The US Army had neglected its armed forces in the inter-war
years because of a general isolationist attitude and the impact of
the great depression. It fielded a small number of uninventive
tanks copied from foreign designs (Ford 3 Ton, M1922, T2), but as
Americans saw the success of the German blitzkrieg strategy, they
raced to catch and ramp up its production. The US dedicated its
efforts to the quantity production of the M4 Sherman cranking out
34,000 of what were scornfully called "Zippos" for their ability to
light up every time they were hit, though later upgrades such as a
high velocity 76mm gun and better protection for the ammo stowage
made the Shermans more effective. The Sherman hull was also used in
a number of vehicles like the Rocket Barrage tanks, Flame Thrower
tanks, Mine clearing tanks and Self-Propelled guns. For example
4,700 M7 Priest a 105mm self-propelled howitzer were produced
during the war. Another medium tank fielded during the early part
of the war was the M3 Lee/Grant. It had a production run of about
only 6,100 as it was an unpopular tank that quickly became
obsolete. Four different light tanks also saw service. The M5
Stuart with a production run of 8,800 units mounted a 37mm gun.
Other light tanks were created as air mobile weapons designed for
insertion by General Aircraft Hamilcar Gliders. 730 M22 Locust were
produced, along with 2,500 Hellcat M18 and 4,731 Chaffee. Late in
the war the only US heavy tank made its appearance. The M26
Pershing with a 90mm high velocity gun was deployed late in the war
to counter the Panthers and Tigers in Normandy. It only saw action
in a few instances and proved very effective. ~2,000 were
produced.
