▁as ▁" Gr ant ", ▁named ▁after ▁Union ▁general ▁U ly ss es ▁S . ▁Grant . ▁ ▁Design ▁comm enced ▁in ▁July ▁ 1 9 4 0 , ▁and ▁the ▁first ▁M 3 s ▁were ▁oper ational ▁in ▁late ▁ 1 9 4 1 . ▁The ▁U . S . ▁Army ▁needed ▁a ▁medium ▁tank ▁armed ▁with ▁a ▁ 7 5 mm ▁gun ▁and , ▁couple d ▁with ▁the ▁United ▁Kingdom ' s ▁immediate ▁demand ▁for ▁ 3 , 6 5 0 ▁medium ▁t anks , ▁the ▁Lee ▁began ▁production ▁by ▁late ▁ 1 9 4 0 . ▁The ▁design ▁was ▁a ▁comprom ise ▁meant ▁to ▁produce ▁a ▁tank ▁as ▁soon ▁as ▁possible . ▁The ▁M 3 ▁had ▁considerable ▁fire power ▁and ▁good ▁arm or , ▁but ▁had ▁serious ▁draw back s ▁in ▁its ▁general ▁design ▁and ▁shape , ▁including ▁a ▁high ▁sil hou ette , ▁an ▁arch a ic ▁spons on ▁mount ing ▁of ▁the ▁main ▁gun ▁prevent ing ▁the ▁tank ▁from ▁taking ▁a ▁h ull - down ▁position , ▁riv et ed ▁construction , ▁and ▁poor ▁off - road ▁performance . ▁ ▁Its ▁overall ▁performance ▁was ▁not ▁satisf actory ▁and ▁the ▁tank ▁was ▁with dra wn ▁from ▁combat ▁in ▁most ▁the aters ▁as ▁soon ▁as ▁the ▁M 4 ▁Sh erman ▁tank ▁became ▁available ▁in ▁larger ▁numbers . ▁In ▁spite ▁of ▁this , ▁it ▁was ▁considered ▁by ▁Hans ▁von ▁L uck ▁( an ▁Ober st ▁( Col onel ) ▁in ▁the ▁We hr macht ▁He er ▁and ▁the ▁author ▁of ▁Pan