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WAR DEPARTMENT OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ORDNANCE WASHINGTON, D. C.

MEMORANDUM FOR Major General L. H. Campbell., Jr.

Subject History of Tank Guns
[Or more precisely: An attempt to cover my ass concerning criticisms regarding the mediocre performance of
tank guns provided to the Army which came to a heavy starting July 1944. In which I participated becasue
after all tanks were there to support infantry, not fight enemy tanks. Fighting enemy tanks was the job of the
tank destroyer units...]

1. EARLY DEVELOPMENT: Until about the middle of 1940, tanks were assigned as the Infantry as the
using arm and matters concerning the armor and armament for these vehicles were referred by the Ordnance
Department to the Infantry. Over a period of many years, the Ordnance Department endeavored to have the
thickness of armor and the power of guns in tanks increased. The War Department General Staff however, had
placed weight limitations of 7 1/2 tons on light tanks and 15 tons on medium tanks until January 1936 and July
1938, respectively, at which times these limitations were somewhat relaxed.
The normal tank armament of that period consisted of caliber .50 and caliber .30 machine guns. In 1928
the Ordnance Department had recommended the use of the 1.85" gun for tanks, and one such gun was built
and installed in the medium tank and successfully tested in 1929. In 1938, the 37mm gun M5 was placed in the
turret of the medium tank. In 1937 the latest medium tank produced by the Ordnance Department for the
Infantry was the Medium Tank, T5, which was designed in 1936-37. The tank was standardized in July 1936 as
the M2. It was further improved and redesignated M2A1 in June 1, 1939. A number of these tanks had been
manufactured in 1939. They mounted the 37mm Gun M5 in the turret, four caliber .30 machine guns in the
sponsons, and two in the front plate.
[And two anti-aircraft guns - one on each side of the turret accessed by a hatch - one with a pintle in front,
one in back.]

2. 75mm GUN: In January 1939 the writer recommended the use of a 75mm weapon in tanks and set up a
project to have the 75mm Howitzer, M1A1, installed in the pilot Medium Tank, T5 - Phase III. This was done,
and the firing at Aberdeen Proving Ground in August 1939 indicated that the 75mm Howitzer was greatly
superior to the 37mm Gun and more effective than all the machine guns combined
[This was done to provide a mobile artillery piece, not a combat tank..]

-1In 1939 the question arose as to what tank should be put into production in the war emergency. It was
argued that the Medium Tank, M2A1, was a completed article which had been thoroughly tested and was
therefore the tank for quantity production. Steps along this line were taken, and the Chrysler Corporation,
which was selected to manufacture the tanks, sent its engineers to Rock Island Arsenal and was first provided
with a set of drawings of the M2A1 tank.

The writer advised against the manufacture of the M2A1 and insisted that a new tank be designed to mount
the 75mm Gun. General Wesson decided to go ahead with this recommendation and to hold up production
until the new design could be completed. It was desired to put the 75mm Gun in the turret. The Chief of
Infantry disapproved this recommendation but permitted the installation of the 75mm Gum in the sponson in
place of the machine guns.
[The decision to mount a 75-mm gun in a tank was made when Germany was sweeping through France in
May 1940. The first design was based on the French Char B1. If the Ordnance Department realized the need
to mount a 75 in a turret, they didn't do anything about designing said turret; see below.]

The first 75mm Gun, M2, was made short, as the Infantry did not want the tube to extend beyond the front
of the tank. This brought about the design of the well-known M3 tank, called the "General Grant," with the
75mm Gun, M2, in the sponson. The M3 was the first medium tank manufactured in quantity for this war. This
tank proved itself in Eygpt at the battle of EL Alamein. Without the 75mm Gun in the sponson, however, the
tank would have been undergunned and would not have had sufficient firepower to be effective on the
battlefield at that time.
Although the 75mm Gun demonstrated its effectiveness insofar as firepower is concerned, it was soon
demonstrated that the sponson-mounted gun was not nearly as effective as a turret-mounted gun would be. As
soon as the M3 Tank was placed in production, steps were taken to redesign it by placing the 75mm Gun in the
turret. The gun was lengthened and the muzzle velocity increased from 1,850 to 1,970 f/s [sic]1, making it a
more effective weapon. The gun was later standardized as the M3. The new tank was designated as the T6.
[The M3 was not used in action before the decision to design the M4 was made; it was not even designed
and ready for production; instead, Ordnance convinced the Armored Command that they could not build a
tank with a 75-mm in a turret in August 1940 and as such the decision was made to CONTINUE development
of the M3 until it was then finished, and then work on the M4. The need for the M4 was known in August
1940 but the Ordnance put this off with their we can't cast a big turret for the 75 right now whining.
The velocity of the longer 75 was 2,030 fs. with AP shot.
The Armored Forces demanded a better gun with more velocity in September 1940 - the month after the
Ordnance Department told them they could not design the M4 at the moment, not at a later date. The M3 had
not been designed let alone built let alone used in action at that date.]

The pilot T6 Tank was completed at Aberdeen Proving Ground in August 1941. General Devers, then Chief
of the Armored Force at Fort Knox, witnessed tests of the pilot T6 tank at Aberdeen on 3 September 1941 and
immediately gave his approval. It was therefore decided to standardize the T6 as the M4 and put it into
production on the basis that the change would be made in such a way that there would be no loss of
production. Production of the M4 Tank began in March 1942.
-23. 105mm HOWITZER: It was planned at the same time to design the M4 Tank turret so that the 75mm
Gun, the 105mm Howitzer, or other armament could be mounted interchangeably. The 105mm Howitzer had
previously been placed in the M3 Tank chassis to make up the 105mm Howitzer Motor Carriage, M7, called the
"Priest" by the British. The M7 had been sent to Egypt to the British in time for use against the Germans at El
Alamein and in subsequent actions. Since the 105mm Howitzer was already available on the M3 chassis in the
1

Actually 2,070 fps or 2,030 fps.

form of the M7 Howitzer Motor Carriage, the mounting of the 105mm Howitzer in the M4 Tank was delayed
owing to the pressure of other projects. The project for mounting the 105mm Howitzer in the tank turret was
later revived, and the pilot was successfully proof-fired at Aberdeen proving Ground in December 1942. The
Howitzer was standardized as the M4, and the mount as the combination Gun Mount, M52. These units are
now in production.
4. 76mm GUN FOR MEDIUM TANK M4: After the Medium Tank M4, had been put into production, it was
felt highly desirable to provide this tank with a more powerful gun so that it could be still more effective against
enemy armor. The 75mm Gun, M3, with which the M4 Tank was being equipped, was an ideal gun against
personnel because of its excellent high-explosive shell. However, it was desired to install a gun which would
also have more effective armor-piercing qualities. It was planned that only about 25 percent of the M4 tanks be
equipped with this gun, since it was not considered necessary for all tanks to have such high-powered
weapons.
[He and no one else in ordnance has ever explained why they didn't design a better HE shell for the 76-mm.
A 15.5-lb. shell with a 9% filler would have given much the same blast as the 75's 14.5 lb. shell with 1.45 lb.
filler - and it would have had the same ballistics as the standard AP round. They didn't seem concerned about
identifying and fixing issues before it was too late to make much headway.]

The design of the 76mm Gun, T1, was made in this office, and Watervliet Arsenal was given an order on 14
July 1942 for two pilot guns. These pilots were completed and successfully tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground
on 12 August 1942. After these tests, the Chief of Ordnance recommended by memorandum to the
Commanding General, Army Service Forces, on 21 August 1942, that 1,000 of these guns be manufactured
quickly for mounting in M4 Tanks for the African Theater. The gun had been so designed that this could be
done without any major modification of the turret. This project was approved, and an order for 1,000 76mm
Tank Guns was placed in August 1942. The 76mm Gun is in reality a 3" Gun specially designed for tank use.
Since it required a very slender round of ammunition with a cartridge case different from that of our standard 3"
Gun, it was called 76mm to prevent mixing of ammunition in service.
[The design of the 76-mm took less than a month and showed that the Ordnance Department was not as
incompetent as they sometimes seemed. Given than, and the suggestion that the 76-mm was for the
tankers,]

The first production 76mm Gun, M1A1, mounted in a pilot tank was successfully fired at Aberdeen Proving
Ground on 26 September 1942. In a letter dated 11 November 1942 (File sp 472.1),
-3the Armored Force stated that the M4 tank mounting a 76mm Gun was an untried weapon which was not
tested by the Armored Force and recommended that no quantity production of the weapon be undertaken until
pilot models were thoroughly tested and their suitability for Armored Force use determined. The Ordnance
Department was specifically instructed to procure no more than 12 tanks mounting a 76mm Gun. Later the
entire project was dropped.
On 19 February 1943 the Armored Force stated at a meeting attended by representatives of the Army
Ground Force and the Chief of Ordnance and his staff, in Detroit, that the manufacture of 216 Medium Tanks,
M4, mounting the 76mm gun would be requested.
The letter file requesting the manufacture was indorsed to Headquarters, Services of Supply, on 1 March

1943 for more information. Headquarters Army Ground Forces, approved the diversion of 17 medium tanks to
mount the 76mm gun to equip one Medium Tank Company only. On 21 August 1943 Headquarters Armored
Command, recommended, the procurement of 1,000 medium tanks equipped with the 76mm Gun. The first
production tanks mounting the 76mm Gun made as a consequence of this recommendation, were completed
in January 1944.
[Despite these delays and the amount of time it offered, the Ordnance Department put no effort into (a) fitting
a muzzle brake, (b) devising a high explosive round, and (c) devising a smoke round for the 76-mm. Thus,
when the 76 was offered the tankers had to accept reduced effectiveness in their main role (firing at non
armored targets) for a moderate increase in penetration.]

5. 3" and 90mm TANK GUN: When development of the 60 ton Heavy Tank, M6, was begun in May 1940,
the writer chose the 3" high velocity gun as its principal weapon. At that time this was the most powerful gun
which had been mounted in a tank by any country. The first Heavy Tank, M6, using the 3" Gun, T12 (later M7),
was completed, demonstrated, and accepted on 8 December 1941.
In the realization that still heavier guns would be required on the battlefield as time passed, design was
undertaken in September 1942 of a 90mm high-powered gun which would have the ballistics of our 90mm antiaircraft gum but the same outside diameter as the 3" tank gun, M7, so that it could be used in the Heavy Tank,
M6. Furthermore, based on the work done by the Heavy Tank, M6, steps were taken in February 1942 to place
the 3" gun from the heavy tank in an open turret on the M4 chassis as a self-propelled gun mount. This design
was completed and standardized as the 3" Gun Motor Carriage, M10, on 4 June 1942.
The 3" Gun Motor Carriage, M10, was placed under heavy production, and it was planned that eventually
the 90mm tank gun, T7, would be developed primarily for the Heavy Tank, M6, and
-4could also be utilized in the Gun Motor Carriage, M10, without extensive redesigning. The design of the 90mm
tank gun, T7, was completed in December 1942, It was mounted in the 3" Gun Motor Carriage at Aberdeen
and demonstrated to the Secretary of War and officers of the War Department and Army Ground Forces on 10
February 1943. After these demonstrations, attempts were made to interest the Army Ground Forces in the
90mm gun, but these attempts failed. On 5 October 1943, a letter was received from the Army Service Forces
stating that our recommendation for the immediate manufacture of 500 90mm gun motor carriages based on
the M10 chassis was disapproved.
As the Ordnance Department felt it absolutely essential that a gun more powerful than the 3" tank gun be
available on the battlefield to oppose the German 88, this matter was pressed with the Army Ground Forces.
Upon a recommendation that at least 1,000 of these units be manufactured, an order was received from the
War Department to proceed, with the manufacture of 500 units known as the 90mm Gun Motor Carriage, T71.
The gun was therefore standardized as the M3 in September 1943. Because of the lack of interest shown by
the Using Arms, the 90mm Gun Motor Carriage, M36, was not standardized until June 1944.
[Note how the M36 is a new turret mounted on the M10 hull which is an M4 tank chassis. The Ordnance
Department (especially Barnes) did not want the ground forces to have a 90-mm armed M4 and claimed it
could not be done/should not be done. At the end of the war, M36 turrets were fit directly to the M4 hull to
provide more M36s for the tank destroyer forces. It began to be apparent that Barnes and some other staffers
believed in the philosophy that Anti-tank guns (the tank destroyers) fought tanks; tanks supported infantry.
Thus, they crippled the 76-mm to make it unpalatable - a token offering of improved firepower - while readily
fitting the 90-mm out for the Tank Destroyer units.]

It had been planned also to mount this gun in the T20 series of tanks, the design and development of which
were started in May, 1943. The Armored Ground Forces, however, felt that the 76mm gun had sufficient power,
and they were not interested in the 90mm. Permission was obtained, however, to mount the 90mm Gun, M3, in
40 medium Tanks, T25, and 10 Heavy Tanks, T26, experimentally.
Upon completion of these units, little interest in them was shown by the Ground Forces. Consequently a
demonstration was conducted at Aberdeen for the Secretary of War, the Chief of Staff, and officers of the
General Staff and Army Ground Forces. The greatly increased effectiveness of the 90mm gun over the 75mm
and 76mm guns was concurrently demonstrated. As a result of these demonstrations, decision was personally
made by General Marshall to place the Heavy Tank, T26, in production with the 90mm gun. At the present
time, orders have been issued for the quantity production of these weapons and both Fisher and Chrysler
Corporation are tooling. Production will be started by Fisher in October 1944.
6. 105mm GUN: By September 1943, the very powerful 105mm Gun, T4, had been designed and a pilot
manufactured for antiaircraft use. Since this gun can fire a 42-lb. armor-piercing projectile at 2,800 f/s, 5.5
inches of armor at 30 inclination can be penetrated at a range of 2,000 yards. These ballistics were
considered very suitable for an antitank or self-propelled weapon. To adapt a weapon of this power to
-5tank mounting, the T5E1 gun was provisionally laid out in late 1943 and the super tank design to carry this gun
was started in September 1943, but Army Ground Forces would not approve manufacture although it was
approved by the Commanding General, Army Service Forces. The project suggested the manufacture of 25
tanks, now known as the T28, in order to have them available should they be required for use against heavy
fortifications which night be encountered in France and Germany. Finally, on 36 April 1944, after long delay on
the part of the Army Ground Forces, approval was given for the manufacture of five T28 tanks to weigh 80 tons
with a frontal armor on the basis of 10. These tanks are now under manufacture.
7. 90mm TANK GUN - SUPER VELOCITY: 17 March 1944, the design of the super-velocity 90mm Gun,
T15, was undertaken. This gun was designed to use a standard 90mm projectile in a new case. The new cage
has the same exterior diameter as the discarded case, but the length has been increased to provide a greater
powder capacity.
This gun was designed to give a velocity of 3,200 f/s with single-base powder. The design was also such
that it could be used interchangeably with the standard 90mm tank gun, M3, except of course, for ballistics.
The gun is very Long (70 calibers) and would require the use of a new equilibrator and stronger parts in the
mount. However, this gun can be mounted in the T26E1 Tank.
The pilot gun was delivered to Aberdeen on 1 September 1944 and is now being used to develop powder.
If the war continues, several hundred of these guns will be manufactured for mounting in the T26E1 Tanks in
order to provide a gun of greater firepower.
8. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: The T26E1 task is the Ordnance Departments 1945 model tank. In order to
have a still later model tank available should the war continue into 1946, design of two new tanks, the T29 and
the T30, was started in September 1944. It is planned to mount the 105mm high powered tank gun referred to
above in the T29 Tank. This gun will also be bored experimentally as a 90mm weapon to give a muzzle velocity
of 3,500 f/s with a 24-Lb. projectile. The proof tests will indicate whether the 90mm caliber or 105mm caliber
would be more desirable.
The T30 Tank contemplates the use of a newly designed 155mm Gun Howitzer. The undersigned started
the design of this gun in October 1944. This gun will fire a 95-lb. armor-piercing projectile to

-6penetrate 6 inches of armor at 30 inclination at a range of 2,000 yards. It would also be a powerful field gun,
firing the 95-lb. high-explosive shell. The ability of this 155 mm Gun Howitzer to fire armor-piercing ammunition
and high-explosive ammunition interchangeably would make it an effective weapon.
G. M. BARNES
Major General, Ordnance Department
Chief, Research & Development Service
REFERENCES
l. First Partial Report on Test of 1.85" Tank Gun, T1 - 24 Jan 1930
2. OCM Item 14967
3. First Report on Installation and Test of 75mm Howitzer in Medium Tank, T5 - Phase III - 6 May 1940
4. First Report an Assembly of Medium Tank, T6 - 9 Dec 1941,
5. First Report on Medium Tank M4, 105mm Howitzer
Installation - 17 June 1943
6. OCM Item 18503
7. First Report on Test of 76mm Gun, 11. -24 Aug 194?
8. OCM Item 18865
9.Final Report on 76mm Gun in Medium Tank, M4 -30 Sep 1942
-7-