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Back again, we got a Grant! The collection also has some Led variants but I'm just ing things in chronological order.
Always found the Grant and Lee to be goofy tanks; I'm reminded of Potential History's remark of the Lee/Grant being the product of someone who's heard of tanks, learned about them, but never saw one in person.
The history of the tank itself though pretty much picks up where the M2 left off; it's around 1941/1942, 's still very much winning at this point in the war, and the British were pretty much using whatever wasn't left behind on mainland Europe. The US also weren't doing too hot either, having lost the Philippines and Wake Island (probably some others I'm forgetting). On top of that, the Army knew their current M2 medium tanks were NOT going to be of much use against what was considered more modern armor over in Europe. So, work on building a tank with a 75mm main gun was underway.
One small issue though: the Allies (and the USSR to a lesser extent) needed tanks...and quickly. So, in order to meet this demand, a stopgap solution was made, stuffing a 75mm into the hull via a sponson mounting, and then just putting a 37mm gun into the turret and calling it a day. Compared to its foreign contemporaries, the Lee/Grant was tall, and in most cases wasn't very well-received, likely because it was a big target and was not exactly the most up to date vehicle in its day (I recall the Russians in particular calling it a grave for six brothers or something to that effect).
That being said, during its initial deployment it was definitely able to take on Panzer IIIs and IVs, and was at least a step up from basically mid to late-30s tank technology. Once the Sherman finally started being deployed in mass numbers however, there wasn't any need to keep building the Lee/Grant, so whatever was left was pretty much moved to secondary fronts. I think their last major use was in Italy or the Pacific, but that might be me speculating.
One more note: Grant tanks had a broader, shorter turret than the Lee, likely to reduce vertical profile. There were a few variants too, such as ARVs, Mine-clearing vehicles, and the oddball CDLs, which stood for Canal Defense Light; basically, a self-propelled spotlight that was intended to draw fire from and reveal enemy positions during the Rhine Crossings of 1944-45. As far as I know, a few were converted into these things, but none ever were used.
Always found the Grant and Lee to be goofy tanks; I'm reminded of Potential History's remark of the Lee/Grant being the product of someone who's heard of tanks, learned about them, but never saw one in person.
The history of the tank itself though pretty much picks up where the M2 left off; it's around 1941/1942, 's still very much winning at this point in the war, and the British were pretty much using whatever wasn't left behind on mainland Europe. The US also weren't doing too hot either, having lost the Philippines and Wake Island (probably some others I'm forgetting). On top of that, the Army knew their current M2 medium tanks were NOT going to be of much use against what was considered more modern armor over in Europe. So, work on building a tank with a 75mm main gun was underway.
One small issue though: the Allies (and the USSR to a lesser extent) needed tanks...and quickly. So, in order to meet this demand, a stopgap solution was made, stuffing a 75mm into the hull via a sponson mounting, and then just putting a 37mm gun into the turret and calling it a day. Compared to its foreign contemporaries, the Lee/Grant was tall, and in most cases wasn't very well-received, likely because it was a big target and was not exactly the most up to date vehicle in its day (I recall the Russians in particular calling it a grave for six brothers or something to that effect).
That being said, during its initial deployment it was definitely able to take on Panzer IIIs and IVs, and was at least a step up from basically mid to late-30s tank technology. Once the Sherman finally started being deployed in mass numbers however, there wasn't any need to keep building the Lee/Grant, so whatever was left was pretty much moved to secondary fronts. I think their last major use was in Italy or the Pacific, but that might be me speculating.
One more note: Grant tanks had a broader, shorter turret than the Lee, likely to reduce vertical profile. There were a few variants too, such as ARVs, Mine-clearing vehicles, and the oddball CDLs, which stood for Canal Defense Light; basically, a self-propelled spotlight that was intended to draw fire from and reveal enemy positions during the Rhine Crossings of 1944-45. As far as I know, a few were converted into these things, but none ever were used.
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