The Tank: Everything You Need to Know

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Would love a full history of bomber aircraft in this format, both the enormous change in technology and doctrine

I will always love that it was actually the British who named the Sherman Tank and the Stuart Tank; the official US production names were just the M4 and M3. The Brits were the ones who gave them actual names after American Civil War generals.

There is a mega project that is over 100 years old, still having money spent on it. I'm talking about the BB-35, USS Texas, Battleship Texas. Serving in both great wars, earning five battle stars, serving in all theaters of war, suffering two purple hearts and in dry dock, getting repaired, repainted and refitted.

Simon needs to show up in a Sci-Fi movie as a ship's computer or other semi omnipotent information machine

I love it when Simon cracks up because of the script 😂 Little Willy was an unexpected one for a tank

I crewed M60A1s/A3s in the early 80s and finished out riding an M1A1 into Iraq with 1st Infantry. Just my opinion on Simon's take on Desert Storm... the T72s we engaged were at night from ranges that were far beyond their capabilities. Our daylight capabilities were far better too. A lot of the design philosophy is still a holdover from the operational concepts of the cold war, we expected to fight a mobile defense and succeed in European terrain (not without loses of course, probably bad ones) against anywhere from 5 to 8 times our numbers in T62s/T64s/72s, the M1/M1A1 of that time frame was just designed to be better at it than the M60 series (NO. I'm not even going to touch the A2 fiasco.) was. In desert conditions longer range engagements were the norm and seriously gave us the advantage. The Iraqi T72s were just no match for the majority of the coalition tanks. And this is before you even get into crew skill. A tank can have the best paper figures on earth, but with a scrub crew, it's practically worthless. Good job of presenting a good bullet points video.

This is the kind of MP video I love. And over an hour long? Hell yeah.

One comment / correction: HEAT shells do not function in the way described. They use a shaped HE charge to turn a piece of metal into a plastic state jet which then literally punches through the armor. The higher temperature of the jet, is incidental effect of it's being pressurized in such a way, had little effect on it's armor penetrative qualities. It functions in a similar matter as a high pressure waterjet used to cut steel today, but using metal and a high explosive to get that metal moving ("pressurized"). It's just a different form of kinetics and fluid dynamics at play. Spaced armor works bc the shaped charge effect is only useful at a very set distance. Too far and it just splatters on the armor ineffectively, too close and it won't have compressed enough to penetrate. The outer plate sets off the shaped charge, causing the plastic metal jet to essentially splatter on the main armor.

1:05 - Chapter 1 - Origins 3:45 - Mid roll ads 5:10 - Back to the video 19:50 - Chapter 2 - Interwar period 35:55 - Chapter 3 - WWII 53:55 - Chapter 4 - Cold war 1:13:05 - Chapter 5 - The modern era 1:20:50 - Chapter 6 - The future

Chieftain had a stabilized gun, we also switched to TLS (Tank Laser Sight, used for range finding). Also once we figured out windage we could achieve a first round kill. The 105mm range was about 1500-2000m, our 120mm was in excess of 3000m in direct fire mode.

Simon and his writers seemed to ignore the contributions of American inventor and businessman Benjamin Holt. Beginning in the 1890s, Holt designed and sold farm equipment in Stockton, in California’s Central Valley. Normal four-wheeled tractors would commonly bog down in Stockton’s rich peat soil. Holt visited England and witnessed several failed demonstrations of tractors with treads. Back home, he designed the first commercially viable tractors with continuous tread, ideal for the peat soil. During WWII, Holt tractors were used by British forces to haul supplies along dirt roads. It is said that British tanks were inspired by Holt vehicles, although Holt never actually built tanks. Holt’s company merged with a competitor and eventually became Caterpillar Inc. How did I know this? I used to live off of Benjamin Holt Drive in Stockton. Visitors invariably asked me who the heck Benjamin Holt was. Being the young smartass I was, had this info ready to go.

One reason I love the UK. In 1915 they developed their very first tank. 👍 And named it Little Willie. That's classic. 👍👍

You forgot to mention that most if not, all British tanks have an onboard kettle. For those time's you just need a cuppa tea. 😅

49:00 Another advantage of sloped armor is that it tends to deflect the incoming rounds, meaning that it needs to absorb less energy. If a round impacts armor at a 90 degree angle at 1000 m/s, the armor needs to absorb enough energy to bring the round to a complete stop. If a round impacts armor at a 45 degree angle at 1000 m/s and bounces off at 500 m/s, then the armor only has to do half the work. And as mentioned in the video, it has twice the muscle to do it with.

I think that one of these long deep dive videos on the history of certain Megaprojects could be done on the Battleship. Not only because they're super popular, but because, well.... They're story actually has an end, given they aren't a thing anymore. So it could be pretty cool.

If you folks are able, I'd love to watch a video about the evolution of artilery and the technology and tactics of their use.

When I was little I used to play on an actual real and original German A7V. The only one left in the world – "Mephisto" – she’s in Brisbane, Australia as she was taken back as a war trophy by Australian troops. She was damaged by floodwater during the Brisbane flood in 2011 but they restored her and after a stint in Canberra she seems to be back on display at the Queensland Museum at South Bank in Brisbane (right near the centre of the city). Anyone visiting Australia should swing by and have a look, the whole complex and the museum along with the Gallery of Modern Art is really worth the visit. It really surprises me how intrigued European visitors are when I tell them about the tank and they are very keen to see her, many are quite stunned to hear the only surviving German WW1 tank is in such a far flung place.

Awe, I kinda wanted to hear about how the American M4 Shermans in Korea went head to head against Korean T-34-76s after the pershings had trouble being so heavy & just kicked ass. Also kinda surprised that the author didn't leverage Chieftan's (Nicholas Moran) dug up WW2 report that who see the enemy first often wins. Hence why the West/Nato/US is so focused focus on optics, information and communication. Though I totally get why no mentions were made about Bradley's maybe having more kills on tanks than Abrams in Desert Storm for the same reason why only Lazer Pig seems to bring up the Aardvark vs Warthog kill ratio comparison.

Thank you Simon and basement dwellers for the hard work you put in. 🎉🎉🎉