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THE PRE-WAR ERA In the interwar years, the development of armor was tied to the Marine Corps' evolving role as an amphibious striking force. Combat on the western front in World War I had shown Marines that tanks were an important weapon. This experience also shaped the core tenet of armored support in the Corps— tanks would support the infantry. In 1923, the Marine Corps established its first tank unit, the Experimental Tank Platoon. It was equipped with the Model 1917 Six Ton Tank. This was the US version of the World War I era Renault FT-17 light tank. The platoon took part in fleet exercises in 1924 at Culebra Island in the Caribbean. The Experimental Platoon, based at MCB Quantico, was redesignated as the Light Tank Platoon, Marine Corps Expeditionary Force. In May 1927, it was sent to China in the first operational deployment of Marine tanks. In September 1928, the platoon shipped back home to MCB San Diego, and was deactivated.
During 1937, the Marine Corps procured five new Marmon-Herrington CTL-3 light tanks. In March 1937, the CTL-3s and their crews were organized into the 1st Tank Company, based at MCB Quantico. Assigned to the 1st Marine Brigade, the tankers continued to experiment intensively with tactics and techniques.
The turretless, five ton, gasoline powered CTL-3 was a compromise, since it was only equipped with three machine guns. As one Marine put it, "They were a makeshift thing, but they were the best the Marine Corps had at the time."(1) The main reason for adopting the CTL-series was the weight constraints dictated by the US Navy. Marmon-Herrington worked with the Marine Corps to improve the CTL-series, culminating in the CTM-3TBD. This vehicle was equipped with two .50 caliber machine guns in a rotating turret and was powered by a diesel engine. Five of these vehicles were procured in late 1941 and all were later abandoned on American Samoa. While the tankers were working on their vehicles, a true American character from New Orleans was working on his own new ideas. His name was Andrew Jackson Higgins and he was about to revolutionize amphibious warfare. Higgins designed two boats, the Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP), and the Landing Craft, Medium (LCM). These landing craft were stable in the water and could nose right up to the beach and unload their cargo. The ramped LCM could carry a 15-ton tank and transport it from ship to shore with minimal difficulty. Higgins had to fight against inertia from the Navy's Bureau of Ships, which had designed its own inferior tank landing boat called Boat Rig "A". The Navy prototype capsized during testing in 1939. The Marine Corps embraced the utility of Higgins' LCM. They began procuring their first modern tank, the 13-ton M2A4. This tank mounted a 37mm high velocity antitank gun and four .30 caliber machine guns. On 1 August 1940 the 1st Tank Company took delivery of 18 of these brand new tanks. Recalled one tanker:
Meanwhile, world events were moving rapidly. In Europe, Nazi Germany was on the rampage with Panzer divisions and heavy aerial support. On 8 September 1939, President Roosevelt declared a limited national emergency. For Marine tankers, it meant a sweeping expansion as the US armed forces ramped up for World War II. In November 1940 the Marine Corps established the 3rd Tank Company at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the 4th Tank Company at MCB San Diego.
The new 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions were formed on 1 February 1941. They both had full tank battalions authorized under their table of organization. The prewar tank companies would become the core around which the Corps' new armored force would be built. In May 1941, President Roosevelt declared a state of unlimited emergency that began preparations for war in earnest. Marine tankers began taking delivery of the M3-series Stuart light tank in 1941, a product improvement of the M2A4. These tanks lacked an intercom system, so the tank commander used his foot to transmit signals by tapping on the driver's head. Said one tanker, "Let some silly bastard up there get excited and then you really had trouble figuring out what he was doing... when they wanted you to stop, they'd push your head right down between your knees, and you couldn't pull the levers back to stop. You wanted to kill 'em."(3) The Stuart was a reliable tank. Its simplicity of operation and maintenance made it popular with crews. But, European tanks had already outclassed the Stuart's 37mm antitank gun. Marines would also learn in combat that it didn't have the power to reliably destroy enemy emplacements. In May 1941, two platoons of Company A, 2nd Tank Battalion deployed to Iceland with the 1st Marine Brigade (Provisional). Their mission was to relieve British forces for combat duty against the Axis powers. On December 7th, 1941 Japanese naval forces struck Pearl Harbor and other locations in a combined land, air and sea offensive that brought the United States in the war as a combatant.
As Marine tankers and infantrymen hammered out the details of working together in combat, a new tank was being designed for them. This was the M4 General Sherman medium tank and it first saw the light of day in 1941. The M4 had a larger gun and better protection than any tank to date. It would play a large role in the island hopping campaigns against the Empire of Japan. (1) Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific, pg 20.
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