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M3
M3A1

Half-track Personnel Carrier M3, early production^1-12

The M3 half-track used the same chassis and mechanical components as the half-track car M2, but the rear armored body was 10" (25cm) longer and featured a door in the rear to ease entry and exit from the vehicle. The M3 lacked side ammunition stowage compartments, and the fuel tanks were moved from their rear position on the M2 to just behind the driving compartment. Improvements in the M3 paralleled those in the M2, with spring-loaded idlers, smaller demountable headlights, mine racks, and winch featured on late vehicles. A 2lb (.9kg) CO₂ portable fire extinguisher was carried.

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Half-track Personnel Carrier M3A1^1-10

The M3A1 featured the M49 ring mount for the .50cal weapon over the right front of the vehicle, and socket mounts for the .30cal MG were added to each side of the passenger compartment. The later ring mount M49A1 added a a deflector shield and a skate-type backrest for the gunner, and substituted a different carriage with a connecting stabilizer.

Due to the similarity between the M3 and M2 half-tracks, a proposal was put forth in August 1942 by Army Ground Forces that the types be combined into a single vehicle. International Harvester Corporation was given five M3s to convert according to plans drawn up for a single half-track body, and the first pilot was completed on 7 January 1943. The new design could be used for different missions by changing the interior radio, etc., stowage, and was armed with an M49 ring mount and machine gun pintle sockets like the -A1 half-tracks. The vehicle was also built with folding rear stowage racks, and ladder-like side stowage racks above the mine racks that could be used to secure the canvas cover over the passenger compartment. The ammunition lockers with outer doors were dispensed with, and the rear door was retained. The combined design used a long passenger compartment body like that found on the M3A1. This vehicle was standardized as the M3A2 on 2 October 1943 and was set to replace the M2 and M3 half-tracks starting on 1 March 1944, but production of half-tracks had been discontinued by that point and only the M3A2 pilots were built.

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References

1. TM 9-710 Basic Half-Track Vehicles (White, Autocar, and Diamond T). Washington, DC: War Department, 23 February 1944.
2. TM 9-710/TO 19-75A-77 Half-track Vehicles Car M2A1; Personnel Carrier M3 and M3A1; 81-mm Mortar Carrier M4, M4A1, and M21; Combination Gun Motor Carriage M15A1; and Multiple Gun Motor Carriage M16 and M16A1. Washington, DC: Departments of the Army and the Air Force, 8 May 1953.
3. Hunnicutt, R.P. Half-Track: A History of American Semi-tracked Vehicles. Navato, CA: Presidio Press, 2001. Reprinted from Half-Track, R.P. Hunnicutt ©2001, available from Presidio Press, 505B San Martin Drive, Suite 160, Navato, CA 94945.
4. TM 9-2800 Standard Military Motor Vehicles. Washington, DC: War Dept., 1 Sep 1943.
5. Doyle, David. U.S. Half-tracks: The Development and Deployment of the U.S. Army's Half-track Vehicles, Part one. Ed. Pat Stansell. Delray Beach, FL: The Ampersand Publishing Group, Inc., 2014.
6. SNL G-102 Service Parts Catalog for Cars, Half-track, M2 and M2A1; Carriers, Personnel, Half-track, M3 and M3A1; Carriages, Motor, 75-mm Gun, M3 and M3A1; Carriers, 81-mm Mortar, Half-track, M4 and M4A1; Carrier, 81-mm Mortar, Half-track, M21; Carriage, Motor, Multiple Gun, M13; Carriages, Motor, Multiple Gun, M15 and M15A1; Carriage, Motor, Multiple Gun, M16; Carriage, Motor, 105-mm Howitzer, T19; Carriage, Motor, 75-mm Howitzer, T30; Carriage, Motor, 57-mm Gun, T48. 30 September 1943.
7. Crismon, Fred W. U.S. Military Tracked Vehicles. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1992.
8. Chamberlain, Peter, and Chris Ellis. British and American Tanks of World War Two. Frome, England: Cassell & Co., 2000.
9. Siemers, Cary. "USA's Half Tracks." World War II Tanks & Vehicles and Advanced Squad Leader. 4 Jul 2001. 7 Aug 2001 <http://www.siemers.com/wwii/USA/Halftracks.htm>.
10. Track Data. Warren, MI: Track & Suspension Laboratory, Components Research and Development Laboratories, Research & Engineering Directorate, US Army Tank-Automotive Center, 23 June 1965.
11. Sola, Samuel, Vincent Bobkowski, and Kara Crocker. Weapon Mounts for Secondary Armament. Santa Monica, CA: G. O. Noville & Associates, Inc., April 1957.
12. TM 9-1710C Ordnance Maintenance--Chassis and Body for Half-track Vehicles. Washington, DC: War Department, 11 September 1942.

Last updated 30 Mar 2024.
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