It shrugged off 140 German rounds during the fight and killed an entire German Panzer company.īut, you know, France still fell, so that part sucked. In one battle, a single French Char B1 rolled right into a German ambush in a French town, used the 47mm gun to kill the trail tank, the 75mm gun to kill the lead tank, and then started dismantling all the tanks trapped in the middle. Its smaller, 47mm gun could kill many tanks while its 75mm could slaughter nearly anything available in 1939. But a couple of French tanks made a real impact, including the Char B1 with its sloped armor, two large guns, and decent speed. The tanks were massively overpowered compared to their enemies in the open of World War II, but they didn’t receive many upgrades since, you know, France lost the war.įrance’s tanks saw limited fighting in World War II since, you know, France fell so early in the war. But larger tanks were able to shred it, hence Germany’s growing reliance on the late-arriving Panther as those made it to the front. This allowed it to tackle the Allies most numerous tanks-such as the Sherman and the T-34-with relative ease. It even had armored skirts to protect against infantry anti-armored weapons. The base Panzer IV was adequate in the early months of the war, but required upgrades to armor and its main gun as Allied armor got stronger.īy 1945, this resulted in a Panzer IV with a longer 75mm gun, widened tracks, and thicker armor than most medium tanks. IV served for all of World War II, starting as a heavy hitter fighting next to Panzer IIIs and eventually giving way to the more powerful and better armed Panther. IV was a heavy hitter early in the war and got upgrades throughout, keeping it pertinent and threatening against Shermans and T-34s, but Germany still needed the Panthers and Tigers to tackle heavy tanks. This allowed them to fly through German gaps and break up enemy formations attempting to regroup. One upgraded Whippet could hit a much more respectable 30 mph thanks to a V-12 Rolls Royce Eagle engine. It had either three of four machine guns but no cannon, meaning that today it would’ve been known as an armored vehicle.īut the Whippet was one of the fastest tanks of World War I with a blistering speed of 8 mph. Whippets were British medium tanks in World War I that had decent armor and speed and were designed to exploit gaps in German lines created by heavier tanks. The British Whippet was a medium tank that could drive into gaps in German lines. The Mark II broke from that tradition and essentially all modern tank designs have a commander and dedicated gunner. Many tank designs, especially smaller ones with smaller crews, combined these two roles, forcing the commander to ignore the larger battlefield for crucial moments while firing. It was a light tank with limited range, an only 20mm gun, and thin armor.īut it made this list because it did perform well on the battlefield and changed future tank design for one reason: It had a dedicated gunner and a dedicated tank commander. The Panzer Mark II was, to say the least, not a “Tanker’s tank.” It was a stopgap design to hold the line in the 1930s until the Panzer Mk. Tankers didn’t want to get caught in this small beast, but it split the job of gunner and commander, giving a tactical advantage and setting the standard for all tanks that came after. Centurions converted into armored personnel carriers and engineering vehicles are still in Israeli service, 70 years after the tank’s debut. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel sent its customized Centurions to secure the Golan Heights, slaughtering Syrian tanks. The British never used it in combat, but it earned lasting acclaim fighting for India and Israel. It had plate armor while cast armor was still the norm, and its 105mm gun was beefy for the time. Originally designed to give British tankers and edge against German Panthers and Tigers, the Centurion arrived months after the end of World War II and ended up being the greatest Cold War tank instead. Now, armored columns are a commander’s fist, punching holes in enemy lines and then rushing through them to annihilate enemy formations.Ī Dutch Army Centurion Tank provides security while conducting a scouting exercise in Hohenfels, Germany, January 26, 2015. The tank was introduced in World War I when Britain unveiled the then-secret weapon against German forces and were able to run these rolling fortresses right over German barbed wire and trenches, firing cannons and machine guns into German fortifications.
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