Needing a tank now the US rushed to build the M3 Grant. The Grant design centered on the M2 75mm cannon, a good weapon in the first few years of the war. Unfortunately, there was no time to design a turret for that weapon, so the M3 carried a casemated 75mm with limited traverse, and the 37mm turret off the M3 Stuart light tank. Despite its high silhouette and riveted construction, the M3 proved mechanically reliable and the 75mm was appreciated by Britsh tankers.
I’m wondering if you wrote this or are you quoting a source? Since the naming of the vehicles was a distinctly British thing you should know that the M3 was first called the “Lee” and when it was up graded with a roomier cast turret that variant was named the “Grant” as far as I know the Grant version was only used by the British. Neither the Lee nor the Grant had a turret from the M3 “Stuart”.
Lee on the right Grant on the left
M3A1 Stuart, note the turret:
The one thing about the M4 brewing up was that we used 100 octane aviation gas in our tanks where the Germans did not. This tended to fire up quicker than the poorly refined fuel they were using. The Germans would also keep shooting a tank until it burned so that it could not be put back into service (note most photos show multiple hits, why if it burned from the first one?). A burned tank’s armor was compromised by the intense heat, unburned tanks could be back in sevice in two or three days depending on how long it took to get it back to a service depot.
As the Russian report stated, the M4’s ammo did not explode during a fire like the T-34 's did. This must mean that the newer wet storage methods were working.
