M3 37mm gun (US500)

M3 37mm Gun (US500) During the Spanish Civil War, light anti-tank guns such as the German Pak 36 proved successful in neutralising the threat posed by tanks. Seeing the value of such a weapon, the Ordnance Committee begun the development of the M3 based on these concepts. The resulting weapon was first issued to US Armed Forces in 1940 and the M3 37mm become the first gun in US service dedicated to an anti-tank role.

The M3 first saw action in the Pacific and was successfully deployed against both Japanese armour and infantry during the Guadalcanal campaign, while the M3 was able to provide enough punch to deal with the lightly armoured Japanese tanks, experiences in North Africa were completely different.

Reports of 37mm projectiles simply bouncing off the frontal armour of the later production Panzer III and Panzer IV were common. Attempts were made to increase the armour penetration by using squeeze bore adapters such as the British Littlejohn but none were adopted. While the M3 saw service till the end of the war against the Japanese by the middle of 1943 it had been replaced by the more effective M1 57mm gun in the European theatres.

In Flames Of War The M3 provides an effective defence against light tanks and halftracks with its high rate of fire. ROF 3; Anti-tank 7; Firepower 4+ While its Gun Shield is able to protect the crew from small arms fire. Designed by Karl Cederman Painted by Jeremy Painter