M3 Gun Motor Carriage (75mm)

History of the M3 gun locomotive (75mm)

After considering Germany's strategy to conquer the Netherlands and France in the 1940 campaign, the U.S. Army focused on new mobile tank destroyers for future battles against European power. As a stopgap, the M3 half-tracked personnel carrier proved suitable for carrying one anti-tank weapon - the 75mm M1897A4 field gun. The M1897A4 was nothing more than an American replica of the French Army's excellent Canon de 75 modele 1897 field gun from the turn of the century, a weapon system that was eventually adopted by dozens of players, including many in Europe.

The gun supports Armor Piercing (AP) as well as standard U.S. Army High Explosive (HE) rounds, enabling it to serve multiple roles in service.

The resulting vehicle became the 20,000 lb "75mm Gun Motor Carriage M3". It retained the same shape as the original M3 vehicle, measuring 20 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 8 feet high, and was armed with guns. A crew of five including the driver, commander, gunner and two ammunition handlers carried 59x75mm projectiles on board. Power is provided by a 142.5-horsepower 160AX white gasoline engine, and the vehicle can reach speeds of up to 43 mph on the highway and have a range of up to 200 miles. The hull is suspended on a semi-elliptical coil spring suspension system for some comfort when driving off-road.

The driver usually sits forward left with the rifle group in order to remain in the open rear area of ??the fuselage structure. Protection ranges from 6mm to 16mm of armor thickness, enough to cover small arms fire, although the rifle group is largely unprotected.

Self-defense is carried out only with personal weapons - the crew carries 4 x M1 carbines and 1 x Garand rifle.

Other physical changes to the M3 design include a new folding windshield that is further slotted to allow the barrel to rest on it in drive mode. Fuel tanks were moved to the rear of the crew compartment to allow for increased ammunition storage in the floor space.

Vehicle testing resulted in a T12 pilot model, a design led by Major Robert Ix. Work began in June 1941, a few months before the official declaration of war by the United States (December 1941). By October, the car had completed testing and was fully adopted as the 75mm GMC M3. From there Autocar produced the first 86 of about 2,200 cars, of which about 170 were shipped to the British Army and used as 75mm SP, Autocar (early 1943).

The French and Philippine armies also held limited M3 GMC stocks from 1944 to 1945 and beyond.

The initial action of the M3 resulted in them being supplied to the Philippine front to meet the Japanese invasion. The battle was a failure for the Allies, however, and the Japanese victors adopted systems that were not lost in battle, as ammunition supplies allowed. These vehicles then became part of the removal of Axis power in North Africa and were used in theaters in Tunisia (November 1942-May 1943), Kasserine Pass (February 1943) and elsewhere in 1942-43.

Then came the reconquest of Sicily in 1943 (July-August 1943), but by this time the vehicles had given way to combat wear (losses) and the arrival of the M10 gun carriage line - "Wolverine", as the British called it . The advent of heavier German armor didn't help, as the 75mm tanks really only stood up to the light and medium tank classes early in the war.

In 1944, the M3 GMC was officially declared obsolete by the US Army, and its successor is now entrenched. This did not stop it from being used in the hands of the US Marine Corps, where it was in Saipan (June-July 1944), Peleliu (September-November 1944) and Okinawa (April) Campaign after using its 75mm gun and vehicle mobility against Japanese light tanks - June 1944). Another valuable feature is its use as an anti-fortification and anti-infantry weapon due to the power of its Clark grenade.

By the end of the war, the US Marine Corps had moved to a newer vehicle - this became the use of the 105mm M7 Priest model.

Some M3 GMCs continued to serve after the war, especially in the Philippine Army. Some would take part in the upcoming Korean War (1950-1953) before their time was finally over.

In addition to the original M3 production model, there was the M3A1, which used different mounting hardware for the 75mm gun system. Although a total of 2,200 vehicles were produced, 1,360 of these were eventually converted back to their traditional half-tracked form due to the large numbers of Allied troops needed to be carried.

This put about 840 M3 GMCs in actual circulation throughout the war.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

59x75mm shells

Changes