Tanks in World War II
Encyclopedia
Tanks played a great role in World War II
. Invented by the British in World War I
, the tank gradually improved in the inter-war period and also saw rapid changes in the Second World War. At one point a tank seemed to be state-of-the-art, then a year later it was obsolete.
Previously, tanks had been used to support infantry, but with the concept of Blitzkrieg
, tanks became a formidable branch of the army in its own right. Before the end of the war, tanks had superseded infantry as the most important force on the battlefield.
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Tanks played a major role in World War II. Although Italy and Japan produced significant numbers of tanks before and during World War II, it is the German tanks which are best known. The early tanks of Germany
were technologically inferior to many of their opponent's tanks in the areas of armour and firepower, however it was in their tactical employment that German tanks dominated all rivals early in the war. German doctrine stressed the use of combined-arms involving mobile infantry and air support, and, after its surprising success during the execution of Fall Gelb (Battle of France), the tactic of the Blitzkrieg
(lightning warfare) was developed. This doctrine required the Germans to equip their tanks with radios, which provided unmatched command and control. In contrast, almost all light French tanks lacked radios, essentially because their battle doctrine was based on a more slow-paced, deliberate conformance to planned movements. This required fewer radios at all levels. French tanks generally outclassed German tanks in firepower and armour in the 1940 campaign, but their poor command and control doctrine made these advantages irrelevant to the final outcome.
Just as in World War I, there was experimentation with effective tank sizes. On the heavy side, the United States experimented with the T-28 at 86 tonne
s and Germany developed the 188-tonne Panzer VIII Maus, though neither entered service. The trend towards heavier tanks was unmistakable as the war proceeded. In 1939, most tanks had maximum armour of 30 mm or less, with guns no heavier than 37–47 mm. Medium tanks of 1939 weighed around 20 tonnes. By 1945, typical medium tanks had maximum armour over 60 mm thick, with guns in the 75–85 mm range and weights of 30 to 45 tonnes. Light tanks, which dominated most armies early in the war, gradually faded out and were mostly used in the reconnaissance role.
Turret
s, which had always been considered, but were not previously a universal feature on tanks, were recognised as essential. It was appreciated that if the tank's gun was to be used to engage both 'soft' (unarmored) and armoured targets, then it needed to be as large and powerful as possible, making one large gun with an all-round field of fire vital. Also, mounting the gun in a turret ensured that the tank could fire from behind some cover. Hull-mounted guns required that most of the vehicle be exposed to enemy fire. Multiple-turreted or multi-gun designs such as the Soviet T-35
, American Medium Tank M3
, French Char B or British A9 Cruiser Mk I
slowly became less common during World War II. It was recognized that a tank crew could not effectively control the fire of several weapons; also, newer dual-purpose guns eliminated the need for multiple weapons. Most tanks still retained a hull machine gun, and usually one or more machineguns in the turret, to protect them from infantry.
During the Second World War, tanks usually began to be equipped with radio
s, vastly improving their command and control
. By 1943, two-way radio was nearly universal. Tanks were adapted to a wide range of military jobs, including mine
clearance and engineering
tasks. Specialized models, such as flame-thrower tanks, recovery tanks for towing disabled tanks, and command tanks with extra radios and dummy turrets were also used. Some of these tank variants live on as other classes of armoured fighting vehicle
, no longer called "tanks". All major combatant powers also developed tank destroyer
s and assault gun
s - armoured vehicles carrying large calibre guns, but often no turrets. Turreted vehicles are expensive to manufacture compared to nonturreted vehicles. One trend seen in World War II was the usage of older, lighter tank chassis to mount larger weapons in fixed casemates as tank destroyers or assault guns. For example, the Soviet T-34 could mount an 85 mm gun in the turret, but the same chassis could carry the much more effective 100 mm gun in a fixed casemate as the SU-100. Likewise, the obsolete German Panzer II
light tank was modified to take a powerful 75 mm PAK-40 gun in an open-topped, fixed casement as the Marder II
.
While some of the Italian tanks ("Carro Armato
") were fairly modern in 1939, by the early part of Italy's war they had become completely obsolete. The better armed and armoured P 40 heavy tank never entered service with the Italian army, although a few were taken over by the Germans.
Japan used tanks during the invasion of China before World War II as well as during the Far Eastern campaigns from 1941. As China and the Allies had few armored forces available at that time the Japanese vehicles were quite adequate, the more so as their primary role was infantry fire support rather than tank-against-tank operations. Once the tide turned against Japan, however, these same armoured vehicles proved distressingly vulnerable to superior Allied tanks such as the M4 Sherman, and were largely relegated to use as dug-in pillboxes or static artillery.
, Czechoslovak army used a complement of light tanks including 298 LT vz. 35
designed by Škoda
, as well as 50 LT vz. 34
built by ČKD; 150 LT vz. 38
were ordered but none were delivered before the German occupation. The LT-35 and LT-38 models were superior to the Panzer I
and Panzer II
light tanks used in the Wehrmacht, so the Germans ordered to resume the production of these models.
Before the end of production in 1942, 136 more LT-35 and a total of 1414 LT-38 were produced for the Wermacht at Škoda Works
; these tanks saw operational use in the Polish campaign, the Battle of France, and on the Soviet front. By 1942, Czech-built tanks became progressively vulnerable to Soviet T-34 medium tanks and new anti-tank cannons. Moreover, LT-35 and LT-38 proved unsuitable for harsh winter conditions in Russia, so they were withdrawn from front line service in 1942; the remaining units were either redeployed in a light reconnaissance role, or converted to Hetzer
tank destroyers and artillery tractors.
Poland was the first to suffer the German Blitzkrieg, but it had some very good tanks in its amoured forces. They were the 7TP
(siedmiotonowy polski - 7-tonne Polish) Polish light tank and were significantly better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and Panzer II.
The 7TP was the Polish development of the British Vickers 6-ton
(Mk.E) which the Poles purchased 50 and licensed it for local production which entered service as the 7TP
. The main new features of 7TP were: a better, more reliable and powerful diesel engine
(which made 7TP world's first diesel tank), 37 mm anti-tank gun
, and a bit thicker armour
(in front, 17 mm instead of 13 mm), together with the Gundlach tank periscope (pictured), different air conditioning system, a radio, and many minor modifications and additions. Only about 132 tanks were produced between 1935 and the outbreak of the war (plus four iron prototypes). Tank's weight increased after the initial 7-tonne prototype was made and the actual serial tanks weighted approximately 9 tonnes.
Like its British predecessor, the 7TP was initially produced in two variants: twin turret
version armed with 2 Ckm wz.30
machine gun
s, and a single turret version, armed with 37 mm Bofors wz. 37 gun. After initial tests, it became clear that the twin-turret variant was obsolete and lacked firepower, so it was abandoned in favour of the more modern single turret design.
Poland also had the TK (also known as the TK-3) tankette which was based upon an improved chassis of the British Carden Loyd tankette
.The 575 TK/TKS tankettes formed the bulk of the Polish armoured forces but they stood no chance in combat against German tanks, except the Panzer I
, and suffered heavy losses during the Invasion of Poland
. Only the handful of tankettes armed with 20 mm guns had a fighting chance against the enemy tanks; in one instance on 18 September 1939 a 20 mm gunned TKS destroyed three German Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) tanks.
All of the 7TP tanks took part in combat in the Polish Defensive War
of 1939. Most of them were attached to two light tank battalions (the 1st and the 2nd). The remaining tanks, that is the ones used for training as well as tanks that were finished after the outbreak of the war, were used in an improvised tank unit fighting in the defence of Warsaw
. Although technically superior to any of the German light tanks of the era, the 7TP was too scarce to change the outcome of the war.
The 1st Light Tank Battalion (49 single turret tanks) fought with 7TP tanks in the ranks of the Prusy Army
as part of the strategic reserve force of the Polish Army. It entered combat on September 4, 1939 and fought with distinction in a variety of roles, mostly as a mobile reserve and for covering the withdrawal. It fought in a number of battles, most notably in the battles of Przedbórz, Sulejów, Inowłódz, Odrzywół and Drzewica. On September 8 it managed to stop the German advance on the centre of the Polish forces, and later it joined the Lublin Army
and Col. Stefan Rowecki
's Warsaw Armoured Motorised Brigade. As part of that unit, the battalion took part in the Battle of Józefów and formed part of the spearhead of the Polish units trying to break through to Lwów and the Romanian Bridgehead
. After the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski
, on September 21, 1939, the remaining tanks were destroyed by their crews and the unit surrendered to the Germans.
The 2nd Light Tank Battalion (49 single turret tanks) with 7TP tanks was attached to the Piotrków
Operational Group
of the Łódź Army. It entered combat on September 4 near the river of Prudka, Bełchatów and led the Polish counter-assault on Piotrków, but the attack failed and the unit suffered heavy losses. The battalion then took part Battle of Włodawa, but suffered heavy losses due to air bombardment and was withdrawn and the remaining tanks had to be destroyed by the crews due to lack of fuel.
The remaining tanks found in Warsaw were formed into 1st and 2nd Company of Light Tanks by the Command of the Defence of Warsaw. The 1st company had 11 twin-turreted tanks, previously used for training. In the opening stages of the Siege of Warsaw
the unit took part in heavy fights for the Warsaw's suburb of Okęcie
and the major airport located there. Due to lack of anti-tank armament, the tanks of the 1st company suffered losses and were withdrawn to the rear on September 12, where the unit was joined with the 2nd company.
The combat experience proved that the Bofors wz. 37
anti-tank gun used in the 7TP was able to penetrate the armour of any of the German tanks of the time, including the modern Panzer IV
. On the other hand, the tank was armoured too lightly, especially against aerial bombardment. Altogether, it is estimated that 20 tanks were captured by the Germans almost intact while one was captured by the Soviets. Additional 20 were successfully withdrawn to Romania and Hungary, while almost 40 had to be abandoned due to engine problems and lack of fuel. After the fall of Poland Germans included 20 captured 7TP to 203. Panzerbataillon as Pzkpfw 731 (p) tanks. The 7TP tank was used by Wehrmacht
operations in 1940 in Norway
and France
.
France was overrun by the Germans but it had a formidable tank force. In 1940 they had one of the largest tank forces in the world along with the Soviet, British and German forces. Like the British and the Soviets, the French believed in a strict division of labour
between cavalry tanks and infantry tank
s.
The French Army preferred to fight a defensive battle and built tanks accordingly. But there were some instances when some of the French tanks were able to slug it out with the German tanks and get the better of it, sometimes spectacularly so as when on 16 May a single Char B1
French heavy tank, the Eure, frontally attacked and destroyed thirteen German tanks lying in ambush in Stonne
, all of them Panzer III
s and Panzer IV
s, in the course of a few minutes. The tank safely returned despite being hit 140 times (this event is not trackable in German documents and relies on the statements of the crew). Similarly, in his book Panzer Leader, Heinz Guderian
relates the following incident, which took place during a tank battle south of Juniville: "While the tank battle was in progress, I attempted, in vain, to destroy a Char B with a captured 47 mm anti-tank gun; all the shells I fired at it simply bounced harmlessly off its thick armor. Our 37 mm and 20 mm guns were equally ineffective against this adversary. As a result, we inevitably suffered sadly heavy casualties".
The total tank assets in France and its colonies were therefore perhaps less than 5802 ( Renault R-17 should not be counted as a tank of World War Two; the Poles, after an attempt to use them as tanks, decided to use them to build barricades, in September 1939; moreover, Renault R-35 should be viewed as a temporary crosscountry tank, since while used in the eastren Poland the lossess were 40% over first 2-days of operation due to mechanical failure beyond possibility of field repair. The SOMUA S35 was so claustrophobic to the commander that after two days of fighting such an officer should either be replaced or placed in a mental ward to rest. It is obvious that any prolonged tank battle should have been won by the Germans by the third day, with nearly have R-35's self--destroyed and with S35's de facto without a commander/gunner.) during the time of the German offensive. After the armistice in the unoccupied Free Zone of France a clandestine rebuild took place of 225 GMC Trucks into armoured cars. When all of France was occupied in 1942 the secret hiding places (caves in fact) were betrayed to the Germans.
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Germany's armoured Panzer
force was not especially impressive at the start of the war. Plans called for two main tanks: the Panzer III
medium tank
and the Panzer IV
infantry tank
. However, by the beginning of the invasion of Poland
, only a few vehicles were available. As a result, the invasions of Poland and France
were carried out primarily with the inferior Panzer I
and Panzer II
light tank
s, with some cannon-armed light tanks from Czechoslovakia
. As the war proceeded, production of the heavier tanks increased.
The Panzer III was intended to fight other tanks; in the initial design stage a 50 mm (2 inch) cannon was specified. However, the infantry at the time were being equipped with the 37 mm (1.46 inch) PaK 36
, and it was thought that in the interest of standardization the tanks should carry the same armament. As a compromise, the turret ring was made large enough to accommodate a 50 mm (2 inch) cannon should a future upgrade be required. This single decision would later assure the Panzer III a prolonged life in the German army.
After the invasion of Poland, the decision to adopt the Panzer IV
tank as the mainstay of Germany's armored divisions was made, production was extended to the many more factories. By 1941, 462 Panzer IV Ausf. Fs had been assembled, and the up-gunned Ausf. F2 was entering production. The yearly production total had more than quadrupled since the start of the war. In 1941 an average of 39 Panzer IV models tanks per month were built, and this rose to 83 in 1942, 252 in 1943, and 300 in 1944.
During the Operation Barbarossa
, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, it was discovered that the Soviet
T-34
tank outclassed the Panzer III and IV. Its sloped armour could defeat most German weapons, and its 76.2 mm gun could penetrate the armour of all German tanks. This forced the Germans to improve their existing models. The Panzer III, which was intended to be the main medium tank, was upgraded to a longer, higher-velocity 50 mm gun.
Thus the Panzer IV, originally intended to be a support tank, became the de facto main medium tank re-armed with a long-barrelled, high velocity 75 mm gun to counter the T-34. The Germans also started to develop newer heavier tanks. This included the Panzer V Panther
, which was intended to be the new main German battle tank. The Panther tank was a compromise of various requirements. While sharing essentially the same engine as the Tiger I tank, it had better frontal armor, better gun penetration, was lighter overall and thus faster, and could handle rough terrain better than the Tigers. The tradeoff was weaker side armor; the Panther proved to be deadly in open country and shooting from long range, but vulnerable to close-quarters combat. The Germans also started to develop a new series of very heavy tanks.
The first one was the Tiger
, which outclassed all its opponents in terms of firepower and armor when it was put into operational use. Being obsessed with very heavy and mighty tanks, Hitler ordered even heavier and stronger tanks to be produced, which led to the development of the heavy Tiger II
, which replaced the Tiger I late in the war. Its powerful gun and very heavy armor made it superior to every Allied or Soviet tank in a head-to-head confrontation, but the underpowered engine and the enormous fuel consumption limited its use in maneuver warfare. Right before the end of the war there were plans for even heavier tanks, such as the Panzer VIII Maus
, but only small numbers, or in case of the Maus only prototypes, were produced.
Italy had several light, medium tanks it fielded with its army and actually designed a decent heavy tank P40 in 1940 but very few had been built by the time Italy signed the armistice with the Allies so the few produced afterwards were used by the Germans. The P40 design was reasonably up-to-date, which could not be said of the other medium tanks designs as the P40 was the only Italian tank design that was comparable to Allied and German medium tanks when they appeared in the middle of the war.
The Fiat-Ansaldo M11/39 medium tank used from 1939 through the early period of World War II. The M11/39 was developed as a "breakthrough tank" (Carro di Rottura). Although designated a medium tank by the Italian Army, in weight and firepower it was closer to contemporary light tanks. It was replaced by the Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40 a medium tank ("M" for Medio (medium) according to the Italian tank weight standards at the time: 13 tonnes was the scheduled weight and 1940 the initial year of production), in the Italian Army and was used in the Greek campaign in 1940
and 1941 and in the North African Campaign
.
The M13/40 was not used on the Eastern Front
; Italian forces there were equipped only with Fiat L6/40
s and Semovente 47/32
s. Armament was sufficient for 1940-41 but did not keep up with the increased armor and firepower on Allied or German tanks. Beginning in 1942, the Italian Army recognized the firepower weakness of the M13/40 series and employed the Semovente 75/18
self propelled gun alongside the tanks in their armored units.
The next tank in the series was the Fiat M14/41, a four person Italian tank. The M14/41 was a slightly improved version of the Fiat M13/40 with a more powerful diesel engine. It was produced in limited numbers but was considered already obsolete by the time of its introduction. The M14/41 used the same chassis as the M13/40 but with a redesigned hull with better armor.
The tank was first employed in the North African Campaign
where its shortcomings became quickly apparent. The vehicle was unreliable, cramped, and caught fire easily when hit. Following the withdrawal of Italian forces from North Africa the M14/41 was rarely encountered, though many captured vehicles were pressed into service by British and Australian forces to fill the serious shortage of allied tanks in 1941.
The next in the series was the M15/42 15 tonne tank first built in January 1943. Some 90 vehicles were built before the Italian armistice in September 1943 and in connection to that event they were used in battle against the Germans by the Ariete armored division in Rome. After that point they were confiscated and used by the Germans who also built another 28 M15/42 tanks. It was developed from the M13/40 and the M14/41. It had a more powerful engine and air filters to cope with the harsh conditions of the desert. But by the time it entered service, it was already obsolete.
Britain had been the worldwide trend-setter in tank development from 1915, but had lost its leadership position as the war approached. The British Army entered the war with over-specialized and hobbled by poor doctrine. The Army had two types of tanks - "infantry" which were matched to the pace of the infantry units they would support and hence could carry heavier armour, and "cruiser" which were intended for independent (faster) operation and so could carry less armour. British crews were trained to fire on the move and the armament was mounted for optimum balance such that the gunner could aim with his body rather than use geared elevation. This however reduced available space inside the turret.
The result was a series of under-armed, mechanically unreliable designs such as the Cruiser Mk I
, Cruiser Mk II
and Crusader
cruiser tank
s, and the Matilda II
infantry tank
, and a series of machine-gun armed light tanks suitable for reconnaissance work only.
The Cruiser Mk I was an effective tank in the French, Greek and early North African campaign
s. The 2 pdr gun was better than comparable 37mm weapons of Germany and US, and lethal against tanks encountered during the North African campaign. The minimal armor made the A9 an easy kill for most German anti-tank weapons.
A number of Cruiser Mark IIs were part of the British Expeditionary Force
(BEF) sent to France in the early stages of World War II
. The A10 cross country performance was recorded as poor, but they were still used later in North Africa at the defence of Tobruk
in 1941, where reliability and suspension performance in the desert conditions was praised. Sixty worn out examples were taken to Greece, by the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment
and although they performed well against the German tanks, over 90% were lost due to mechanical breakdowns as opposed to enemy action (mainly tracks).
In the course of the war, British designs were generally slow to reach production leaving them overtaken by developments in armament or other nations designs. In a few cases, a design was brought rapidly to production but before the flaws were eliminated. The Churchill had heavy armour and good off-road capability but the first models were beset by problems. When these were eliminated and the tank had shown good performance in North Africa its future was assured.
The few bright spots of British tank design included the Valentine
, Churchill (A22)
, Cromwell (A27M)
, and Comet I (A34)
. The Valentine was a reliable, heavily armoured infantry-support tank used successfully in the desert and by the Red Army as a light tank. The Cromwell was in most respects the equal of the early model Sherman of the United States or the German Panzer IV, although with a much lower profile and faster due to its powerplant derived from the Rolls Royce Merlin aero-engine. The Comet was an excellent design fielded in the final months of the war. The British Challenger (A30) Cruiser Tank, mounted with a 17 Pounder gun on a modified Cromwell
chassis to add heavier anti-tank firepower to the cruiser tank
units.
Beginning about mid-1942, most British tank units were equipped with vehicles supplied from the United States, such as the Stuart
light tank, the Lee
(or the British specification Grant variant thereof) and the Lee's/Grant's replacement the Sherman
. The British added their 17 pdr anti-tank gun to the Sherman to give the Sherman Firefly
. The Cromwell began to replace Sherman in British service.
Immediately before and during the war, the British produced an enormous array of prototype tanks and modified tanks for a variety of specialist tasks (see Hobart's Funnies
). For example, the Churchill AVRE
fired a short range 290 mm (11.4 inch) direct-fire mortar
which was used for destroying buildings and clearing obstacles. Responsibility for the build up of vehicles and the training of crews to use them was given to armoured warfare expert Percy Hobart
after whom the collection was named.
Many of the ideas had already been tried, tested or were in experimental development both by Britain and other nations. For example, the Scorpion flail tank (a modified Matilda tank) had already been used during the North African campaign to clear paths through German minefields. Soviet T-34 tanks had been modified with mine-rollers. Close-support tanks, bridgelayers, and fascine carriers had been developed elsewhere also. However, the Funnies were the largest and most elaborate collection of engineering vehicles available.
By early 1944, Hobart could demonstrate to Eisenhower and Montgomery a brigade each of swimming DD tanks, Crab mine clearers, and AVRE (Engineer) tanks along with a regiment of Crocodile flamethrowing tanks.
Montgomery considered that the US forces should use them, and offered them a half-share of all the vehicles available, but take-up was minimal. Eisenhower was in favour of the amphibious tanks but left the decision on the others to General Bradley who delegated it to his staff officers.
The Soviet Union began and ended the war with more tanks than the rest of the world combined (18,000-22,000). However, at the start of World War II the most common tank in Soviet service, the T-26
, became nearly as obsolete as Panzer II
. Most of T-26s were armed with a 45 mm gun capable of penetrating most German tanks at normal combat ranges; few had radios, and the design was mechanically sound although incapable of further development. The BT tank series, based on the Christie suspension system, were usually armed with the same 45 mm gun and were the most mobile tanks in the world. Close-support versions of both tanks existed, armed with 76.2 mm howitzers. However, the BT was at the end of its design life. The Red Army
also fielded thousands of light recon tanks such as the amphibious T-37
and T-38. These had limited combat value; although highly mobile, they were armed only with 7.62 mm machine guns and had very thin armour. The Red Army also had about 400 T-28
medium tanks, which were in most respects equal to the German Pzkw-IV. Again, though, this design dated from 1931 and was obsolescent. The Soviet Union ended the 1930s with a fleet of tanks almost completely derived from foreign designs, but before 1941 developed some of the most important trend-setting tanks of the war. The problem the Soviet tank force faced in 1941 was not primarily the technical quality of its vehicles, but the very poor state of maintenance, the appalling lack of readiness, and the poor command situation brought on by the purges
. The Red Army had in 1940 adopted an advanced doctrine that it was simply incapable of executing.
Several excellent designs were just entering production in 1940-41. On the eve of war, the Red Army had embarked on two closely related projects to reorganize its mechanized forces and re-equip them with modern designs incorporating the lessons of the Spanish Civil War and the Battle of Khalkhin Gol
(Nomonhan
). Some of these designs leapfrogged other countries' tank designs. The most significant was the T-34
, originally designed as the successor to the BT series, but with its heavier armour and heavy dual-purpose gun it became the best medium tank of the first half of World War II. The T-34 eventually replaced almost all other Soviet tanks. The basic design was good enough to keep it battle-worthy beyond 1945, having been upgraded with heavier guns, new turrets and other modifications. The second significant design was the KV-1 tank
. These were armed with the same excellent 76.2 mm gun as the T-34, and had the same V-2 diesel engine
. However, the KV had a novel torsion bar suspension and much heavier armour than the T-34. The KV was slow, intended as a breakthrough tank. The KV-2 close-support version was armed with a 152 mm howitzer. The KV series was the main Soviet heavy tank until 1943, when production ended and most had been expended. Early in 1944 the KV's successor was the IS-2
, armed with a 122 mm gun, having thicker armour and better mobility. The new infantry-support tank of 1941, intended to be the replacement for the T-26, was the T-50
, armed with a 45 mm gun, with torsion-bar suspension and excellent armour for its class. Production problems with its new engine led to the tank being cancelled after less than 70 had been made. Finally, the light reconnaissance role was to be filled by the amphibious T-40
and the cheaper non-amphibious T-60
.
At the beginning of Germany's Operation Barbarossa
most of the Soviet Union's tank forces were composed of the T-26 tank series
and BT. A few T-40s had appeared, along with about 1363 mechanically unreliable early T-34 tanks
, and 677 KV-1 and KV-2s. Many early T-34s were captured or destroyed. Much of this early failure was due to lack of coordination, ill-supplied and ill-trained tank crews, and the lack of readiness of the Red Army in general. Another difficulty for the T-34 was that it had only a four man crew, with the tank commander doubling as the gunner. Although spared from loading duties, as French tank commanders had been, it still crippled the tank commander's ability to maintain awareness of the battlefield while firing the tank's main gun, giving a tactical advantage to German armour.
In 1941 great numbers of T-60s appeared, supplemented in 1942 with the similar T-70
. Both light tanks had torsion-bar suspension, light armour, and small truck engines. Their simple construction kept them in production even though their combat value was limited. The T-60 had only a 20 mm gun while the T-70 had a 45 mm. However, both had one-man turrets, making them difficult to crew effectively. The T-70 formed the basis for the much more important self-propelled gun SU-76
later in the war.
By October 1942 Life magazine said that the Soviets had "probably ... the best tanks in the world". The T-34 effectively made all German tanks produced to that date obsolete. In fact, at its height the T-34 was deemed so successful, and so capable in every role, that production of all other tanks except the IS-2 was stopped to allow all available resources to be used exclusively for this tank. The T-34 forced the Germans to adopt new, heavier designs such as the Panther
and Tiger
, which in turn forced upgrades to the Soviet, United States and British tank fleets. Perhaps more significantly to the ultimate course of the war, the move to more complex and expensive German tank designs overwhelmed the already critically strained German tank-production capability, reducing the numbers of tanks available to German forces and thus helping to force Germany to surrender the initiative in the war to the Allies.
Mid-war, the KV series began to show its flaws. Better German antitank guns made it vulnerable, and its slow speed and lack of mechanical reliability were great handicaps. As it only carried the same gun as the T-34 but in a slower, much more expensive chassis, production was stopped in 1943.
Later in the war the light tank role was increasingly filled by Lend-Lease
supplies of United States M-3 light tanks and British and Canadian-built Valentine
tanks. Ironically, the T-34 was as fast or faster than many of the light tanks that were supposed to scout for it, further encouraging reductions in Soviet light tank production.
In response to better German tanks, the Soviets began to produce the T-34-85, which had an 85-mm gun, in the winter of 1943-44, while retaining superiority in speed and mobility over the German tanks—an advantage it enjoyed until the very end of the war. This model also had a much larger turret with a 3-man crew, finally allowing the tank commander to concentrate fully on maintaining a tactical awareness of the battlefield. The Soviets also responded with the 122 mm-armed IS-2 heavy tank, which carried heavier armour than the KV without an increase in overall weight; this was achieved by thinning the rear armour and moving most of the armour to the front of the tank, where it was expected to take most of its hits.
The IS-3 variant, produced in mid-1945, had a much more streamlined look and a larger, bowl-shaped tapered turret. Remarkably, the IS-3 had thicker armour but actually weighed slightly less than the IS-2, remaining under 50 tons (as compared to the Tiger II's 68). The armour design of the IS-3 was an enormous influence on postwar tank design, as seen in the Soviet T-55
and T-62
series, the United States M48
and the Federal German Leopard.
Soviet tank production outstripped all other nations with the exception of the United States. The Soviets accomplished this through standardization on a few designs, generally forgoing minor qualitative improvements and changing designs only when upgrades would result in a major improvement.
By February 1942, after the United States' entry into World War II, its civilian automobile factories only made weapons and military vehicles. Automobile manufacturers such as General Motors
and Chrysler
used their experience with mass production
to quickly build tanks. The country manufactured as many tanks in the first half of 1942 than in all of 1941, with 1,500 in May 1942 alone. American production equipped not only its forces, but through Lend Lease also bolstered the tank inventories of the free French (after 1942), Britain and other Allied nations. Similarly to the Soviet Union, the United States selected a few good basic designs and standardized on those models. Given the lack of tank design and production experience, it is remarkable that the United States designs were as good as they were.
Prior to the entry of the United States in the war, the Army had only a few tanks. The Light Tank M2
series was the most important. These light tanks were mechanically very reliable, with good mobility. However, they had a high silhouette, poor armor and a poor gun. Only a few saw combat, on Guadalcanal
. The Light Tank M3
series of 1941 was an improvement of the M2, with more armour and a 37 mm gun. The new medium tank just entering production in 1940 was the M2A1. This was a hopelessly poor design with thin armour, a high silhouette, a 37 mm main gun and seven machine guns.
From 1940 new tank designs were prepared. The Battle of France
had shown the importance of medium tanks. The British sought to have the US manufacture their own designs but the US was opposed. The United States Army had a requirement for a medium tank with a 75 mm gun, and developed the M3 Medium Tank
design, which the British immediately ordered for their own use with modifications to their requirements.
The first tanks of the United States to fight in the war were the Light Tank M3 called the "General Stuart" by the British Army
and Medium Tank M3
(the "Grant" version had a British-designed turret and a six-man crew; the "Lee" version used the original turret and seven-man crew). They were deeply flawed in many ways, yet were the best tanks available to the Western Allies and were superior to most of their German counterparts in armour protection and firepower. The Light Tank M3 was about as well-armed as the (2 pdr-armed) British cruiser tanks in the desert, yet was much more reliable mechanically. Its 37 mm main gun was more powerful than the main guns carried by German reconnaissance tanks. The official name given to the Light Tank M3 was 'Stuart'; a nickname used was 'Honey'. The M3 and its improved derivative, the Light Tank M5 series, remained in service throughout the war. By 1943, its 37 mm gun made it a very dangerous tank to serve in, but no better replacement was available. The Light Tank T7 design was proposed as a successor in 1943, armed with a 57 mm gun and with better armour; however, the design was never standardized for production.
The appearance of the M3 Lee medium tank in the summer of 1942 finally gave the British a larger supply of medium tanks than they could otherwise have hoped for. Although poorly designed, with a very high profile and poor weaponry, it was produced in great numbers and was very effective when engaging targets other than enemy tanks, such infantry and gun positions.
When first fielded, the M3 was a match for German medium tanks, but it had the significant disadvantage of its 75 mm main armament being mounted offset in the hull. It had a fully traversable turret with a 37 mm cannon as well, but the turret combined with a hull gun gave it a very tall profile. The United States 1st Armored Division also employed the M3 in Africa. It was a stopgap solution, never intended to be a design of major importance. In American and British service the M3 was primarily phased out at the end of the North African campaign but continued to see service throughout the Italian Campaign
in addition to a handful taking part in the invasion of Normandy. It continued to service in the Red Army
for some time, where its crews named it as "grave for seven brothers".
The most important American design of the war was the M4 Sherman
medium tank. The M4 became the second-most-produced tank of World War II, and was the only tank to be used by virtually all Allied forces (thanks to the American lend-lease
program). M4s formed the main tank of American, British, Canadian, French, Polish and Chinese units. The M4 was the equal of the German medium tanks, the Panzer III and Panzer IV, at the time it first saw service in 1942. Over 4,000 Shermans were supplied to the Soviet Union, beginning in mid-1943. The M4, although reliable and easy to maintain, was already outgunned by the time the US encountered the up-gunned and up-armoured German medium tanks in Italy and Northern Europe (the Panzer IV and various German self-propelled guns)and by late 1943 the arrival of German Panther and Tiger I
were even graver threats due to the range, accuracy and penetrating power of their main guns. While it is commonly believed that the Sherman had a tendency to explode catastrophically due to their use of petrol, this is incorrect. It is now known that early models suffered from poor ammunition storage; later versions with "wet" storage designs were no more likely to explode than other contemporary tanks.
Flawed United States armour doctrine played a major role in keeping the M4 undergunned in 1944-1945. The doctrine emphasized that tanks were to be used primarily for infantry support and exploitation, while the role of fighting tanks was to be carried out by the tank destroyer
branch, armed with both towed and self-propelled guns such as the 3 inch Gun Motor Carriage M10
. The 3" GMC M10 was thinly armoured, with an open-topped turret mounting a 3-inch gun that was very powerful by mid-war standards.
Technically, the M4's design was capable of handling larger guns than the 75 mm and 76 mm guns with which they left the factory. The M36 Jackson with the powerful 90 mm gun also entered service in the fall of 1944 and could penetrate the glacis of a Panther at 600 meters. The British fitted Shermans with the more powerful Ordnance Quick Firing 17 pounder
gun, a variant known informally as the Firefly
, and the U.S Marines used a variation in the Pacific War known informally as the Ronson flame tank. Postwar, the Israeli Army mounted a 105 mm low-pressure anti-tank gun on the M4.
By the time of the Normandy campaign, the M4 had become the workhorse tank of the Allied forces. Some Shermans were equipped with the Duplex Drive system (Sherman DD), which allowed them to swim using a collapsible screen and inflated rubber tubes. Along with this were the M1 Dozer Blade (a Sherman with a bulldozer blade), the Sherman beach armored recovery vehicle (BARV
), the Sherman T34 (which had a multiple rocket launcher
installed above the turret), the POA-CWS-H5 (a Sherman with a flame-thrower), the Sherman Twaby Ark (which allowed the Sherman to act as a temporary bridge), and the Sherman Crab Mark I (a Sherman with a mine flail
), as well as many other variants.
The United States eventually deployed an improve light tank over the M3, the Light Tank M24
. The M24 had torsion-bar suspension, high mobility, and a compact 75 mm gun. Ergonomically the tank was quite good also. However, the M24 did not appear in combat until December 1944 and equipped only a few units by the end of the war. The concept of light tanks was also generally a flawed doctrine. Also near the end of the war the M26 Pershing
heavy tank was deployed operationally. The Pershing was a very modern design with torsion-bar suspension, heavy armor, and an excellent 90 mm gun. However, it was somewhat underpowered, having the same Ford
GAA engine as the M4A3. The M26 basic design was good enough to form the basis for all postwar American tanks through the end of the M60
series.
The superior German second-generation tanks were not matched until the end of the war, but the Germans had already lost the initiative by 1943. The sheer volume of American production meant that American tanks generally prevailed.
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Like the US Army (who utilized French
& British
tanks in World War I), the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) did not have tanks of its own in World War I, so initially it started out by purchasing foreign tanks for evaluation during World War I, and then began developing its own designs. Like many other nations, the Japanese initially didn't embrace the tank, as it didn't have the cavalry tradition. Cavalry was used for reconnaissance in the mountainous countryside, and initially, as with most other armies, the first designs were constrained by the tank's infantry support role. Inspired by European designs, the Japanese tank program designed and developed the tanks which facilitated their campaigns in China and Nomonhan
against the Soviet Union
, prior to the Pacific War. They introduced many innovations as they built their designs, including bell-crank suspensions, were pioneers in amphibious tanks, and the use of diesel
engines as they were less likely to catch on fire versus the regular gas engines that were being used at the time. The Japanese Generals had made a mistake in their assessment of the tanks used against China, a country whose the army had only three tank battalions, and few antitank weapons.
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By 1937, Japan fielded 1,060 tanks in 8 regiments, most designed for and used in the infantry support role. But this focus left the IJA without a tank capable of taking on other tanks, a deficiency that was brought home hard during the battle of Khalkin-Gol (also known as Nomonhan
), a decisive defeat inflicted by the Russian
s on the Mongolian border in 1939. This proved fatal later when they faced the new generation of Allied tanks, as the great majority of the Japanese models were lightly armored, and not heavily gunned. With the priority of steel
being consumed by the Imperial Japanese Navy
and Air Force, the Japanese Army was relegated the remaining material for its tanks. Thus the 1930s designed vehicles went on being mass-produced, and the warning of Khalkin-Gol was too slowly recognized. By 1940 they had the fifth largest tank force in the world behind the Soviet Union, France, Britain and Germany, but were behind in medium and heavy tanks. After 1941, with the new focus on building warships and aircraft
, and with the entry of the United States into the conflict, priorities shifted to weapons that were more conducive to naval warfare
; attacking across the Pacific, and defending the Empire from the advancing Americans.
So although the Japanese Army widely employed tanks within the Pacific theater of war, the tanks that Allied forces in the Pacific faced were mostly old designs or obsolete as the most modern Japanese tanks, such as the Type 3 Chi-Nu
Medium Tank were delayed by shortages and even after started to come out of the factories the idea was to hold them for the defense of the mainland, and not dispersed to the far flung Imperial Japanese Army or Navy forces. The Japanese built tanks to match up against the Allied tanks, such as the Type 2 Ho-I
Infantry Support Tank with a 75 mm gun designed as a self-propelled howitzer or tank destroyer
for the close fire support role, to provide Type 97 Chi-Ha
equipped Japanese tank regiments with additional firepower against enemy armored fighting vehicles, but in limited amounts. Between 1931 and 1945, Japan produced 6450 tanks. Half of them (3300) were made by the Mitsubishi Company. The sub-total of tanks produced between 1940 and 1945 is 4424, i.e. a yearly average comparable to Italy. For a country as large and as industrialized as Japan, that is modest. Before 1945, the fleet and the air force had priority. It changed when the homeland went under direct threat but it was too late.
US Army tests Normandy 1944
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...
. Invented by the British in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the tank gradually improved in the inter-war period and also saw rapid changes in the Second World War. At one point a tank seemed to be state-of-the-art, then a year later it was obsolete.
Previously, tanks had been used to support infantry, but with the concept of Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
, tanks became a formidable branch of the army in its own right. Before the end of the war, tanks had superseded infantry as the most important force on the battlefield.
Overview
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
were technologically inferior to many of their opponent's tanks in the areas of armour and firepower, however it was in their tactical employment that German tanks dominated all rivals early in the war. German doctrine stressed the use of combined-arms involving mobile infantry and air support, and, after its surprising success during the execution of Fall Gelb (Battle of France), the tactic of the Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
(lightning warfare) was developed. This doctrine required the Germans to equip their tanks with radios, which provided unmatched command and control. In contrast, almost all light French tanks lacked radios, essentially because their battle doctrine was based on a more slow-paced, deliberate conformance to planned movements. This required fewer radios at all levels. French tanks generally outclassed German tanks in firepower and armour in the 1940 campaign, but their poor command and control doctrine made these advantages irrelevant to the final outcome.
Just as in World War I, there was experimentation with effective tank sizes. On the heavy side, the United States experimented with the T-28 at 86 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s and Germany developed the 188-tonne Panzer VIII Maus, though neither entered service. The trend towards heavier tanks was unmistakable as the war proceeded. In 1939, most tanks had maximum armour of 30 mm or less, with guns no heavier than 37–47 mm. Medium tanks of 1939 weighed around 20 tonnes. By 1945, typical medium tanks had maximum armour over 60 mm thick, with guns in the 75–85 mm range and weights of 30 to 45 tonnes. Light tanks, which dominated most armies early in the war, gradually faded out and were mostly used in the reconnaissance role.
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s, which had always been considered, but were not previously a universal feature on tanks, were recognised as essential. It was appreciated that if the tank's gun was to be used to engage both 'soft' (unarmored) and armoured targets, then it needed to be as large and powerful as possible, making one large gun with an all-round field of fire vital. Also, mounting the gun in a turret ensured that the tank could fire from behind some cover. Hull-mounted guns required that most of the vehicle be exposed to enemy fire. Multiple-turreted or multi-gun designs such as the Soviet T-35
T-35
The T-35 was a Soviet multi-turreted heavy tank of the interwar period and early Second World War that saw limited production and service with the Red Army. It was the only five-turreted heavy tank in the world to reach production but proved to be slow and mechanically unreliable...
, American Medium Tank M3
M3 Lee
The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.Design commenced...
, French Char B or British A9 Cruiser Mk I
Cruiser Mk I
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk I was a British cruiser tank of the interwar period. It was the first cruiser tank: a fast tank designed to bypass the main enemy lines and engage the enemy's lines of communication, along with enemy tanks...
slowly became less common during World War II. It was recognized that a tank crew could not effectively control the fire of several weapons; also, newer dual-purpose guns eliminated the need for multiple weapons. Most tanks still retained a hull machine gun, and usually one or more machineguns in the turret, to protect them from infantry.
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
s, vastly improving their command and control
Command and Control (military)
Command and control, or C2, in a military organization can be defined as the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commanding officer over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission...
. By 1943, two-way radio was nearly universal. Tanks were adapted to a wide range of military jobs, including mine
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
clearance and engineering
Combat engineering
A combat engineer, also called pioneer or sapper in many armies, is a soldier who performs a variety of construction and demolition tasks under combat conditions...
tasks. Specialized models, such as flame-thrower tanks, recovery tanks for towing disabled tanks, and command tanks with extra radios and dummy turrets were also used. Some of these tank variants live on as other classes of armoured fighting vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....
, no longer called "tanks". All major combatant powers also developed 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...
s and assault gun
Assault gun
An assault gun is a gun or howitzer mounted on a motor vehicle or armored chassis, designed for use in the direct fire role in support of infantry when attacking other infantry or fortified positions....
s - armoured vehicles carrying large calibre guns, but often no turrets. Turreted vehicles are expensive to manufacture compared to nonturreted vehicles. One trend seen in World War II was the usage of older, lighter tank chassis to mount larger weapons in fixed casemates as tank destroyers or assault guns. For example, the Soviet T-34 could mount an 85 mm gun in the turret, but the same chassis could carry the much more effective 100 mm gun in a fixed casemate as the SU-100. Likewise, the obsolete German Panzer II
Panzer II
The Panzer II was the common name for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen II...
light tank was modified to take a powerful 75 mm PAK-40 gun in an open-topped, fixed casement as the Marder II
Marder II
The Marder II was a German tank destroyer of World War II based on the Panzer II chassis.-History:During the very first days of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Germans were shocked to encounter Soviet T-34 medium tanks and KV heavy tanks...
.
While some of the Italian tanks ("Carro Armato
Carro Armato
Carro Armato was the Italian Army's designation for tanks from 1938. This would be followed by a letter and a series of numbers. The letter would be either L, M or P meaning light, medium, and heavy tank respectively. The official Italian military tank classification differed from contemporary...
") were fairly modern in 1939, by the early part of Italy's war they had become completely obsolete. The better armed and armoured P 40 heavy tank never entered service with the Italian army, although a few were taken over by the Germans.
Japan used tanks during the invasion of China before World War II as well as during the Far Eastern campaigns from 1941. As China and the Allies had few armored forces available at that time the Japanese vehicles were quite adequate, the more so as their primary role was infantry fire support rather than tank-against-tank operations. Once the tide turned against Japan, however, these same armoured vehicles proved distressingly vulnerable to superior Allied tanks such as the M4 Sherman, and were largely relegated to use as dug-in pillboxes or static artillery.
Czechoslovakia
By the time of the Sudeten crisisMunich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
, Czechoslovak army used a complement of light tanks including 298 LT vz. 35
Panzer 35(t)
The Panzerkampfwagen 35, commonly shortened to Panzer 35 or abbreviated as Pz.Kpfw. 35, was a Czechoslovak-designed light tank used mainly by Nazi Germany during World War II. The letter stood for tschechisch...
designed by Škoda
Škoda Works
Škoda Works was the largest industrial enterprise in Austro-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia, one of its successor states. It was also one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Europe in the 20th century...
, as well as 50 LT vz. 34
LT vz. 34
The LT vz. 34, formally designated as Lehký - Light, Tank vzor - Model 34 was a Czechoslovak-designed light tank used mainly by Slovakia during World War II. Its suspension was based on that of the Carden-Loyd tankette, of which the Czechs had purchased three, plus a manufacturing license, in 1930....
built by ČKD; 150 LT vz. 38
Panzer 38(t)
The Panzerkampfwagen 38 was originally a Czech tank of pre-World War II design. After Czechoslovakia was taken over by Germany, it was adopted by the German Army, seeing service in the invasions of Poland and Russia. Production ended in 1942, when its armament was deemed inadequate. In all, over...
were ordered but none were delivered before the German occupation. The LT-35 and LT-38 models were superior to the Panzer I
Panzer I
The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Germany in the 1930s. The name is short for the German ' , abbreviated . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was SdKfz 101 .Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production in 1934...
and Panzer II
Panzer II
The Panzer II was the common name for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen II...
light tanks used in the Wehrmacht, so the Germans ordered to resume the production of these models.
Before the end of production in 1942, 136 more LT-35 and a total of 1414 LT-38 were produced for the Wermacht at Škoda Works
Škoda Works
Škoda Works was the largest industrial enterprise in Austro-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia, one of its successor states. It was also one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Europe in the 20th century...
; these tanks saw operational use in the Polish campaign, the Battle of France, and on the Soviet front. By 1942, Czech-built tanks became progressively vulnerable to Soviet T-34 medium tanks and new anti-tank cannons. Moreover, LT-35 and LT-38 proved unsuitable for harsh winter conditions in Russia, so they were withdrawn from front line service in 1942; the remaining units were either redeployed in a light reconnaissance role, or converted to Hetzer
Hetzer
The Jagdpanzer 38 , later known as Hetzer , was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38 chassis. The project was inspired by the Romanian "Mareşal" tank destroyer.The name Hetzer was at the time not commonly used for this vehicle...
tank destroyers and artillery tractors.
Poland
7TP
The 7TP was the Polish light tank of the Second World War. A development of the British Vickers 6-ton, it was significantly better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and Panzer II. A standard tank of the Polish Army during the Polish Defensive War of 1939, its production...
(siedmiotonowy polski - 7-tonne Polish) Polish light tank and were significantly better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and Panzer II.
The 7TP was the Polish development of the British Vickers 6-ton
Vickers 6-Ton
The Vickers 6-Ton Tank or Vickers Mark E was a British light tank designed as a private project at Vickers. It was not purchased by the British Army, but was picked up by a large number of foreign armed forces and was copied almost exactly by the Soviets as the T-26. It was also the direct...
(Mk.E) which the Poles purchased 50 and licensed it for local production which entered service as the 7TP
7TP
The 7TP was the Polish light tank of the Second World War. A development of the British Vickers 6-ton, it was significantly better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and Panzer II. A standard tank of the Polish Army during the Polish Defensive War of 1939, its production...
. The main new features of 7TP were: a better, more reliable and powerful diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
(which made 7TP world's first diesel tank), 37 mm anti-tank gun
Gun
A gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew-served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol,...
, and a bit thicker armour
Vehicle armour
Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles, or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include tanks, aircraft, and ships....
(in front, 17 mm instead of 13 mm), together with the Gundlach tank periscope (pictured), different air conditioning system, a radio, and many minor modifications and additions. Only about 132 tanks were produced between 1935 and the outbreak of the war (plus four iron prototypes). Tank's weight increased after the initial 7-tonne prototype was made and the actual serial tanks weighted approximately 9 tonnes.
Like its British predecessor, the 7TP was initially produced in two variants: twin turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
version armed with 2 Ckm wz.30
Ckm wz.30
Ckm wz.30 is a Polish-made clone of the American Browning M1917 heavy machine gun...
machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s, and a single turret version, armed with 37 mm Bofors wz. 37 gun. After initial tests, it became clear that the twin-turret variant was obsolete and lacked firepower, so it was abandoned in favour of the more modern single turret design.
Poland also had the TK (also known as the TK-3) tankette which was based upon an improved chassis of the British Carden Loyd tankette
Carden Loyd tankette
The Carden Loyd tankettes were a series of British pre-World War II tankettes, the most successful of which was the Mark VI, the only version built in significant numbers...
.The 575 TK/TKS tankettes formed the bulk of the Polish armoured forces but they stood no chance in combat against German tanks, except the Panzer I
Panzer I
The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Germany in the 1930s. The name is short for the German ' , abbreviated . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was SdKfz 101 .Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production in 1934...
, and suffered heavy losses during the Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
. Only the handful of tankettes armed with 20 mm guns had a fighting chance against the enemy tanks; in one instance on 18 September 1939 a 20 mm gunned TKS destroyed three German Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) tanks.
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
of 1939. Most of them were attached to two light tank battalions (the 1st and the 2nd). The remaining tanks, that is the ones used for training as well as tanks that were finished after the outbreak of the war, were used in an improvised tank unit fighting in the defence of Warsaw
Siege of Warsaw (1939)
The 1939 Battle of Warsaw was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army garrisoned and entrenched in the capital of Poland and the German Army...
. Although technically superior to any of the German light tanks of the era, the 7TP was too scarce to change the outcome of the war.
The 1st Light Tank Battalion (49 single turret tanks) fought with 7TP tanks in the ranks of the Prusy Army
Prusy Army
The Prusy Army was one of the Polish armies to fight during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Created in the summer of 1939 as the main reserve of the Commander in Chief, it was commanded by Gen. Stefan Dąb-Biernacki. One of the meanings of Prusy in Polish is Prussia, but this name only served as a...
as part of the strategic reserve force of the Polish Army. It entered combat on September 4, 1939 and fought with distinction in a variety of roles, mostly as a mobile reserve and for covering the withdrawal. It fought in a number of battles, most notably in the battles of Przedbórz, Sulejów, Inowłódz, Odrzywół and Drzewica. On September 8 it managed to stop the German advance on the centre of the Polish forces, and later it joined the Lublin Army
Lublin Army
Lublin Army was an improvised Polish Army created on September 4 1939 from 1 motorized brigade and various smaller units concentrated around cities of Lublin, Sandomierz and upper Vistula river. It was commanded by Maj. Gen...
and Col. Stefan Rowecki
Stefan Rowecki
Stefan Paweł Rowecki was a Polish general, journalist and the leader of the Armia Krajowa. He was murdered by the Gestapo in prison, probably on the direct order of Heinrich Himmler.-Life:Rowecki was born in Piotrków Trybunalski...
's Warsaw Armoured Motorised Brigade. As part of that unit, the battalion took part in the Battle of Józefów and formed part of the spearhead of the Polish units trying to break through to Lwów and the Romanian Bridgehead
Romanian Bridgehead
The Romanian Bridgehead was an area in southeastern Poland, now located in Ukraine. During the Polish Defensive War of 1939 , on September 14 the Polish Commander in Chief Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły ordered all Polish troops fighting east of the Vistula to withdraw towards Lwów, and...
. After the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski
Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski
Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski took place from 17 September to 26 September 1939 near the town of Tomaszów Lubelski. It was the second largest battle of the Invasion of Poland and also the largest tank battle of the campaign. It resulted in the destruction of the Polish forces...
, on September 21, 1939, the remaining tanks were destroyed by their crews and the unit surrendered to the Germans.
Piotrków Trybunalski
Piotrków Trybunalski is a city in central Poland with 80,738 inhabitants . It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship , and previously was the capital of Piotrków Voivodeship...
Operational Group
Operational Group
Operational Group was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the Invasion of Poland. It was corps-sized, although various Operational Groups varied in size....
of the Łódź Army. It entered combat on September 4 near the river of Prudka, Bełchatów and led the Polish counter-assault on Piotrków, but the attack failed and the unit suffered heavy losses. The battalion then took part Battle of Włodawa, but suffered heavy losses due to air bombardment and was withdrawn and the remaining tanks had to be destroyed by the crews due to lack of fuel.
Siege of Warsaw (1939)
The 1939 Battle of Warsaw was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army garrisoned and entrenched in the capital of Poland and the German Army...
the unit took part in heavy fights for the Warsaw's suburb of Okęcie
Okecie
Okęcie is the largest neighbourhood of the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland.It is the location of Warsaw Chopin Airport and the PZL Warszawa-Okęcie aircraft works, and home to the Okęcie Warszawa professional association football club....
and the major airport located there. Due to lack of anti-tank armament, the tanks of the 1st company suffered losses and were withdrawn to the rear on September 12, where the unit was joined with the 2nd company.
The combat experience proved that the Bofors wz. 37
Bofors 37 mm
The Bofors 37 mm gun was an anti-tank gun designed by Swedish manufacturer Bofors in the early 1930s. Licensed copies were produced in a number of countries. The gun was used by some European armies during World War II, mainly at the early stage of the war.-Development history:The gun was...
anti-tank gun used in the 7TP was able to penetrate the armour of any of the German tanks of the time, including the modern Panzer IV
Panzer IV
The Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
. On the other hand, the tank was armoured too lightly, especially against aerial bombardment. Altogether, it is estimated that 20 tanks were captured by the Germans almost intact while one was captured by the Soviets. Additional 20 were successfully withdrawn to Romania and Hungary, while almost 40 had to be abandoned due to engine problems and lack of fuel. After the fall of Poland Germans included 20 captured 7TP to 203. Panzerbataillon as Pzkpfw 731 (p) tanks. The 7TP tank was used by Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
operations in 1940 in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
France
Division of labour
Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and likeroles. Historically an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialisation...
between cavalry tanks and infantry tank
Infantry tank
The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British and French in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were tanks designed to support the infantry in the attack. To achieve this they were generally heavily armoured compared to the cruiser tanks, to allow them to operate in...
s.
The French Army preferred to fight a defensive battle and built tanks accordingly. But there were some instances when some of the French tanks were able to slug it out with the German tanks and get the better of it, sometimes spectacularly so as when on 16 May a single Char B1
Char B1
The Char B1 was a French heavy tank manufactured before World War II.The Char B1 was a specialised heavy break-through vehicle, originally conceived as a self-propelled gun with a 75 mm howitzer in the hull; later a 47 mm gun in a turret was added, to allow it to function also as a Char...
French heavy tank, the Eure, frontally attacked and destroyed thirteen German tanks lying in ambush in Stonne
Stonne
Stonne is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France.-History:This small village, consisting of only a handful of farmsteads, was heavily contested during the invasion of France in the Second World War...
, all of them Panzer III
Panzer III
Panzer III was the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen III translating as "armoured battle vehicle". It was intended to fight other armoured fighting vehicles and...
s and Panzer IV
Panzer IV
The Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
s, in the course of a few minutes. The tank safely returned despite being hit 140 times (this event is not trackable in German documents and relies on the statements of the crew). Similarly, in his book Panzer Leader, Heinz Guderian
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...
relates the following incident, which took place during a tank battle south of Juniville: "While the tank battle was in progress, I attempted, in vain, to destroy a Char B with a captured 47 mm anti-tank gun; all the shells I fired at it simply bounced harmlessly off its thick armor. Our 37 mm and 20 mm guns were equally ineffective against this adversary. As a result, we inevitably suffered sadly heavy casualties".
The total tank assets in France and its colonies were therefore perhaps less than 5802 ( Renault R-17 should not be counted as a tank of World War Two; the Poles, after an attempt to use them as tanks, decided to use them to build barricades, in September 1939; moreover, Renault R-35 should be viewed as a temporary crosscountry tank, since while used in the eastren Poland the lossess were 40% over first 2-days of operation due to mechanical failure beyond possibility of field repair. The SOMUA S35 was so claustrophobic to the commander that after two days of fighting such an officer should either be replaced or placed in a mental ward to rest. It is obvious that any prolonged tank battle should have been won by the Germans by the third day, with nearly have R-35's self--destroyed and with S35's de facto without a commander/gunner.) during the time of the German offensive. After the armistice in the unoccupied Free Zone of France a clandestine rebuild took place of 225 GMC Trucks into armoured cars. When all of France was occupied in 1942 the secret hiding places (caves in fact) were betrayed to the Germans.
Germany
Panzer
A Panzer is a German language word that, when used as a noun, means "tank". When it is used as an adjective, it means either tank or "armoured" .- Etymology :...
force was not especially impressive at the start of the war. Plans called for two main tanks: the Panzer III
Panzer III
Panzer III was the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen III translating as "armoured battle vehicle". It was intended to fight other armoured fighting vehicles and...
medium tank
Medium tank
Medium tank was a classification of tanks; the medium being intermediate in size and weight and armament between heavy tanks and light tanks.The medium tank concept has been eclipsed by the main battle tank.-History:...
and the Panzer IV
Panzer IV
The Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
infantry tank
Infantry tank
The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British and French in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were tanks designed to support the infantry in the attack. To achieve this they were generally heavily armoured compared to the cruiser tanks, to allow them to operate in...
. However, by the beginning of the invasion of 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...
, only a few vehicles were available. As a result, the invasions of Poland and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
were carried out primarily with the inferior Panzer I
Panzer I
The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Germany in the 1930s. The name is short for the German ' , abbreviated . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was SdKfz 101 .Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production in 1934...
and Panzer II
Panzer II
The Panzer II was the common name for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen II...
light tank
Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movement, and now primarily employed in low-intensity conflict. Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility.The light tank was a major...
s, with some cannon-armed light tanks from Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. As the war proceeded, production of the heavier tanks increased.
The Panzer III was intended to fight other tanks; in the initial design stage a 50 mm (2 inch) cannon was specified. However, the infantry at the time were being equipped with the 37 mm (1.46 inch) PaK 36
PaK 36
The Pak 36 was a German anti-tank gun that fired a 3.7 cm calibre shell. It was the main anti-tank weapon of Wehrmacht infantry units until 1942...
, and it was thought that in the interest of standardization the tanks should carry the same armament. As a compromise, the turret ring was made large enough to accommodate a 50 mm (2 inch) cannon should a future upgrade be required. This single decision would later assure the Panzer III a prolonged life in the German army.
After the invasion of Poland, the decision to adopt the Panzer IV
Panzer IV
The Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
tank as the mainstay of Germany's armored divisions was made, production was extended to the many more factories. By 1941, 462 Panzer IV Ausf. Fs had been assembled, and the up-gunned Ausf. F2 was entering production. The yearly production total had more than quadrupled since the start of the war. In 1941 an average of 39 Panzer IV models tanks per month were built, and this rose to 83 in 1942, 252 in 1943, and 300 in 1944.
During the Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, it was discovered that the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
tank outclassed the Panzer III and IV. Its sloped armour could defeat most German weapons, and its 76.2 mm gun could penetrate the armour of all German tanks. This forced the Germans to improve their existing models. The Panzer III, which was intended to be the main medium tank, was upgraded to a longer, higher-velocity 50 mm gun.
Thus the Panzer IV, originally intended to be a support tank, became the de facto main medium tank re-armed with a long-barrelled, high velocity 75 mm gun to counter the T-34. The Germans also started to develop newer heavier tanks. This included the Panzer V Panther
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...
, which was intended to be the new main German battle tank. The Panther tank was a compromise of various requirements. While sharing essentially the same engine as the Tiger I tank, it had better frontal armor, better gun penetration, was lighter overall and thus faster, and could handle rough terrain better than the Tigers. The tradeoff was weaker side armor; the Panther proved to be deadly in open country and shooting from long range, but vulnerable to close-quarters combat. The Germans also started to develop a new series of very heavy tanks.
The first one was the Tiger
Tiger I
Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
, which outclassed all its opponents in terms of firepower and armor when it was put into operational use. Being obsessed with very heavy and mighty tanks, Hitler ordered even heavier and stronger tanks to be produced, which led to the development of the heavy Tiger II
Tiger II
Tiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B,Panzerkampfwagen – abbr: Pz. or Pz.Kfw. Ausführung – abbr: Ausf. .The full titles Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf...
, which replaced the Tiger I late in the war. Its powerful gun and very heavy armor made it superior to every Allied or Soviet tank in a head-to-head confrontation, but the underpowered engine and the enormous fuel consumption limited its use in maneuver warfare. Right before the end of the war there were plans for even heavier tanks, such as the Panzer VIII Maus
Panzer VIII Maus
Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus was a German World War II super-heavy tank completed in late 1944. It is the heaviest fully enclosed armoured fighting vehicle ever built. Only two hulls and one turret were completed before the testing grounds were captured by the advancing Soviet forces.These two...
, but only small numbers, or in case of the Maus only prototypes, were produced.
Italy
The Fiat-Ansaldo M11/39 medium tank used from 1939 through the early period of World War II. The M11/39 was developed as a "breakthrough tank" (Carro di Rottura). Although designated a medium tank by the Italian Army, in weight and firepower it was closer to contemporary light tanks. It was replaced by the Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40 a medium tank ("M" for Medio (medium) according to the Italian tank weight standards at the time: 13 tonnes was the scheduled weight and 1940 the initial year of production), in the Italian Army and was used in the Greek campaign in 1940
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
and 1941 and in the North African Campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
.
The M13/40 was not used on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
; Italian forces there were equipped only with Fiat L6/40
Fiat L6/40
The Fiat L6/40 was a light tank used by the Italian army from 1940 and on through World War II. The official Italian designation was Carro Armato L 6/40...
s and Semovente 47/32
Semovente 47/32
The Semovente 47/32 was an Italian self-propelled gun built during World War II. It was created by mounting a Cannone da 47/32 M35 in an open-topped, box-like superstructure on a Fiat L6/40 chassis. Some were built as command tanks with a radio installed instead of the main gun...
s. Armament was sufficient for 1940-41 but did not keep up with the increased armor and firepower on Allied or German tanks. Beginning in 1942, the Italian Army recognized the firepower weakness of the M13/40 series and employed the Semovente 75/18
Semovente 75/18
The Semovente 75/18 was an Italian self-propelled gun of the Second World War. It was built by mounting the 75 mm Obice da 75/18 modello 34 mountain gun on the chassis of a M13/40 or M14/41 tank. The first 60 were built using the M13/40 chassis and a subsequent 162 were built on the M14/41...
self propelled gun alongside the tanks in their armored units.
The next tank in the series was the Fiat M14/41, a four person Italian tank. The M14/41 was a slightly improved version of the Fiat M13/40 with a more powerful diesel engine. It was produced in limited numbers but was considered already obsolete by the time of its introduction. The M14/41 used the same chassis as the M13/40 but with a redesigned hull with better armor.
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
where its shortcomings became quickly apparent. The vehicle was unreliable, cramped, and caught fire easily when hit. Following the withdrawal of Italian forces from North Africa the M14/41 was rarely encountered, though many captured vehicles were pressed into service by British and Australian forces to fill the serious shortage of allied tanks in 1941.
The next in the series was the M15/42 15 tonne tank first built in January 1943. Some 90 vehicles were built before the Italian armistice in September 1943 and in connection to that event they were used in battle against the Germans by the Ariete armored division in Rome. After that point they were confiscated and used by the Germans who also built another 28 M15/42 tanks. It was developed from the M13/40 and the M14/41. It had a more powerful engine and air filters to cope with the harsh conditions of the desert. But by the time it entered service, it was already obsolete.
United Kingdom
The result was a series of under-armed, mechanically unreliable designs such as the Cruiser Mk I
Cruiser Mk I
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk I was a British cruiser tank of the interwar period. It was the first cruiser tank: a fast tank designed to bypass the main enemy lines and engage the enemy's lines of communication, along with enemy tanks...
, Cruiser Mk II
Cruiser Mk II
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk II , was developed alongside the A9, and was intended to be a heavier, infantry tank version of that type. In practice it was not deemed suitable for the infantry tank role and was classified as a "heavy cruiser"....
and Crusader
Crusader tank
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk VI or A15 Crusader was one of the primary British cruiser tanks of the early part Second World War and perhaps the most important British tank of the North African Campaign...
cruiser tank
Cruiser tank
The cruiser tank was a British tank concept of the inter-war period. This concept was the driving force behind several tank designs which saw action during the Second World War....
s, and the Matilda II
Matilda tank
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....
infantry tank
Infantry tank
The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British and French in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were tanks designed to support the infantry in the attack. To achieve this they were generally heavily armoured compared to the cruiser tanks, to allow them to operate in...
, and a series of machine-gun armed light tanks suitable for reconnaissance work only.
The Cruiser Mk I was an effective tank in the French, Greek and early North African campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
s. The 2 pdr gun was better than comparable 37mm weapons of Germany and US, and lethal against tanks encountered during the North African campaign. The minimal armor made the A9 an easy kill for most German anti-tank weapons.
A number of Cruiser Mark IIs were part of the British Expeditionary Force
British Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
(BEF) sent to France in the early stages of 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...
. The A10 cross country performance was recorded as poor, but they were still used later in North Africa at the defence of Tobruk
Siege of Tobruk
The siege of Tobruk was a confrontation that lasted 240 days between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War...
in 1941, where reliability and suspension performance in the desert conditions was praised. Sixty worn out examples were taken to Greece, by the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment
3rd Royal Tank Regiment
The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Army until 1992. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It originally saw action as C Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917....
and although they performed well against the German tanks, over 90% were lost due to mechanical breakdowns as opposed to enemy action (mainly tracks).
In the course of the war, British designs were generally slow to reach production leaving them overtaken by developments in armament or other nations designs. In a few cases, a design was brought rapidly to production but before the flaws were eliminated. The Churchill had heavy armour and good off-road capability but the first models were beset by problems. When these were eliminated and the tank had shown good performance in North Africa its future was assured.
The few bright spots of British tank design included the Valentine
Valentine tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in 11 different marks plus various purpose-built variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production...
, Churchill (A22)
Churchill tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV was a heavy British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, and its use as the basis of many specialist vehicles. It was one of the heaviest Allied tanks of the war...
, Cromwell (A27M)
Cromwell tank
Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell ,The designation as the eighth Cruiser tank design, its name given for ease of reference and its General Staff specification number respectively and the related Centaur tank, were one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in the Second...
, and Comet I (A34)
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...
. The Valentine was a reliable, heavily armoured infantry-support tank used successfully in the desert and by the Red Army as a light tank. The Cromwell was in most respects the equal of the early model Sherman of the United States or the German Panzer IV, although with a much lower profile and faster due to its powerplant derived from the Rolls Royce Merlin aero-engine. The Comet was an excellent design fielded in the final months of the war. The British Challenger (A30) Cruiser Tank, mounted with a 17 Pounder gun on a modified Cromwell
Cromwell tank
Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell ,The designation as the eighth Cruiser tank design, its name given for ease of reference and its General Staff specification number respectively and the related Centaur tank, were one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in the Second...
chassis to add heavier anti-tank firepower to the cruiser tank
Cruiser tank
The cruiser tank was a British tank concept of the inter-war period. This concept was the driving force behind several tank designs which saw action during the Second World War....
units.
Beginning about mid-1942, most British tank units were equipped with vehicles supplied from the United States, such as the Stuart
Stuart tank
The M3 Stuart, formally Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II and supplied to British and Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war—and used thereafter by U.S...
light tank, the Lee
M3 Lee
The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.Design commenced...
(or the British specification Grant variant thereof) and the Lee's/Grant's replacement the 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...
. The British added their 17 pdr anti-tank gun to the Sherman to give the Sherman Firefly
Sherman Firefly
The Sherman Firefly was a World War II British variant of the American Sherman tank, fitted with the powerful British 17 pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon...
. The Cromwell began to replace Sherman in British service.
Immediately before and during the war, the British produced an enormous array of prototype tanks and modified tanks for a variety of specialist tasks (see Hobart's Funnies
Hobart's Funnies
Hobart's Funnies were a number of unusually modified tanks operated during World War II by the United Kingdom's 79th Armoured Division or by specialists from the Royal Engineers. They were designed in light of problems that more standard tanks experienced during the Dieppe Raid, so that the new...
). For example, the Churchill AVRE
Churchill tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV was a heavy British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, and its use as the basis of many specialist vehicles. It was one of the heaviest Allied tanks of the war...
fired a short range 290 mm (11.4 inch) direct-fire mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
which was used for destroying buildings and clearing obstacles. Responsibility for the build up of vehicles and the training of crews to use them was given to armoured warfare expert Percy Hobart
Percy Hobart
Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart KBE CB DSO MC , also known as "Hobo", was a British military engineer, noted for his command of the 79th Armoured Division during World War II...
after whom the collection was named.
By early 1944, Hobart could demonstrate to Eisenhower and Montgomery a brigade each of swimming DD tanks, Crab mine clearers, and AVRE (Engineer) tanks along with a regiment of Crocodile flamethrowing tanks.
Montgomery considered that the US forces should use them, and offered them a half-share of all the vehicles available, but take-up was minimal. Eisenhower was in favour of the amphibious tanks but left the decision on the others to General Bradley who delegated it to his staff officers.
Soviet Union
T-26
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and is widely considered one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s....
, became nearly as obsolete as Panzer II
Panzer II
The Panzer II was the common name for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen II...
. Most of T-26s were armed with a 45 mm gun capable of penetrating most German tanks at normal combat ranges; few had radios, and the design was mechanically sound although incapable of further development. The BT tank series, based on the Christie suspension system, were usually armed with the same 45 mm gun and were the most mobile tanks in the world. Close-support versions of both tanks existed, armed with 76.2 mm howitzers. However, the BT was at the end of its design life. The Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
also fielded thousands of light recon tanks such as the amphibious T-37
T-37 tank
The T-37A was a Soviet amphibious light tank. The tank is often referred to as the T-37, although that designation was used by a different tank which never left the prototype stage.The T-37A was the first series of mass-produced fully amphibious tanks in the world.The tank was first created in...
and T-38. These had limited combat value; although highly mobile, they were armed only with 7.62 mm machine guns and had very thin armour. The Red Army also had about 400 T-28
T-28
The Soviet T-28 was among the world's first medium tanks. The prototype was completed in 1931 and production began in late 1932. It was an infantry-support tank intended to break through fortified defences...
medium tanks, which were in most respects equal to the German Pzkw-IV. Again, though, this design dated from 1931 and was obsolescent. The Soviet Union ended the 1930s with a fleet of tanks almost completely derived from foreign designs, but before 1941 developed some of the most important trend-setting tanks of the war. The problem the Soviet tank force faced in 1941 was not primarily the technical quality of its vehicles, but the very poor state of maintenance, the appalling lack of readiness, and the poor command situation brought on by the purges
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
. The Red Army had in 1940 adopted an advanced doctrine that it was simply incapable of executing.
Battle of Khalkhin Gol
The Battles of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border Wars fought among the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield...
(Nomonhan
Nomonhan
Nomonhan is a small village near the border between Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China south of the Chinese city of Manzhouli.In the summer of 1939 it was the location of the Nomonhan Incident, as it is termed in Japan, or the Battle of Khalkhin Gol as it is known in Soviet and Mongolian People's...
). Some of these designs leapfrogged other countries' tank designs. The most significant was the T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
, originally designed as the successor to the BT series, but with its heavier armour and heavy dual-purpose gun it became the best medium tank of the first half of World War II. The T-34 eventually replaced almost all other Soviet tanks. The basic design was good enough to keep it battle-worthy beyond 1945, having been upgraded with heavier guns, new turrets and other modifications. The second significant design was the KV-1 tank
Kliment Voroshilov tank
The Kliment Voroshilov tanks were a series of Soviet heavy tanks, named after the Soviet defense commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov. The KV series were known for their extremely heavy armour protection during the early war, especially during the first year of the invasion of the Soviet...
. These were armed with the same excellent 76.2 mm gun as the T-34, and had the same V-2 diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
. However, the KV had a novel torsion bar suspension and much heavier armour than the T-34. The KV was slow, intended as a breakthrough tank. The KV-2 close-support version was armed with a 152 mm howitzer. The KV series was the main Soviet heavy tank until 1943, when production ended and most had been expended. Early in 1944 the KV's successor was the IS-2
Iosif Stalin tank
The Iosif Stalin tank , was a heavy tank developed by the Soviet Union during World War II and first used in the Kursk area in September 1943...
, armed with a 122 mm gun, having thicker armour and better mobility. The new infantry-support tank of 1941, intended to be the replacement for the T-26, was the T-50
T-50 tank
The T-50 light infantry tank was built by the Soviet Union at the beginning of World War II. The design for this vehicle had some advanced features, but was complicated and expensive, and only a short production run of 69 tanks was completed...
, armed with a 45 mm gun, with torsion-bar suspension and excellent armour for its class. Production problems with its new engine led to the tank being cancelled after less than 70 had been made. Finally, the light reconnaissance role was to be filled by the amphibious T-40
T-40
-External links:* on Battlefield.ru...
and the cheaper non-amphibious T-60
T-60
The T-60 scout tank was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. In this time over 6,292 were built. The tank was designed to replace the obsolete T-38 amphibious scout tank.-Design:...
.
At the beginning of Germany's Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
most of the Soviet Union's tank forces were composed of the T-26 tank series
T-26
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and is widely considered one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s....
and BT. A few T-40s had appeared, along with about 1363 mechanically unreliable early T-34 tanks
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
, and 677 KV-1 and KV-2s. Many early T-34s were captured or destroyed. Much of this early failure was due to lack of coordination, ill-supplied and ill-trained tank crews, and the lack of readiness of the Red Army in general. Another difficulty for the T-34 was that it had only a four man crew, with the tank commander doubling as the gunner. Although spared from loading duties, as French tank commanders had been, it still crippled the tank commander's ability to maintain awareness of the battlefield while firing the tank's main gun, giving a tactical advantage to German armour.
In 1941 great numbers of T-60s appeared, supplemented in 1942 with the similar T-70
T-70
The T-70 was a light tank used by the Red Army during World War II, replacing both the T-60 scout tank for reconnaissance and the T-50 light infantry tank for infantry support. The T-80 light tank was a more advanced version of the T-70 with a two-man turret—it was only produced in very small...
. Both light tanks had torsion-bar suspension, light armour, and small truck engines. Their simple construction kept them in production even though their combat value was limited. The T-60 had only a 20 mm gun while the T-70 had a 45 mm. However, both had one-man turrets, making them difficult to crew effectively. The T-70 formed the basis for the much more important self-propelled gun SU-76
SU-76
The SU-76 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during and after World War II.- History :The SU-76 was based on a lengthened and widened version of the T-70 tank chassis...
later in the war.
By October 1942 Life magazine said that the Soviets had "probably ... the best tanks in the world". The T-34 effectively made all German tanks produced to that date obsolete. In fact, at its height the T-34 was deemed so successful, and so capable in every role, that production of all other tanks except the IS-2 was stopped to allow all available resources to be used exclusively for this tank. The T-34 forced the Germans to adopt new, heavier designs such as the Panther
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...
and Tiger
Tiger I
Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
, which in turn forced upgrades to the Soviet, United States and British tank fleets. Perhaps more significantly to the ultimate course of the war, the move to more complex and expensive German tank designs overwhelmed the already critically strained German tank-production capability, reducing the numbers of tanks available to German forces and thus helping to force Germany to surrender the initiative in the war to the Allies.
Later in the war the light tank role was increasingly filled by Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
supplies of United States M-3 light tanks and British and Canadian-built Valentine
Valentine tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in 11 different marks plus various purpose-built variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production...
tanks. Ironically, the T-34 was as fast or faster than many of the light tanks that were supposed to scout for it, further encouraging reductions in Soviet light tank production.
In response to better German tanks, the Soviets began to produce the T-34-85, which had an 85-mm gun, in the winter of 1943-44, while retaining superiority in speed and mobility over the German tanks—an advantage it enjoyed until the very end of the war. This model also had a much larger turret with a 3-man crew, finally allowing the tank commander to concentrate fully on maintaining a tactical awareness of the battlefield. The Soviets also responded with the 122 mm-armed IS-2 heavy tank, which carried heavier armour than the KV without an increase in overall weight; this was achieved by thinning the rear armour and moving most of the armour to the front of the tank, where it was expected to take most of its hits.
The IS-3 variant, produced in mid-1945, had a much more streamlined look and a larger, bowl-shaped tapered turret. Remarkably, the IS-3 had thicker armour but actually weighed slightly less than the IS-2, remaining under 50 tons (as compared to the Tiger II's 68). The armour design of the IS-3 was an enormous influence on postwar tank design, as seen in the Soviet T-55
T-55
The T-54 and T-55 tanks were a series of main battle tanks designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in March 1945, just before the end of the Second World War. The T-54 entered full production in 1947 and became the main tank for armored units of the Soviet Army, armies of...
and T-62
T-62
The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank, a further development of the T-55. Its 115 mm gun was the first smoothbore tank gun in use.The T-62 was produced between 1961 and 1975. It became a standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, partly replacing the T-55, although that tank continued to be...
series, the United States M48
M48 Patton
The M48 Patton is a medium tank that was designed in the United States. It was the third and final tank to be officially named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle It was a...
and the Federal German Leopard.
Soviet tank production outstripped all other nations with the exception of the United States. The Soviets accomplished this through standardization on a few designs, generally forgoing minor qualitative improvements and changing designs only when upgrades would result in a major improvement.
United States
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
and Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
used their experience with mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
to quickly build tanks. The country manufactured as many tanks in the first half of 1942 than in all of 1941, with 1,500 in May 1942 alone. American production equipped not only its forces, but through Lend Lease also bolstered the tank inventories of the free French (after 1942), Britain and other Allied nations. Similarly to the Soviet Union, the United States selected a few good basic designs and standardized on those models. Given the lack of tank design and production experience, it is remarkable that the United States designs were as good as they were.
Prior to the entry of the United States in the war, the Army had only a few tanks. The Light Tank M2
M2 Light Tank
The Light Tank M2 was an American pre-World War II light tank that saw combat with the US Marine Corps 1st Tank Battalion on Guadalcanal in 1942, during World War II. Its service with the 1st Tank Battalion during the Pacific War was its only U.S...
series was the most important. These light tanks were mechanically very reliable, with good mobility. However, they had a high silhouette, poor armor and a poor gun. Only a few saw combat, on Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
. The Light Tank M3
Stuart tank
The M3 Stuart, formally Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II and supplied to British and Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war—and used thereafter by U.S...
series of 1941 was an improvement of the M2, with more armour and a 37 mm gun. The new medium tank just entering production in 1940 was the M2A1. This was a hopelessly poor design with thin armour, a high silhouette, a 37 mm main gun and seven machine guns.
From 1940 new tank designs were prepared. The Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
had shown the importance of medium tanks. The British sought to have the US manufacture their own designs but the US was opposed. The United States Army had a requirement for a medium tank with a 75 mm gun, and developed the M3 Medium Tank
M3 Lee
The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.Design commenced...
design, which the British immediately ordered for their own use with modifications to their requirements.
The first tanks of the United States to fight in the war were the Light Tank M3 called the "General Stuart" by the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and Medium Tank M3
M3 Lee
The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.Design commenced...
(the "Grant" version had a British-designed turret and a six-man crew; the "Lee" version used the original turret and seven-man crew). They were deeply flawed in many ways, yet were the best tanks available to the Western Allies and were superior to most of their German counterparts in armour protection and firepower. The Light Tank M3 was about as well-armed as the (2 pdr-armed) British cruiser tanks in the desert, yet was much more reliable mechanically. Its 37 mm main gun was more powerful than the main guns carried by German reconnaissance tanks. The official name given to the Light Tank M3 was 'Stuart'; a nickname used was 'Honey'. The M3 and its improved derivative, the Light Tank M5 series, remained in service throughout the war. By 1943, its 37 mm gun made it a very dangerous tank to serve in, but no better replacement was available. The Light Tank T7 design was proposed as a successor in 1943, armed with a 57 mm gun and with better armour; however, the design was never standardized for production.
The appearance of the M3 Lee medium tank in the summer of 1942 finally gave the British a larger supply of medium tanks than they could otherwise have hoped for. Although poorly designed, with a very high profile and poor weaponry, it was produced in great numbers and was very effective when engaging targets other than enemy tanks, such infantry and gun positions.
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
in addition to a handful taking part in the invasion of Normandy. It continued to service in the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
for some time, where its crews named it as "grave for seven brothers".
The most important American design of the war was the 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...
medium tank. The M4 became the second-most-produced tank of World War II, and was the only tank to be used by virtually all Allied forces (thanks to the American lend-lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
program). M4s formed the main tank of American, British, Canadian, French, Polish and Chinese units. The M4 was the equal of the German medium tanks, the Panzer III and Panzer IV, at the time it first saw service in 1942. Over 4,000 Shermans were supplied to the Soviet Union, beginning in mid-1943. The M4, although reliable and easy to maintain, was already outgunned by the time the US encountered the up-gunned and up-armoured German medium tanks in Italy and Northern Europe (the Panzer IV and various German self-propelled guns)and by late 1943 the arrival of German Panther and Tiger I
Tiger I
Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
were even graver threats due to the range, accuracy and penetrating power of their main guns. While it is commonly believed that the Sherman had a tendency to explode catastrophically due to their use of petrol, this is incorrect. It is now known that early models suffered from poor ammunition storage; later versions with "wet" storage designs were no more likely to explode than other contemporary tanks.
Flawed United States armour doctrine played a major role in keeping the M4 undergunned in 1944-1945. The doctrine emphasized that tanks were to be used primarily for infantry support and exploitation, while the role of fighting tanks was to be carried out by the 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...
branch, armed with both towed and self-propelled guns such as the 3 inch Gun Motor Carriage M10
M10 Wolverine
The M10 tank destroyer, formally 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage, M10 was a United States tank destroyer of World War II based on the chassis of the M4 Sherman tank. It was numerically the most important U.S...
. The 3" GMC M10 was thinly armoured, with an open-topped turret mounting a 3-inch gun that was very powerful by mid-war standards.
Technically, the M4's design was capable of handling larger guns than the 75 mm and 76 mm guns with which they left the factory. The M36 Jackson with the powerful 90 mm gun also entered service in the fall of 1944 and could penetrate the glacis of a Panther at 600 meters. The British fitted Shermans with the more powerful Ordnance Quick Firing 17 pounder
Ordnance QF 17 pounder
The Ordnance Quick-Firing 17 pounder was a 76.2 mm gun developed by the United Kingdom during World War II. It was used as an anti-tank gun on its own carriage, as well as equipping a number of British tanks. It was the most effective Allied anti-tank gun of the war...
gun, a variant known informally as the Firefly
Sherman Firefly
The Sherman Firefly was a World War II British variant of the American Sherman tank, fitted with the powerful British 17 pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon...
, and the U.S Marines used a variation in the Pacific War known informally as the Ronson flame tank. Postwar, the Israeli Army mounted a 105 mm low-pressure anti-tank gun on the M4.
By the time of the Normandy campaign, the M4 had become the workhorse tank of the Allied forces. Some Shermans were equipped with the Duplex Drive system (Sherman DD), which allowed them to swim using a collapsible screen and inflated rubber tubes. Along with this were the M1 Dozer Blade (a Sherman with a bulldozer blade), the Sherman beach armored recovery vehicle (BARV
BARV
The Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle is a British military support vehicle used for amphibious landings.There have been three different BARVs in British service since their introduction during World War II...
), the Sherman T34 (which had a multiple rocket launcher
Multiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system. Like other rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers are less accurate and have a much lower rate of fire than batteries of traditional artillery guns...
installed above the turret), the POA-CWS-H5 (a Sherman with a flame-thrower), the Sherman Twaby Ark (which allowed the Sherman to act as a temporary bridge), and the Sherman Crab Mark I (a Sherman with a mine flail
Mine flail
A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a mine-field by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II....
), as well as many other variants.
The United States eventually deployed an improve light tank over the M3, the Light Tank M24
M24 Chaffee
The Light Tank M24 was an American light tank used during World War II and in postwar conflicts including the Korean War and with the French in the War in Algeria and First Indochina War. In British service it was given the service name Chaffee, after the United States Army General Adna R...
. The M24 had torsion-bar suspension, high mobility, and a compact 75 mm gun. Ergonomically the tank was quite good also. However, the M24 did not appear in combat until December 1944 and equipped only a few units by the end of the war. The concept of light tanks was also generally a flawed doctrine. Also near the end of the war the M26 Pershing
M26 Pershing
The Heavy Tank M26 Pershing was an American heavy tank briefly used in World War II and in the Korean War. It was named after General John Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War I....
heavy tank was deployed operationally. The Pershing was a very modern design with torsion-bar suspension, heavy armor, and an excellent 90 mm gun. However, it was somewhat underpowered, having the same Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
GAA engine as the M4A3. The M26 basic design was good enough to form the basis for all postwar American tanks through the end of the M60
M60 Patton
The 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank, M60, also known unofficially as the M60 Patton, is a first-generation main battle tank introduced in December 1960. It was widely used by the U.S. and its Cold War allies, especially those in NATO, and remains in service throughout the world today...
series.
The superior German second-generation tanks were not matched until the end of the war, but the Germans had already lost the initiative by 1943. The sheer volume of American production meant that American tanks generally prevailed.
Japan
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
& 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...
tanks in World War I), the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) did not have tanks of its own in World War I, so initially it started out by purchasing foreign tanks for evaluation during World War I, and then began developing its own designs. Like many other nations, the Japanese initially didn't embrace the tank, as it didn't have the cavalry tradition. Cavalry was used for reconnaissance in the mountainous countryside, and initially, as with most other armies, the first designs were constrained by the tank's infantry support role. Inspired by European designs, the Japanese tank program designed and developed the tanks which facilitated their campaigns in China and Nomonhan
Nomonhan
Nomonhan is a small village near the border between Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China south of the Chinese city of Manzhouli.In the summer of 1939 it was the location of the Nomonhan Incident, as it is termed in Japan, or the Battle of Khalkhin Gol as it is known in Soviet and Mongolian People's...
against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, prior to the Pacific War. They introduced many innovations as they built their designs, including bell-crank suspensions, were pioneers in amphibious tanks, and the use of diesel
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
engines as they were less likely to catch on fire versus the regular gas engines that were being used at the time. The Japanese Generals had made a mistake in their assessment of the tanks used against China, a country whose the army had only three tank battalions, and few antitank weapons.
Nomonhan
Nomonhan is a small village near the border between Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China south of the Chinese city of Manzhouli.In the summer of 1939 it was the location of the Nomonhan Incident, as it is termed in Japan, or the Battle of Khalkhin Gol as it is known in Soviet and Mongolian People's...
), a decisive defeat inflicted by the Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
s on the Mongolian border in 1939. This proved fatal later when they faced the new generation of Allied tanks, as the great majority of the Japanese models were lightly armored, and not heavily gunned. With the priority of steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
being consumed by the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
and Air Force, the Japanese Army was relegated the remaining material for its tanks. Thus the 1930s designed vehicles went on being mass-produced, and the warning of Khalkin-Gol was too slowly recognized. By 1940 they had the fifth largest tank force in the world behind the Soviet Union, France, Britain and Germany, but were behind in medium and heavy tanks. After 1941, with the new focus on building warships and aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
, and with the entry of the United States into the conflict, priorities shifted to weapons that were more conducive to naval warfare
Naval warfare
Naval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
; attacking across the Pacific, and defending the Empire from the advancing Americans.
Type 3 Chi-Nu
The was another improvement over the Type 97 Chi-Ha line of medium tanks of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. The Type 3 Chi-Nu mounted one Type 3 75 mm Tank Gun, one of the largest guns ever to be fitted on a World War II Japanese tank....
Medium Tank were delayed by shortages and even after started to come out of the factories the idea was to hold them for the defense of the mainland, and not dispersed to the far flung Imperial Japanese Army or Navy forces. The Japanese built tanks to match up against the Allied tanks, such as the Type 2 Ho-I
Type 2 Ho-I
The Support Tank was a derivative of the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Similar in concept to early variant of the German Panzer IV, it was designed as a self-propelled howitzer to provide the close-in fire support for standard Japanese medium tanks with...
Infantry Support Tank with a 75 mm gun designed as a self-propelled howitzer or 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...
for the close fire support role, to provide Type 97 Chi-Ha
Type 97 Chi-Ha
The was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. It was the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of World War II, although the armor protection was considered as average in the 1930s...
equipped Japanese tank regiments with additional firepower against enemy armored fighting vehicles, but in limited amounts. Between 1931 and 1945, Japan produced 6450 tanks. Half of them (3300) were made by the Mitsubishi Company. The sub-total of tanks produced between 1940 and 1945 is 4424, i.e. a yearly average comparable to Italy. For a country as large and as industrialized as Japan, that is modest. Before 1945, the fleet and the air force had priority. It changed when the homeland went under direct threat but it was too late.
See also
- History of the tankHistory of the tankThe history of the tank began in World War I, when armoured all-terrain fighting vehicles were first deployed as a response to the problems of trench warfare, ushering in a new era of mechanized warfare. Though initially crude and unreliable, tanks eventually became a mainstay of ground armies...
- Tanks in World War ITanks in World War IThe development of tanks in World War I began as a solution to the stalemate which trench warfare had brought to the western front. The first prototype of the Mark I tank was tested for the British Army on September 8th 1915...
- Comparison of World War I tanksComparison of World War I tanks-Tanks used in World War I:-Immediate post war tanks:Tanks planned for production and with completed prototypes during the war, but entered service after it ended....
- List of interwar armoured fighting vehicles
- Tanks in World War II
- Comparison of early World War II tanksComparison of early World War II tanksThis table compare the tanks in use by the belligerent nations of Europe at the start of the Second World War, employed in the Polish Campaign , the Fall of France , and Operation Barbarossa ....
External links
- http://web.archive.org/web/20010710230433/www.wargamer.org/GvA/weapons/usa_guns7.html
- http://web.archive.org/web/20010420095140/www.wargamer.org/GvA/weapons/british_guns5.html
- Imperial Japanese Army Page - Akira Takizawa
US Army tests Normandy 1944
- http://www.wargaming.info/armour06.htm