Killers: The Most Lethal Tanks of World War II

Killers: The Most Lethal Tanks of World War II

It can be argued that the best tank is the one that destroys the enemy. Or, depending on your point of view, it's the one that isn't shooting at you. But otherwise, choosing the top tank is always a nightmare of technical and historical analysis.

The Rise and Fall of the American Heavy Tank

The Rise and Fall of the American Heavy Tank

The heavy tank never found a satisfactory role in the American military. A number of factors such as logistics, economics and evolving military doctrine eventually eliminated it from the formal inventory of the US armed forces in peacetime, but its role in wartime has never diminished.

WW2 Belgian armor

In September 1939, Belgium was not a negligible or token force. It held the seventh place in armored strength in Europe, just after Poland and the Czech Republic. This force was constricted by a limited budget, the result of the long-run 1930 financial crisis, and to be first and foremost a purely defensive force, according to the "non-provocation" policy of 1936 regarding the Kingdom relations with bordering Nazi Germany. This very firm neutral position was also required to keep at bay ever-present tensions between the two very different cultural majorities of Belgium, the Walloons, Catholics, related to the French, and the Flemish, Protestants, and culturally nearer to the low countries and Germany. This was accompanied however by energic measures such as a 15% defense budget increase, the national service military training being stretched from 8 to 12 months and modernization of all fortifications, highly rated by military experts in 1939.

Belgian armored forces were spread into several cyclist border units (notably the elite "chasseurs ardennais"), cavalry and infantry units. The fully motorized ones were supposed to act as "flying units" to defend major communications lines between five strategical strong points like the Namur and Liege forts, and above all, Eben-Emael. These thoroughly modernized fortifications -in the Maginot line style- were designed to serve as a buffer against German attacks, repelling assaults for at least five days, and at best two weeks, a delay thought long enough to allow the French and their British allies to move into place and built their own defensive line, closing the gap between the north sea and the Maginot Line itself -with the notable exception of the so-thought impassable Ardennes forest.

For these reasons, Belgium never tried to acquire or build medium tanks until 1936 -seen as an offensive or provocative gesture by the politicians. The bulk of the armored forces comprised towed AT guns, mostly those of the excellent SA-FRC (which stands for "Fonderie Royale de Canons") 47 mm (1.85 in), or modele 1931, of which over 750 were delivered to infantry and cavalry units. Tractors were of the Vickers "Utility Tractor" type, unarmed, small, stocky, of which two types largely produced, for cavalry and infantry. Their armor, equipment and speed differed accordingly. British Vickers designs also formed the basis of the two main Belgian tanks type. The British Vickers Mark VI served for the light scout tanks (T15) and Vickers unarmed tractors as tank hunters (T13) which evolved through three variants and formed the backbone of the Belgian antitank units. These were complemented -until 1939- by a handful of vintage FT 18s (a Belgian slightly modified FT 17 of WWI fame), scheduled for replacement by the recent ACG-1, of which only a dozen were delivered in time.

T15 light tank
The T15 was a version of the British "Commercial Light Tank Vickers Carden-Loyd 4 ton". They had a two-man crew and were armed with a 13.2 mm French Hotchkiss machine gun mounted in the turret. A total of 42 of these tanks were assigned to Belgian units.

T13 tank destroyer, models B1, B2, and B3
The T13 series was very similar to the T15; the only major difference was that the main armament was a 47 mm anti-tank gun instead of a machine gun. They were regarded as tank destroyers; except the first model (B1) all had fully rotating turrets.
Total production for the T13:
    T13 B1 - 35 produced.
    T13 B2 - 14 produced. These started their life as unarmed Carden Loyd tankettes which were modified and equipped with a turret with a C.47 gun in 1936.
    T13 B3 150 produced. Entered service in 1937.
The Wehrmacht operated some captured T13s during the first years of the war, as the T13 had a more powerful main gun than the Panzer I and Panzer II, common German tanks in the early war years.
There is a T13 B2 on display at Brussels Tank Museum.

ACG-1 tank
The Renault AMC 35 tank, also designated ACG1, was armed with a 47 mm gun and a coaxial machine gun. 25 of these tanks were ordered although only 12 were accepted into the Belgian army due to supply problems. The Belgian ACG1 and the AMC 35 had different turrets. The Belgian Army disliked the layout of the AMC 35 turret, and so designed their own. Instead of waiting for the other tanks to arrive the Belgian army created the T-13 B3, also armed with a 47 mm C.47 gun. Eight of the ACG1 were in front line units at the start of the 1940 campaign. The ACG1 had a reputation for mechanical difficulties which caused a dispute with the French manufacturer, and slowed deliveries until the problems were solved. The 47 mm main gun in the ACG1 was the same anti-tank gun then in service with the Belgian Army.

Renault FT tank
The Belgian army had 75 Renault FT tanks (of World War I vintage) at the start of World War II. The Belgian Army had two types of FT tanks, the Char canon armed with a short 37 mm Puteaux SA-18 gun and the Char mitrailleuse armed with a machine gun. Unlike the French Army, the Belgian Army had withdrawn all FT tanks from front line service before World War II. They remained in storage depots during the 1940 campaign.

Belgian forces in May 1940
In May 1940 the Belgian army could deploy 22 divisions (mostly infantry ones - 100,000 men for the standing army, 440,000 mobilized recruits in 1939, and 900,000 total with reserves in May 1940, an astonishing feat for a 8 million population) and about 200 AFVs spread into "penny packets" among divisions, and nearly 700 towed antitank guns either by artillery tractors, trucks or Ford-based Marmon Herrington armored cars. Total strength was only 2 fully mechanized divisions, one armored regiment and two motorized divisions. Following the Mechelen incident (a plane crash involving a German Major in Belgium near Meuse river), German plans detailing upcoming operations were found, and brought to the Allies. As it was, this plan called for a simple invasion trough Belgium, targeting western coast harbors, virtually repeating 1914 Schlieffen plan. However both King Leopold and General Raoul Van Overstraeten, his aide de camp, suspected some trick and rather firmly thought a wide encirclement using the Ardennes forest was more probable, but General Gamelin ignored the warnings and stuck to his Dyle plan. The Belgian army was supposed to hold the Antwerp - Liege - Namur line on the borders as long as possible to allow the main French forces to take positions, and withdraw afterwards to make junction with French forces, theoretically presenting a narrower front, easier to defend

7 TP

The need for a more powerful armoured vehicle - the tankettes being incapable of an actual combat role - forced Poland to turn her attention to a further Vickers product, namely the Vickers-Armstrong Six-ton tank, (Vickers Mark 'E'), which was soon to gain a worldwide reputation for a whole decade. In fact, between 1930 and 1939, Vickers-Armstrong Ltd sold over 190 machines of that type (tanks and tractors) to foreign countries - Bolivia, Bulgaria, China, Finland, Greece, Japan, Portugal, Russia and Thailand (Siam) - but the largest order came from Poland with a total of 50 (other sources give 38) tanks with either the single and twin turret arrangement.

The fact that the Vickers-Armstrong Six-ton tank was well within the capacity of the Polish technology, and as it offered some potential for further development, the PZI design bureau was entrusted with the study of a homemade copy. Subsequently PZI produced the 7 TP, a 9ton twin turreted tank which was to be a considerable step forward in design over the Vickers original. At first, the Armstrong-Siddeley engine of the Six-ton was replaced by a licence-built Saurer 6-cylinder diesel engine which developed 110hp, so making the Polish 7 TP the first diesel-powered tank to reach production status.

The 7 TP armour was also 4mm thicker than the Six-ton armour. The first 7 TP to be built by PZI left the works in I934 and production continued at a slow tempo up to 1939. While the production of the modified twin turret model 7 TP was proceeding slowly, it was decided to introduce a single version carrying a Bofors gun (the turret being manufactured by this same concern). This variant appeared in 1937, but the production was restricted by the difficulties of making armour plates and of procuring the turrets from Sweden. Afterwards, in 1939, some quibbles about its unsuitable armour thickness brought PZI to evolve a heavier variant with an improved engine, welded armour thickened up to 40mm in front, a strengthened suspension, wider tracks and a turret with a rear overhang which could accommodate both transmitter and receiver radio sets. The up-armoured 7 TP, which now weighed 11 tons, did not have time to go beyond the prototype or, at best, pre-production stage.

“Fortress Tank”

France had fought World War I without a heavy tank. In July 1918, at the very end of that conflict, it began development of such a machine. Manufactured by FCM (Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, Le Seyne, Toulon), the Char 2C was intended as a breakthrough tank or “Fortress Tank” (Char de forteresse), intended to lead the great Allied offensives that were planned for the spring of 1919. France planned to produce 300, but only 10 were ever built. This monster had a crew of 12, weighed some 152,100 pounds, and was powered by two Maybach or Daimler Benz 250-hp gasoline engines. It had a speed of 7.5 mph. The Char 2C had maximum 45mm armor and was armed with a turreted 75mm gun (later a 155mm) and four machine guns.

The Char 2C had a loaded weight of 69 tonnes, partly because of its armour - 45 mm at the front, 22 mm at the sides, but much of it just because of its huge size. The armour was among the thickest of World War I-era tanks, though by modern standards this would be considered thin. It is still easily the largest tank ever taken into production. With the tail fitted, the hull was over twelve metres long. Within its ample frame there was room for two fighting compartments. The first at the front, crowned by a three-man turret (the first in history) with a long 75 mm gun, and the second at the back, topped by a machine gun turret. Both turrets had stroboscopic cupolas. The three independent 8 mm machine gun positions at the front gave protection against infantry assault.

The Char 2C is the only super-heavy tank ever to attain operational status — a super-heavy tank is not simply a tank that is very heavy but one that is much heavier than regular tanks of its period. The next operational tank to weigh about the same would be the Tiger II heavy tank of World War II.

The fighting compartments were connected by the engine room. Each track was powered by its own 200 or 250 hp engine, via an electrical transmission. Top speed was 15 km/h. Seven fuel tanks, containing 1,260 litres, gave it a range of 150 kilometres.

To man the tank required a crew of twelve: driver, commander, gunner, loader, four machine gunners, mechanic, electrician, assistant-electrician/mechanic and a radio operator. Some sources report thirteen, probably due to pictures of the crews that included the company commander.

The ten tanks were part of several consecutive units, their organic strength at one time reduced to three. Their military value slowly decreased as more advanced tanks were developed throughout the 1920s and 1930s. By the end of the 1930s they were largely obsolete, because their slow speed and high profile made them vulnerable to advances in anti-tank guns.

Nevertheless, during the French mobilisation of 1939, all ten were activated and put into their own unit, the 51st Bataillon de Chars de Combat. For propaganda, each tank had been named after one of the ancient regions of France, numbers 90-99 named Poitou; Provence; Picardie; Alsace; Bretagne; Touraine; Anjou; Normandie; Berry; Champagne respectively. In 1939, the Normandie was renamed Lorraine. As their main value was in propaganda, the giants were carefully kept from harm and did not participate in the September 1939 attack on the Siegfried Line. They were used for numerous morale-boosting movies, climbing and crushing old French forts instead. To the public, they obtained the reputation of invincible super tanks, the imagined dimensions of which far surpassing the real ones.

Of course, the French commanders knew perfectly well this reputation was undeserved. When the German Panzerdivisionen in the execution of Operation Fall Rot ripped apart the French lines after 10 June 1940, the decision was made to prevent the capture of the famous equipment. It was to be sent to the south by rail transport. On 15 June the rail was blocked by a burning fuel train, so it became inevitable to destroy the tanks by detonating charges. Later Goebbels and Goering claimed the tanks were hit by German dive bombers. This propaganda lie was to be repeated by many sources. One tank, the Champagne, was nevertheless captured more or less intact and brought to Berlin to be exhibited as a war trophy. In 1948 this tank disappeared, causing many to speculate it still survives at the Russian Tank museum in Kubinka.

In 1926, the later Champagne was modified into the Char 2C bis, an experimental type with a 155 mm howitzer in a cast turret. New engines were fitted and the machine gun positions deleted. In this configuration the tank weighed perhaps 74 tons. The change was only temporary though, as the vehicle was brought back into its previous condition the very same year; the new turret was used in the Tunisian Mareth Line.

Between 15 November and 15 December 1939 the Lorraine, as the company command tank, was experimentally up-armoured at the Société des Aciéries d'Homecourt to make it immune to standard German antitank guns. The front armour was enhanced to 90 mm, the side to 65 mm. In this configuration, weighing about 75 tons, the Lorraine had at that time the thickest armour of any operational tank, and is probably still the heaviest operational tank ever

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The Crusader

The Crusader had some good features:
1. The 40mm gun.
2. Speed, and a pretty good ride over uneven terrain.
3. Armor

But tanks are, like ships at sea, a balance of:
Armor, Firepower and Speed.

It is with the firepower that the Crusader had problems.

While the 40mm (2pdr) gun was very good (with nearly the same penetrating ability of the American 37mm gun) it failed to have an HE round. This was a serious deficiency. One of the most common tricks of the Afrika Korps was to fight, and when necessary withdraw behind a screen of AT guns. A tank is a pretty good target, but AT guns are difficult to see, and more difficult to hit directly. With an HE round you could do damage to the gun and/or crew with a near miss, but not with an AP round. Without the HE rounds the British had to make a direct hit, not very likely.

In a frontal combat situation here are some penetration figures:

Crusader II vs. Pz. IIIF (its main opponent).
Turret Front: 1650 yrds.
Driver's Plate: 1650
Hull Front: 1650

Pz. IIIF vs. Crusader II
Turret Front: 1900 yds.
Driver's Plate: 950
Hull Front: 150
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Crusader III vs. Pz. IIIJ
Turret Front: 2500 yrds.
Driver's Plate: 1800
Hull Front: 1800

Pz. IIIJ vs. Crusader III
Turret Front: 0 yds.
Driver's Plate: 1350
Hull Front: 600
----------------------------------------------------
Penetration does not always tell the whole story. When an AP round hits a tank a variety of things could result.
1. Metal fragments from the shell and the armor can fly around killing the crew.
2. Fragments might set off the ammunition, causing an explosion.
3. Fragments might kill one or two crew members, or possibly no one at all.

Source:
An OUTSTANDING BOOK - "Brazen Chariots" by Major Robert Crisp (a British tank commander in Africa - fighting not from a desk, but in "Honey's."

His tank, and others under his command were hit, and he recounts the different types of damage as a result.

The summary of this is that the Germans had a higher chance of destroying a hit tank with HE rounds than the British with AP rounds. From time to time the Germans ran out of HE rounds and had to use AP rounds, with the same disadvantage as the British had ALL the time.

People are always interested in the time it takes for a turret to traverse 360° so here it is for the Crusader:

10 seconds for a full circle. The Germans could do about the same on the Pz.IIIF. I'm not sure if the IIIF was any different, possibly not, but I cannot be sure.

The Pz. III had a three-man turret crew, as opposed to the Crusader's two. This was an advantage for the Pz. III since the Germans had a full-time loader, but the British commander also had to double as a loader.

The German tank commander had an armored cupola, an advantage that allowed him to observe while in combat, a far more risky job for the British commander without any protection.

The Pz. III had a gun elevated with gears, where as the Crusader II had a gun whose elevation was adjusted by the shoulder of the gunner pushing the rear of the gun up and down. The tightness of the up/down movement was controlled by a clamp. I cannot say if this was a plus or a minus. I would assume possibly a minus since the British eventually dropped the system. (It was probably no problem in the hands of a well trained, experienced gunner, but a problem for lesser trained personnel.)

There were mechanical problems, how serious they were I cannot say. The Germans had their problems as well, but had outstanding repair units. As Major Crisp commented, "We outnumbered the Germans, but it seemed they always had more tanks than we did." This was due to the German repair units that kept returning knocked out tanks to combat. (And remember AP rounds have less chance of starting fires or blowing up the tank, thus it was easier to repair.)

It was a better tank than it is given credit for. The main problem of the British was not the "front-line" tank, but the direction of the battle from Generals many miles away in the comfort (and ignorance) of their headquarters.