Posted on 05/04/2004 12:00:06 AM PDT by SAMWolf
M3 In Combat
The first M3 “Grants” started to arrive in Gazala, Egypt during February 1942. During this time the front lines had become static and a lull had set in over the battlefield. Both the British and Germans took advantage of this to re-supply their troops with replacements and equipment.
The British began to train their tank crews on the new M3 tank during this time. The 75mm gun gave the British tankers an effective anti-tank weapon with which to deal with the German tanks. The 75mm gun was also able to fire a quite effective high explosive round. Previous British tanks were only equipped with the 2 pounder gun or the 37mm gun, which fired solid armor piercing rounds. The new 75mm gun now gave the British both an effective anti-tank gun and an effective HE suppression gun. Training on the M3 lasted until May 1942. The long training period with little combat resulted in the tank crews becoming very familiar with the M3 while finding all of the problems with the new tank before actually seeing combat.
Problems with the 75mm gun were found almost immediately. The early M3s did not come with the proper fire control equipment: a range scale or an inclinometer. Gunners improvised ranging scales on the elevation wheel of the 75mm gun. Problems with the HE ammo were also found, as supplies of the 75mm HE in Egypt dated back to World War I. The fuses on this ammunition were set up for indirect fire artillery pieces, not direct fire, flat-trajectory guns, and would not burn unless the round hit almost perpendicular to the target. This resulted in many HE rounds to hitting the ground but never exploding. What was needed was a fuse that had a creep mechanism installed that would allow the fuse to fire at a slight impact. The British located some (90,000) French fuses in Syria that utilized the creep mechanism, which were immediately installed on the supplies of 75mm HE ammo.
Another problem with the 75mm gun was found when tested on destroyed German tanks. The AP72 round had a hard time penetrating face-hardened armor at ranges over 500 yards. The AP72 round was a mono-bloc AP round that was designed and manufactured in order to meet ammunition requirements for the M3 in North Africa. The AP72 projectile had many defects due to limited inspection and would typically break apart upon hitting the German face-hardened armor at longer ranges. It was determined that an armored piercing capped projectile was needed. The US was producing the new APCBC (armored piercing capped ballistic capped) AP61 round that would have been effective, but it was not available in North Africa at the time. Major Northy, an Australian ordnance officer, proposed a solution to the ammunition situation. He suggested using captured German 75mm APCBC projectiles and modifying them to fit the American AP72 casings. The conversion worked very well with a small amount of machining to the projectile. The new round was designated the AP composite and performed equally as well as the new US AP61 round. About 17,000 of these rounds were converted and supplied to the M3 tank divisions.
By May of 1942, the crews of the M3s had plenty of time to train and become combat effective in their new vehicles. Many problems had been solved and the new M3s were ready for combat. The 75mm gun gave the M3 the ability to destroy German tanks at ranges they were not used to, and easily penetrated the Pz. IIIs front armor. This gave the Germans quite a surprise upon the initial engagement. 167 of the new M3s were split between to two British tank divisions, the 1st and the 7th. The 7th British tank division was the first to see combat in the M3.
On the 27th of May 1942, the 4th brigade, 3rd RTR of the 7th armored division clashed with German tanks outside of Bir Hacheim. The M3s engaged a numerically superior force at 1000 yards and destroyed many of the German tanks. The 3rd RTR started the engagement with 19 M3s and ended the day with only 5 M3s surviving. The 8th Hussars also engaged the Germans on the same day. They destroyed 30 German tanks with the loss of 22 M3s. The M3 proved itself quite battle-worthy on its first day of combat. The British destroyed more German tanks than they lost.
A M3 Grant passing a burning German tank in the desert. The destroyed German tank appears to be a Panzer I.
The new 75mm gun was able to engage the Pz. III and Pz. IV(75mm L24 gun) at a range of 1000 yards, while neither of the German tanks could penetrate the M3s front armor at this range. This gave the British the advantage in firepower for the first time. The 75mm gun could also effectively engage heavy German anti-tank guns with HE ammo.
The first US crews to see action in the M3 were assigned to the 8th British armored division. They saw combat with the 1st RTR on June 11, 1942 in the area of Tobruk. After 3 days of fighting the three US crews claimed 9 kills on German tanks without a loss. After this action, the crews flew back to the US in order to assist in training tank crews being prepared for combat.
Here a some M3s of the US 1st Armored division moving near Kasserine on February 20, 1943.
The M3 saw action in North Africa with more US tankers starting in the middle of November 1942. The US 13th armored regiment, equipped with M3s supported attacks in Tunisia until fighting in that area ended. The 13th armored regiment saw much action in the Kasserine Pass area during February 1943. The 3rd battalion of the 13th armored regiment fought alongside the remaining Shermans from the decimated CCA (Combat Command A) and CCC (Combat Command C) along with CCB (Combat Command B) of the 1st armored division. This combined force fought a withdrawing defensive battle, which decimated the German offensive and forced Rommel to pull his forces back on the defensive, ending the battle. In April 1943, the M3 was pulled back to second line duty and was given a limited standard designation. The M3 was declared obsolete in 1944 and pulled from service.
References:
Hunnicutt, R.P., “Sherman: A History of the American
Medium Tank”. Presidio Press, Novato, CA 1994.
I remember when we heard this news, not a lot sympathy from the guys in my Unit. The prevailing attitude was "Good, see how they like getting shot at".
I can't say I have much sympathy now.
Can there any other significance?
That time opened divisions that are reappearing now, as John Effing Kerry is discovering.
John Kerry : "Never get off the boat..never get off the boat!
"Bye Tiger,Bye Tiger....Bye Medals,Bye Medals"
Narrator: "Absolutely right John...never get of the ....... boat"!
LOL! Kerry was in Vietnam?
My first exposure to the M3 was in Bogart's "Sahara"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.