WS19 NOS unboxing video

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Patrick Johnson

I am still hopeful that one day an installation kit for a Sherman tank will appear at auction which would include the thin metal straps that were used to hold the cables against the turret interior.
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Installation straps are the last items I need for my Sherman tank project, where I will have on display within a replica turret (rear 1/3) all the workings of a truly operational WS19 set complete with all control wiring and control boxes, including an original NOS turret wiring box and a complete Sherman mounting kit for the Variometer! Almost everything is in mint or near mint condition which makes it extra special.

Bear in mind that there are at least two, and possibly three different sizes of the cable clip set that you are looking for - to cope with the variations in cabling (screened conduit - UK and Canada, fabric coated (UK and possibly Canada) and plastic coated multicore (U.S.). It's possible that the Sherman only ever used the screened conduit type wiring, but I have a T26E1 (Pershing) installation kit with plastic-coated multicore that is a fraction of the diameter of the flexible conduit variety.

(I also have some loose cable clips from various countries/sources for the WS19, so if you let me know which variety of cabling you have I might be able to find some suitable (original) clips.)

Chris.

[Patrick Johnson]

Hi Chris,
I really appreciate your response and willingness to help out! The cables clamps I'm looking for are the screened conduit which I tend to call 'armoured cables'. Although I don't have one of these screened cables currently in my house to check the thickness they are likely somewhere around 3/4-1" in diameter. The reason I mention this dimension is that the Sherman wiring kit is rather unique in that there are a number of smaller diameter screened conduit (5/8" is my guess) used to connect the Control Boxes in the turret. There is a picture up on MLU of my 19 set with Sherman wiring and I'll try to upload it again to show you the difference in sizes. From memory I need at least one cable clip that could hold in place two 1" cables side by side, and another that would hold the large and small one side by side. The best reference I can give is in the EMERS manual on Page 160 showing a variety of cable clamp configurations. I believe clamps #17 and #19 would ideally suit my purposes but #12 may also work. I don't know what my exact requirements are at the moment, give me a week or two and I might be able to give you a better understanding of numbers. Even one or two bring me that much closer to complete authenticity so every contribution is appreciated.
As an aside I would like to take the time to thank you for providing some truly great insights into the WS19 set, your knowledge base is impressive and I always look forward to reading your informed comments on MLU. I will be in touch shortly.
Regards,
Patrick

[Patrick Johnson]

Hi Chris,
Here are the pics of my 19 set with the complete control wiring for a Sherman tank. I was fortunate to pick up near mint Control boxes and the associated cables from an eBay seller in Nevada, the sets were perfect with the exception of the rubber which was, to be expected, very brittle. It's not the best photograph but gives a good impression of the cables required. I've also included two drawings which will be familiar to all, which indicate the cables as 12-point and 4-point. From these two diagrams you can picture the ridiculous number of cable clamps required but frankly this seems to be a bit overblown, I can't imagine that many being required given the relatively short distances the cables had to go. I have a number of Sherman tank interior shots which back up my hunch. These drawings are also helpful because they identify the need for single 12-point cable clamps similar to Clamps #11 and #14 on Page 160 of EMERS.
Looking forward to your comments and findings!
Regards, Patrick

PS. I recently picked up a mint U.S. Signal Corps Mk.II so will likely opt to incorporate this unit into my display, rather than the Mk.III pictured in my photograph. It would appear that these Mk.II sets were being installed in the 76mm Shermans used by the British, according to the YouTube video which started this thread, so I think I can feel comfortable using a US supplied set for my Canadian Sherman M4A4 project.

[Chris Suslowicz]

Hi Patrick,

Yes, the Lend-Lease sets were all Mark II from beginning to end, though the really late production used Eicor supply units and the sets were modified for the 12pt-6pt dogbone. (My "intended for Pershing" unit is one of those sets.)

Somewhere I have the M4 "installation kit list" and layout drawings, but I suspect the "kit list" will only go down as far as "Hardware set #n" rather than a useful list of clip types and all the nut and bolt sizes.

I need to sort through the banana crate mountain (still not unpacked, three years after the forced house move), and finally catalog what's in each box - and chuck out things I will never ever use again.

Best regards, and Stay Safe,

Chris.

[Chris Suslowicz]

This is the problem with kit being made in three countries, each of which has their own part numbering scheme!

I found the wallet containing the installation documents for M4 Medium Tank 76mm and it's American. That said, the Installation Kit Register does go down to nut and bolt level...

1 Clips, Cable Fixing, Sets No. 302 PC/USA59442 ZA/USA0442
15 Detail 1 ----------------------- PC/USA59425 ZA/USA0425
05 Detail 2 ----------------------- PC/USA59426 ZA/USA0426
15 Detail 3 ----------------------- PC/USA59427 ZA/USA0427

I also found 10 x ZA15154 and 8 x ZA15153 cable clips.

I can't find any cross-reference at present, but ZA15154 is for a single braided cable about 0.75 to 1-in diameter and ZA15153 is for about 0.5-in cables (so may be for the cable between the rotary base junction and J.D.3 or possibly the Leads, Aerial (A set to variometer or B set to aerial base), but it seems a bit small diameter for that purpose).

Somewhere I have some boxed American clips (one size only, which will most likely be "wrong" of course) which may give me a clue as to the numbering systems.

Best regards,
Chris.