In relation to this machine, the proverb “The first pancake is lumpy” sounds very appropriate. The fact is that at the time of the adoption of the American National Arms Program in June 1940, the United States simply did not have a medium tank that could be put into mass production. According to the requirements of the document, it was assumed that America should produce 14.5 tanks per day by the end of 1940, but in reality it was not very clear which tank to build at all. The medium M2 that existed at that time, ready for production, had already become a completely unsuitable candidate due to the extremely weak 37 mm cannon. 92 copies of its M2A1 modification were produced from January to August 1940 solely as a temporary measure until the new tank was designed and standardized.

So, the 37-mm M2 cannon did not suit the army categorically. The Commander of the US Infantry Forces demanded that the new tank be equipped with a minimum caliber of 75 mm. This task had to be solved quickly, but the American designers simply did not have a turret capable of accommodating a weapon of this caliber. Exclusively for the sake of saving time, the designers resorted to a deliberately losing solution and presented the representatives of the Tank Committee with a wooden mock-up of a tank with a 75 mm cannon installed in the sponson located on the right side of the hull. This is "genius" constructive solution Greatly complicated the life of tankers, because it did not allow circular fire. The tank had to pretend to be a top.

To the credit of the designers, they obviously did not consider the new tank to be successful and positioned it as a temporary measure until the appearance of a tank with a 75-mm cannon in a full-fledged swivel turret. The military decided that about three and a half hundred M3 vehicles would be produced, and after that production would be reoriented to tanks with normal rotating turrets.

The issue of building tanks at that time was generally extremely painful for America. She simply did not have the necessary production capacity. There was only one small state-owned plant, the Rock Island Arsenal, which could not keep up with the growing demands. armed forces... It was necessary to attract private contractors. The choice was between heavy engineering enterprises and automobile concerns. The decision was made in favor of the second option, since heavy engineering is more intended for the production of relatively piece goods. Automobile firms, on the other hand, were no stranger to "driving the flow." Chrysler was offered to build a specialized tank plant in Michigan in half with the state. At the same time, the state became the owner of the enterprise, and Chrysler himself had to manage it. In addition, it was assumed that the new plant would closely cooperate with Rock Island Arsenal, which was supposed to ensure that the equipment and technology of the future tank would match.

The development of the M3 was started by the designers from Aberdeen. The new tank received an engine similar to the M2 and the same suspension. The homogeneous rolled armor was reinforced and riveted like the M2. The tower and sponson were cast. To reduce the risk of injury to the crew by small fragments and scale splashes, the fighting compartment was covered from the inside with porous rubber.

The crew initially consisted of seven people. They had to get inside the car and leave it through the side doors and hatches in the sponson and in the commander's cupola. The tank had a very good view. The weight of the car was 31 tons.

By February 1941, the project for a new tank was ready and the tank factory in Michigan was almost completed. It remained to translate the idea into metal and conduct field tests. The prototype arrived at the Aberdeen test site on March 13, 1941. The tests revealed a number of shortcomings: excessive gas contamination of the fighting compartment, vulnerability of doors in the sides, a high probability of the gun jamming in the sponson from being hit by an enemy projectile, weakness of the suspension. All this had to be eliminated. On the other hand, the turret drives and the gun stabilizer proved to be excellent. Even when moving in zigzags over uneven terrain, the gunner had enough to just aim.

As a result of improvements, instead of doors, an evacuation hatch appeared in the bottom, one crew member was excluded from the composition, a telescopic sight was installed instead of a periscope, and many more changes were made. And in August 1941, the M3 tank was finally put into production. In total, from August 1941 to December 1942, more than 3.5 thousand tanks of this type were produced.

In addition to the fact that the tank was put into service with the American army, the British also bought it. They gave their tank the name "Grant", and the Americans - "Lee", after the names of the generals - participants Civil war in USA.

As already mentioned, the M3 was produced exclusively "for lack of the best." And therefore, most of the cars went under Lend-Lease to Britain and the USSR. The Soviet Union received 976 vehicles, distributed among separate tank battalions, regiments and brigades. An American tank took part in hostilities on all fronts, took part in the Battle of Kursk, and one car even reached Of the Far East... But in the Red Army, the M3 did not enjoy much love. He had insufficient maneuverability, too high a silhouette and rubber-metal tracks that burned out, as soon as the car ran into the fire. The stationary tank became an easy target for enemy guns. Often the tracks just fell off. Huge claims were caused by the arrangement of the gun in the sponson, which made it much more difficult for the tank to fire at the enemy. All these shortcomings led to the fact that in Soviet troops M3 received the gloomy nickname BM-6 - "mass grave for six".

In the allied forces, the M3 was already completely replaced by the Sherman by 1944, in the Soviet ones they also got rid of it as much as they could. But even after the war in South-East Asia these tanks continued to be used in battle. On their basis, a lot of other equipment was also developed - ranging from self-propelled guns and ending with engineering machines.

Renders of this machine are in all resolutions.

USA entered the First world war only at the very end, which gave them many different benefits. But the American military believed that the war would continue until 1919, and hence the logical conclusion followed that to win they would need tanks: both heavy breakthrough tanks and very light "cavalry" ones. The first requirement was met by the British Mk vehicles, but the second - by the light French FT-17 tanks. On their basis, American engineers (together with British) developed and then released the Mk VIII tank - in fact, the crown of heavy tank building during the First World War, and then a very light and miniature two-seater Ford M 1918 tank. known in Russia as "Ford-3-tonny". Both the one and the other designers created, taking into account both their own combat experience and the experience of the British and French. Knowing the capabilities of their industry, the Americans did not stand on ceremony: they immediately ordered 1,500 Mk VIII tanks, called "Liberti" (Freedom) or "International" (International), since this tank was created on two continents at once, and a whole armada of 15,000 Ford M tanks 1918 ". But by the time the armistice was signed, only one Mk VIII tank and only 15 "Ford M 1918" vehicles had been made. After that, their production ceased, and why is understandable.

Tank M3 by the late Vyacheslav Verevochkin. There lived such a man in Russia, at home, creating tanks with his own hands “on the move” and with the quality that you see in this photo. But ... people on planet Earth, unfortunately, are dying. Although on the other hand, what remains is what is created by their hands.

General Rockenback attempted to reorganize the tank units of the US Army in such a way that they would become an independent branch of the military. His proposals were supported by battle commanders such as George Patton, Sereno Brett and Dwight Eisenhower. But ... they are majors. Nobody listened to them then. Moreover, in 1920, the US Congress adopted an important document - the National Defense Act, according to which the creation of tank units as a separate branch of the military was prohibited. Well, those tank units that already existed were transferred to the infantry.
Nevertheless, new machines were developed, built and tested. For example, in 1930, an experienced T2 tank appeared. Weighing 15 tons, which corresponded to the assignment issued by the military, a powerful Liberti aircraft engine of 312 hp was installed on it. This tank was armed as follows: a 47-mm cannon and heavy machine gun in the hull, and a 37 mm cannon and another coaxial rifle caliber machine gun were installed in the turret. A feature of the tank was the engine in the front and the "door" in the hull at the back, like the British on the Vickers Medium Mk I, so it was very convenient to get into this tank.

Tank T2.

Indeed, outwardly, it was very similar to the British medium 12-ton tank "Vickers Medium Mk I", and in fact it was chosen as a promising prototype of the future US medium tank. The constructed tanks went to the mixed mechanized unit at Fort Eustis in Virginia. This experimental unit consisted of military vehicles, cavalry and mechanical artillery. Then another tank unit was created at Fort Knox in Kentucky. But all these experiments did not give real results.

The entire early American tank fleet.

Then the talented designer of armored vehicles John Walter Christie worked in the United States, an "eccentric" - as the American military called him, a man with all his talents, and perhaps just because of them, very quarrelsome and extremely addicting. He offered to the Department of Armaments a number of samples of his wheeled-tracked tanks and self-propelled guns. Army officers, distinguished by their traditional distrust, acquired only five tanks from him to participate in military trials, but after them his vehicles were rejected. Although Christie's designs in other countries have found their second life! His ideas were used in England, the USSR and Poland. As you know, it was in the USSR that about 10 thousand wheeled-tracked tanks of various modifications were produced, starting with the BT-2 and ending with the diesel BT-7M, which were based on the design of Christie's tanks. Indeed, even the legendary T-34 had its suspension. And it was also used on all British cruiser tanks, including the Covenanter, Crusader, Center, Cromwell and Comet.

"Ford M. 1918". Front view.

So, in a long search, the 30s passed. A whole family of medium tanks TZ, T4, T5 and also their modifications was built, but none of these vehicles went into production.

Projections "Ford M. 1918".

This photo gives illustrative example of how cramped it was in this tank.

But then came September 1, 1939 and the tank wedges of the Wehrmacht in some 18 days passed through Poland and met with the same tank wedges of the Red Army, which entered Western Ukraine and Belarus, on the other side. And further war in Europe, which ended in a swift defeat French army and the disaster at Dunkirk, clearly showed the United States that war is on the verge, and that it will not be possible to sit out overseas. This means that you will have to fight in earnest. And how can you fight without modern tanks?

"Ford M. 1918" at the General Patton Museum.

Drive wheel.

And then at once all the American military and senators saw the light and saw that their country was very far behind in the development of its tank troops... Actually, they simply do not exist. That's even how! And therefore the reaction to this followed very quickly. Already in July 1940, General George Marshall and General Staff ordered General Edn R. Chaffee to withdraw all armored units from the infantry and cavalry formations and, as soon as possible, form two tank divisions at once together with support battalions. On June 30, 1940, the National Program for the Development of the Army was adopted, and on July 10, General Chaffee began to form new armored units. All released tanks went to him and no one else. To arm the new divisions, it was planned to release 1000 tanks at once, while the release was supposed to be 10 vehicles per day.

Tank Christie model 1921 on trial.

Was urgently accepted medium tank M2A1 model 1939, which was an improved version of the M2 tank. The vehicle was designed by the Rock Island Arsenal and was a further development of the same experimental T5 tank. Weighing 17.2 tons, the M2 had armor protection one inch (25.4 mm) thick, armed with a 37 mm M6 gun and seven (and one more spare) 7.62 mm Browning M1919 A4 machine guns located along the entire perimeter of the hull, as well as in the tower. The Wright Continental R-975 engine had nine cylinders and 350 hp, which gave the tank a speed of 26 mph (or 42 km / h). M2A1 received 32 mm armor - in fact, like the German tanks, the turret bigger size and a 400 hp engine. The weight has increased, but the speed remains the same. Nevertheless, all these tricks did not lead to any particularly positive results: the tanks remained old-fashioned, had high straight sides and were not very well armed for vehicles of their class, since light M2 tanks were already produced for the army with exactly the same 37 -mm cannon and powerful enough machine-gun armament.

Medium tank M2. Interestingly, the tank had a crew of 7 people: a driver, a gunner commander, a loader, and 4 machine gunners. Moreover, the tank had two tripods for machine guns - to remove, install and fire from the ground, and there were two sponson's roof hatches and two pivots for machine guns and anti-aircraft fire! The tank had seven machine guns! A record number for a single-turret tank. Directly on the course, five could fire at the same time!

In June 1940, Lieutenant General William Nadsen, who created the General Motors Corporation, and K.T. since this requires a complete restructuring of the entire production. They decided that they would earn much more on the production of cars for the army. production of $ 21 million, including funding and construction of a new tank factory. Then KT Keller hastened to assure General Wesson, the chief of artillery of the US Army, that his corporation was ready to produce any tanks. It was agreed that 1,741 tanks would be produced in 18 months. Thus, Chrysler received only 4.5 months to rebuild its production and to present the construction project arsenal dependent on other suppliers.

Then the matter was as follows: in Rock Island, two prototypes M2A1 were built (differing from the base model by the sloping armor of the turret), and General Wesson allowed Chrysler engineers to study them, which was done. what was required so that their company could produce these tanks! Already on July 17, 1940, the M2A1 produced by the Chrysler concern was estimated at 33.5 thousand dollars. The artillery committee accepted this price as "floating". Then, within a month, the contract was carefully worked out and already signed on August 15. The company was supposed to transfer 1000 M2A1 tanks to the US Army by the beginning of August 1940, and their production was to begin no later than September of the next 1941. This term was designated by the Chrysler concern itself, considering one month to be quite sufficient time to prepare for the release of new products.

Chrysler first made two wooden mock-ups of the M2A1 based on blueprints that were obtained from Rock Island. But already on August 28, 1940, the army canceled the old order for 1000 M2A1 tanks, despite the fact that 18 units still managed to be made. Some of these tanks were sent ... to Western Sahara. It was not possible to find information about their participation in hostilities. It is known that in 1941 one of the tanks received a flamethrower instead of a gun, and a tank with a combustible mixture was installed on it in the stern. The car was assigned the M2E2 index, but it remained a prototype.

Aberdeen Proving Ground. Tank M2 medium.

At this time, the discussion about the possibility of arming the M2A1 tank with a 75-mm cannon ended (which, by the way, was provided for in the T5E2 tank project), and based on its results, a completely new and "unplanned" tank was created. The Aberdeen Proving Grounds design department prepared all the necessary design documents in just three months. The tank was given the designation M3 and its own name - "General Lee", in honor of General Robert Edward Lee (1807-1870), who during the Civil War of the North and South of 1861-1865. in the United States he was the commander-in-chief of the army of the southerners.

Aberdeen Proving Ground. Tank M3 "General Lee".

The creators of the M3 tank installed a 75-mm cannon in the side sponson on the right side of the hull, like on the French Schneider tank of the First World War. This was the simplest solution, since the installation was similar to ship guns, the machines for which were well developed. In addition, the 76 mm gun installed in the tank was very powerful, and the designers were not sure if it would work well in the turret. This showed a certain amount of uncertainty of American designers in their own strengths, but in addition, they also did not want to abandon the usual views of tanks as mobile pillboxes, which were supposed to fire while standing still. A cast rotating turret was installed at the top, moving it to the left, and a 37-mm gun was installed in it, paired with a machine gun. A small turret on top also received a machine gun, which the tank commander could use both for self-defense against infantry and for firing at aircraft.

(To be continued…)

According to its design, the Grant M3 tank was a machine of the First World War, with the location of the gun in the onboard sponson, as on the British tanks Mk I, Mk VIII, and instead of a fixed wheelhouse, a rotating tower. The engine was located at the rear, the transmission was in the front, the gearbox was located under the turret floor. Between them is the fighting compartment. The engine was connected to the transmission by a cardan shaft. The engine control rods were located under the shaft. All this was covered with a removable casing. The transmission parts were installed in a cast armored body made of three parts, bolted to each other through flanges. They formed a very characteristic bow end of the tank. All this was also bolted to the hull of the tank, which was the same for all modifications. The same design was used on the early models of the M4 "Sherman" tank. The tank hull was made of flat sheets. The thickness of the armor was unchanged on all models and was: two inches (51mm) for the frontal armor, one and a half inches (38mm) for the side and stern plates, half an inch (12.7mm) for the roof of the hull.

The bottom had a variable thickness: from half an inch (12.7mm) under the engine to one inch (25.4mm) in the fighting compartment. The sides of the tower had armor of two and a quarter inches (57mm) and the roof was seven-eighths of an inch (22mm). The front plate was installed at an angle of 60 degrees to the horizon, the side and rear plates were installed vertically. Armor plates were fastened on rivets (modifications MZ, MZA4, MZA5) or by welding (modifications MZA2 and MZAZ) to the inner frame. The MZA1 tank had a completely cast hull. However, due to the complexity of manufacturing, only three hundred cars were produced. On the right side of the hull, a cast sponson with a 75-mm gun was installed, which did not go beyond the dimensions of the hull. The height of the sponson, along with the size of the engine, determined the height of the tank.
Above the hull towered a cast turret with a 37-mm gun, shifted to the left, it was crowned with a small turret with a machine gun. The resulting pyramid was over 3 m - ten feet three inches (3214mm). The length of the tank was eighteen feet six inches (5639mm), width - eight feet eleven inches (2718mm), ground clearance - seventeen and one-eighth inches (435mm). But the tank turned out to have a spacious fighting compartment, and is still considered one of the most comfortable. From the inside, the hull was pasted over with spongy rubber to protect the crew from small fragments of armor. Doors were installed on the sides, there were hatches on top and in the machine-gun turret. This ensured a quick landing for the crew, and most importantly, a convenient evacuation of the wounded from the tank, through the side doors, although the doors reduced the strength of the hull. Each crew member had viewing slots and embrasures for firing personal weapons, protected by armored visors. On the aft plate of the hull there was a double-leaf door for access to the engine, the joint of the doors of which was closed with a narrow strip on bolts. On the sides and on top of the door were two air filters. They were round and box-shaped. The air intakes, covered with nets, and the upper hatch flaps were located on the over-engine plate. Hatches at the top and rear facilitated access to the engine for servicing. A trench tool, a towing cable, tarpaulin, canisters, spare rollers were attached to the over-engine plate, spare tracks were attached to the fenders. Often infantry helmets were also located there. Sometimes the tool was attached to the stern plate.

On tanks MZ as "General Lee" and "General Grant", modifications MZA1, MZA2 and all machines based on them, an aviation star-shaped nine-cylinder carburetor engine "Wright Continental" R 975 EC2 or modification C1 with a capacity of 340 hp was installed. It provided a 27-ton tank with a top speed of up to 26 mph (42 km / h) and with a transported fuel supply of 175 gallons (796 liters), a mileage of 120 miles (192 km). The disadvantages of the engine include its high fire hazard, since it ran on high-octane gasoline, the difficulty in servicing, especially the cylinders that turned out to be from below. But in 1941 it was the only engine that satisfied tank builders. Since March 1942, the Baldvin company began to install water-cooled General Motors 6-71 6046 diesel engines on MZ tanks, but two engines with a total capacity of 375 hp, which increased the tank's weight by 1.3 tons, but, on the other hand, due to the greater power and economy, the speed and power reserve increased slightly. These tanks were designated MZAZ and MZA5. In June 1942, the Chrysler concern installed a new 30-cylinder in-line water-cooled Chrysler A 57 engine on the tank. The installation of this engine not only increased the mass of the tank by two tons, but also the length of the hull and, as a result, the length of the tracks. The speed and power reserve were maintained. The British on the MZ tanks in service in their army could replace the regular ones during operation. american engines for British radial diesels "Guiberson". At the same time, no alterations were made to the hull.

The driver, even on tanks supplied to England, was located in front of the left. On the dashboard were installed: a speedometer, a tachometer, an ammeter, a voltmeter, a fuel consumption indicator, a thermometer and a clock. The tank was controlled using the gearshift lever, brake pedals, accelerator and handbrake.

Chassis the tank was a rubber-metal track, supported by three carts on board. The support bogie had a welded frame, on which, through two spiral vertical springs, a rocker arm with two support rubberized rollers was attached. Above, a support roller was installed on the frame. Track rollers were made with both solid discs and spokes. Such a support bogie was also used on the M2 medium tanks and the first M4 samples.

The drive of the caterpillar was carried out through an asterisk, which was located in the front of the hull and had two removable toothed rims fastened to the bolts. At the back is a guide roller with a crank tensioner, which is also bolted to the body.

The tracks were rubber-metal and had 158 tracks, 16 inches (421 mm) wide and 6 inches (152 mm) long each, on MZA4 tanks - 166 pieces, due to the elongated hull. The track was a rubber plate, with a metal frame pressed inside it, through which two metal tubular axles passed, onto which connecting brackets with a fang were put on, connecting the tracks into a caterpillar. For each track, two canines were obtained, bending around the rollers of the support cart. The drive sprocket gripped the track by the connecting brackets. The rubber track plate was smooth. On the last tanks, a plate with chevron protrusions was installed, which was also installed on the M4 General Sherman tanks.

The MZ tank had a fairly strong weaponry. The main firepower is a 75 mm cannon installed in the sponson. This gun was designed in the Westerfleit arsenal based on the 75 mm French field gun of Puteaux and Dupont, model 1897, adopted by the US Army after the First World War. The gun, indexed M2, had a barrel length of 118 inches (3m), was equipped with an aiming stabilizer, a semi-automatic bolt, and a barrel blowing system after firing. The aiming stabilization system on the MZ tank was used for the first time in the world and subsequently served as a prototype for similar systems for tanks of many armies of the world. The vertical aiming angles were 14 degrees, in the horizontal plane the gun was guided by turning the entire tank. The vertical aiming of the gun was carried out both by an electro-hydraulic drive and manually. Ammunition was located in the sponson and on the floor of the tank.

However, when installing the M2 cannon on the tank, it turned out that the barrel extends beyond the front line of the hull. This greatly alarmed the military, who were afraid that the tank might catch on to something with a cannon while moving. At their request, the barrel length was reduced to 92 inches (2.33 m), which underestimated combat characteristics tools. Such a truncated weapon was assigned the MZ index, and when mounted in a tank, in order not to alter the stabilization system, a counterweight was put on the barrel, which looks like a muzzle brake. By the way, a similar story happened with the Soviet T-34 tank. At the request of the military, the designers reduced the original barrel length of the F34 gun by 762 mm, thereby reducing its power by 35%. But the cannon did not protrude beyond the dimensions of the tank! It seems that the conservatism of the military does not depend on either the nation or the social system.

The 37 mm cannon was created in the same arsenal in 1938. On the M3 tank, its modifications M5 or M6 were installed, in a turret rotating 360 degrees. The vertical aiming angles made it possible to fire at low-flying aircraft. A coaxial machine gun was also installed in the tower, and on top was a small turret rotating 360 degrees, with another machine gun. The tower had a rotating floor with walls separating the fighting compartment into a separate compartment. The ammunition capacity of the gun was located in the turret and on a rotating floor.

The 37-mm gun hit armor up to an inch and seven-eighths (48 mm) thick from a distance of 500 yards (457 m), and the 75-mm gun hit two and a half inches of armor, located at a slope of 30 degrees to the vertical.
Both guns were equipped with periscope optical sights. The 75-mm gun was located on the roof of the sponson and allowed direct fire up to 1000 yards (914m).

The tank was equipped with four "Browning" machine guns with a caliber of 0.30 inches (7.62 mm) of the 1919 model, which had been used on tanks during the First World War. One machine gun was in the machine-gun turret. But for some reason the British did not like it, and this turret was not installed on General Grant tanks. Moreover, on "General Lee", which were in the British army, this turret was removed, and a hatch was installed instead. The second machine gun was paired with a 37 mm gun. Two more were fixed in the case, in front of the driver. The crew was also armed with 0.45 "(11.43mm) Tompson assault rifles, pistols, and grenades. In the British army, a 4-inch (102 mm) smoke grenade launcher was installed on the turret.

The layout of the tank MZ

Ammunition was 65 rounds for a 75-mm cannon, 126 rounds for a 37-mm cannon (139 on General Grant tanks), 4,000 rounds for machine guns, 20 magazines for machine guns, 6 grenades, 12 signal flares as well as 8 smoke grenades.
The tank's crew consisted of 6 people. The commander was in the turret of a 37-mm gun and monitored from a small turret. When necessary, fired from a machine gun. Nearby was the 37-mm gunner, and below him, in the center of the vehicle, the loader. All of them were located on the turret swivel floor. The gunner of the 76-mm gun was located inside the sponson, and next to it, in the hull of the tank, behind the breech of the gun, was the loader. The driver was seated in front and on the left and could conduct indirect fire from course machine guns.

Modifications of the M3 tank

The basic model of the MZ tank (British designation Lee I) had an angular riveted hull, cast turret and a Wright Continental R 975 EC2 or C1 radial aviation gasoline engine, modified for installation on tanks, and was produced until August 1942. A total of 4924 tanks were manufactured, including 3243 tanks at the Chrysler factories, 385 units by the American Locomotive company, 295 units by Baldvin, 501 units by the Pressed Stell, by the Pullman-Standart Car Company "- 500 pieces. The MZ tanks produced in Canada had some differences in the chassis. In total, Monreal Lokomotive Work produced 1,157 MZ tanks for the Canadian army.

The first modification of the M3A1 tank (British designation Lee II) had a cast, streamlined body and a 75-mm M2 cannon, with a shortened barrel and a counterweight at the muzzle. The rest of the characteristics corresponded to the base model. The tanks were produced by the American Locomotive company from February to August 1942. A total of 300 machines were manufactured.
A modification of the MZA2 tank (British designation Lee III) had a welded hull and a 75-mm cannon, with a shortened barrel and counterweight. the company "Baldvin" in January 1942 produced only 12 vehicles, after which it switched to the production of M3A3 tanks.
The modification of the M3A3 tank (English designation Lee V) differed from the M3A2 only in the engine. These tanks were equipped with two water-cooled General Motors 6-71 6046 diesels with a total capacity of 375 hp. This increased the tank's mass to 63,000 pounds (28,602 kg), but due to the greater power and economy of the diesels, the speed increased to 29 mph (46 km / h) and the range to 160 miles (256 km). The external difference between the tank and the base model is a slightly modified shape. engine compartment... In total, the Baldvin company produced 322 MZAZ tanks from March to December 1942.

The British named the Lee IV tank M3A3, but with the "Wright Continental" engine, while maintaining the same hull shape. Apparently, the replacement of engines was carried out by the British during operation.

The modification of the M3A4 tank (British designation Lee VI) was carried out by the Chrysler concern at the Detroit arsenal from June to August 1942. A total of 109 vehicles were manufactured. The tank featured a new 30-cylinder in-line Chrysler A 57 "water-cooled engine, designed and delivered to the assembly line at the concern's factories. Installation of this engine increased the mass of the tank to 64,000 pounds (29,056 kg) and length to 19 feet 8 inches (5995 mm). which also led to an increase in the length of the tracks to 166 tracks each, but the speed and range remained the same as in the base model.

Modification of the M3A5 tank is the same M3A3, only with a riveted hull. Produced by Baldvin from January to November 1942 in parallel with the M3A3 tank. The firm made a total of 591 tanks.

M3 tanks were delivered to Great Britain. There, they dismantled the upper machine-gun turret and installed a hatch, and also applied their own camouflage.

After the approval of the Lend-Lease regulation, a commission for the purchase of weapons arrived in the United States from the UK, including with the aim of choosing an American armored vehicles, for its own armed forces, since most of the weapons were left in France during the evacuation of Dunkirk. The commission was supposed to buy (for cash!) Experienced American developments... She chose the M3 tank, but suggested changing its design: installing a new turret, abandoning the upper machine-gun turret, installing English radio equipment. All these proposals were worked out on the M2 tanks. It was decided to establish in the USA the production of M3 tanks of the British model. This tank was named "General Grant", in honor of Ulysses Simpson Grant (1827-1885), commander-in-chief of the federal forces of the northerners in 1864-1865 during the American Civil War, and in 1869-1877 - the President of the United States from the Republican party. So, in the name of the tank, the two warring sides of American society were reconciled.

Tank "General Grant", classified in England as "cruiser tanks", had two modifications:

- "Grant I" - created on the chassis of the base tank MZ
- "Grant II" - created on the chassis of the MZA5 model.

About 1400 M3s were delivered to the USSR. In the USSR, the M3 tanks were met without enthusiasm. By mid-1942, his armor no longer saved him from German tank guns. Speed, stealth and maneuverability were needed. The high silhouette of the tank, on Russian roads had poor maneuverability, with a low-power engine, which was also very sensitive to fuel and oil, the M3 did not delight Soviet tankers. But the biggest drawback of the M3 was the rubber-metal tracks. During the battle, the tires burned out and the caterpillar fell apart. The tank became a stationary target. Soviet tank crews dubbed the M3 the "Mass Grave for Six". An example is the report of the commander of the 134th tank regiment Tikhonchuk on December 14, 1942: “American tanks in the sands work extremely poorly, the tracks continually fall, get stuck in the sand, lose power, due to which the speed is extremely low. When firing at enemy tanks, in view of the fact that the 75-mm cannon is mounted in a mask, and not in the turret, it is necessary to turn the tank, which buries itself in the sand, which makes it very difficult to fire. "

14-03-2017, 12:53

Hello to all fans of tank battles and welcome to the site! Friends, today our guest is an interesting and unusual unit, an American medium tank of the fourth level and this M3 Lee guide.

The most interesting and unusual nuance is that our American is deprived of the tower. Yes, yes, the main gun is located on the right side of the hull, and this superstructure is on the roof M3 Lee WoT serves to get everyone to shoot at her.

Nevertheless, anyone who decides to download the branch of the American medium or heavy tanks will have to skate a certain number of battles on this miracle and it would be necessary to get to know him better.

TTX M3 Lee

First of all, each owner of this device should be aware that in his hands is a car with a small margin of safety and a basic viewing radius of 320 meters, which is weak by the standards of ST-4, which will need to be improved in the future.

You must also understand and always remember that American medium tank M3 Lee has very impressive dimensions, it is not only very tall, but also wide and, if I may say so, thick. All this makes the disguise quite mediocre and only helps the enemies to hit us.

The situation is aggravated even more when you look at which M3 Lee specifications booking. Most of the body from the forehead is a huge inclined panel, which in the thickest place, taking into account the reduced figure, has only 83 millimeters of armor, and generally its thickness does not exceed 73 millimeters.

As you can imagine, punch M3 Lee World of Tanks will be able to almost all classmates, not to mention the technique more high levels... The location of the gun is also not worth hoping for, here the thickness of the armor is only 51 millimeters and only closer to the edge due to the tilt, this figure begins to increase significantly, but this area is very small.

There is nothing to say about the sides in our case, in the lateral projection M3 Lee tank even thinner, here the thickness of the armor plates does not exceed 38 millimeters, it can even be penetrated by machine-gun type cannons.

Unfortunately, the American cannot boast of good driving characteristics either. Our maximum speed is not bad, but by the standards of medium tanks, it is not high, the dynamics of M3 Lee WoT also mediocre and only the speed of rotation of the chassis pleases, in case of rapprochement with the enemy, we will have a small chance to fight back.

Cannon

Oddly enough, this device and its creators can be proud of their weapons, despite some nuances, the gun at our disposal turned out to be really worthy of respect.

So have M3 Lee cannon has a good one-time damage by the standards of classmates and at the same time has an excellent rate of fire, which allows us to inflict about 2200 pure damage per minute, this is almost the best indicator among the ST-4.

In terms of penetration, we are also doing very well, M3 lee tank WoT it can even penetrate most level 5 opponents without much difficulty. But as often happens, for comfortable combat at the bottom of the list, you will have to have 15-20 gold shells with you.

Not everything is so simple with accuracy, because the spread of our gun is large, the stabilization is poor and there is no rotating turret. However, it boils down medium tank M3 Lee quickly, so the discomfort is not as strong as it might seem at first glance.

Now let's touch on the issue of the comfort of inflicting damage on the other hand, and here we must pay tribute to the good elevation angles, after all, the barrel bends down by 9 degrees. But I repeat again, the towers are at M3 Lee World of Tanks no, the total UGN is 30 degrees and the gun is located on the right side of the hull, that is, in fact, we are not holding a medium tank, but a tank destroyer.

Advantages and disadvantages

Despite the fact that we have considered General characteristics tank and analyzed its weapons, in view of the fact that the car in front of us is unusual, it would be reasonable to highlight the main advantages and disadvantages M3 Lee WoT separately.
Pros:
Good one-time damage;
Excellent rate of fire and DPM;
Decent breakout;
Fast aiming time;
Comfortable elevation angles.
Minuses:
A truly barn silhouette;
Mediocre booking;
Poor mobility;
Lack of a tower;
UGN are uncomfortable due to the displaced weapon.

Equipment for M3 Lee

So we got to the issue of completing the vehicle and in view of the fact that, in fact, we have a tank destroyer in our hands, the emphasis should be on armament. Of course, additional modules will allow you to increase some parameters quite well, so on tank M3 Lee equipment put the following:
1. - the most demanded and reasonable module, which will make our damage per minute even more dangerous.
2. - due to some problems with accuracy, this choice is quite justified, because the faster we get down, the more comfortable the shooting process will be.
3. - with the review, everything is obviously weak and this issue needs to be solved radically, especially in view of the peculiarities of this device.

But for those for whom the viewing range and the possibility of the first shot are not so important, if you are not afraid to rely on your allies, you can replace the last item with, get even more firepower and other things.

Crew training

One more a great opportunity, which in no case should be overlooked - the choice and distribution of skills among the crew members. There are already six tankers in this car, and in order not to get confused, for M3 Lee perks it is better to distribute as follows:
Commander -,,,.
Gunner -,,,.
Gunner -,,,.
Driver mechanic - , , , .
Radio operator -,,,.
Charger -,,,.

Equipment for M3 Lee

Consumables also need a little attention, but as you know, this aspect often remains standard. Our case is no exception, and in order to save money, you can buy a modest set from,,. But if you want to increase your survival rate and get a chance to get out of difficult situation, it is still better to carry on M3 Lee gear from,,, where the last option may well be replaced by.

M3 Lee tactics

Once again, I repeat that due to the lack of a turret, it is not a medium tank that is in front of us, but a tank destroyer; accordingly, the style of play should be chosen appropriately. It means that for M3 Lee tactics an ambush is more suitable for conducting a battle, after all, our armor is weak, and the silhouette of a shed and mobility is mediocre.

So, at the very beginning of the battle, we select the flank and occupy the most spreading bush in the chosen direction. From this position American tank M3 Lee can easily realize the potential of its weapons, while not greatly risking its own margin of safety.

Of course, you should provide cover and escape routes in case your M3 Lee tank WoT will find out. For the rest, we just stand, shoot at our own and allied light, target vulnerable zones in the enemy's armor, and if the enemy is armored in sight, charge gold.

If you don't like this passive gameplay, M3 Lee World of Tanks can still play more contact, but it is important to get the position very correct. The entire left side of the hull should be hidden, while only the part of the car in which the gun is installed because of the cover needs to be poked out. So we not only get a good opportunity to fire, but also make the hit area at us minimal. Between shots, of course M3 Lee WoT should slightly turn the body, increasing the angle of the reduced armor, or hide altogether.

"Three-story" Stalin's American [Tank M3 "General Lee" / "General Grant"] Baryatinsky Mikhail

Searchlight tank CDL

Searchlight tank CDL

The least known special modification of the M3 tank was the SPOTLIGHT TANK. In 1940, the British developed the concept of CDL (Canal Defense Light) searchlight tanks, so named mainly for the purpose of misinforming the enemy, since no one was going to cover the English Channel, called a channel in Britain. The first car created within this system was the Matilda.

Instead of the standard one, a special tower made of 65-mm armor was installed on the tank, with an electric arc lamp with a capacity of 8 million watts located inside. With the help of a system of mirrors, a beam of light was focused and directed through a narrow vertical slit in the frontal sheet of the tower. In its left half, behind the partition, there was an operator who controlled the searchlight, changed the electrodes, and, if necessary, used weapons - the BESA machine gun. The second crew member - a driver-mechanic - also served as a radio operator.

Tests of CDL tanks were carried out in England in 1941 in strict secrecy. At the same time, the tactics of their use were also worked out: the tanks were lined up at a distance of about 100 yards (a little over 90 m) from each other, and at a distance of about 300 yards from the tank line, the rays of light intersected, creating a continuous illuminated zone.

In October 1942, CDL tanks were shown to representatives of the American high command, among whom were Generals Eisenhower and Clark, as well as General Behrens from the Department of Weapons. Upon his return to the United States, the latter initiated the development of technical requirements for the American version of the searchlight tank. The M3 medium tank was taken as a base, the design of which made it possible to keep the 75-mm cannon in the sponson when installing the searchlight tower.

American version of the M3A1 CDL ​​searchlight tank.

British version of the Grant Mk I CDL searchlight tank.

In order to maintain secrecy, CDL tanks were given a rather strange code designation Leaflets (leaflets) in the United States. At the end of 1942, six complete English searchlight towers were delivered to Aberdeen, where they were mounted on M3 tanks. Five of them were then sent to Fort Knox for testing, and one was used for demonstrations to the military and industrialists.

The searchlight tower of the American design differed from the English one in details. In particular, the British, in addition to the BESA machine gun, often armed their turrets with a model of a 37-mm cannon. The American towers did not have mock-ups, and the machine gun had its own - Browning М1919А4. In addition, the M3-based searchlight tanks were equipped with more powerful lamps - 13 million watts. The tank's crew consisted of five people. The drive to the 10 kW generator was carried out from the tank engine.

The turret of the Grant Mk I CDL tank, now in the Royal Tank Museum in Bovington. This version lacks the layout of the 37 mm cannon.

Searchlight tank Grant Mk I CDL.

In Great Britain, 1,850 Lee and Grant tanks were converted using the CDL system. All of them received the designation Grant CDL. In the United States, a contract was signed with American Locomotive to convert M3 tanks into floodlights. In the interests of all the same secrecy, they were called Shop Tractor T10. The towers were manufactured at the Pressed Steel Сag Company plant, in the documentation of which they were referred to as "S" type towers for coastal defense. The final assembly of the tanks was carried out at the Rock Island Arsenal. The first American CDL tank was ready in June 1943. Until the end of the year, 355 were manufactured on the chassis of the M3 and MZA1 tanks, and in the next, 1944, 142 more combat vehicles of this type.

In the USA, two tank groups were formed, armed with M3 CDL tanks - the 9th and 10th. In an atmosphere of the strictest secrecy, they passed combat training at a remote test site on the California-Arizona border.

The 10th Panzer Group landed on the European continent on August 24, 1944, but did not really take part in the hostilities. The commanders of the line tank units, which were assigned to the M3 CDL units, simply did not know what to do with this technique - excessive secrecy played a cruel joke on the Americans. As a result, the searchlight tanks carried big losses... Soon the battalions of the 10th group were reorganized into ordinary tank battalions and armed with Shermans. Somewhat earlier, the battalions of the 9th Panzer Group suffered the same fate.

The last 64 M3 CDL tanks took part in the crossing of the Rhine in March 1945. Moreover, the crews for them had to be recalled from the previously disbanded searchlight tank battalions. During the defense of the captured bridges across the Rhine in the Remagen area, the use of M3 CDL tanks was not very effective.

Night demonstration of the Grant Mk I CDL searchlight tank.

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