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The M3 Stuart/light tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II. An improved version of the tank entered service as the M5 in 1942 to be supplied to British and other Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war. Afterwards, it was used by U.S. and Allied forces until the end of the war.
The development started in September 1941 with a requirement for a close-support vehicle based upon the M3 Stuart's chassis, but it was made of a mild steel superstructure. A 75 mm Pack Howitzer was mounted on the right of the glacis plate of the vehicle. The gun mount was modeled from the M3 Lee's 75 mm gun's mount. [1]
British combat experience in the North African campaign identified several shortcomings of the M3 Stuart light tank, especially the performance of its 37 mm cannon.A 75 mm gun was experimentally fitted to a howitzer motor carriage M8 – an M3 tank with a larger turret – and trials indicated that a 75 mm gun on the M5 light tank development of the M3 was possible.
The activated Army National Guard 194th and 192nd Tank Battalions were each equipped with 54 of the newly manufactured M3 Stuart light tanks, along with 23 half-tracks per battalion. [24] The federalized California Army Guard 194th Tank Battalion deployed from San Francisco on 8 September 1941, arriving in the Philippines on 26 September.
M3 Stuart at Fort Knox, Kentucky, used for training. The Stuart was an upgrade of the M2 light tank. The initial upgrade was designated the M3 Stuart and had thicker armor, modified suspension and a 37mm gun. Production of the M3 and later the M5 Stuart started in March 1941 and continued until October 1943 with a total of 25,000 produced.
The first M3 Stuart tanks began to be produced in March 1941; the original riveted M3s closely resembled the M2A4, and the two types occasionally served in the same units; an easy recognition feature was the rear idler wheel. On the M2A4, the idler was raised; on the M3 it trailed on the ground, [15] increasing the flotation of the heavier ...
Experiments with a close-support version of the M3 Stuart began with the T18 howitzer motor carriage. This essentially combined an M3 light tank chassis with the gun mount of a M3 Grant medium tank mounting the much smaller 75mm pack howitzer. This produced a tall design with the gun well forward, which led to the tank being nose-heavy.
The official Soviet designation for it was the М3 средний (М3с), or "M3 Medium", to distinguish the Lee from the US-built M3 Stuart light tank, which was also acquired by the USSR under Lend-Lease and was officially known there as the М3 лёгкий (М3л), or "M3 Light".