M26(T26E3) started production in Nov 1944. Standardized as M26 tank in March, 1945. M3 90mm gun with double-baffle muzzle brake. Main production model. First 20 Pershings arrived Belgium in January 1945, after Battle of the Bulge.
M26A1 - M3A1 90mm gun with bore evacuator and single-baffle muzzle brake.
T26E4-1 (T26E1-1) - The first pilot tank was converted from T26E1. Armed with a T15E1 90mm gun w/large exterior stabilizer springs. First pilot tank with registration number 30103292, was shipped to Europe and delivered to 3rd Armored Division on 15 Mar 1945.
T26E4 - experimental version armed with a long T15E2 L/70 90mm gun. 25 built.
"Fireball" is the first M26 Pershing tank to be knocked out in combat in World War II. The hole in the gun mantlet marks the penetration of an 88mm round from a German Tiger I. Two crew members were killed.
28 February, 1945, Elsdorf Germany