"Brief report on the technical condition of M4-A2 tanks arriving at the Gorkiy foreign vehicles QA department of the GABTU
- 26 M4-A2 tanks arrived in Gorkiy from November 20th to December 28th, 1942.
Delivery of the tanks and external inspection was performed in the presence of the delivering party.Transport #Arrival date# of M4-A2 tanksTrain chief17412November 20th, 19423Jr. Lt. Barsukov17413November 23rd, 19429Sr. Tech. Lt. Balyayev17414November 26th, 194211Tech. Lt. Volosko17415December 1st, 19421Lt. Nesayev105/4805December 24th, 19422Sgt. Kinozarov - External inspection of M4-A2 tanks showed that:
- Transport #17413 had no seals or tarps on 9 vehicles. Tank #3020993 had an open toolbox. Tank #3021054 did not have its travel lock engaged.
- Transport #17414 was missing tarps on 11 vehicles. Tank #3021079 was not sealed.
- Starting the engines, breaking in the tanks, and partial disassembly as well as observation during usage in units showed a large amount of defects, which are attached in the "Report on technical condition of tanks".According to the speedometers, each tank travelled 60-80 miles after leaving the factory, or 100-130 km. The M4-A2 tanks mainly have the following defects:
- Coking, scorching, or tearing off injectors (32 cases).
- Scorching or melting of the engine pistons (11 cases).
- Tearing of the cylinder sleeves along the air channels (9 cases).
- Air thermometer shows no reading (9 cases).
- Clutch adjustment slips (8 cases).
- Transmission oil leaks (4 cases).
- Crack in the cylinder block or cylinder heads (3 cases).
- Crack in the oil cooler casing caps (3 cases).
- Defects with radios (3 cases).
- Oil penetrating through seals (3 cases).
- Desynchronization of the engines (2 cases).
- The following parts on M4-A2 tanks are missing:
- Only 4 tanks have gun cleaning tools.
- All tanks lack:
- Canvas bags for the gun muzzle and breech.
- Brass catchers for the 75 mm gun.
- Canvas bags for the Browning machine guns.
- Canvas bags for the periscopes.
- Wrenches to adjust the brake bands.
- Wrenches to adjust the track.
- Wrenches to adjust the idler.The missing components were provided by the Gorkiy Military QA Department.
- The armament, instruments, and equipment is provided in accordance with the standards set by Military QA.
Conclusions: M4-A2 tanks need additional testing and thorough study of their design parameters, especially the GM-4606 [sic] diesel engine.
Chief of the Foreign Vehicles Military QA Department, Engineer-Lieutenant Colonel Muravich
Senior Assistant to the Chief of the Foreign Vehicles Military QA Department, Engineer-Major Masalkin"