Top Ten Tanks of the All time

And of course you can also notice a particular bias of some posters just by thier membernames LOL.

 

vary true

 

Well I can say im not biased because the Australian forces are the best, it isn't biased if it is true lol

 

The documentary would disagree with you stefan. They claim that the M1 did awesome in Iraqi with only three being destroyed by Iraqi tanks.

Here is copy of the documentary, not the one I watched, a much shorter version but still follows what I was saying

YouTube - top ten tanks

 

I know the Mk I was the first but the Mark V was better .
It was more powerful and had an improved steering and control mechanism that allowed a reduction in the crew.
The Mark I needed to brake each track to turn. It had a crew member for each track as well as a driver.
The Mk V just had a driver to do same job.
So if we have to vote for best tank of WW1 it has to be the Mark V.
Which includes any of the Mark V * variants for the pendents out there.

 

Although most of us try not to show it, that is very true my freind!

 

I have to agree with this one. If I remember the show correctly, they did use a rating matrix so they did have a basis for forming their opinion. Besides, all the tanks they did rate have influenced tank design and history.

 

A TV program or an article for print regarding a list of 10 best of something is ALWAYS subjective. They're never able to be absolute. Looks like the main logic used in arriving at these 10 is their places in history and/or their combat success. Nothing glaringly wrong there. The problem with any top 10 list is that there are usually MANY honerable mentions which can actually rival the contenders.

While I didn't see this particular program if they did in fact attempt to compare by visualization in combat 2 machines from different eras that is frivilous. "What if" scenarios are one thing but this incessant desire to clinically compare machines has become rampant, especially on the web.

There is no way to impartially compare an M4 and a MK IV and say which is "better." There are myriad details that will sway a combat one way or the other none of which are attributed to the machine itself. Who are the commanders Patton and Guderian or just "equally experienced" guys?

Just how does one set up a fair comparison 60 years later? They were both pretty damned good tanks. And there are no 2 "equally experienced" commanders any more than there are 2 "equally experienced" pilots in these endless and mindless set ups of "which plane was better, the FW 190 or the P-51?"

TV programs on HC and elsewhere are good in that they stimulate some people to actually search for books and documents to find out more. Probably no program is 100% accurate. I have no idea how stringent their fact checking is. Certainly I am not so prejudiced as to say an entire body of production work is invalidated simply because a narrator inadvertently stated the wrong specification on some vehicle, weapon or machine or had incorrect information that was quoted.

What books and TV programs do is stimulate topical discussions live or on internet forums. See how people are adding their own favorite tanks and explaining why? That's great in itself!

 

I like Laqueck, so what?

Sez you, I'd vote Ugandan! :lol:

And yes, History Channel and similar suck as much as a 5000 Watt industry grade vacuum cleaner!

 

I decided to play with this a bit and here's the list I came up with. Quite a bit different from the MC / HC one:

10. M3/M5 light tank. The lightweight of the group. Saw an exceptionally wider service use and is still in use today with several nations (Brazil and Mexico to name two). Firepower was so-so but enough to make it a serious contender in the Pacific throughout WW 2. In North Africa its reliability got it nicknamed the "Honey" by British tankers.

9. Pz III. The tank that made "Blitzkrieg" a household word. Highly innovative for its day. This is really the first truly modern tank in history. Torsion bar suspension (which has become the world standard since), excellent crew layout and communications, good firepower and mobility for its day, and decent armor. This is the tank that took Nazi Germany through every victorious campaign they fought.

8. T34. The tank that won WW 2 for the Russians. When it first appeared it was a feared vehicle due to its superior armor protection and relatively heavy firepower. But, its poor reliability and terrible crew efficency (2 man turret, lack of radio and intercom, poor storage layout) take alot away from it. The more efficent T34/85 solved the worst of these problems late in the war.

7. T54/55 The successor of the T 34 post war. In the post war world these tanks became, with the AK 47, the symbol of revolution world wide. Compared to Western developments they come up short of equal and have a horrible combat record taking on those nations. But, its simplicity, low cost, and ease of operation made it a vehicle of choice for cash strapped nations. It has also proved, like the Sherman to be adaptable to newer and better technologies keeping it in use right through today.

6. FT 17 The "Sherman tank" of the First World War. A true innovation in 1917 when it was introduced. It is the first operational tank with a rotating turret. Its simplicity, low manufacturing cost, and decent armor and firepower for the time put it far ahead of the British rhomboid tanks as well as the earlier French Holt tractor chassis designs in service. In the post WW 1 interwar years it came to be a world standard for more than a decade. As a service tank it survived in combat use until at least 1945.

5. M4 Sherman Probably the most prolific AFV in history. Used by more nations for a longer period than any other tank in history. Excellently engineered and highly adaptable, the oddly shaped Sherman still had sufficent armor, firepower, and mobility to take it to victory around the world in WW 2. Its adaptability to upgrades has been nothing short of astounding. This is largely responsible for its nearly 80 years of first line service. In firepower and armor it has been eclipsed by advances in technology and has been saved only by its suitability for modification.

4. Tiger I Probably the most known and feared name in tank history. Excellent firepower and protection with decent mobility. A well engineered, if somewhat high strung machine. During its relatively short service life the small number manufactured brought an unending fear to its enemies. This makes it a truly remarkable machine.

3. Centurian One of the first and finest main battle tanks of the post WW 2 period. Excellent armor and gun power made the Centurian a mount that gave its crews great confidence in their machine.

2. M46 - M60 The "Patton" series tanks. Successors to the M4, these vehicles represent the same excellent engineering and adaptability that the Sherman had. With the hard learned lessons of WW 2, the US now had a tank with excellent long range firepower and heavy armor. These vehicles proved their prowess from Korea to Desert Storm winning virtually every engagement they fought in the hands of crews from over a dozen different nations.

1. M1 Abrams Named for a truly great "panzer" commander of WW 2, the M1 is one of the first and finest of a new breed of tank. Combining for the first time outstanding firepower, protection, and mobility with an almost mind boggling ability to find, fix, and destroy any target that presents itself the M1 is truly in a class with just a handful of rivals all taking their cue from this magnificient vehicle.

Now, that is truly a different list from the one presented on TV.