Tank Overhaul
Encyclopedia
Tank Overhaul is a Canadian
documentary
television program
broadcast
on the Military Channel
starting in 2007. Episode
s are film
ed at the Isle of Wight Military Museum as well as other organizations specializing in military history
vehicle restoration
and preservation
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
on the Military Channel
Military Channel
The Military Channel is a cable and satellite television network which broadcasts television programming related to the military, warfare and military history. It is part of the group of networks owned by Discovery Communications within the United States and Canada...
starting in 2007. Episode
Episode
An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
s are film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
ed at the Isle of Wight Military Museum as well as other organizations specializing in military history
Military history
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
vehicle restoration
Vehicle restoration
Vehicle restoration is the process of restoring a vehicle that is either partially scrapped or otherwise life expired back to its original working condition. Automotive restoration can be applied to many different eras of automobile. Heritage railways and railway museums aim to restore and operate...
and preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
.
Season 1: 2007
| Title | Military Channel Original Airdate | Episode # |
|---|---|---|
| "A34 Comet" | February 6, 2007 | 1 |
| Isle of Wight Military Museum Managing Director Dave Arnold and his team of restorers take on the task of refurbishing a 1944-era World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis... British United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... Comet tank Comet tank The Tank, Cruiser, Comet I was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of World War II. It was designed to provide greater anti-tank capability to Cromwell tank squadrons. It was armed with a 77mm HV, a derivative of the 17 pounder, with the result it was one of the few British... rescued from an army ordnance firing range Bombing range A bombing range is an area used for testing explosive ordnance and practicing to accurately direct them to the target. Bombing ranges are used for munitions that either explode or produce too much destruction to use at a shooting range, such as kinetic energy penetrators or very large caliber... . Hoping to have it ready for the museum's 2006 Tank fest, they have only 4 months in which to complete their task. |
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| “PzKpfw V Panther" | February 13, 2007 | 2 |
| Tank restorer Jacques Littlefield labors to add a rare German Nazi Germany Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by... PzKpfw V Panther tank Panther tank Panther is the common name of a medium tank fielded by Nazi Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV; while never replacing the latter, it served alongside it as... to his collection of over 300 military Military A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g... vehicles. Recovered from a riverbed in Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... , the badly mangled hulk presents an incredible challenge to his crew of experts, but also offers clues to the events on the fateful day of its destruction back in World War II. |
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| "The M4 Sherman" | February 20, 2007 | 3 |
| The Isle of Wight team attempts to pull off an unrivaled feat of military restoration as they endeavor to make one good tank out of two destroyed ones. Their ambitious undertaking involves rebuilding the damaged front quarter of a US Army United States Army The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services... M4 Sherman M4 Sherman The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease... by welding Welding Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes... on an intact hull section cut from a donor Sherman. The program also examines the strengths and weaknesses of the Sherman design, which while being the most numerous World War II tank type fielded was both praised and reviled. |
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| "M18 Hellcat" | February 27, 2007 | 4 |
| Karl Smith and his military restoration experts at the Tank Workshop in Tooele, Utah race against time to get a US M18 Hellcat M18 Hellcat The 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 was an American tank destroyer of World War II. The manufacturer, Buick, gave it the nickname "Hellcat" and it was the fastest tracked armored fighting vehicle during the war with a top speed up to 60 mph. Hellcat crews took advantage of the vehicle's... tank destroyer Tank destroyer A tank destroyer is a type of armored fighting vehicle armed with a gun or missile launcher, and is designed specifically to engage enemy armored vehicles... up and running for a VE-Day Victory in Europe Day Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not... celebration being hosted at their facility, which boasts the largest World War II vehicle collection in the US. Their secret ambition is to surprise a special guest invitee to the occasion, a US veteran Veteran A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."... who was the tank's crew commander over sixty years ago! |
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Season 2: 2009
| Title | Military Channel Original Airdate | Episode # |
|---|---|---|
| "The Centurion" | March 18, 2009 | 1 |
| Featuring restoration of an A41 Centurion Tank Centurion tank The Centurion, introduced in 1945, was the primary British main battle tank of the post-World War II period. It was a successful tank design, with upgrades, for many decades... . Fast, smart, deadly, the British designed Centurion is one of the greatest tanks of all time. A champion in Korea against the Chinese Red Army, afterwards virtually every army in NATO wanted one. The Centurion is so adaptable that armies in South Africa and Israel are still using it. Even today, Centurion innovations live on in modern tanks. In this episode, we will meet two crews working on Centurions. The first crew volunteers at the vast Imperial War Museum Duxford in England. They have all the time, spare parts and manpower they need. The second crew toils in a small museum in Oshawa, Canada. Relying on volunteer energy and minuscule budgets, they’re aiming to get their Centurion finished in 10 years. |
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| "The Elephant" | March 14, 2009 | 2 |
| Featuring restoration of an Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant Elefant The Elefant was a "schwerer Panzerjäger" of the German Wehrmacht used in small numbers in World War II. It was built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand, after its designer Ferdinand Porsche. In 1944, after modification of the existing vehicles, they were renamed Elefant... .One of the largest heaviest tank destroyers ever built, the Elephant was brilliant on paper and terrifying to behold. But in 1943, the Germans sent it into battle without having ever tested it. Under fire, the massive monster turned out to be a sitting duck for courageous Soviet fighters who learned they could disable it with a simple Molotov cocktail. The Elephant is possibly the rarest surviving tank from World War 2. Only 90 were ever built and now only two are thought to exist. At the US Army Ordnance Museum, you will see a crack team restore a rusted beat up machine that has been left on the sidelines since 1944. |
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| "The M-24 Chaffee" | March 26, 2009 | 3 |
| Featuring restoration of an M-24 Chaffee Tank. In this episode, you’ll meet Joe Garbarino, CEO of Marin Sanitation, a massive garbage and recycling business in San Rafael California. Joe’s true passion is his collection of military vehicles. And one of his pride and joys is the M-24 Chaffee. Fast, dependable, armed with an excellent 75 mm gun, some historians say this was the best light tank of World War 2. Every year on July 4th, Joe and his team join a local Independence Day parade. But this year, somewhere inside its massive hull, the M-24 has sprung a leak - and the leak might keep it out of the parade. |
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| "The B M P" | April 2, 2009 | 4 |
| Featuring restoration of an Soviet BMP Tank.Unveiled in the mid-1960s, the Soviet BMP was the world’s very first infantry fighting vehicle – a brand new concept for the modern nuclear battlefield. The BMP was designed to protect soldiers from radioactive fallout and allow them to fight from within the vehicle. But the BMP never fought a nuclear war. Instead it fought conventional wars in the Middle East where it was outclassed by its vastly superior American counterpart, the M2 Bradley. Greg Taylor is one of the world’s most experienced tank restorations experts. He’s spent years trying to get a BMP brought into his backyard in the Nevada desert. But he’s got an impossible mission on his hands – rebuild a Cold War vehicle without enough money or time and with only part time help from his friends on weekends. The brutal mission pushes Greg to his breaking point. |
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