american WWII stuart or stewart

hello all, so i was playing call of duty 2:big red one today on my xbox, and i am in the north africa campaign. the tanks the americans use are called stuarts or stewarts, and they look very small. the panzers looked about two times the size of it! the upside of the tank was that it was pretty agile. when i stood next to the tank it only looked a little taller than the soldier and not very long, maybe only a few times longer. was this a 2-man tank? it seems so small i think it would have to be.

andrew

 

It had four or maybe five crew I believe. They were quite small but very manueverable and fairly reliable. The British called them Honey Stuarts.

There were two versions, the M-3 with rivited hull and the M-5 with welded hull. Naturally, the US also had other vehicles built on this platform such as the M-8 75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage.

http://www.military.cz/panzer/index_en1.htm

 

The M3 Stuart was a light tank, reserved for reconnaissance later in the war, but because it was more reliable and almost equally well-armed as any British tank in the Desert, the British also used them as main battle tanks there. It really did fit four men, a 37mm gun and several machine guns (some versions had four .30cals and one .50cal).

As far as I know this vehicle is about the size of a Panzer II.

 

I sent Panzerprofile a pic of me standing next to an M3.I'm 6'2" tall.
If he is kind enough to post it,this should give you an idea of the size of a Stewart.

 

Roel is correct. It is Stuart not Stewart.
Named for the great confederate cavalryman Gen. James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart.

 

Twice as big? Games and reality! A light M3 was 4,5 meters long, 2,20 wide and 2,51 high. A Pz. III was 5.5/2.9/2.5; a Pz.IV was 5.9/2.9/2.6

 

'teh Stuart'

Thanks for the picture SturmTiger. Here it goes!


This is the true size of the Stuart. It's a small tank...

 

Thanks Panzer.I appreciate your help.
I hope this gives a good idea of the size of the Stuart.They were not very big.But for a time they got the job done.
Also,there was a version called the M8 Howitzer.It was a Stuart with a much larger weapon.Maybe some of the members could provide a little more info on the M8.

 

I like how it says Tiger Bait on the side of it

 

The Sherman behind the M3 is called 'Betty Boop'.

 

Later in the war they were called M5s..different turret etc.The one in the pic is a M5

 

What are the obvious differences between an M3 and M5?

 

The M3 is superior in terms of coolness, because it has rivets! The M5 is just welded together. :smok:

 

I think the M-5 was built by Cadillac. As such, it had Caddy V-8 engines which gave the M-5 better speed over the M-3.

I believe the M-8 Scott Howitzer Motor Carriage was built on both M-3 and M-8 hulls. It had, as poster earlier, a 75mm howitzer in an open top turret. Looked a miniature tank destroyer with a stubby barrel .

 

I definately agree on rivets giving the M3 a higher cool factor.

 

Only cool if you are not in it when it is hit a enemy tank and all those rivits start bounceing around inside the tank.... :lol:

 

I think (only think mind) that it's the "chamfered" side plates - the bit on the one in the photo with the name "Tiger Bait" on it. IIRC the M3 is all "squared off" on the corners.
I'm shortly getting a copy of the Hunnicutt book on the Stuart - then I'll probably be able to go into far more detail than anyone would want

 

It is, the M3 has machine guns(another cool looking feature) there:

http://gunpoint-3d.com/model-m3stuart.html (cool site)

http://www.hoetti.privat.t-online.de/stuart/stuart.html

And in case something hits the M3 the rivets are your last problem. :kill: