Stuart III

Stuart III

Stuart I

Valentine I

Stuart III

Stuart I

Valentine I

Britain

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.0	2.3	2.3

Class:

Light tank

Research:5 900

Purchase:6 300

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Description

The Stuart III is a rank I British light tank with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB) and 2.3 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters". Compared to its predecessor, the Stuart I, it has a more streamlined turret shape that presents a smaller target.

General info

M3A1 takes hits while engaging enemy vehicles.

Survivability and armour

Being a light tank the Stuart III has fairly thin armour, it can generally protect against most machine guns and some smaller (20mm) cannons, but will usually not stand up against the main weapons of most enemy tanks at its BR. There is a fair amount of empty space inside the tank, this means that some poorly placed shots can go through your tank without causing much damage.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	38.1 mm (18°) Driver Port 15.8 mm (69°) Front Glacis	25.4 mm	25.4 mm	12.7 mm
Turret	50.8 mm	31.8 mm	31.8 mm	12.7 mm

Mobility

Demonstration of the slow and fast turning of the Stuart III

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	65	8	12.9	406	500	31.47	38.76
Realistic	59	7		232	262	17.98	20.31

The Stuart III has competitive mobility with a ratio of 20.8 hp per ton. At lower speeds (5-10 km/h) the turning can feel rather sluggish, but once a bit of forward movement is applied and the speed is increased the turning will feel much smoother and faster. The forward drive of the Stuart III can max out at 47 km/h off-road and 58 km/h on-road which will usually allow you to reach capture points or desirable camping spots quickly. The 6 km/h reverse speed of the Stuart III is certainly usable in most situations.

Armaments

Main armament

Main weapon on the Stuart III is a 37mm M6 cannon featuring two rounds, AP & APCBC. This is a fairly standard gun for early American tanks as it is also featured on the M5A1, M22 & LVT(A)(1) although some of these vehicles also include a HE round that the Stuart III lacks.

37 mm M6					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	106	-10°/+20°	±180°	Vertical	19.04	26.35	32.00	35.39	37.65	3.77	3.33	3.07	2.90
Realistic					11.90	14.00	17.00	18.80	20.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
M74B1	AP	79	76	65	54	45	37
M51B1/B2	APCBC	87	84	73	60	50	41

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M74B1	AP	883	0.87	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°
M51B1/B2	APCBC	883	0.87	N/A	N/A	N/A	48°	63°	71°

File:M3A1 Ammo Racks.jpg

Ammo rack placement on the Stuart III

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
106	71 (+35)	36 (+70)	1 (+105)	No

Machine guns

The Stuart III employs a turret top MG and a coaxial MG, both of which are the same 7.62mm M1919A4 type, these guns are limited to a single AP & T belt type with up too 10mm of penetration.

7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Coaxial	3,200 (250)	500	N/A	N/A
Pintle	3,000 (250)	500	-5°/+70°	±60°

Usage in battles

M3A1 attacking a StuG III

Due to its light armour it is advisable not to use the Stuart III frontally at closer ranges, especially not against higher rated enemy vehicles that will go through your strongest frontal armour (50.8mm) without issue. The ideal tactic to use is to employ your competitive speed to flank the enemy and find a position that will allow you to attack them will little resistance, even in a match against higher rated enemy vehicles your rounds will have no issue going through the side armour of said enemy vehicles, common maps such as Eastern Europe and Cargo Port offer clear opportunity's to flank the enemy vehicles with good amounts of cover, this is especially clear on Eastern Europe where you can flank on the other side of the river that runs through the map, this puts you at close range to the side of enemy vehicles, allowing you to prevent them reaching capture points such as the central B point.

To take down enemy vehicles it is advisable to destroy both their turret and engine to prevent escape and stop them engaging you or your allies, due to the fast reload (at best 2.9s) you can hit both parts of an enemy quickly, usually before they can fire back, if they are still not dead after the gun and engine have been hit, shots into the crew compartment should finish the job, but most enemy's are usually killed by the first 2 shots, it is common for any side shot against an enemy to pen and cause a fair level of damage, even if the enemy is not killed your fast reload will grant you a second chance quickly to place an adjusted shot into the enemy. Even at longer ranges the Stuart III can be a competent sniper, especially if facing lighter vehicles with flat armour or the side armour of a targeted enemy, firing from long range is another way to ensure that your light armour does not hold you back, being at long range will usually prevent or make it difficult for enemy's to successfully hit your vehicle.

Specific enemy vehicles that bear mentioning are firstly any Germans with the 20mm KwK/FlaK38 cannon, this gun might be small but can have up too 64mm of pen, which is enough to go through the Stuart III at almost any point, these guns can also fire 10 rounds at 280 rounds/min before having to reload the clip, this means that they will very easily take out your crew before you have a chance to respond, as far as countering the best chance you have is to angle your frontal armour which can make it difficult for the PzGr 40 rounds to pen. The Russian T-50 and T-126 are vehicles you will also see commonly, these have fairly thick & angled frontal armour that will prevent you from easily getting through, these tanks also poses an APHEBC round that will destroy you in one shot with little difficulty, to counter you should use your speed to attempt to get a side shot into either the turret or engine, if the T-50 cannot move you can outrun its turret and finish it without much difficulty.

M3A1 flanking on Eastern Europe

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive	M51B1/B2
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Frontal armour useful against MG's and light cannons
• Competitive mobility
• Reliable gun with a good rate of fire
• Ammo has good penetration
• Lots of empty space, so poorly aimed shots tend to not do much damage

Cons:

• Crew can all be killed by a well placed shot
• Brakes are weak
• Turning is sluggish at slower speeds
• No AP ammunition with HE filler

History

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Media

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See also

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• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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