It goes without saying that military projects, of varying degrees of secrecy, were constantly underway throughout the war. Progress on them was unpredictable: Some would be completed ahead of schedule, some would run concurrently, and others still wouldn’t pan out at all. The iconic M4 Sherman was being produced in early 1942, with its design being finalized the previous year. This meant that it was being prepared at around the same time as the Lee and Grant, but could not be produced at such a rate at the time.
The Sherman was based upon the mechanics of the M3 Grant, with a GAA-V8 Ford engine capable of 500 hp and a speed of around 26 mph. Its machine guns (with which it was equipped in the case of the M4A1 model) were backed up by that same 75mm primary armament, though, in the Sherman, the latter was mounted in the turret and so could be aimed much more freely.
This, then, was the tank that the M3 Grant/Lee would have been the first time around, had the Allies had the time and experience to have made it so.
