At that point, production ceased, since one important change was made to the design. Trials showed that the idea was correct: the connections became stronger, and the tank's mass dropped to 27,400 kg. An American M3 and crew, posing at Souk-Al-Abra, Tunisia, November 23, 1943. A Grant I painted in the El Alamein VIIIth army style, November 1942, at Bovington. The idea for the Sunshield came from Commander-in-Chief Middle East, General Wavell. They wanted the gun to be housed in a fully rotating turret, but there was no such turret at the time. The Americans kept a close eye on «their» tanks, and aided the British whenever possible. Thereafter, it was used by U.S. and Allied forces until the end of the war. The "General Lee" was part of a batch of 1,400 units transferred to the USSR under the Lend-Lease Act. Overall, 591 tanks of this type were built, 185 were sent to Great Britain. The powerplant was an aircraft based Wright Continental, with high-octane gasoline, air cooled, which was also a perfect choice for a speedy production, as no dedicated engine powerful enough was available then. At the time the requirements were composed, the Americans did not have an equivalent of the 7.5 cm KwK L/24. There are many opposing opinions about the tank, so let us approach it as neutrally as possible. The British variants were the Grant ARV, an armored recovery vehicle obtained from disarmed Grants Mk.Is and Mk.IIs, the Grant Command, equipped with map table, extra radio, and dummy guns; the Grant Scorpion III, a mine-cleaning vehicle equipped with the Scorpion III flail, and its variant the Scorpion IV; and eventually the Grant CDL, which stands for “Canal Defence Light”, featuring a powerful searchlight and a machine gun. Born as a replacement for the unsuccessful M2 Medium Tank (1938), which never left the American soil, the M3 was designed and equipped in a rush. This kind of assembly was simple enough to be used at many factories, but had its drawbacks. The maximal configuration included machine guns mounted in the upper turret, lower coaxial, commander cupola, rear external AA mount for a single M1919 A4, and even four hull machine-guns in sponsons, fitted in the four corners of the superstructure. The real war began in late November, when the 1st division started fighting in Tunis. Another factory had to be pulled into the production: the American Locomotive Company (ALCo). This website uses cookies to improve your experience. It's not surprising that production of the M3A4 ceased in August. The M3A4 (Lee VI) had a stretched welded hull and a new Chrysler A57 multibank engine, a strange assembly of five 6-cyl L-head car engines mated to a common crankshaft, boasting a final 21 liters capacity with 470 bhp and a lot of torque. Early production tanks had an M2 75mm instead of the improved M3 gun. There, they took part in the Lista and Petsamo-Kirkenes offensives, where they encountered second-rate German tanks, mostly former French captured models. A new power plant was needed, meant primarily for Lend Lease vehicles. Great site, continue the fine work. This air cooled radial engine achieved an output of 350 hp. By the end of 1940, the military's appetites grew: every day, 14.5 tanks were expected from factories, 6.5 of which were meant for the British. Mar 24, 2018 - Explore Owen Latini's board "M3 Medium Tank WW2" on Pinterest. The metric bore of the 2-Pdr was 40mm/L50, although this measurement was not employed by the Royal Army. The M3 Lee, officially Medium Tank, M3, was an American medium tank used during World War II. The rushed design then entered production, being required both by US Army needs and the United Kingdom’s demand for 3,650 medium tanks (by then a British proposal for US-built Crusaders and Matilda was rejected). Only 300 M3A1s were built, followed by the M3A2 (Lee III), with a welded but sharp angled hull, of which only 12 units were produced. Some M3s were also captured by the Wehrmacht in 1942 and served as the Panzerkampfwagen M3(r). The Mark 2 Sunshield was made of canvas stretched over a light steel tube frame. 355 were produced in all, which were also registered in US army service as the “Shop tractor T10”. British M3s were sent to the India/Burma theater as soon as they received the new M4 Sherman. Due to the many contractors involved, notably the cast turret foundries, these variants showed further variety in the shape of the hull, turret and details, notably due to different casting procedures. Against the Japanese, the M3s were, if not kings, then at least confident masters of the battlefield. Its armour piercing characteristics may have been far from ideal, but the PzIV was preferred by German soldiers that had to fight alongside it. The Americans had similar engines to offer, primarily the two-stroke air-cooled 6.98 L GM 6-71. Just watched the program Lost Evidence battle of El Alamein near the end of the program it showed a Grant tank with the gun on the left hand side, this is the third different program with different grant tanks showing the gun on the left hand side one of the film clips shows another grant behind it with the gun on the right hand sidey. Later, the tank received improved bogeys, since its mass grew from all of these improvements. The mass of the tank grew to 29 tons as a result of the conversion, but the top speed grew to 48 kph. Clearly, (for good or bad motives) the U.S. has proven the German philosophy of providing it’s military with smaller numbers of tanks with an overwhelming technological advantage. They were never in Tunisia. The hull machineguns to his front also didn't add to his comfort. Welded hulls were more promising than cast ones. Its nominal output was 375 hp, and maximum output was 400 hp. The first American main battle tank employed in combat in World War II was the M3. It was supplied to British and other Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war. The Lee/Grant never achieved the fame of the Sherman. Even so, the overall concept was considered promising enough by the American military, that the tank was standardized as the Medium Tank M3 on July 11th, 1940, even before it was built. In Pacific, the Lee served Indian forces well, easily defeating light Japanese tank designs. Finally, the GM 6-71 was a reliable and compact design, which allows a pair of them to be used easily. It's not surprising that the Ordnance Committee approved this engine and standardized the tank as Medium Tank M3A5 in October of 1941. In the summer of 1940, it was needed once more, but this time by tank designers. A radio operator was placed in the front left part of the fighting compartment instead. The British weren't much impressed by the "Grant" and the Soviets called it the "coffin for seven brothers". Progress would be made preceding the start of M4 production. In April of 1944, the Medium Tank M3 was deemed obsolete. The M3 is relatively common in Australian armour museums. The normal provision was 46 rounds for the 75 mm (2.95 in), 178 for the 37 mm (1.46 in) and 9200 for the machine-guns. For obvious reasons, plans and reality diverged. The tank was standardized as Medium Tank M3A2 before trials even began. For its odd-looking appearance, the M3 was shown in movies like 1943’s “Sahara”, starring Humphrey Bogart, and in its remake in 1992, and in 1979 in Spielberg’s “1941”. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.