Medium Tank M3
Medium Tank M3, Fort Knox, June 1942
Type	Medium Tank
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	Australia  Brazil  Canada  New Zealand  Soviet Union  United Kingdom  United States
Wars	World War II
Production history
Produced	August 1941–December 1942
Number built	6,258
Variants	numerous, see text
Specifications
Weight	30 short tons (27 t)
Length	18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Width	8 ft 11 in (2.72 m)
Height	10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) - Lee
Crew	7 (Lee) or 6 (Grant)
Armor	51 mm
Main armament	1 × 75 mm Gun M2/M3 in hull 46 rounds 1 × 37mm Gun M5/M6 in turret 178 rounds
Secondary armament	2-3–4 × .30-06 Browning M1919A4 machine guns 9,200 rounds
Engine	Wright (Continental) R975 EC2 400 hp (300 kW)/340 hp (250 kW)
Transmission	Synchromesh, 5 speeds forward, 1 reverse
Suspension	vertical volute spring
Ground clearance	18 in (0.46 m)
Fuel capacity	662 liters (175 US gallons)
Operational range	193 km
Speed	26 mph (42 km/h) (road) 16 mph (26 km/h) (off-road)
Steering system	Controlled differential

The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called by two names based on the turret configuration. Tanks employing US pattern turrets were called the "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Variants using British pattern turrets were known as "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.

Design commenced in July 1940, and the first M3s were operational in late 1941.^[1] The U.S. Army needed a good tank and coupled with United Kingdom's demand for 3,650 medium tanks immediately,^[2] the Lee began production by late 1940. The M3 was well armed and armored for the period, but due to design flaws (high silhouette, archaic sponson mounting of the main gun, below average off-road performance) it was not satisfactory and was withdrawn from front line duty as soon as the M4 Sherman became available in large numbers.

History[link]

In 1939, the U.S. Army possessed approximately 400 tanks, mostly M2 Light Tanks, with less than a hundred of the discontinued M2 Medium Tanks.^[3] The U.S. funded tank development poorly during the interwar years, and had no infrastructure for production, little experience in design, and poor doctrine to guide design efforts.

M3 Grant at the US Army Ordnance Museum

The M2 series medium tank was typical of armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) many nations produced in 1939. When the U.S. entered the war, the M2 design was obsolete with a 37 mm gun, 32 mm frontal armor, machine gun secondary armament and a very high silhouette. The Panzer III and Panzer IV's success in the French campaign led the U.S. Army to immediately order a new medium tank armed with a 75 mm gun in a turret. This would be the M4 Sherman. However, until the Sherman was in production, an interim design with a 75 mm gun was urgently needed.

The M3 was the solution. The design was unusual because the main weapon — a larger caliber, low-velocity 75 mm gun — was in an offset sponson mounted in the hull with limited traverse. A small turret with a lighter, high-velocity 37 mm gun sat on the tall hull. A small cupola on top of the turret held a machine gun. The use of two main guns was seen on the French Char B, the Soviet T-35, and the Mark I version of the British Churchill tank. In each case, two weapons were mounted to give the tanks adequate capability in firing both anti-personnel high explosive ammunition and armor-piercing ammunition for anti-tank combat. The M3 differed slightly from this pattern having a main gun which could fire an armor-piercing projectile at a velocity high enough for efficiently piercing armor, as well as deliver a high-explosive shell that was large enough to be effective. Using a hull mounted gun, the M3 design was produced quicker than if a turret mounted gun design had been manufactured. It was understood that the M3 design was flawed, but Britain^[4] urgently needed tanks.

The M3 was tall and roomy: the power transmission ran through the crew compartment under the turret cage to the gearbox driving the front sprockets. Steering was by differential braking, with a turning circle of 37 ft (11 m). The vertical volute suspension units included a return roller made with self-contained and readily replaced units bolted to the chassis. The turret was power-traversed by a electro-hydraulic system — a electric motor providing the pressure for the hydraulic motor. This rotated the turret fully in 15 seconds. Control was from a spade grip on the gun. The same motor provided pressure for the gun stabilizing system.

Front view, M3

The 75-mm was operated by a gunner and a loader. Sighting the 75-mm gun used a M1 periscope — with an integral telescope — on the top of the sponson. The periscope rotated with the gun. The sight was marked from zero to 3,000 yd (2,700 m)^[5] with vertical markings to aid deflection shooting at a moving target. The gunner laid the gun on target through geared handwheels for traverse and elevation.

The 37-mm was aimed through the M2 periscope, though this was mounted in the mantlet to the side of the gun. It also sighted the coaxial machine gun. Two range scales were provided: 0-1,500 yd (1,400 m) for the 37-mm and 0-1,000 yd (910 m) for the machine gun.

The British ordered the M3 when they were refused permission to have their tank designs (the Matilda infantry tank and Crusader cruiser tank) made by American factories. British experts had viewed the mock-up in 1940 and identified several flaws — the high profile, the hull mounted gun, radio down in the hull (instead of turret), smooth tracks, riveted armour and insufficient armour little attention to splash-proofing the joints.^[6] The British agreed to order 1,250 M3, to be modified to their requirements - the order was subsequently increased with the expectation that when a superior tank was available it could replace part of the order. Contracts were arranged with three U.S. companies, but the total cost was approximately 240 million US dollars. This sum was all of the British funds in the US and it took the Lend-Lease act to solve the financial problems.

M3, Fort Knox, 1942

The prototype was completed in March 1941 and production models followed with the first British specification tanks in July. The British cast turret included a bustle at the back for the Wireless Set No. 19 radio. It had thicker armour than the U.S. one and removed the U.S. cupola for a simple hatch. Both U.S. and British tanks had thicker armour than first planned.^[7] The British design required one fewer crew member than the US version due to the radio in the turret. The U.S. eventually eliminated the full-time radio operator, assigning the task to the driver. The British realized that to meet their requirement for tanks both types would be needed.

The U.S. military used the "M" (Model) letter to designate nearly all of their equipment. When the British Army received their new M3 medium tanks from the US, confusion immediately set in,^[8] as the M3 medium tank and the M3 light tank were identically named. The British army began naming^[9] their American tanks, although the U.S. Army never used those terms until after the war.^[10] The M3 tanks with the new turret and radio setup received the name "General Grant", while the original M3s were called "General Lee", or more usually just "Grant" and "Lee". The M3 brought much-needed firepower to British forces in the African desert campaign.

The chassis and running gear of the M3 design was adapted by the Canadians for their Ram tank. The hull of the M3 was also used for self-propelled artillery and recovery vehicles.

Combat performance[link]

Crew of M3 tank at Souk el Arba, Tunisia, November 23, 1942

European and Mediterranean Theaters[link]

Of the 6,258 M3s produced by the U.S., 2,855 M3s were supplied to the British Army, and about 1,386 to the Soviet Union.^[11] Consequently, one of the American M3 medium tank's first actions during the war was in 1942, during the North African Campaign.^[12] British Lees and Grants were in action against Rommel's forces at the disastrous Battle of Gazala on 27 May that year. They continued to serve in North Africa until the end of that campaign. A regiment of M3 Mediums was also used by the U.S. 1st Armored Division in North Africa. In the North African campaign, the M3 was generally appreciated for its mechanical reliability,^[13] good armor and heavy firepower.

In all three areas, it was able to fight German tanks and towed anti-tank guns. The tall silhouette and low, hull-mounted 75-mm were severe tactical drawbacks, since they prevented the tank from fighting from hull-down firing positions. The use of riveted armor led to a problem called "spalling," whereby the impact of enemy shells would cause the rivets to break off and become projectiles inside the tank. Later models were welded to eliminate this problem. The M3 was replaced by the M4 Sherman as soon as these were available, though several M3s saw limited action in the battle for Normandy as armored recovery vehicles with dummy guns.

Over 1,300 diesel-engined M3A3 and M3A5s were supplied to the USSR via Lend-Lease in 1942-1943. All were the Lee variants, although they are sometimes referred to generically as Grants. The M3 was unpopular in the Red Army, where its faults showed up in engagements with enemy armor and anti-tank weapons, with the Soviets bestowing it the nickname of "coffin for seven brothers."^[14] Few were seen in combat after about mid-1943, though some M3s were used on the Arctic Front in the Red Army's offensive on the Litsa front towards Kirkenes in October 1944. The Germans had on this front only relatively few obsolete French Hotchkiss H35 and Somua S35 tanks that they had acquired during occupation, consequently the M3's inferior tank-to-tank capabilities were of limited importance.

Pacific and China-Burma-India Theaters[link]

The Pacific War was an ocean war fought primarily by the naval fleets of the U.S. and the Empire of Japan. Tank warfare would play a secondary role, the primary battles being between warships and between infantry.^[15][16] Within the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO), the U.S. Marine Corps deployed all six of its tank battalions; the U.S. Army deployed only a third of its 70 separate tank battalions, and none of its armored divisions, in the Pacific.^[17]

During the battle for Tarawa island in 1943, the U.S. Army attacked nearby Makin Island, which was considered a less costly operation. The army was supported by a platoon of M3A5 Lee medium tanks from the U.S. Army's 193rd Tank Battalion, making this battle the only U.S. Army combat use of the M3 in the Pacific Theater.^[18] No M3s were supplied to the U.S. Marine Corps.

When the British received their new M4 Shermans from America, it quickly transferred approximately 1,700 M3s to the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater, deploying about 800 M3s to Australian forces and about 900 M3 tanks to Indian forces.^[19] British Lees and Grants were used by the British Fourteenth Army^[20] from the fall of Rangoon,^[21] performing admirably^[22] until the end of the war. In the Far East, the M3's main task was infantry support. It played a pivotal role during the Battle of Imphal, during which the Imperial Japanese Army's 14th Tank Regiment (consisting of mostly captured British M3 Stuart light tanks and their own Type 95 light tanks) encountered M3 medium tanks for the first time.^[23] Despite their lower-than-average off-road performance, the M3s performed well as they traversed the steep hillsides around Imphal.

Declared obsolete in April 1944,^[24] the General Lee fought on against Japan until the end of the war. In the end, the M3 in the CBI theater performed the mission its original designers had intended it to do: that of supporting the infantry.^[25]

Overview[link]

Overall, the M3 was able to cope with the battlefield of 1942. Its armor and firepower were the equal or superior to most of the threats it faced. Long-range, high velocity guns were not yet common on German tanks in theatre. However, the rapid pace of tank development, and amongst other things its riveted armour meant that the M3 was very quickly outclassed. By mid-1942, with the introduction of the German Tigers, the up-gunning of the Panzer IV to a long 75-mm gun, and further in 1943 the appearance of the Panthers, along with the availability of large numbers of Shermans, the M3 was withdrawn from service in the European Theater.

Variants[link]

M31 TRV showing dummy hull gun

M3 tank under construction

British designations in parentheses

US variants[link]

• M3 (Lee I/Grant I).
  • Riveted hull, high profile turret, gasoline engine. 4,724 built.
• M3A1 (Lee II).
  • Cast (rounded) upper hull. 300 built.
• M3A2 (Lee III).
  • Welded (sharp edged) hull. Only 12 vehicles produced.
• M3A3 (Lee IV/Lee V).
  • Twin GM 6-71 diesel variant of welded hull. Side doors welded shut or eliminated. 322 built.
• M3A4 (Lee VI).
  • Stretched riveted hull, 1 x Chrysler A-57 Multibank engine, made up of 5 4.12 litre 6-cyl L-head car engines (block upwards) mated to a common crankshaft, displacement 21 litres, 470 hp @ 2700rpm. Side doors eliminated. 109 built.
• M3A5 (Grant II) .
  • Twin GM 6-71 diesel variant of riveted hull M3. Despite having the original Lee turret and not the Grant one, was referred by the British as Grant II. 591 built.
• M31 Tank Recovery Vehicle (Grant ARV I).
  • Based on M3 chassis, with dummy turret and dummy 75 gun. 60,000 lb (27,000 kg) winch installed.
• M31B1 Tank Recovery Vehicle.
  • Based on M3A3.
• M31B2 Tank Recovery Vehicle.
  • Based on M3A5.
• M33 Prime Mover.
  • M31 TRV converted to the artillery tractor role, with turret and crane removed. 109 vehicles were converted in 1943-44.
• 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 (Priest)
  • 105 mm M1/M2 howitzer installed in open superstructure.
  • Gunless version was the OP (observation post vehicle)
• 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M12
  • Designed as the T-6. A 155 mm howitzer on M3 chassis.

British variants[link]

A Grant Command variant used by General Montgomery housed at the Imperial War Museum in London

• Grant ARV
  • Grant I's and Grant II's with guns removed and replaced with armored recovery vehicle equipment.
• Grant Command
  • Grant fitted with map table and extra radio equipment and having guns removed or replaced with dummies.
• Grant Scorpion III
  • Grant with 75 mm gun removed, and fitted with Scorpion III mine flail, few made in early 1943 for use in North Africa.
• Grant Scorpion IV
  • Grant Scorpion III with additional motor to increase Scorpion flail power.
• Grant CDL
  • From "Canal Defence Light"; Grants with the 37 mm gun turret replaced by a new turret containing a powerful searchlight and a machine gun. 355 Produced by the Americans as well, it was designated Shop Tractor T10.

The Australian M3 BARV

Australian Variants[link]

• M3 BARV
  • A single M3A5 Grant tank was converted into a "Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle".
• Yeramba Self Propelled Gun.
  • Australian SP 25 pounder. 13 vehicles built in 1949 on M3A5 chassis in a conversion very similar to the Canadian Sexton.

Designs based on chassis[link]

• Medium Tank M4 Sherman
• Tank Cruiser, Ram - see article for full list of variants
• 105 mm Self Propelled Gun, Priest
• Kangaroo armoured personnel carrier
• 25pdr SP, tracked, Sexton Mark I - Sexton Mark II was on a Sherman type chassis

Operators[link]

World War II operators of the M3

•  Australia
•  Brazil
•  Canada
•  New Zealand
•  Soviet Union
•  United Kingdom
•  United States

Film appearances[link]

In the 1943 movie Sahara, starring Humphrey Bogart, the character's main form of transportation was an M3 Grant named "Lulu Belle".

In the 1979 Steven Spielberg movie 1941, starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, an M3 Lee is a featured element. It is not, however, a real M3. Instead, it was a plywood body on an agricultural tractor chassis.

See also[link]

Tank portal

• List of "M" series military vehicles
• G-numbers

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: M3 Lee

• "U.S. Army's 29 ton tanks packs a 75mm gun" Popular Mechanics, July 1941 - one of the first public articles about the M-3
• "Tanks are Mighty Fine Things", 1946 - 145-page book about wartime production of tanks by Chrysler Corporation, including the M3.
• Lee in 'AFRIKA'
• AFV Database (Pictures)
• World War II Vehicles
• OnWar M3, M3A1, M3A3, M3A4
• M3 in the USSR

Look up lee, Lee, leeward, or alee in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Lee may refer to:

Given name[link]

• Lee (given name), a unisex English given name
• Lee (Hebrew name), a Hebrew given name

Surname[link]

• Lee (English name), a common English surname
• Li (李) or Lee, a ubiquitous Chinese surname (李, pin. Lǐ) originally meaning "plum"
• Lee (Korean name) or Rhee, a common Korean surname (Hanja 李, Hangul 리 or 이) derived from the Chinese
• Lý (surname), Ly, or Lee, a common Vietnamese surname (Chữ Nôm 李) derived from the Chinese
• Li (surname) or Lee, several other East Asian surnames

Place and river names[link]

Great Britain[link]

• The Lee, Buckinghamshire, parish and village name, formally known as Lee
• Lee, Devon
• Lee-on-the-Solent
• Lee, London
• Lee District (Metropolis)
• River Lee - alternative name for River Lea

United States of America[link]

• Lee (RTA Blue Line Rapid Transit station), a station on the RTA Blue Line in Cleveland, Ohio
• Lee, Florida
• Lee, Illinois
• Lee, Indiana
• Lee, Maine
• Lee, Massachusetts
• Lee, Nevada
• Lee, New Hampshire
• Lee, New York
• Lees Station, Tennessee, also called Lee
• Lee Vining, California
• Fort Lee, New Jersey
• Fort Lee, Virginia
• Mount Lee, in California

Other countries[link]

• Electoral district of Lee, South Australia
• Lée, France
• River Lee (Ireland)

Enterprises[link]

• Lee Enterprises (LEE on NYSE), publicly traded newspaper holding company including St. Louis Post Dispatch
• Lee (jeans), a clothing brand
• Thomas H. Lee Partners, a private equity firm founded by, but after 2006 not associated with, Thomas H. Lee
• Lee Equity Partners, a private equity firm founded by Thomas H. Lee after leaving Thomas H. Lee Partners in 2006
• Lee Tires, a division of Goodyear
• Lee University, a private liberal arts university in Cleveland, Tennessee, United States

Other uses[link]

• Tropical Storm Lee (2011)
• M3 Lee, a medium tank used during World War II
• Lee side, the side of a ship which is downwind, the side away from windward
• Lee waves, periodic changes of pressure in a stream of air when the wind moves over mountains

See also[link]

• List of persons with the surname Lee
• List of people with the Korean family name Lee
• LEA (disambiguation)
• Leah (disambiguation)
• Le (disambiguation)
• LEE (disambiguation)
• Lees (fermentation)
• Leigh (disambiguation)
• Ly (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. It includes attribution to IMDb, which may not be a reliable source for biographical information. Please help by adding additional, reliable sources for verification. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2007)

Lee Ingleby (born 28 January 1976) is a British film, television, and stage actor.

He is perhaps best known for his roles as Detective Sergeant John Bacchus in the BBC Drama George Gently and as Stan Shunpike in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He has also appeared as Sean O'Neill in Jimmy McGovern's The Street, and a recurring role in the second series of Early Doors as Mel's boyfriend, Dean. Another prominent role was his part in the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, where he played a nervous Midshipman Hollom. In addition, he played a part in the final episode of Series One of Life on Mars, playing Sam Tyler's father Vic, and made an appearance in Spaced in 2001.

Early life[link]

Ingleby was born in Burnley and lived in Brierfield, Lancashire, England during his early life, attending Edge End High School, as did fellow actor John Simm. Both were taught by the same drama teacher who encouraged them into the professional theatre.^[1] He then studied at Accrington and Rossendale College before progressing to the drama school LAMDA in London.

Career[link]

His first major role was as the young lead in the 2000 BBC miniseries Nature Boy, alongside Paul McGann. He played Smike in a 2001 television film version of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Also in 2001, he starred in and wrote the screenplay for the short film Cracks in the Ceiling, which he appeared in with his father, Gordon Ingleby.

In the 2002 theatrical release Borstal Boy, based very loosely on the life of Irish poet-activist Brendan Behan, Ingleby played a bully in an English boarding school for juvenile offenders.

He has also made one-off appearances in television programmes such as Hustle, Clocking Off, No Angels, Fat Friends, Jonathan Creek, Dalziel and Pascoe, Cadfael (Pilgrim of Hate) and The Bill. He has had supporting roles in films such as Gustave in Ever After alongside Drew Barrymore and as Hollom in the 2003 Peter Weir film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In 2004, he had a small role in the Orlando Bloom vehicle Haven, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival but was not commercially released until 2006, following heavy re-editing. He also guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio adventure, Terror Firma.

In 2006 he appeared in Jimmy McGovern BBC TV series The Street where he played abusive husband Sean O'Neill alongside Christine Bottomley. Another project was the 2006 television adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, in which he played Mole. It also starred Bob Hoskins as Badger, Matt Lucas as Toad, and Mark Gatiss as Ratty, and has also appeared in a modernised BBC adaptation of Rapunzel for the Fairy Tales series.

Ingleby headed the cast of the 2008 three-part television crime drama Place of Execution as DI George Bennett as he was in the 1960s determined to close the case of a missing girl.

When not working in films and television, Ingleby remains active on the stage, where his credits include Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream, Alexander in Nicholas Wright's Cressida, and Katurian in Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman.

He performed in the play Our Class by Tadeusz Slobodzianek at the Cottesloe Theatre from September 2009 to January 2010 as Zygmunt.^[2]

In 2011 he appeared in the television series Being Human as Edgar Wyndham, a menacing vampire elder, and also in Luther as serial killer Cameron Pell.

Personal life[link]

Ingleby is single and lives in Clapham, South London.

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

• Ever After (as Gustave), 1998
• Borstal Boy (as Dale), 2000
• Cracks in the Ceiling (as Lad), 2001
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (as Midshipman Hollom), 2003
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (as Stan Shunpike), 2004
• Haven (as Patrick), 2004
• The Headsman (as Bernhard), 2005
• The Last Legion (as Germanus), 2007
• Post-It Love (as Boy), 2008
• Doghouse (as Matt), 2009

Television[link]

• Soldier Soldier (as Kevin Fitzpatrick), 1997
• Killer Net (as Gordon), 1998
• In the Red (as Paul), 1998
• The Bill (as Ian in episode called "Puzzled"), 1998
• Cadfael (as Walter), 1998
• Junk (as Rob), 1999
• The Dark Room (as Bobby Franklyn), 1999
• Dalziel and Pascoe (as Kieron Cumming in episode called "The British Grenadier"), 1999
• Jonathan Creek (as David Spratley in episode called "The Three Gamblers"), 2000
• Nature Boy (as David), 2000
• Spaced (as 'Romford Thug Leader' in episode called "Gone"), 2001
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (as Smike), 2001
• Impact (as Peter Stamford), 2002
• Clocking Off (as Steven Dugdale), 2002
• Fat Friends (as Craig in episode called "Sweet and Sour"), 2002
• No Angels (as Nurse Carl Jenkins), 2004
• Blue Murder (as Roger Boersma in episode called "Up In Smoke"), 2004
• Early Doors (as Dean), 2004
• Hustle (as Trevor Speed) in episode called "The Lesson"), 2005
• Coming Up (as Gabriel in episode called "Karma Cowboys"), 2005
• Life on Mars (as Vic Tyler), 2006
• The Street (as Sean O'Neill), 2006
• The Wind in the Willows (as Mole), 2006
• George Gently (as Detective Sergeant John Bacchus), 2007 — 2011
• The Worst Journey in the World (as Birdie Bowers), 2007
• Rapunzel (as Jimmy Stojkovic), 2008
• Place of Execution (as DI George Bennett), 2008
• Marple: Nemesis (as Colin Hards), 2008
• Crooked House (as Ben) (2008)
• Being Human (as Edgar Wyndam) (2011)
• Luther (as Cameron Pell) (2011)

Radio[link]

• Cry Hungary (as Peter Kovacs), BBC Radio 4, 2006

• Radio Head, Up and down the dial of British Radio by John Osborne, Book of the Week, BBC Radio 4, 2009

• A Kind of Loving (as Vic Brown), BBC Radio 4, 2010

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lee Ingleby at the Internet Movie Database
• Lee Ingleby on Filmbug
• Daryn's Lee Ingleby Page