Due to Britain's relative lack of production power when compared to the United States, several of America's earlier tanks were mass produced in the US and then used primarily by the British. These tanks are noted by having a brown background similar to the background found on the British Army pages.
M3 "Grant"/"Lee" |
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DIMENSIONS |
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Mass
(mt): 27.2 |
Length (m): 5.63 |
Width (m): 2.72 |
Height (m): 3.12 |
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TIME
PERIOD: |
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The result
of America's crash rearmament program in 1941, the M3 was a quickly mass-produced stopgap
between the aging M2 designs and the M4 Sherman. Used more often by British
Commonwealth forces (Britain, Canada, and Australia) than in American combat units, the M3
made its greatest impact in North Africa, with its heavy (for the time) 75mm cannon.
Unlike most other tanks, the M3 had two main guns--a 37mm L/57 in a topside turret
and a 75mm L/40 in a forward sponson. The only difference between the Grant (which
came first) and Lee models was that the Lee, in addition to the massive arsenal of the
Grant, also had an independently rotatable cupola atop the turret with a machine gun in
it. The M3 Grant was put on "substitute standard" (read "back-burner") status in 1941 when the M4 Sherman was standardized and was declared obsolete in 1944, long after it had been superceded by the superior M4. |
M3 "GRANT" MEDIUM TANK |
Max. Speed: 41.8 kph |
Range: 192km | |||||
Front Bottom | Front Driver | Hull, Side | Hull, Rear | Hull, Deck | Gun Shield | Turret Front | Turret Side |
50mm | 50mm | 37mm | 37mm | 20mm | 26mm | 51mm | 51mm |
37mm L/57 Tank Gun | Max. Range: 910m | Mx. Penetrate: 67mm | |||||
75mm L/40 Tank Gun in Foreward Sponson | Max. Range: 1820m | Mx. Penetrate: 96mm | |||||
.30 Browning Coaxial Turret Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun | |||||
2 .30 Browning Bow Machine Guns | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun |
M3A1 "LEE" MEDIUM TANK |
Max. Speed: 41.8 kph |
Range: 192km | |||||
Front Bottom | Front Driver | Hull, Side | Hull, Rear | Hull, Deck | Gun Shield | Turret Front | Turret Side |
50mm | 50mm | 37mm | 37mm | 20mm | 26mm | 51mm | 51mm |
37mm L/57 Tank Gun | Max. Range: 910m | Mx. Penetrate: 67mm | |||||
75mm L/40 Tank Gun in Foreward Sponson | Max. Range: 1820m | Mx. Penetrate: 96mm | |||||
.30 Browning Coaxial Turret Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun | |||||
.30 Browning Cupola Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun | |||||
2 .30 Browning Bow Machine Guns | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun |
M4 "Sherman" |
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DIMENSIONS |
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Mass
(mt): 30.1 |
Length (m): 5.9 - 6.1 |
Width (m): 2.6 |
Height (m): 2.74 |
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TIME
PERIOD: |
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The standard
American medium tank of World War II, the M4 Sherman was easily mass produced and
mechanically reliable... which, later in the war, were its only true virtues. When
first introduced into the North African theatre against early Panzer IIIs and IVs, the
M4A1 Sherman was the superior tank with its superior rounded cast armor, 75mm L/40 main
gun, and comparable speed. Packing the hefty wallop of the M3 Grant's sponson gun in
a fully rotatable turret, the M4 was a very good medium tank in 1941. However, as
time progressed, German tanks increased in effectiveness, especially in the area of their
main guns, while the M4 remained mostly static. By 1943, the Panzer IV regularly
outclassed the M4, while the "big cat" heavy tanks like the Panzer V Panther and
Panzer VI Tiger made M4s look like a joke. Lacking a heavy tank design, the counter
to the big cats was the late-1943/early-1944 M4A3E2 "Jumbo" Sherman mounting an
M1A1 76mm L/55 and heavier armor. A decent heavy-end medium tank, the M4A3E2 finally
reachieved parity with late-war German meidum tanks. The Sherman variant that truly surpassed even German heavy tanks was the Sherman Firefly, a British variant mounting the massive 17-pounder gun, which, with its far longer barrel, made the 75mm snubnose look like the popgun it truly was late in the war. Because the M4 chassis was made especially for mass-production, it was modified for all sorts of purposes especially the M7B1 "Priest" self-propelled artillery unit and the M10 and M36 tank destroyers. |
M4A1 "SHERMAN" MEDIUM TANK |
Max. Speed: 38 kph |
Range: 160km | |||||
Front Bottom | Front Driver | Hull, Side | Hull, Rear | Hull, Deck | Gun Shield | Turret Front | Turret Side |
50mm | 50mm | 39mm | 39mm | 12mm | 65mm | 52mm | 52mm |
75mm L/40 Tank Gun | Max. Range: 1820m | Mx. Penetrate: 96mm | |||||
.30 Browning Coaxial Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun | |||||
.30 Browning Bow Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun |
M4A3 "SHERMAN" MEDIUM TANK |
Max. Speed: 38 kph |
Range: 160km | |||||
Front Bottom | Front Driver | Hull, Side | Hull, Rear | Hull, Deck | Gun Shield | Turret Front | Turret Side |
50mm | 50mm | 50mm | 39mm | 12mm | 75mm | 75mm | 52mm |
75mm L/40 Tank Gun | Max. Range: 1820m | Mx. Penetrate: 96mm | |||||
.30 Browning Coaxial Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun | |||||
.30 Browning Bow Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun |
M4A3E2 "JUMBO SHERMAN" TANK |
Max. Speed: 38 kph |
Range: 160km | |||||
Front Bottom | Front Driver | Hull, Side | Hull, Rear | Hull, Deck | Gun Shield | Turret Front | Turret Side |
65mm | 65mm | 65mm | 50mm | 12mm | 92mm | 65mm | 65mm |
76mm L/55 M1A1 Tank Gun | Max. Range: 2280m | Mx. Penetrate: 118mm | |||||
.30 Browning Coaxial Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun | |||||
.30 Browning Bow Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun |
SHERMAN "FIREFLY" TANK |
Max. Speed: 38 kph |
Range: 160km | |||||
Front Bottom | Front Driver | Hull, Side | Hull, Rear | Hull, Deck | Gun Shield | Turret Front | Turret Side |
50mm | 50mm | 50mm | 39mm | 12mm | 75mm | 75mm | 52mm |
76.2mm ("Seventeen-pounder") Tank Gun | Max. Range: 2280m | Mx. Penetrate: 143mm | |||||
.30 Browning Coaxial Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun | |||||
.30 Browning Bow Machine Gun | Max. Range: 450m | Medium Machine Gun |