Lee

Lee in 'AFRIKA'

M3 Lee in U.S. Service in North Africa

Lee Lineage

    To trace the lineage and development that led up to the Lee / Grant and Sherman, we must go back to 1938, to the Medium Tank T5 which was built at the Rock Island Arsenal. The T5 (Phase I) was designed to employ as many of the same parts of the then standard US Army M3 Light Tank as possible. The T5 had vertical volute suspension and was powered by a Continental radial air-cooled engine of 250 BHP, the superstructure of this vehicle consisting of a barbette and turret. Armament was as follows: 37 mm gun in turret, 4 x .30 caliber machine guns, mounted singly in small sponsons on each corner of the barbette, and two fixed .30 caliber machine guns in the hull front. From the Medium Tank T5 (Phase III), which was similar to the T5 (Phase I) but had wider tracks and a more powerful engine (Wright radial R975) and weighed 21 tons as against the 15 tons of the T5 (Phase I), was developed the Medium Tank M2 of 1939. This vehicle was a modified version of the T5 series, still employing parts of the M3 Light Tank. It was armed with a 37 mm gun in the turret, and with no less than eight machine guns mounted in the barbette and hull. The next model to follow was the Medium Tank M2Al, which was an M2 with a redesigned turret, retaining the same layout and armament as the M2. Although the M2A1 was standardized in 1940, it was already technically obsolete as it was known that the Germans were mounting -guns of 7.5 cm caliber in their tanks (i.e. Panzerkampfwagen IV).
    At a meeting in August, 1940, between the Chief of the newly formed Armoured Forces and representatives of the Ordnance Department, the specification of a new medium tank was planned. It was to be a tank with heavier armour mounting a 75 mm gun, and it was proposed that this should be turret mounted. However, as insufficient development work had been done on the problem of mounting a gun of this weight in a turret, it was decided to use as a prototype the T5E2 medium tank, since experiments had already been carried out on this vehicle (which was' the T5 Phase III) in 1938 when a 75 mm pack howitzer had been mounted in the modified right sponson. It was, therefore, agreed that the projected new medium tanks would mount the 75 mm gun in a sponson on the right side and that the T5E2 would serve as a basis for this new series of medium tanks. The resulting· vehicle was the Medium Tank M3, which weighed over 31 tons and was armed with a 75 mm M3 gun in the sponson, one 37 mm gun M6 and coaxial .30 machine gun in the turret, an AA .30 machine on the turret cupola, and another machine gun in the hull front. Track suspension was still of the vertical volute type (VVSS). The pilot model of the M3 was ready by January, 1941, and production vehicles began to come into service by the middle of 1941. These were the first American medium tanks to be produced in quantity under the defence program prior to the entry of the USA into the war. They were subsequently supplied to the British and Russian forces as lease-lend material. In 1940 the British Government contracted directly with the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Lima Locomotive Works, Pullman Standard Car Company, and the Pressed Steel Car Company for the manufacture of the M3. In the same year the Canadian Government contracted with the Montreal Locomotive Works Division of the American Locomotive Corporation for the production of 1,157 medium tanks based on the design of the M3.
    The M3 was the first of the US tanks to employ gyrostabilizers and power-traversed turrets with integral fighting compartments. Battle experience in Russia and Libya suggested improvements, some of which were introduced as production continued. The M3 and M3A1 first saw action with British forces at Gazala in Libya on 27th May, 1942 but while mechanically reliable the limited traverse of the 75 mm gun in the sponson proved a grave disadvantage. Also, the ammunition types supplied for use in North Africa became a limiter for the effectiveness of this weapons system. The turret 37mm became the anti-tank armament and the 75mm was use for infantry support as early weapons had no anti-tank penetrating rounds. This low sponson mounted 75mm mounted weapon caused trouble in deployment in a hull down form for obscuring the vehicle with its extreme height and the narrow traverse range for the hull mounted weapon.

In April, 1944, the M3 was finally declared obsolete by the US Army.

There were six basic production types of the M3 Medium:

M3: This was the original vehicle of the series, it had a riveted hull and was powered by a Continental (Wright) R-975-EC2 or R-975 petrol engine
M3A1: This was similar to the M3 but had a cast hull
M3A2: Again similar to M3 but with welded hull
M3A3: With welded hull but powered with twin General Motors 6-71 diesel engines
M3A4: Riveted hull and Chrysler Multibank engine
M3A5: Riveted hull and twin General Motors 6-71 diesel engines.

The M3 crew consisted of six men; the driver and radio operator occupied seats forward in the hull. The 75 mm gunner sat on the left side of the gun mount. The 37 mm gunner and gun loader with the commander were seated in the turret. Forty-six rounds were carried for the 75 mm gun, and for the 37 mm gun there were 178 rounds. There were also 10,400 machine gun rounds. The US version of the M3 was known as the General Lee, and the version modified for Britain as the General Grant. Both types were actually used by the British.

Medium Tank M3 "Lee"

The Medium Tank M3 first saw action in 1942 during the North African Campaign. British Lees and Grants were in action against Rommel's forces at the disastrous Battle of Gazala on May 27th that year. They continued to serve in North Africa until the end of that campaign. A regiment of M3 Lees was also used by the U.S. 1st Armored Division in North Africa. In the North African campaign, the M3 was generally appreciated for its mechanical reliability, good armor, and heavy firepower. In all three areas it outclassed the available British tanks, and was able to fight German tanks and towed anti-tank guns. The tall silhouette and low, hull-mounted 75 mm were severe tactical drawbacks since they prevented the tank from fighting from hull-down firing positions. Riveted armour also gave limited problems, as upon impact the rivets could break off and become projectiles inside the tank (known as spalling), a shared problem with other riveted tanks. Later models were welded to eliminate this problem. The M3 was replaced by the M4 as soon as these were available, and none were used in the European theatre after May 1943.

Overall, the M3 was able to cope with the battlefield of 1942. Its armor and firepower were the equal or superior to most of the threats it faced. Long-range, high velocity guns were not yet common on German tanks. However, the rapid pace of tank development in WW2 meant that it was very quickly outclassed. By mid-1943, with the introduction of the German Panther, the up-gunning of the Panzer IV to a long 75 mm gun, and the availability of large numbers of Shermans, the M3 was rightly withdrawn from service in the European Theatre.

M3 Interior

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