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A World of Tanks | |
United States of America
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Combat Car M2A2 |
| Produced in 1937, as a development of the previous model M2A1
implemented in 1934, the "Combat Car" M2A1 became
the US Cavalry's standard combat vehicle during the second half of the 1930s. The
disguised definition combat car for an actual light tank was adopted because,
officially, "tanks" were intended to be infantry support vehicles.Overall, the M2
series were simple, lightly armoured tanks, little more than reconnaisance vehicles.
Production was limited (365 manufactured, in total, by March 1941). They saw (some) action in the Philippines in 1942 but the main production was used for training American and British crews before they went into battle in rather more modern vehicles.
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M3A1 "Stuart III" Weight
: 13.0 ton |
M5A1 "Stuart VI" Weight
: 15.3 ton |
| Despite the betterments adopted on the M2A4, the last model of the
M2 series, it became clear to US observers in France in 1940 that further
improvements were necessary. The Light Tank M3, produced by
the thousand starting from 1941, became the most important American light tank. It saw
action almost everywhere and were adopted by the British Army (where, in addition to the
official name "Stuart", the nickname Honey was widely used). Its service
life continued well after 1945. Widely exported after the war they served all over the
world. Although the Light Tank M3 were manufactured in large quantity, production was troubled by shortages of all kinds (especially engines). One solution was to install automotive engines (twin Cadillac V-8s) and transmission. The resulting new tank, standardized in 1942, was the Light Tank M5 (the M4 designation was not used to avoid confusion with the Medium Tank M4). Most M5s were used by American forces but a few served with the British Army from late 1944.
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Light Tank M.24 "Chaffee" |
| By 1942 it became apparent that tanks had to have at least a 75mm gun. As
attempts to increase M5s gunnery were unsuccessful, due to small turret size, a new
design (the T24), developed in 1942 and standardized in 1943 under the name of M.24, was ordered into mass production. The light tank proved highly effective and reliable. After 1945 the M.24 served with many US allies.
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Medium Tank M3 "Lee"/"Grant" |
| The Medium M3 was developed to match the
firepower of German tanks. As the existing M2s turrets could not carry a heavy gun,
it was decided to mount a 75mm gun in a limited traverse sponson on the right-side of the
hull and a 37 mm gun in small cast turret. The M3 extensively soldiered in North Africa under both the American (as "Lee") and British (as "Grant") colors but the experience confirmed the limits of the hull-installed 75 gun. Total production, until 1942, was 6,258 in US and more than 1,100 in Canada.
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Medium Tank M4A1 "Sherman II" Weight : 30.7 ton |
Medium Tank M4A3 "Sherman IV" Weight : 32.3 ton |
| The Medium M4, based on the hull of the M3,
appeared in September 1941 and entered into production at the incredible rate of more than
1,000/2,000 a month. The M4 became "THE" American tank of World War II and widely equipped the Allied armies, including the British and the Russian ones. Although the 75 mm was a reasonably good gun, it proved soon inadequate against the German Panther and Tiger armor. A solution was found by improving some "Sherman V"'s gunnery with the British 17-pounder (76.2 mm). The new model was denominated "Firefly". Later marks, like the M4A3, high, and with less firepower than the late war German tanks, with a gasoline engine highly inflammable had, however, one great advantage : when production ceased, more than 50,000 M4s (all models) had been manufactured ! An incredible number of versions and special-role variants of the Medium M4 were developed between 1941 and 1945. Amongst the most significant ones, remarkable examples were :
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Heavy Tank M.26 "Pershing" |
| The Heavy Tank M26 "Pershing" was a major
redesign among the trial vehicles (T-type series) destined to replace the Medium Tank M4.
The change of category was imposed by the weight increase connected to the armament
increase. The first M26 reached Europe in February 1945 and immediately became a "best seller", being the only Allied tank capable of beating (at an acceptable cost) the German "zoo" (Tigers and Panthers). After the VE-day the M26 widely soldiered in the Pacific. The M26, the best US tank of WWII, had a long post-war service life in many countries, until it was replaced by the M48 and M60s series. |
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Acknowledgment
All the color images (by G.Canestrari) and information have been selected from the "I
Corazzati" book by B.Benvenuti, edited by A.Mondadori, and from "TANKS of World
War Two" by J.Restayn, edited by Histoire & Collections . Further information was
extracted from "Tanks of World War II", a handbook edited by COLLINS/Jane's.
All material is property of the respective authors
Page established on : August 12, 1997
Last update : January 20, 1998
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