Posted on 02/02/2021 8:57:08 AM PST by Onthebrink
There is a myriad of excellent tanks that have been built since the first British MkI rolled across the battlefields of Western Europe during the First World War. However, for every T-34, Leopard and M1 Abrams, there are tanks that rightfully belong on the scrap heap of history – yet instead of rusting away from memory, we should use these as examples of everything that went wrong.
While I am sure many can make different choices based on a whole host of different factors, here are my picks for the five worst tanks ever.
(Excerpt) Read more at 19fortyfive.com ...
Great looking tank—but a death trap!
Not a single panzer in the list? I guess the Krauts really built good tanks.
Soviet to
New Zealand Bob Semper
Japanese type at Ha Go
American M3 Stuart
British Valiant
Got to drive an M 60 once when in the service. Tanks and submarines are the only things I would disobey orders for.
M60 Patton Tank
One of the longest serving tanks in US history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M60_tank#/media/File:M60_Patton_Tank_Fort_Lewis_Military_Museum.jpg
Map of M60 operators as of 2020 in blue with former operators in red
M3 was far superior to Italian tanks. Italian tank crews actually fought in their machines, poor bastards.
There are a few more tanks I would have considered. I think the Brits had a few early tanks that struggled, like a few of the Mk types or Matilda.
The M-3 Stuart was actually pretty popular in North Africa where it was found to be fast and mechanically reliable. The Brits called the “Honey” for that reason. The 37mm gun was adequate for the period and, unlike the British 2 pounder, had a useful HE round. At the very least the 37mm was no worse than the 2 pounder (40 mm) AT gun that British tanks like the Matilda and Crusader carried.
The “underpowered” 57mm was the British 6 pounder and both the Churchill and Valentine tanks were using. They were certainly a big improvement over the 40mm two pounder and were marginally better against armor than the low velocity 75mm that Shermans of the time carried.
I thought the Brits _liked_ the M3 Stuart? They called it The Honey because it was so easy to maintain.
The Ferdinand (a late-war German tank destroyer: boxed-in 88mm anti-tank gun on an early Tiger chassis) was possibly the worst German armored vehichle to see action.
The M3 was an attempt to get a 75mm on the battlefield. The 75mm was not really for killing other tanks, but to attack AT guns and infantry with HE shells. The 37mm was the AT gun.
> Not a single panzer in the list? I guess the Krauts really built good tanks <
Well, if a German tank is needed for the list, I’d nominate the very impractical Maus (“Mouse”). It was an enormous, underpowered tank, so heavy it wouldn’t have been able to cross most bridges. And it had no secondary armament to keep enemy infantry at bay.
The Maus is a great example of how the Germans wasted time, money, and resources chasing dreams. Meanwhile, the Soviets were building thousands and thousands of T-34s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_VIII_Maus
Sherman tank = tommy cooker
The British Churchill tank was almost obsolete when introduced in 1943: an ungainly, over-armored, vehicle that was too long, too tall, and too narrow. (It was designed to pass through British railway tunnels) Samples were left behind for the Germans to study after the raid on Dieppe.
But it eventually found a niche as the chassis for a series of armored support vehicles for the Normandy landings among the collection called Hobart’s Funnies. Among them were a bridge-layer, a flame-thrower (The Crocodile), and a mine-clearer.
The tank itself underwent some redesign and emerged in the last year of the war as a welcome infantry support tank that could withstand hits from German 75mm guns and continue to fight.
Germans sure liked over-sized but impractical weapons, didn’t they? How much time and money did they waste on the Gustav rail gun, for example.
Actually, the M3 Grant performed well in an infantry support role for the British in North Africa. It was better than anything else they had, until they got Shermans in quantity, and the equal of the early Panzers.
Ya beat me to the punch!
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