Specification Crew : 7 Engine power : 450 bhp Combat weight :22,695 kg (50,042 lb) Max speed : road 40 km/h (24.84 mph) Length : 6.02 m (19.75 ft) Range : 200 km (124.2 miles) Width : 2.87 M (9.42 ft) Main gun : 105 mm(4.14 in) Height : 2.54 m (8.33 ft) Armour : 12 mm (0.47 in)to 62 mm(2.44 in)

Almost as soon as the Medium Tank M3 was off the drawing board plans were being made to convert its chassis to accommodate a 105 mm(4.14 in)howitzer for issue to armored artillery units supporting tank operations.The upper hull was drastically modified to mount the 105 mm howitzer in an off-center position.A large drum-like cupola was added to the right-hand superstructure to allow a 0.50 in(12.7 mm)machine gun to be placed on a ring mounting for air and local defence.Trails vehicles were known as the T32 and by February 1942 it was standardized as the Howitzer Motor Gun Carriage M7. Almost as soon as the first M7s were ready they were seen by a visiting British mission which immediately requested 2,500 soon to be followed by a request for a further 3,000.Although these requests were never fully met as the requirements of the US Army had priority,the M7 became an important British artillery piece.With the British it was known as the Priest due to the pulpit-like side cupola.The first went into action at El Alamein.Priests were used in Italy and went on to take part in the Normandy landings when they were provided with deep wading equipment.When the M3 tank was replaced by the M4 production of the M7 hulls also switched to the new chassis,these models were known as the M7B1.Although M7 were still in US Army service in 1945,by then they had been phased out from British service in favour of the Sexton.