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Grant tank

Medium Tank, M3
M3grantmini.jpg
Medium Tank M3, Fort Knox, June 1942
Type Medium tank
Place of origin United States
Service history
Wars World War II
Production history
Produced August 1941–December 1942
No. built 6,258
Variants numerous, see text
Specifications
Weight 30 short tons (27 t)
Length 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Width 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m)
Height 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) - Lee
Crew 7 (Lee) or 6 (Grant)

Armor 51 mm (hull front, turret front, sides, and rear)
38 mm (hull sides and rear)
Main
armament
1 × 75 mm Gun M2/M3 in hull
46 rounds
1 × 37mm Gun M5/M6 in turret
178 rounds
Secondary
armament
2-3–4 × .30-06 Browning M1919A4 machine guns
9,200 rounds
Engine Wright (Continental) R975 EC2
400 hp (300 kW)/340 hp (250 kW)
Transmission Mack Synchromesh, 5 speeds forward, 1 reverse
Suspension vertical volute spring
Ground clearance 18 in (0.46 m)
Fuel capacity 662 liters (175 US gallons)
Operational
range
193 km (119 mi)
Speed 26 mph (42 km/h) (road)
16 mph (26 km/h) (off-road)
Steering
system
Controlled differential

The M3 Lee, officially Medium Tank, M3, was an American medium tank used during World War II. In Britain, the tank was called by two names based on the turret configuration and crew size. Tanks employing US pattern turrets were called the "Lee", named after Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Variants using British pattern turrets were known as "Grant," named after Union general Ulysses S. Grant.

Design commenced in July 1940, and the first M3s were operational in late 1941. The U.S. Army needed a medium tank armed with a 75mm gun and, coupled with the United Kingdom's immediate demand for 3,650 medium tanks, the Lee began production by late 1940. The design was a compromise meant to produce a tank as soon as possible. The M3 had considerable firepower and good armor, but had serious drawbacks in its general design and shape, including a high silhouette, an archaic sponson mounting of the main gun preventing the tank from taking a hull-down position, riveted construction, and poor off-road performance. They were extensively used in northern Africa.

Its overall performance was not satisfactory and the tank was withdrawn from combat in most theaters as soon as the M4 Sherman tank became available in larger numbers. In spite of this, it was considered by Hans von Luck (an Oberst (Colonel) in the Wehrmacht Heer and the author of Panzer Commander) to be superior to the best German tank at the time of its introduction, the Panzer IV (at least until the F1 variant).

Despite being replaced elsewhere, the British continued to use M3s in combat against the Japanese in southeast Asia until 1945.

In 1939, the U.S. Army possessed approximately 400 tanks, mostly M2 Light Tanks, with 18 of the to-be-discontinued M2 Medium Tanks as the only ones considered "modern". The U.S. funded tank development poorly during the interwar years, and had little experience in design as well as poor doctrine to guide design efforts.


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