63 replies to this topic

[Crusnik__414]

Tanks are glorious symbols of modern military might. As popular and well know as they are, why don't I ever hear about their ends? You don't ever see or read about that. It feels depressing... tragic. operating a tank then then suddenly get shredded to pieces in less then 2 seconds, but who knows? I'm curious to know more about it, but to my surprise I find nothing on Google.

When a tank is destroyed most(if not all) of it's crew of 3-7 are killed. Many people would see a photo of a disabled tank, they subconsciously forget about the warriors who rot in the steel cage, and instead just see a big hollow heap of metal that was once a tank.

What do you think?

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=GcL_Z4Gx11I
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=VPzS1Pta4PQ

[davedaaznlu]

a salute to Whittman now.vc

[blackwidowP61]

Modern tanks go to both extremes when it comes to if the crew lives or not. Some tanks when hit are complete death traps. Others are built around keeping the people alive inside and even though the machine is destroyed the crew can escape.

Tanks from the second world war were a different matter. When hit depending on where they were hit either one or two crew men were injured/killed, or none. It was very rare for a tank to lose it's entire crew to a single round unless it was a hit in a critical location or a very devastating hit. (like a small T26 taking a round from an SU152's main gun, or a PZ4 taking a 2000lb bomb from a plane)

Amazingly after battles if a tank was damaged/knocked out/or abandoned it would be recovered repaired and put back on the front line. The only time tanks couldn't be would be if they caught fire, or were completely destroyed (both rare things even in Shermans)

The truly sad story of tank warfare is the repair crews that had to work on these knocked out tanks. If someone was killed or injured these crews would have to clean out the inside of the tank. Often this even meant they had to remove the dead crewmen from the tank and any bodily fluids that were created when they were hit, (guts blood, brains etc). To make this worse these repair men had to do it quickly and have the tank ready for battle again as soon as possible.

A great book to learn more about tanking/crewmen and the repair crews for the US army in the second world war is a book called Death Traps.

[SoukouDragon]

In the first Persian Gulf war in 1991, Iraqi tankers felt like their tanks (T-55s,T62s,T72s) were more like tin coffins. They faced not just superior M1 Abrams, but also tons of precision guided munitions from the sky. An Iraqi tank was guaranteed a dead tank.

[Ogopogo]

Their is also that thing that can affect tanks (what is it called......) where the air is sucked out of the tank, and out of the lungs of the people, and they suffocate, more or less instantly.

[Icelus]

Asphyxiation I believe.

[Kona]

Found this a while ago .....  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Sht-9mudc

[Ogopogo]

Icelus, on May 12 2011 - 03:09, said:

Asphyxiation I believe.

That is it.

[Wolfrum]

A tank is a horrible thing to get knocked out in. If you survive the inital hits and can bail out, you are escaping usually into a battlefield that is 'alive' with shell fragments, and bullets flying.

- wolf

[Viper69]

A buddy of mine was in the first gulf war. He told me when they inspected Iraqi tanks the gruesome reality of what a knocked out tank sets in. The high velocity penetrators Abrams shoot creates a vacuum in a sealed tank and can sometimes suck the nearby crew members through the exit hole. People are quick to disassociate death when they see a piece of equipment destroyed.

[Aries13]

This is about as accurate as you can get. http://youtu.be/jFG2i4y3kXs

[Crusnik__414]

"

aries13, on May 12 2011 - 16:47, said:

This is about as accurate as you can get. http://youtu.be/jFG2i4y3kXs

"

Thanks for the video

[GermanMagno]

This is what happen when a HEAT munition impact a tank, a little hole in the steel, and hell inside.

[konigwolf13]

Well if you can call US Propaganda accurate, then yeah it is. Yes its footage of a panther brewing up, but ignore all sound. If you want an accurate report of that clip you will need to go else where.

[AWaC_Pseudo]

konigwolf13, on May 13 2011 - 08:16, said:

Well if you can call US Propaganda accurate, then yeah it is. Yes its footage of a panther brewing up, but ignore all sound. If you want an accurate report of that clip you will need to go else where.

That video is an excript from a documentary. The foley sounds are added for dramatic effect, not propiganda purposes.

[konigwolf13]

A 'documentary'? The original part was filmed by american signal corp and released to cinemas as part of the standard allied propaganda "news reels" (germans did the same). I said to ignore sound, I mean all sound including voice overs. Why? becuase of the accuracy of the news reel and two, not to disrespect the vetran but the "Tiger" tank he states was actually a Panther.

[sauwer]

i like this guy ... is like a inspiration ..

http://www.3ad.org/w...e/pool_home.htm

His was the point tank in 21 full-scale engagements, and he survived many harrowing close calls with death.
Fighting from three different Sherman tanks, Pool and his crew knocked out no less than 12 German tanks,
most of which were superior to the Shermans in terms of armor and firepower.

[konigwolf13]

sauwer, on May 13 2011 - 12:23, said:

i like this guy ... is like a inspiration ..

http://www.3ad.org/w...e/pool_home.htm

His was the point tank in 21 full-scale engagements, and he survived many harrowing close calls with death.
Fighting from three different Sherman tanks, Pool and his crew knocked out no less than 12 German tanks,
most of which were superior to the Shermans in terms of armor and firepower.

Agree, removed leg and still served 12 years. A man to follow his beliefs.

[NeboCema]

Hello , i m not sure how it was in USA  but in Russia or Germany  the worts thing that could happend to a Tank was to get hit on Tracks , because if your tank was hit the remaining survivors crew members are allowed to escape the tank .
If your tracks were damaged but the tank was not hit the crew members had to keep fighting , we all know the worst is to stand in the open plains where you can't move and not allowed to escape , those who escaped were severly punished some went to Jail others killed on the spot by their own commanders to avoid shame twords them or their family .

this was great danger to any tanker during WW2 .


NeboCema

[PanzerComander]

Well all i can say to all this, being a tanker myself, it has its ups and downs.