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Posted on 05/04/2004 12:00:06 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 Design/Production To match the newest German tanks there was a need for a tank that could carry a 75 mm gun. The M3 was ordered straight from the drawing board and Baldwin and the American Locomotive Company each made pilot models by April 1941. Production began in August 1941 and ended in December 1942. It was intended only as a stopgap tank before the M4 Shermans arrived. When the M4 started production the M3 was designated Substitute Standard in October 1941. In April 1943, they were classified as Limited Standard and in April 1944 were classified as obsolete.  Chrysler leased a 113 acre site for a new factory in Warren, Michigan. The turret could be rotated by hydraulics or by hand. The cupola normally rotated with the turret but could be rotated by hand. The driver and radio operator occupied the front of the hull. The 75 mm gunner sat on the left of the gun. The 37 mm gunner, gun loader and commander were in the turret. Both guns had gyrostabilizers and periscopic sights. The driver's door and the pistol ports had protectoscopes for indirect vision. An auxiliary generator provided electricity when needed.  75 mm gun had muzzle velocity of 1,920 ft/sec, range of 13,090 yards, and penetrate 2.9 inches at 1,000 yards. 37 mm gun had muzzle velocity of 2,900 ft/sec, range of 12,850 yards, and penetrate 1.8 inches at 1,000 yards. Date of first acceptance: June 1941  The riveted construction of the medium tank M3 is obvious here. This vehicle is not fitted with stabilization since it lacks counterweights on the 37mm or short 75mm M2 guns. The machine gun in the commander's cupola is present in its right aperture, and one of the driver's hull machine guns has been retained. Track grousers are stored in the box below the driver's hatch, and the tank's siren is positioned below the 75mm gun. Here the crew, Cpl. Larry Corletti, Pvt. Murril Chapman, and Pvt. Louis Robles, practice dismounting from a disabled vehicle. (Picture taken 12 Feb 1943 by Sgt. Calvano; available from the U.S. Army Center of Military History.) Initial production type with riveted hull, cast turret, and side doors. Production of this model ceased Aug. 1942. The medium tank M3 was based on the medium tank M2, utilizing its suspension, power train, and other mechanical parts. The British version of the M3 was dubbed cruiser tank Grant I, and differed in some details. The main armament of the tank, the 75mm gun, was mounted in the right-hand sponson since no turret capable of holding a 75mm gun had yet been designed in the US. The M3 medium tank was an interim design until the medium tank M4 could enter production with its 75mm gun turret. The M3 was called Lee I by the British. Late-production tanks had the doors originally on each hull side eliminated in favor of a floor escape hatch, and one of the driver's fixed machine guns was deleted as well; the resulting hole was filled with a steel plug. The crew of late M3s was reduced to six men when the driver also took over the role of radio operator. Very late production M3s had new heavy-duty suspension bogies with 8" (20cm) instead of 7" (18cm) volute springs, and the track return rollers were moved to the rear of the new bogies. Late vehicles also had the 75mm gun periscope replaced with a telescopic sight, and another periscope was installed above the driver's position. The armament of late-model tanks included the M3 75mm gun and M6 37mm gun.  Tanks with stabilization systems installed can be differentiated from those without by the presence of a cylindrical counterweight under the 37mm gun, and a counterweight at the end of the 75mm gun barrel if the tank is armed with the shorter 75mm gun M2. The longer 75mm gun M3 did not require a counterweight to be compatible with the gyrostabilizer. The difference in the 37mm and 75mm guns is as follows: The 37mm gun M5 was 6" (15cm) shorter than the M6, and the M5 had a manually-operated breechblock instead of the M6's semiautomatic breechblock. The 75mm gun M2 had a shorter barrel than the M3 and had a vertical breechblock to the M3's horizontal breechblock. Otherwise, the 75mm guns were identical. Date of first acceptance: January 1942  This cast, smooth-lined M3A1 is armed with the short-barreled 75mm gun M2, and since neither it nor the 37mm guns are fitted with counterweights, this tank also lacks stabilization. The holes can be seen for the hull-mounted machine guns. This tank also has the early suspension bogies which have the return roller on top of the brace. The aperture to the left of the 37mm gun was for the gunner's periscope. The machine gun in the cupola emerged from the right opening; the left was for a vision slot. There is a ventilator above the pistol port in the front of the hull, and there are antenna mounts behind the turret and behind the front hull pistol port. This tank is wearing the T48 rubber chevron tracks. Cast hull. Late models had escape hatch in hull floor instead of side doors. Produced by American Locomotive Company. Except for the cast upper hull, the M3A1 was largely identical to the M3. The door in the right side hull roof was placed on the rear slope of the 75mm gun sponson. This hatch was hinged from the front on early vehicles, and opened to the rear on later models. The British referred to M3A1 as Lee II. Twenty-eight M3A1s were completed with the Guiberson T-1400-2 diesel engine, and were designated as M3A1(diesel). Date of first acceptance: January 1942  M3A2 Lee All welded hull. Baldwin started production but after 12, a new engine was installed, became M3A3. The M3A2 was identical to the M3 except for the M3A2's welded hull. The British designation for M3A2 was Lee III. Date of first acceptance: January 1942  Most of the identifying features for M3A5 are on the rear of the vehicle, since the major difference between M3A5 and M3 is that the former is powered by twin diesel engines rather than the radial gasoline engine. This tank is not fitted with stabilization since it lacks counterweights under the 37mm gun and around the end of the short 75mm gun M2's barrel. It also is running on the T49 parallel bar steel tracks. (Picture from Development of Armored Vehicles, volume 1: Tanks.) Riveted hull. Late production models had longer M3 75mm gun. The radial gasoline engines of previous medium tanks M3 were also needed for training aircraft, and an engine shortage was foreseen. To help with the situation, the General Motors 6046 was created. The GM 6046 diesel engine was a pair of GM 6-71 truck engines, each of which could be operated independently if so required. The engines were meshed together on a helical gear which was mounted on a propellor shaft connecting to the tank's transmission. The side and rear armor plates on diesel-engined M3s extended below the level of the track return run, and the rear hull plate was sloped to accomodate the larger diesel engine. The engine compartment was accessed through a single lower rear plate instead of the twin doors on the radial-engined M3s. An exhaust deflector was installed to reduce the dust signature of the tank, and two armored doors with air intake louvres were installed over the tank's engine compartment. The M3A5 was borne out of the dire shortage of tanks which necessitated the installation of the diesel engine in riveted-hull tanks as well as welded-hull vehicles. M3A5 was referred to by the British as Grant II. Date of first acceptance: March 1942  M3A3 was essentially an M3A5 with a welded rather than riveted hull. The sharp lines on the hull of this tank indicates that it has been welded rather than cast. (Picture from Development of Armored Vehicles, volume 1: Tanks.) All welded hull. Side doors welded or eliminated. The M3A3 was a welded-hull Lee with the GM 6046 diesel engine. The British called diesel-engined M3A3s Lee V and Continental-engined M3A3s Lee IV. This may only be a paper designation, as no M3A3s were produced with the Continental R975. The British, trying to keep pace with the plethora of tank types emerging from the US, reserved designations for expected production models. Lee IV is apparently just such a designation that was reserved but whose vehicle never saw production. Date of first acceptance: June 1942  The large Chrysler multibank engine installed in M3A4 necessitated a longer hull to fit in the tank. The distance between the bogies was also therefore increased, and the rear deck roof and engine compartment floor had bulges to accomodate the A57 engine. (Picture from Development of Armored Vehicles, volume 1: Tanks.) Riveted hull. Side doors eliminated. Due to shortage of tank engines Chrysler combined 5 car engines together to provide power. The M3A4's A57 engine was actually five Chrysler automobile engines geared to run as a single motor, and was devised to help alleviate the shortage of tank engines. The size of this conglomeration required extending the hull of the M3A4. There is a distinctive space between the suspension bogies of M3A4s which is about 6" (15cm) longer than that of other M3s. Bulges in the engine compartment floor and roof accomodated the A57's fan and radiator, respectively. M3A4 was called Lee VI by the British.
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I like the way they look like they just kept stacking turrets up.
It's mine, all mine!
Sunrise over Mt. Hood
Huh? What? You mean Kerry was in Vietnam...no, really?
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
I watched the press conference by Veterans for the Truth on C-span today. If they are talking about the first purple heart it was from a mortar Kerry set off himself.
What a .... a... Heck, I can't think of anything nice to say.
I can verify that too!
LOL. They do, do they? Is that better than saying your dumber than a box of rocks?
every bit as smart as any post I've ever seen..and 10-15 points smarter than a good 60% of them.
10-15 points? 60%? Whose side are you on? I'm at least smarter than half of 'em. :-)
Remember I'm here for you.
Awww, thanks. My knight in shining armor.
LOL. Thanks for the vote of confidence partner.
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