741st Tank Battalion (United States)
| 741st Tank Battalion | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1942 – 45; 1949 – 52 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Type | Tank/armor |
| Size | Battalion |
| Part of | Independent unit |
| Motto(s) | Strenue et Audactor (Strenuously and Bravely) |
| Equipment | M4 Sherman, M5 Stuart |
| Campaign credit |
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| Insignia | |
| Distinctive unit insignia |  |
The 741st Tank Battalion was an independent tank battalion that participated in the European Theater of Operations with the United States Army in World War II. The battalion participated in combat operations throughout northern Europe until V-E Day. It was one of five tank battalions (all independent) that landed in Normandy on D-Day (6 June 1944). It landed on Omaha Beach supporting the 1st Infantry Division, but was attached to 2d Infantry Division on 15 June 1944, which it supported for most of the reminder of the war. The battalion played a key role in blunting the northern flank of the German attack during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. The 741st Tank Battalion advanced as far as Plzeň, Czechoslovakia by the end of the war.
The battalion was inactivated in October 1945, then briefly reactivated in 1949 as a reserve unit assigned to the 96th Infantry Division. It was withdrawn from the 96th Infantry Division and inactivated in 1952.
The 741st Tank Battalion followed the standard organization of a U.S. medium tank battalion during World War II. It consisted of a Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Service Company, three medium tank companies (Companies A, B, and C) and a light tank company (Company D).
The Headquarters Company included the battalion headquarters staff, both officers and enlisted men; an assault gun platoon, consisting of three Sherman tank variants armed with a short-barreled 105 mm assault gun, and an additional three assault guns nominally assigned to each medium tank company, but normally operating as a second gun section in the assault gun platoon; a mortar platoon, equipped with three half-track mounted 81 mm mortars; a reconnaissance platoon with five quarter-ton “peeps” (jeeps); and the headquarters tank section, consisting of two tanks, one each for the battalion commander and the operations officer. The assault gun platoon was frequently attached to the artillery of the division to which the battalion was attached, especially if the division had to revert to defense or static positions.
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