M3 Stuart (Light Tank, M3)

History

The M3 "Stuart" light tank became the US Army's main light armored vehicle into World War II (1939-1944). The vehicle's design was influenced by its predecessor, the M2 light tank, and retained some of its established features, including the use of a 37mm main gun, a crew of 4 and road speed.

Pressed into war service, it performed well early on as an infantry support vehicle or as a fast scout, but was soon overtaken by mid-tier tanks. The M5 "Stuart" (described in detail elsewhere on this page) became an upgraded M3 with a matching Cadillac engine and a new turret.

While the M3 form was eventually abandoned as early as 1942, the M5 continued the Stewart tradition until it was also replaced by the M244 "Chaffey" light tank.

The M3 Stuart was made possible by work carried out in the years after the First World War. This eventually led to the development of small active combat systems for infantry support operations using a tracked chassis with machine gun weapons. This resulted in the "M1 Combat Vehicle", followed by the M2 with its cannon. Both designs appeared in the 1930s. It was only after the rapid expansion of German ground forces in 1939-1940 when they took over Europe that the M2's successor was seriously considered, as it was now proving to be an outdated machine.

That work then resulted in the M3, which promised improved protection (at the expense of speed) and better armor protection. A new suspension completes the coveted quality list.

After a period of testing and evaluation, the US Army adopted the "Light Tank, M3". When she was accepted by desperate British troops under Lend-Lease, they named her "Stuart" after Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart in the American Civil War.

In this way, the M3 medium tank became the "Lee" (General Robert E. Lee) or "Grant" (General Ulysses S. Grant), and the classic M4 medium tank became the "Sherman" (General William Tecumseh Sherman) ). American Car and Foundry was commissioned to produce the M3 light tank and officially began in March 1941.

By this point, Europe had largely fallen under the Axis powers as Britain sought to avoid the total annihilation of its vast experiential assets. Lend-Lease agreements enabled Americans to support their overseas allies by providing war supplies without formally declaring war on the enemy. This is how Stuart was first seen fighting the British during Operation Crusades in November 1941.

During these operations, the M3's main gun was found to be rather weak, but its reliability and maneuverability in desert conditions were noted. It wasn't until the Philippine campaign in 1942 that the Americans pushed their M3s into battle.

The M3 is powered by the Continental W-670-9A, a 250 hp, 7-cylinder, gasoline-fueled, air-cooled radial engine. The power pack is located in the rear compartment away from the crew. Suspension comes from the Vertical Volute Spring Suspension (VVSS) system, which, combined with the hull design and engine accessories, gives the vehicle a top speed of 18 mph on the road and a range of up to 75 miles.

The crew of four includes the driver, commander, gunner and gunner/radio operator. Conditions are noticeably cramped, considering that the interior space is also occupied by necessary equipment and ammunition storage.

Armament was concentrated on the M5 (later M6) 37mm main gun and the coaxial M1919A4 .30 caliber Browning machine gun. Four .30 caliber machine guns were installed, one above the turret, one on the right front part of the fuselage (tee) and the remaining two on separate broadsides of the forward superstructure plate. The main gun is mounted on a unique bracket that allows the main gun to rotate about 20 degrees on the side close to the turret - this gives the gunner some flexibility without having to rotate the entire turret.

The turret is arranged amidships, the driver sits on the left side of the hull, the bow gunner sits to his right, and the remaining two crew members are in/under the turret. Although her front panel is nearly vertical, the hull crew uses articulated situational awareness sight slots - a firing trap for enemy fire. The wheelbase arrangement uses four wheels with a front drive sprocket and rear idler.

Overall, the M3 was a classic light tank design of the era, leveraging many of the established design cues found in other competing designs.

Production of the original M3 tank (also British Army "Stuart One") was completed by October 1942 with an inventory of 4,526. It was followed by 1,285 units with T-1020 series Gibson diesel engines, but no other name was given.

Instead, they were simply referred to as "Light Tank, M3, (Diesel)" to denote their distinction. The British Army referred to these as "Stuart II". The M3A1 - "Stuart III" - entered service in May 1942 and was equipped with a gun stabilizer, powered turret swivel and turret basket. These do not have tower domes.

211 were built with diesel engines ("Stuart IV") for a total of 4,621 built.

The last M3 in the series became the M3A3 and entered production in September 1942. These introduce an all-new sloping hull with the improvements and natural ballistic protection properties seen on twin-engine M5 Stuarts.

The turret has also been modified to accommodate the overhang (hustle) of the SCR-508 radio kit, while little else has changed. This became the "Stuart V" in the UK, with a total of 3,427 units produced. In fact, unlike U.S. forces, many M3A3 units serve overseas with foreign forces.

Front-line service of the M3/M3A1 models ended in July 1943, when their production line was officially declared obsolete by military authorities. In its place is the M5, which manages to extend Stuart's story a bit.

In addition, there are a number of variants based on the M3 chassis, including assault tanks, howitzer carriers, weapons carriers, a proposed mine detonator vehicle, and a flame tank with a flame cannon instead of a machine gun.

Operators have proven to be numerous, from Australia and Belgium to Venezuela and Yugoslavia. Some captured examples were operated by Japanese forces in the Pacific Rim and saw action during the Battle of Imphal (March-July 1944). After the end of the Chinese Civil War, the M3 fell into the hands of the Chinese army.

Thanks to Lend-Lease, the USSR was the recipient of the M3 Stuarts just like the UK. The M3 proved to be a good fit for Soviet tactics and an improvement over the light tanks available at the time.

Despite the rather short lifespan of the M3 line, its development is remarkable. The original tower used the common construction practice of riveted plate sections, all of which had weaknesses in their fittings. In addition, direct enemies firing at armor have an unpleasant tendency to fire rivets in cramped fighting compartments - which is not good for the crew inside.

Around 279 turrets were finished with "front hardened" welded armor plates, while the last example had uniformly welded armor - greatly improving the safety and protection of the occupants. Aside from the turret, the original 3,212 M3 tanks were riveted hull models with all their inherent dangers and weaknesses. Welding became apparent in later forms of manufacture.

Earlier models also lacked a turret mount.

Because of this, the M3 was indeed an evolutionary design, offering more power than the previous M2 series, albeit obsolete by the follow-up M5 and surpassed by the newer M24. In any case, this little tank does its due diligence for a country just committed to a world war with a power more experienced than itself.

Over time, the strength and determination of American industry will help to rewrite the course of history, erasing the scourge of the Axis powers from every corner of the planet.

M3 Stuarts production reached 22,744 (some sources even put it as high as 25,000). By comparison, M5 production "only" managed 8,884 units.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

103 x 37mm bullet

7,500 x .30-06 caliber ammunition

Changes