Tank Destroyers in the Bulge:

For logistics reasons the army had pretty much decided to go with gasoline. The Soviets and the Marines used diesel for similar reasons.

 

It must have been interesting supplying diesel to M-10's ! The link below"Brassing off Kraut", sic, talks about an M-10 losing one diesel and still moving somewhat sluggishly with the other. Must b e an interesting drive train.

GB

 

If Im not mistaken, the Stuart and Hellcat had the same setup, although with gasoline. I think the reputation of the engines is tied more to the tank than to the engine itself. Crews said the Stuart was underpowered, yet it was quite a quick tank. It had an automatic transmission, which ate some power, but it was still quick.
Perhaps one of the reason the M10 was produced mainly with diesel engines, and the Sherman was not, is that its much easier to keep all the engines in one series and therefore in one particular unit type. Having diesel Shermans would have complicated units a great deal, as knocked out diesels could not be replaced with gas models.
It also does not help that fueling personnel get confuses easily. On a slight tangent, I have flown a Queen Air, and I had to always be on guard to make sure the ground crews didnt fuel it with Jet A because it was a relative of the King air. They dont look very much alike, but it still causes confusion.
By keeping most diesels in the M10, they reduced confusion a good deal.

When it comes to fuel, Im fairly certain that one of the pipes run over the channel was for diesel only, and it was used mainly by the British. Thanks to the need to supply the British, the job of supplying the M10 became much easier. Im not saying the British helped deliver the fuel, but that because we needed to supply them, all resources were already there except the separation of trucks. Obviously we found a way to keep the trucks separate, and it worked out.

There was also the advantage of American supply officers having been regular officers as well, unlike most other countries. US supply officers were much more competent than their German counterparts, as the German supply officers did not really understand the goals the frontline officers had to accomplish. The frontline officers were constantly arguing with supply officers who did not see things from their point of view. The American supply officers were more than willing to listen to the needs of the frontline men, and it helped overcome the engineering and tactical superiority of the Germans.