Editing M4 Sherman (section)

===Pacific Theater===
[[File:Chinese Sherman.jpg|thumb|Chinese M4A4 Sherman of the Sino-American Provisional Tank Group in East Burma]]

While combat in the [[European theatre of World War II|European theater]] often consisted of high-profile armored warfare, the mainly naval nature of the [[Asiatic-Pacific Theater|Pacific Theater of Operations]] (PTO) relegated it to secondary status for both the Allies and the Japanese. While the U.S. Army fielded 16 armored divisions and 70 separate tank battalions during the war, only a third of the battalions and none of the divisions were deployed to the Pacific Theater.{{sfn|Zaloga |2008|p=301}}  The [[Imperial Japanese Army]] (IJA) deployed only their [[1st Tank Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|1st Tank Division]] and [[2nd Tank Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|2nd Tank Division]] to the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific]] during the war with the [[3rd Tank Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|3rd Tank Division]] being deployed in [[British rule in Burma|Burma]], [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] and [[Manchukuo]]'s border with the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[4th Tank Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|4th Tank Division]] remaining on the [[Japanese home islands]] in preparation for an [[Operation Downfall|allied invasion]] that never came.{{sfn|Zaloga |2007|p=37}}  Armor from both sides mostly operated in jungle terrain that was poorly suited to armored warfare. For this type of terrain, the Japanese and the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] found [[light tank]]s easier to transport and deploy.{{sfn|Zaloga|2007|pp=15, 33}}
[[File:SC 206511 - During a respite in the hard fighting on Okinawa, these medium U.S. tanks bunch up closely on a rolling ridge, 1945.jpg|thumb|left|A platoon of Sherman tanks of the 713th Tank Battalion gathered at a ridge on Okinawa.]]During the early stages of combat in the Pacific, specifically, the [[Guadalcanal Campaign]], the U.S. Marine Corps' [[M2 Light Tank|M2A4 light tank]] fought against the equally matched [[Type 95 Ha-Go]] light tank; both were armed with a 37&nbsp;mm main gun. However, the M2 (produced in 1940) was newer by five years.{{sfn|Zaloga |2007|p=40}} By 1943, the IJA still used the Type 95 and [[Type 97 Chi-Ha]] medium tanks, while Allied forces were quickly replacing their light tanks with 75&nbsp;mm-armed M4s.{{sfn|Zaloga |2007|p=34}} The Chinese in India received 100 M4 Shermans and used them to great effect in the subsequent 1944 and 1945 offensives in the [[China Burma India Theater]].{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

[[File:Medium tank crosses Suicide Creek.jpg|thumb|As part of [[Operation Dexterity]], an M4A1 (75&nbsp;mm) advances through a tropical rain forest on [[New Britain]], in the South-West Pacific]]
To counter the Sherman,{{sfn|Zaloga |2007|p=21–22}} the Japanese developed the [[Type 3 Chi-Nu]] and the heavier [[Type 4 Chi-To]]; both tanks were armed with 75&nbsp;mm guns, albeit of different type. Only 166 Type 3s and two Type 4s were built, and none saw combat; they were saved for the defense of the [[Japanese archipelago|Japanese home islands]], leaving 1930s era light and medium armor to do battle against 1940s-built Allied light and medium armor.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

During the later years of the war, general purpose high explosive ammunition was preferred for fighting Japanese tanks because armor-piercing rounds, which had been designed for penetrating thicker steel, often went through the thin armor of the Type 95 Ha-Go (the most commonly encountered Japanese tank) and [[Overpenetration|out the other side without stopping]]. Although the high-velocity guns of tank destroyers were useful for penetrating fortifications, M4s armed with flamethrowers were often deployed, as direct fire seldom destroyed Japanese fortifications.{{sfn|Zaloga |2008|p=215–17, 318 captions}}<ref>{{harvp|Zaloga|1999|p=35}}, "tank guns could not penetrate bunkers"</ref>