Product Description

The Sherman DD (Duplex Drive) tank was designed to preserve the element of surprise during an amphibious assault. This book explores the development and modifications of the Sherman DD by the Allied forces, focusing on their deployment during the D-Day landings. It also discusses the many variations of the Sherman DD, including the Valentine DD tank and its role as a training tank in Britain and limited operational use in Italy. David Fletcher describes the rigorous training programme that the American, British and Canadian troops must endure to use the swimming Shermans, and he examines their successes and tragic failures on the beaches of Normandy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #413472 in Books
• Brand: Osprey Publishing
• Published on: 2006-05-30
• Released on: 2006-05-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

Review
"Again the people at Osprey deserve great credit, they cover all the aspects of combat." -Alex Ness, popthought.com

"There is particularly good coverage of the mechanical aspects of the flotation and dual-drive apparatuses of the tanks. The black and white photos and Tony Bryan's original color artwork contribute toward the reader's understanding of the workings of these vehicles. Swimming Shermans is an excellent study of one of the more innovative designs in WWII armor, and a tribute to the courageous crews who manned those tanks." -Military Vehicles

"David Fletcher is a historian at the Tank Museum in Bovington, U.K. and has spent over forty years studying the development of British armoured vehicles during the two World Wars. This experience is apparent in his new study of the Sherman DD (duplex drive) amphibious tank of World War II. His direct contact with the extensive WWII armour collection at Bovington has clearly allowed him to attain a complete understanding of not only British prototypes, but American models as well..." -Dr. Aaron P Plamondon, Canadian Army Journal (Winter 2006)

"I found this book to be quite interesting as it covers the DD's very well. From a modeller's standpoint, I think that some of the photo coverage is weak, as there just aren't quite enough detail photos...the color plates are quite good, especially the center spread which shows quite well how the flotation screen sets up. I highly recommend this book for armor modellers, especially, "Shermanaholics"." -Chris Hughes, Armorama (July 2006)

From the Publisher
The unrivalled illustrated reference on fighting vehicles, transport and artillery through the ages. Each volume is illustrated throughout, making these books uniquely accessible to history enthusiasts of all ages.

About the Author
David Fletcher was born in 1942. He has written a number of books and articles on military subjects and is currently the historian at the Tank Museum, Bovington, UK. He has spent over 40 years studying the development of British armoured vehicles during the two World Wars.

Customer Reviews

mildly disappointing
WW2 marked the first use of tanks being used to support a force attacking from the sea. The Allies had to develop ways to get tanks ashore to support their troops, especially in Europe where the threat of a counter a attack by German tanks was always present. This book is not one of my favorite of the Osprey Vanguard series. This book is flawed by too narrow a focus and too much extraneous material. The proper title should have been "British Swimming Shermans in Europe". All the material is about the British attempt to develop and use the Duplex Drive version of the "Sherman" tank. This book goes into detail about the process of developing and training British tank crews on the DD tanks - starting with the developments based on a British "Valentine" tank. Later there are accounts of several British units use of the DD "Sherman", but very little on the US Army's use of the same equipment, and no mention of the fact that the US built 350 DD tanks using plans provided by the British. There is NO mention of the US use of DD tanks in Southern France or the Rhine crossing. There is also not even passing mention of the US developments in floating tanks ashore. There is a lot more to the DD story, from both nations, that was omitted. This book does provide information on the original engineering of the project, but little else in the way of new material.

Excellent coverage of an intriguing tank
The amphibious DD tanks was one of the more interesting weapons to be used in World War II. Tanks are interently heavy and dense objects, so making one float is clearly a major engineering project. The British response to the need for floating tanks to support amphibious invasions was an interesting if clumsy technological solution.

This book is a standard Osprey New Vanguard treatment of the subject: background, technical description and operational overview, with excellent color plates. After reading the book, I had a good understanding of how the DD tanks worked, how it was used in combat, and what were its limitations.