Posted on 09/08/2014 12:08:25 PM PDT by C19fan
Only the most techno-fanatic would argue that a certain type of tank has changed history. There are so many other causes -- military, political, economic, social -- that explain victory and defeat far better than size of gun or thickness of armor.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalinterest.org ...
At that time, the Americans were short of gas, too.
I would not be surprised if that was based on a military cargo vehicle. Although it looks foreign to be, it vaguely resembles an American Hemtt.
Sherman’s march through Georgia was the first use of “total war.” He made war on military and civilian alike. He’s therefore still not very fondly thought of in those parts.
Which makes it historically irrelevant.
There were too few to significantly affect military operations. Tank-vs-tank battles were usually small in scale and fairly rare compared to all other sorts of military encounters in WWII. There are a few exceptional cases where this was not so, but that what they are, exceptional, and generally the outcome was not decided by a quality difference between tanks.
Not as critical when you are on defense. Why, Henry Fonda saved the whole fuel depot, remember.
because of the M1 you see a lot of other countries producing tanks with a similar design
Because it “changed history”
British Mk I, Panzer II, Panther, T-34, and T-55 (M1 may supplant T-55?...give it another 20 years).
Most innovative? Lots, but I hope someone mentions the T-64B....scared the bejebus out of NATO when first introduced. Bigger gun, autoloader, etc.
Most influential? MkI British, T-34/KV-1 (love reading first contact reports on the eastern front), Tiger, Panther, King Tiger...nevermind...airpower negated that one for allies......T-55, T-64, M1, Leopard II?....lots to choose from.
Tanks for the memories.
I had relatives in the Confederate army. One died. He was from near Jessup, GA.
Changed history? Has someone developed a time traveling tank?!
But everyone hated going up against them.
General Patton’s Third Army stole gas from US First Army.
Patton said in jest that he’d stolen enough gas to be put in Leavenworth.
I imagine since you won't need big tanks of foam, that you could carry dragoons. I'd say since I already said "urban combat vehicle" it would be able to send off wheeled and aerial drones to help find enemies and guide mortar and gun fire.
Putting a turret on it would be interesting.
That was a Hope we could believe in!
Aw Jeez, what a crap movie.
Robert Shaw was approaching the fuel depot in the middle of summer.
...during the Battle of the Bulge????
Rubbish
Pure rubbish
It does kind of look like a HEMTT. Maybe someone could try my idea with one of those, to save costs on a proto-type.
I’m a huge WWII Aircraft fan. As a high school kid I idolized the B17. But truth be told, their big claim to fame was they could take a beating and they were making 16 PER DAY at the end of the war. We were literally producing them faster than they could shoot them down.
But their bomb load was paultry.
I don’t know. It would seem the M1 exposed the myth of Soviet/Russian armor when it dominated the feared T-72 in Desert Storm.
Thanks for the post. I didn’t know the Sherman actually did well in trained hands and good leadership.
You got a sneak preview of a post scheduled for next week on Homer’s WW2 daily thread.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.