M3 Lee

The Dual Wielder.

"The '75(mm) is firing, the '37(mm) is firing but it's traversed round the wrong way. The Browning is jammed. I am saying "Driver advance" on the A set, and the driver who can't hear me is reversing. And as I look over the top of the turret and see twelve enemy tanks fifty yards away, someone hands me a cheese sandwich."

– Lt. Ken Giles on commanding the 'Grant' variant of the M3.

"It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes."

– Robert E. Lee.

The M3 Lee was the principal fighting vehicle of American and some British forces during the first quarter of World War 2. Although it served admirably, possessing high firepower and decent armor, it was obsolete upon introduction. The sponson-mounted gun arrangement was archaic and its high profile made it a large target. It was swiftly replaced by its more capable (and much more handsome) brother, the M4 Sherman.

Early War

The stats.

With two pretty damned good Anti-tank guns and a lot of MGs the Lee proves to be a pretty good frontline fighter, capable of penetrating the front armor of Pz.IV's and Pz.III's reliably. Just don't expect the 37mm to be good for much else than anti-infantry and the odd flank shot. Do your best to get into situations that allow all your guns to focus on a target because even with the Secondary Weapons ruling, a ROF of 1 is still a shot in the total of 3 you'll be unleashing with MGs, 75mm and 37mm. To improve your chances though, take the long-barreled 75mm, literally no downsides.

Real Life

"I got two guns, that should be enough for all you jerries!"

Outdated the day it hit the battlefield, the M3 was a crash project to field an American tank with a 75mm gun in large numbers immediately, due to the fact that the M4 Sherman was still a year or two away from entering production. Though it had serious shortcomings as a fighting vehicle, the basic M3 chassis and mechanical design were versatile and reliable. These elements would be retained in the M4 Sherman family of vehicles and related derivatives, such as the M7 Priest.

The Lee saw its best days in the Africa campaign, where its armor and weaponry were effective against the Panzer III and IV. Encounters with repurposed 88mm AA guns ended badly, and the riveted hull was known to have spalling issues, but the design was highly regarded for its reliability and low maintenance even in desert conditions. The Lee's firepower was very welcome after the awkward early war wimpy guns, and it was great against Japanese forces who had no practical tank that matched it.

About 1,000 M3s served on the Eastern Front via Lend-Lease, but they were not well regarded by the Soviet Army. For one thing, the Lee's petrol engine (that's gasoline for you Americans) was a great logistical inconvenience, as the Red Army preferred to use diesel. There was also the slight problem that from 1942 onward the Germans were consistently fielding tanks and weaponry that could easily dispose of the Lee. The inherent flammability of the Lee's fuel load definitely didn't help this problem as critically struck Lees tended to explode in shrapnel and flame. For these reasons the Lee was widely disliked, a sentiment that can be summed up with the nickname that it earned: "a coffin for seven brothers." To be fair to the M3, it wasn't really *supposed* to be a frontline tank for more than its first year or two of operation, and certainly not in a hellish meatgrinder like the Eastern Front. In any event, the Red Army already had a far superior tank in the form of the T-34, which was being built at a rate of 1,500 per month. The handful of surviving M3s were taken off frontline duty and were relegated to secondary roles and lower-intensity theaters.

The only American use against Japan was during the Makin Island Assault immediately after the more famous Battle of Tarawa (and not to be confused with the earlier Makin Island Raid) in 1943.

On the Commonwealth side of things, it was used to great effect at the Burma front and served until the end of the war in September 1945. Australia kept a few for training after the war until better models were purchased.

The M3 was withdrawn everywhere after the war, although it's M31 recovery vehicle variant found its way into Israeli service, until eventually being superseded by M4 derivatives.