Favortie Tank of WWII?

My favorite tanks from WWII would be thee Panzer III, Tiger I & II, and the Soviet Tank T-34. Those r my favorite tanks from WWII.

Also, would Half Tracks count at all or not? Because when u look them up they say its a tank, so is that true though?

 

Hi Axonn -welcome to the forum

In general half-tracks are not considered to be tanks, although there were some turreted German and Russian ones used as reconnaissance tanks. Definitely the one in your photo is not, as it isn't armoured - it is a prime-mover artillery tractor.

To be a true tank, a vehicle needs to be armoured, motorized, in possession of a significant weapon system and in my opinion tracked. Some wheeled armoured cars in modern times have been called 'wheeled tanks', which clouds the issue, but as armoured car fits them well- I think they should stay there.

 

Well would this be a tank though because it has a machine gun hook on 2 it. But they have armor on them so wouldn't they be called also tanks kinda or not?

http://www.wwiivehicles.com/germany/half-tracks/sdkfz-250-half-track/sdkfz-250-5-01.png

But why did they made them in thee 1st place? Is it because they were only meant 2 be pulling stuff like tanks, artillary, and equiptment, and etc. Weren't they also meant 2 go 2 war also with there wepons on it?

 

That is the Sdkfz-250 - mostly used as a command vehicle or a reconnaissance vehicle, but also for ammunition resupply and some other specialist applications. similar larger ones were used as armoured personnel carriers and worked closely with tanks. The machine gun doesn't make it quite into a tank, although some tanks only have MG armament. The definition is fairly arbitrary what you call a tank and up to personal preference really - for some people it's anything painted green with a gun sticking out, while for others it will only be the medium and heavy tanks with full tracks, a turret and a big cannon.

The first tank to be actually called a tank at the time was probably the British Mk I Rhomboid of the First World war, athough it's predecessor prototypes may have been called this earlier, no-one's quite sure - but anyway - those had no turrets, they had a pair of wheels at the back for steering, and some only had machine guns.

You just have to decide where you prefer to draw the line.

My dictionary has Tank as 'An armoured motor vehicle, carrying guns and travelling on caterpillar tracks'

you choose

 

Well what were the Half Tracks treads 4 then? Getting grip on hard ground such as dirt and snow? Also 2 pull heavy vehicles such as a Tiger I Tank. Heres hte link.http://ww2db.com/images/vehicle_panzervi26.jpg.....http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Bilder/SdKfz9/SdKfz9-1%20Tiger.jpg

 

Exactly.

 

Oh thats cool, but I was wondering Spartanroller, is there any close of a vehicle these days right now that kinda looks close 2 a Half Track or not?

 

half-tracks went mostly out of fashion in the years after ww2 - the most modern I can think of is this Chilean one, although it never went into service;

BMS-1 Alacran Prototype Armored Personnel Carrier | Military-Today.com

You do still find a few truck conversions and civilian half tracks being done, but none I know of in any numbers.

The modern trend is to multi-axled wheeled vehicles - usually 6 and 8-wheeled which can move cross country at least as well as most half tracks, with full tracked vehicles for those places or jobs where you absolutely must have it.

There are a couple more examples here;

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,6167.msg50806.html
http://www.cnjianqing.com/index.php?key=cingolato

 

I know it only served a short time, but the T-26E3 Pershing.

 

Saving money & resources.
Support machines that could keep pace with full-tracks across rough terrain, with half the complexity and machinery required to steer a fully tracked vehicle, in an era where multi-wheeled drive trucks were still somewhat limited.

But this is a favourite (or favortie...) Tanks thread, so here's a jolly pleasing shot of MkVIs naughtily converted by their new owners into one of the cutest SPGs of the war:


~A

 

Oh so thats why they were Saving money & resources? But wouldn't u think, well, I mean...does wheels or treads during that time cost more which 1?


And Spartanroller when u said, "Chilean one, although it never went into service". When u said that, do u mean thee U.S doesn't make those anymore during that time? Like they were discontinued u mean, like they weren't going well, they weren't good at all or what do u mean by that?

 

Axonn - the key reason for half tracks in the between war and ww2 period was that the gearbox technology at the time meant it was cheaper and easier to build a half track than a full track, and tyres weren't so good, making all-wheeled vehicles not great off road. there also were fewer roads. During ww2 the gearbox advances made it just as easy to go full tracked rather than half, and tyres by the end of the war were good enough to give good off road performance - the half track actually became more complex than the other options.

The US i think stopped making half tracks by about 1950, although they stayed in service even until now with some armies. the Czechs made one until the early 70s i believe - the OT 810, which was basically a german ww2 design with minor changes

 

Ah, well that sucks 4 thee U.S because they stopped making them in thee 50's (as u think but me also 2 man) but if they did stop making then in the 50's, that would suck because half tracks r awesome. There actually my fav. vehicles 4 the Germans during WWII. I don't know why but I just like half tracks. Thats why I have it on my sig, avatar, and on my profile page 2. XD

 

One later half/semi track trial for you:
Landrover Laird Centaur Half Track
Used to live near one, when I was in the Pompey area; because I was a kid, I assumed it was an entirely normal variant...
Snapped one of the above at W&P one year, but now can't find the pictures.

Ah, yes, sorry, Favortie tanks:

 

Agree they are fascinating vehicles, but they were a product of the period, and the same technological challenges they were designed to solve always bring up new solutions, which made the HT less of a good way to achieve what was required by about the end of the war.

If you want to do some some really detailed study of German half-tracks in particular, I would recommend a book called 'German Half-Tracked Vehicles of World War 2, Unarmoured Support Vehicles of the German Army 1933/45' by John Milsom, Published by the Arms and Armour Press ISBN 0 85368 330 1. It has all the details you might possibly want, although lacking a bit in discussion and analysis.

 

Von Poop - I'm with you on that choice totally - my favourite too and I think one of the most influential.

for the centaur check my link further up;
Modern halftracks?

 

I c, I'm hoping forward of seeing them in those kinds of books. Maybe I'll check them sometime if they have them at my library but they don't. -_-

 

Ah thats cool man. The Centaur. Untitled Document

Now thats a Beast Half-Track. Not good as thee German 1's but still its beast. }: )

 

Since we seem to have irredeemably drifted onto halftracks (I like the other favourite tank thread more anyway), you might like to Google the Bedford Traclat, Axonn, for a bit of mild strangness.
Never been quite sure if they actually used German parts, but definitely German-inspired.

~A

 

IIRC there was a similar one by AEC using Pz II/Maultier inspired or collected bits as well - forget the name - think Ulrich posted it a while back but forget where.