I can’t believe that nobody mentioned this one. The M-26 Pershing! It was an excellent (if underpowered) tank, but saw action in few numbers at the end of the war. However, it would later be improved and go on to serve in Korea (as the M-46) and was essentially the ancestor of the M-47 to M-48A5 Patton tank line, and the M-60 to M-60A3/Israeli ‘M-602000’ (which is the end of the line I think).
I think I read that one took 13 hits from a German anti-tank gun and survived to kill the PAK crew…
There is also some stunning footage from Cologne, Germany (I think) of a Pershing stalking, then blasting, a Panther tank after the Panther slayed a Sherman, it was filmed by a camera crew following behind in a jeep. The footage begins with an unlucky American tank crewman spilling out of the burning Sherman with his foot blown off. He would bleed to death under sniper fire. I tends with a Panther Panzer burning like a blast furnace…
M26 Pershing Medium Tank
M26 Pershing tank
Photo U.S. Army
Weighing nearly 45 tons with a 90mm gun, the Pershing received its indoctrination into warfare on March 7, 1945 in Remagen, Germany. Although the tank saw limited service during WWII it was well matched against German tanks. At the close of World War II Pershing production stopped at the Detroit Arsenal and slowed at other government arsenals, but at the outbreak of the Korean War full production began. During the war the fast and well-armed M26 performed well against Soviet tanks used by the North Koreans. There were more than 2,400 M26s built, but more importantly other U.S. Army tanks were molded after the Pershing’s design. The 1945 M45 with a larger 105mm gun and the 1948 M46 with a more powerful engine were both variations of the original M26.
From: http://www.michiganhistorymagazine.com/extra/tanks/m26.html