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The US tanks at that time only carried machine gun armament due to a lack of funds and resources. At that time, the US Army preferred light tanks weighing no more than 15 short tons (14 tons) due to their speed and mobility. Separate tank destroyer units were responsible for hunting and destroying enemy tanks. As a medium tank, its performance and armor protection was inferior to the battle tested M4 Sherman tank that was already in production resulting in the contract being cancelled and later reclassified as obsolete.ĭuring the interwar period, based on WWI experience, the US Army doctrine dictated that tanks were for exploitation, not fighting other tanks but used as a cavalry force to exploit gaps opened in the enemy lines by the infantry and artillery. But requested changes pushed the design too far increasing its weight to the point where it was reclassified as a medium tank. The high explosive capability of the M3 gun and M48 shells fitted to M4 Sherman tanks remained superior for the rest of the war, but the increasingly heavy German Tiger, Panther and later Panzer IV tanks could not be damaged by the M61 or the later M72 anti-tank shot.The US M7 Medium Tank was originally designed as an up-gunned replacement for the M3/M5 Stuart Light Tank. However, the M3 medium gave the British their first weapon that could defeat armor of the Panzer III the M2 and later M3 gun's ability to fire both anti-tank and high explosive rounds allowed the tank to engage soft targets like bunkers, buildings, infantry columns and anti-tank guns. Unable to mass their tanks as the Germans did, the 2/13 suffered steady attrition as they were committed piecemeal in stopgap measures to stop Rommel's advance, as did the subsequent regiments of 1st Armored that arrived with the improved Sherman tank. The high silhouette led to the famous tanker remark that the M3 looked like a "damned cathedral coming down the road," and let the British to demand a different top turret without a commander's cupola. Like other riveted armored fighting vehicles, when hit in battle, the joints would break up and fly kinetically around the tank, causing casualties. Still, the experience gained by the survivors made 2/13 the default choice for combatting German forces, even with their antiquated M3s, which suffered from poor off-road performance and insufficient armor. The decision to commit the 1st Armored Division in smaller units had disastrous effects for the Americans most of 2/13 was wiped out by the end of the Battle of Kasserine Pass in February 1943, and it was the only American medium tank unit to deploy the M3 in front-line combat. That may be why the men appear to derisively view the M18 practice round and display the recently arrived M61 anti-tank round. Initially the 2/13 was sent to North Africa as part of Operation Torch the unit at first lacked anti-tank rounds, resorting to firing paint-loaded practice rounds to attempt to blind the optics of German tanks. The first tanker is holding the M61 High Explosive/Armor Piercing shot with Ballistic Cap and Tracer (HE/APC-T) The second man is possibly holding an example of the M18 practice semi-armor piercing round The third man is holding an example of the M48 high explosive round The fourth and sixth men hold more M61 rounds. The gun's breech is visible in the open hatch behind the tankers. Six tanker crewmen of M3 medium tank (British designation "Lee") W-309576 of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Combat Command B, II Corps, display ammunition for their 75mm (3 inch) M2 gun during the race to cut off the Axis forces in Tunisia.