# WW2? Tanks vs Tank Destroyers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235 "2024-02-28T15:00:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235/21 "2024-03-02T07:32:52Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > I was a bit confused by the way this was worded at first, but digging around a bit I’m pretty sure I get what you mean, but just to clarify that I’m understanding you correctly: the Marines had their own tank units manned with Marine personnel, but the tanks themselves to form such units were acquired from the Army. Yes. Very poor writing on my part. I blame posting right before going to bed. The Marines acquired tanks from the Army rather than continue to develop special-purpose tanks developed for the USMC, such as the [CTL-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmon-Herrington_CTLS): > [@](#): > > In the mid-1930s, the [U.S. Marines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Marine) required a light tank that could be used in [amphibious operations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibious_warfare). After trials with [Christie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Walter_Christie) amphibious tanks, [Marmon Herrington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmon_Herrington) produced a light, turretless tank with a 0.5 in (12.7 mm) M2 machine gun and two .30 cal (7.62 mm) M1919 machine guns. This was the first light tank to meet USMC standards when it was designed. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2024, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235/22 "2024-03-10T21:58:58Z")
Well, I learned something interesting from this thread. The standard Army Man set when I was a kid came with plastic tanks. Seeing the descriptions and pictures of tank destroyers got me interested enough to look them up. They appear to be Pershing tanks. But the amusing part is that I didn’t know how they were built and just guessed by physical appearance, so I had all my tanks with the turret backwards and driving in reverse. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235/23 "2024-03-11T23:21:15Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > The standard Army Man set when I was a kid came with plastic tanks. Seeing the descriptions and pictures of tank destroyers got me interested enough to look them up. They appear to be Pershing tanks. I wonder if you had a different set than I had. The ones I played with were M48 Patton tanks. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235/24 "2024-03-11T23:26:40Z")
Interesting. Given that I’m trying to ID by memory from google tank images, you’re probably correct. The important part is I drove them backwards. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235/25 "2024-03-11T23:43:37Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > I wonder if you had a different set than I had. The ones I played with were M48 Patton tanks. Me too. The M48 was an evolutionary development of the M26 Pershing. The Pershing was upgraded to the M46, wich led to the M47, and then the M48. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235/26 "2024-03-12T04:04:44Z")
And then the M60. That Pershing had legs. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235/27 "2024-03-12T04:39:30Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > And then the M60. Though the Army insists that though developed from the M48, the M60 [is not part of the Patton tank family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patton_tank), only the M46, M47, and M48s were Pattons. That of course has never stopped everyone and their mother from calling them Pattons anyway. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235/28 "2024-03-12T14:18:31Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > and M48s were Pattons. Irony: during the big tank battle in Tunisia in the film _Patton_, the good general was ordering around tanks named after himself. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235/29 "2024-03-12T15:21:07Z")
The Army neglected to assign any “dead general” name to the M60, in defiance of decades of custom, so tradition-minded watchers of such things filled in the gap based on rational considerations such as a clear continuation of design heritage. The Army was right but the Army was very wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-tanks-vs-tank-destroyers/998235.md?page=1)