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"The advent of the new American tank tore great holes in our ranks. Until May 1942, German tanks had in general been suprior in quality to the corresonding British types. This was now no longer true, at least to he same extent."
-- Gen. Erwin Rommel, Commander Afrika Korps
The M-3 Grant has to be the ugliest tank of World War II -- a kind of Rube Goldberg creation. The 30-ton Grant (a British variant of the Lee) was an incredible 10 feet tall. This made it a very vulnerable target in the flat North African desert where it was primarily used. Not only was it a towering target, the layout can only be called bizarre. The Grant had a hull with a 75-mm main gun stuck into a World War I style sponson on the right front hull. This meant the Grant gunners could only engage targets to their front. Higher up was a second turret that could traverse to fire at targets to the flanks and rear. But the turret only was armed with a light 37-mm gun. Most World War II tanks had a crew of five, but the two-gun Grant required a 7-man crew. The Grant wasn't what the U.S. Army wanted, but it was what it could get fast. The U.S. Army when war broke out in Europe had only 400 tanks, mostly M-2 light tanks and a few M-2 mediums. They would have torn to pieces by heavier armored and gunned German tanks and anti-tank guns. And then the German Panzers smashed the French Army, thought to be the most powerful army in the world, in only a few weeks (May-June 1940). The U.S. Army realized that there was desperate needed for a modern tank. The French Army had been the major bulwark against the Germans in World War I. Now the French were out of the order of battle and the British might be next. Actually, the United States had already designed a better tank -- the M-4 Sherman. But this was a much more advanced tank and more difficult to manufacture. Detroit needed time to retool to manufacture the larger turret of the Shermans. This would take 18 months. The traverse turret for the main gun was the manufacturing problem. After the disaster in France, it was clear that America and Britain needed tanks with a big gun right away. The United Stares and Britain needed armor in 1941, not late-1942. But new foundries were needed to produce the larger Sherman turrets. As a result, the Grant was cobbled together with the needed 75mm main gun and rushed into production while Detroit was working on turret manufacturing technology. As ungainly as it was, the Grant would play its part in the War. The British were locked in a fierce fight in the Western Desert with Rommel's Afrika Korps. The prize at stake was the vital Suez Canal and the oil fields of Iraq. The Germans had better tanks. British tanks had lighter gunned and armored tanks with limited range. Shells from the British tanks were bouncing off the German tanks. Fortunately, OKW was locked in a desperate, life-and-death struggle with the Red Army on the Eastern Front Ostkrieg. The Afrika Korps was thus a low priority. And the Afrika Korps was on the end of a very long and vulnerable supply line. The war was being settled in the East which had the priority in allocation of resources available to the German Army. And the British were able to interdict substantial part of what was sent to the Afrika Korps. The Royal Navy attacked the Italian convoys. The RAF Desert Air Force attacked the trucks conveying supplies over land. The Grants delivered to the British even with their limitations played an important role in the Western Desert at a very critical time. Rommel's launched his Afrika Korps breaking the Gazala Line and taking Tobruk. The Grants had a 75 mm gun and armor piercing shells that caught Rommel by surprise (May 1942). He quickly adjusted his tactics, relying increasingly on his 88mm anti tank guns. The British with the Grants could not stop him in Libya, but extracted substantial losses in German tanks. And slowed the advance into Egypt. Finally the Grants helped the British stop the over extended Afrika Korps in the First Battle of El Aamein (July 1942). The American forces landing as part of Operation Torch (November 1942) only had Stuarts and Grants. They were supposed to have Shermans, but the first available Shermans were diverted to the British 8th Army which was being pressed by the Afrika Korps. The American Shermans and Grants would play a key role in the climatic Second Alamein Battle (October 1942). One of countless examples of how the Anglo-American Alliance worked.
The M-3 Grant has to be the ugliest tank of World War II -- a kind of Rube Goldberg creation. The 30-ton Grant (a British variant of the Lee) was an incredible 10 feet tall. This made it not only ugly, but a tall, vulnerable target in the flat North African desert where it was primarily used. Not only was it a towering target, the layout can only be called bizarre. The Grant had a hull with a 75-mm main gun stuck into a World War I style sponson on the right front hull. This meant the Grant gunners could only engage targets to their front. Higher up was a second turret that could traverse to fire at targets to the flanks and rear. But the turret only was armed with a light 37-mm gun. Most World War II tanks had a crew of five, but the two-gun Grant required a 7-man crew. The Grant wasn't what the U.S. Army wanted, but it was what it could get fast.
The German Panzers smashed the French Army, thought to be the most powerful army in the world, in only a few weeks (May-June 1940). The U.S. Army realized that there was desperate needed for a modern tank. The French Army had been the major bulwark against the Germans in World War I. Now the French were out of the order of battle and the British might be next.
Actually, the United States had already designed a better tank -- the M-4 Sherman. This was a much more advanced tank, but much more difficult to manufacture. Detroit needed time to retool to manufacture the larger turret of the Shermans. This would take 18 months, 18 months that the Allies did not have. The transverse turret for the main gun was the manufacturing problem. After the disaster in France, it was clear that America and Britain needed tanks with a big gun right away. The United Stares and Britain needed armor in 1941, not late-1942. But new foundries were needed to produce the larger Sherman turrets.
As a result, engineers at Rock Island Arsenal cobbled together a solution--the Grant/Lee tank. It would have the all important 75mm main gun. And it could be built be built immediately. Their proposed solution involved mounting the main gun in the hull rather than the turret. They rushed their ungainly creation into production while Detroit was still working on turret manufacturing technology. As ungainly as it was, the Grant would play its part in the War. The British were locked in a fierce fight in the Western Desert with Rommel's Afrika Korps. This was not what the Army wanted. They wanted the Sherman with a rotating turret. This was what a modern tank involved. It provided flex ability and a wide arc of fire. The entire Grant would have to be turned to engage targets to the side. In fast moving battle this was a serious disadvantage. But tanks without guns that could penetrate enemy armor was an even more serious disadvantage. They would not have the Shermans until late-1942. The Great could begin production in 1941. The Army approved development (July 1940). The first prototype was ready (January 1941). Production began (August 1941). Production was rushed by using an existing aircraft engine. This was part of the reason the Grant was so high--the Wright-Continental R975. Whirlwind radial engine. The Grant had 51 mm of sloping frontal armor. There were three levels. First the The main gun sponson on the right side of the hull. Second was a turret equipped with 37 mm gun. Third was a commanders cupola. Another problem were the rivets which cold turn into bullets if the tank was hit. While it was no what the Army wanted, American industry turned out 6,258 (August 1941-December 1942). It would what the Americans and British would have to fight before the Shermans arrived.
The prize at stake was the vital Suez Canal and the oil fields of Iraq. At the time this was the only contact of the Western Allies with the Axis ground forces. Fighting in North Africa began after Italy entered the War (June 1940). Italy invaded Egypt with a massive force (September 1940). It proved a disaster. The small British Desert Force drove the Italians back into Libya (December 1940) and looked like they would occupy all of Libya. Mussolini pleaded for help from Hitler. Hitler responded by dispatching Erwin Rommel with a small armored force with orders to hold Libya (February 1941). Rommel just ignored orders and set out to seize the Suez Canal. What ensued would be a back and forth struggle with the British for control of the Western Desert. It soon became obvious that the Germans were better trained and had superior tactics and importantly better tanks and anti-tank guns. The British had a larger force and more secure supply lines as well as increasingly important American Lend-Lease equipment. The Germans could have easily won, but Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa (June 1941) which mean that the forces available to Rommel would be limited. Rommel was a tactical genius but a large part of his success was his superior, better gunned and armored tanks.
The British position in Egypt guarding the Canal was tenuous. The British Expeditionary Force had narrowly escaped destruction at Dunkirk but had to leave their weapons behind (May 1940). They were bracing for a German invasion with an army that had very few heavy weapons and an air force that would have to fight off the larger battle-hardened Luftwaffe--the Battle of Britain. Next to nothing could bed sent to Egypt, although some Commonwealth forces were available. Mustiness had assembled a massive army in neighboring Libya. Italian forces under Marshal Rodolfo Graziani launched an invasion (September 1940). The Italians generals warned Mussolini that the Italian Army was not ready. But Mussolini was anxious to demonstrate to Hitler what he could do. He also invaded Greece (October 1940). This was the start of the Western Desert Campaign. The objective was to seize the vital Suez Canal and unite Libya with the Italian colonies in East Africa. The Italian invasion was the opposite of a German Blitzkrieg invasion. Graziani despite a significant numerical superiority drove a few miles into Egypt and then while not encountering substantial British resistance, set up defensive boxes. The small British Desert Force launched an offensive (December 1940). The Italian defensive boxes were not mutually supporting and the Italian forces collapsed. The Italians failed because of poor leadership, obsolete equipment (which included some of the poorest tanks of the War), and poor logistics all of which led to a collapse of morale. The British took tens of thousands of POWs and pursued the broken Italian forces into Libya. The British seized Benhazi and started the drive west toward Tripoli. At the same time the British began the reduction of Italian East Africa. A crestfallen Mussolini had to plead for German assistance. This is when the real fighting in the Western Desert would began.
Erwin Rommel with German tanks arrived in Tripoli (February 1941). Rommel had orders from OKW to support the Italians hold Libya (February 1941). Rommel just ignored orders and set out to seize the Suez Canal. Within weeks he had stopped the British drive toward Tripoli. What ensued would be a back and forth struggle with the British for control of the Western Desert. The campaign was primarily fought in Libya (February 1941-June 1942). The climax was played out in Egypt (July-October 1942).
Rommel's Afrika Korps prevented the British from completing the conquest of Libya. He quickly earned his title--the Desert Fox. The Germans had better tanks. British tanks had lighter gunned and armored tanks with limited range. Shells from the British tanks were bouncing off the German tanks. Fortunately, OKW was locked in a desperate, life-and-death struggle with the Red Army on the Eastern Front Ostkrieg. The Afrika Korps was thus a low priority. And the Afrika Korps was on the end of a very long and vulnerable supply line. The war was being settled in the East which had the priority in allocation of resources available to the German Army. And the British were able to interdict substantial part of what was sent to the Afrika Korps. The Grants delivered to the British even with their limitations would eventually played important role in the Western Desert at a very critical time, but in 1941 the situation begn to deteriorate. The first engagement with the Germans occurred at Bir Hakeim, a desert oasis southwest of Tobruk (Februarty 1941). The result shocked the British. The Matilda tanks which had sdhreded Italian armor were destroyed by Rommel's Panzers. Part of the defeat was German armpor piercing ammunition that left pefectly circular holes in British armor--Panzer Granata 40. The shell used tungsten carbide. Neither the British or Americans had anything like it. The British began taking heavier losses, but they may have taken Tripoli had Churchill not honored a pledge to the Greeks, intervening (March 1941). This meant drawing down the fores in Libya. The British launched Operation Crusader (November 1941). They had 700 tanks, out numbering the Germans, but their 2-ponder gun was ineffective. And German tanks and anti-tank guns cold pick off a British tank before it came in range of the Germans. The British gained ground, but at great cost--losing over 500 tanks. Rommel also lost tanks. The British tanks had another serious problem. It could only fire armor piercing shells, this they were also ineffective against other targets such as infantry. And the problem got worse as the German Mark III Specials and Mark-IV tanks began to arrive. British tank crews watched their shells bounce off tanks that should have been killed. German 50mm shells easily penetrated British armor. The math was devastating. The Germans could kill British tanks at 800 meters. The British guns were barely effective at 400 meters. It was not only the tanks. German 88-mm crews soon learned that they could stand their ground in the open. As the campaign developed in 1942, the British needed a miracle. This was first American Grants arrived in Egypt, shipped all the way around the Cape of Good Hope. The British did not know what to think of the American creation. It certainly did not look like a miracle. The British Grants had minor variations, a slightly lower turret with the radio inside. They were astonished by the height. But finally they had a tank killing 75 mm main gun which could fire both armor piercing and high explosive shells. British tankers never had anything like it. It could reliably kill German Panzers at 1,000 meters and was effective against German armor at distances up to 1,500 meters. And even greater distances against infantry positions and gun emplacements. Now it was he British who could could out-range the Germans. The 4th armored Brigade got the first 167 Grants. Rommel ultimately launched his Afrika Korps to break the Gazala Line and take Tobruk (May 1942). The Grants' 75 mm gun and armor piercing shells caught Rommel by surprise (May 1942). They thought the Grant was a joke before facing them. Rommel had 560 tanks. The British had 850. including the 167 Grants. Rommel launched Operation Venetia. German tankers swept south. The German 15th Panzer Division hit the British 4th Armored Brigade. The Germans started taking losses at ranges that the Brush guns had been useless. Not only were they taking losses, but Grant armor held up until hey were almost at point blank range. Rommel quickly adjusted his tactics, relying increasingly on his 88mm anti tank guns. The British with only 167 Grants could not stop him in Libya, but extracted substantial losses in German tanks. The battle was one of Rommel's great victories, won by tactical genius, but no longer equipment superiority. He took Tobruk (June 1942). The British retreated into Egypt. But Rommel had lost many of his precious tanks which were not easily replaced and were unsustainable. One estimate gives German monthly tank production in 1942 at about 325, but most of these were needed for the foundering Ostkrieg. American tank production alone was reaching about 2,000 tanks per month. And at the same time a torrent of American supplies and equipment poured into Egypt. And the new tactics adopted because of he Grants slowed his advance into Egypt. Without the Grants, Rommel probably would have reached the Suez Canal. .
As the fighting moved into Egypt. The supply line lengthened. The Germans were using much of their available gas just getting supplies to Egypt. The Royal Navy attacked the Italian convoys. The RAF Desert Air Force attacked the trucks conveying supplies over land. And slowed the advance into Egypt. Finally the Grants helped the British stop the over-extended Afrika Korps in the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1942). The Grants were not numerous enough or the British strong enough to launch an offensive, but they were important in setting up defensive positions to stop German armored thrusts. Here Ultra intelligence aided the British in developing effective defensive at a time that they were still vulnerable. Rommel after throwing his Panzers against the British at great costs, wad forced to go over to the defensive. It must have been a huge frustration. He had come so far, gained impressive victories, and was so close to the Suez Canal. He began building a defensive line and sewing land mines. The British began a massive buildup. Gen. Bernard Montgomery was given command of the Eighth Army (August 1942). And the British not only had the Grants, but began getting the new Shermans (October 1942). The Shermans in France (1944) were outgunned by the Germans, but in 1942 it was the top of the line. The Ugly Duckling Grants did precisely what they had been designed for--fill the gap until the Shermans arrived. Finally the Allies had a lower profile, revolving turret, and a big main gun. Montgomery set out retraining and preparing his battered and demoralized Army. Churchill was demanding action. Montgomery has his time table and stuck to it. The American forces landing as part of Operation Torch (November 1942) only had Stuarts and Grants. They were supposed to have Shermans, but the first available Shermans were diverted to the British 8th Army which was being pressed by the Afrika Korps. The American Shermans and Grants would play a key role in the climatic Second Alamein battle (October 1942). One of countless examples of how the Anglo-American Alliance worked. Montgomery wold have over 1,000 tanks (Grants, Shermans, and Crusaders), 1,000 artillery pieces and inexhaustible stocks of gas/petrol and ammunition as well as air superiority. An exhausted Rommel flew back to the Reich for medical care. He was not present when Montgomery launched the Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23). He immediately flew back, but the situation was no only already unrecoverable, but Hitler ordered him to stand and fight to the death. .
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