T26E4 suffers a significant decrease in speed and mobility as it uses a very strained 500 horsepower engine that makes it slow while turning, accelerating, and going uphill. Speed is definitely not the T26E4's strong point. Another downside is the very weak sides and rear of the T26E4 which, when combined with sluggish mobility, make it very vulnerable when flanked. Although very difficult to penetrate at a distance, an up-close T26E4 can be easily dispatched by enemies that are familiar with the T26E4's numerous weakspots. The most commonly exploited weak spots include the large commander's hatch, machine gun port in front armor and turret ring. Additionally, most heavy tanks are able to penetrate the frontal plate of the Super Pershing on its top third. Never face-hug in a T26E4. A T26E4 must be very aware of its surroundings and keep its weak spots and sides protected to fully utilize the potential of its armor.
Whereas other mediums may be speedy, thinly armored, and rely on flanking maneuvers and wolf-pack tactics, the T26E4 finds itself better suited to playing as a second-line support tank. The gun on the T26E4 lacks penetration, but does have decent fire control. An alternative to targeting weakspots while in a T26E4 are its premium rounds which boast greatly increased penetration. Furthermore, as with most American vehicles, the T26E4 has great gun depression which allows it to hull down and use cover comfortably. Your best bet is to travel in a group of attacking heavy tanks and wait for them to engage your opponents. Stay back and provide supporting fire from hard-cover. Due to your low penetration players will often concentrate on other, more threatening tanks first allowing you more time to aim and more chances to fire. Although you're unlikely to penetrate most enemy tanks with your normal AP rounds without aiming at weakspots, your premium APCR rounds will be more effective. With careful aim and conservative shots it is still possible to turn a profit while using premium ammo with the Super Pershing, but don't expect to make as many credits as other Tier 8 premium tanks.
Historical Info
The 90-mm M3 gun of the Pershing was similar to the German 88 mm KwK 36 used on the Tiger I. In an effort to match the firepower of the Tiger II's more powerful 88 mm KwK43, the T15E1 90 mm gun was developed and mounted in a T26E1 in January 1945. This tank was designated T26E1-1. The T15E1 gun was 73 calibers in length and had a much longer high capacity chamber. This gave it a muzzle velocity of 3,750 ft/s (1,140 m/s) with the T30E16 APCR shot and could penetrate the Panther's frontal armor at up to 2,600 yd (2,400 m). This model used a single piece 50 in (1,300 mm) long ammunition and was the only Super Pershing sent to Europe.
A second pilot tank was converted from a T26E3 and used a modified T15E2 gun that used a two piece ammunition. A total of 25 of these tanks were built and designated as the T26E4. An improved mounting removed the need for stabilizer springs. Since M26 was designed to fight the heaviest German armour, weak mantlet proved to be a big problem. It wasn’t able to stop the shells from 88 mm KwK 36 used on the Tiger I, not to mention 88 mm KwK43 from the Tiger II. The designers chose crude, but effective method. They welded additional 80 mm armor plate in front of the mantlet to increase its resilience. Original plate that was welded was salvaged from the destroyed Panther tank.
Post-war, two M26 tanks had the T54 gun installed, which had the same long gun barrel, but the ammunition cartridge was designed to be shorter and fatter, while still retaining the propellant force of the original round. They also had the muzzle brake and bore evacuator from the M3A1 gun of the M26A1 and M46. The tanks were designated as the M26E1 tank, but lack of funds cut off further production
Historical Gallery
